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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
This book had potential, but was underdeveloped. Too many major moments of character development happened off-screen and their voices were not distinct. The world was interesting but we got only brief glimpses into it and the switch from 1st to 3rd was jarring. I think it would have benefited from an extra few hundred pages of development. But, it was just good enough to keep me from DNF-ing it, and gets credit for that.
This was a really interesting world - one MC is a descendant of demons, doesn't work well with the light, has some magicky elements, has a darker vibe. The other MC is an inquisitor/religious captain. Enemies at the core.
There's an intriguing plot situation going on, some religious shenanigans, world building. Overall, just a really interesting read. I am hesitant to call this a genre romance though. There's a strong romantic element throughout the story, but the plot takes the forefront.
Also POV change midway between MCs and 1st to 3rd person - it worked in the audio, no clue how it would do on page.
Also also, this narrator sounds like John Oliver and I loved it lol.
There's an intriguing plot situation going on, some religious shenanigans, world building. Overall, just a really interesting read. I am hesitant to call this a genre romance though. There's a strong romantic element throughout the story, but the plot takes the forefront.
Also POV change midway between MCs and 1st to 3rd person - it worked in the audio, no clue how it would do on page.
Also also, this narrator sounds like John Oliver and I loved it lol.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
I think this is a well-written and interesting book though something about the pacing seems off. Also the first sexual encounter is dubcon due to copious alcohol consumption, and the fact that it's closed door means there is no real way to judge
The lore for this verse seems pretty compelling, I just feel like it needed to be a lot longer. It's two novellas in one book. If you like well written short stuff, I would recommend them I just was left wanting more lol. I'd prob give it 4*!
Also I had a desperate longing for poly between the MCs and side characters 😩
The lore for this verse seems pretty compelling, I just feel like it needed to be a lot longer. It's two novellas in one book. If you like well written short stuff, I would recommend them I just was left wanting more lol. I'd prob give it 4*!
Also I had a desperate longing for poly between the MCs and side characters 😩
I... honestly really enjoyed this one! Which, I don't know why I was surprised, as I did net enjoy her Rifter series, but it was sooo long and very slow to build and to make sense, that I had no real idea what to expect for a stand-alone novel, but I thought it worked immensely well!
First off, the book is essentially divided into two novellas + a brief epilogue. While the second half of the book certainly built off the first, each half essentially has its own self-contained plot/case, and there's a bit of a time lapse between the two stories. The POV and tense also changes between the two halves. This was in no way a negative--I actually quite enjoyed it--but it really did read like two novellas, as opposed to one full-length novel.
The writing and world-building, as always, were fascinating, and I quite enjoyed the plot and the characters. Belimai and William were both very interesting (though I though Belimai was particularly captivating) and I very much enjoyed their interactions and the evolution of their relationship. A bit of a dark/bleak world here, as one would expect from Hale, though it didn't feel *quite* as gruesome and depressing as her Rifter world. Overall, quite an enjoyable read!
First off, the book is essentially divided into two novellas + a brief epilogue. While the second half of the book certainly built off the first, each half essentially has its own self-contained plot/case, and there's a bit of a time lapse between the two stories. The POV and tense also changes between the two halves. This was in no way a negative--I actually quite enjoyed it--but it really did read like two novellas, as opposed to one full-length novel.
The writing and world-building, as always, were fascinating, and I quite enjoyed the plot and the characters. Belimai and William were both very interesting (though I though Belimai was particularly captivating) and I very much enjoyed their interactions and the evolution of their relationship. A bit of a dark/bleak world here, as one would expect from Hale, though it didn't feel *quite* as gruesome and depressing as her Rifter world. Overall, quite an enjoyable read!
Re-read: Darker than I'd remembered, but appropriately so, I think, and it makes for some excellent story-telling.
Original review:
I really enjoyed both main characters and their relationship. The perspective switch between books 1 and 2 was well-done, and much appreciated since Belimai and Harper start off being a bit opaque to each other. The world-building is also pretty interesting. I wasn't totally satisfied with the ending, but to be honest I'm not sure what I would have wanted instead -
Original review:
I really enjoyed both main characters and their relationship. The perspective switch between books 1 and 2 was well-done, and much appreciated since Belimai and Harper start off being a bit opaque to each other. The world-building is also pretty interesting. I wasn't totally satisfied with the ending, but to be honest I'm not sure what I would have wanted instead -
Spoiler
I am glad that they ended up relatively happy and safe, I just wanted something more from the book.
fast, resonably gritty and completely enjoyable. loved the second story more, since this is where it stops pretending to be a noir mystery and turns into shameless slashfic it clearly wanted to be from the start, complete with love confessions, mutual martyrdom, loving nursing through withdrawal and daring rescues (and also because harper's stoicism is more appealing than belimai's somehow whiny cynicism, but that could be just me). i'm pretty sure i've read this story at least twenty times in twenty different fandoms, and it's still as awesome as it should be.
and awwww, they're so sweet, really:
"Do you want me to cover you with my coat?" Harper asked.
"Harper." Belimai was quiet for a long moment. "You can't keep giving your own things for other people. You need to be a little selfish sometimes."
"It's not trouble. I'm not cold."
"We're both cold..." Belimai drifted into silence. He lay limp against Harper and, at last, fell asleep.
and awwww, they're so sweet, really:
"Do you want me to cover you with my coat?" Harper asked.
"Harper." Belimai was quiet for a long moment. "You can't keep giving your own things for other people. You need to be a little selfish sometimes."
"It's not trouble. I'm not cold."
"We're both cold..." Belimai drifted into silence. He lay limp against Harper and, at last, fell asleep.
This was a good one. The book has two short stories and an epilogue. At first, I was disappointed that the first story ended and we moved away from the first person POV of Belimai, but the next story was even better.
My two gripes: a fade to black in the first story (I wanted to see! I'm a voyeur) and the abrupt ending. It wasn't a bad ending, just abrupt. I loved these characters and I wanted to be eased out of their lives, not dumped out.
Best part: Ginn Hale's sensual details that pull you right in. From the very first paragraph, her description of the night sky was wonderfully emotive. It wasn't heavily done, just perfectly placed throughout the story to get you right inside the character's skins, to feel, smell, see what they do. Excellent. Makes me envious of her skill.
My two gripes: a fade to black in the first story (I wanted to see! I'm a voyeur) and the abrupt ending. It wasn't a bad ending, just abrupt. I loved these characters and I wanted to be eased out of their lives, not dumped out.
Best part: Ginn Hale's sensual details that pull you right in. From the very first paragraph, her description of the night sky was wonderfully emotive. It wasn't heavily done, just perfectly placed throughout the story to get you right inside the character's skins, to feel, smell, see what they do. Excellent. Makes me envious of her skill.
I only vaguely like steampunk and paranormal romances, having had bad experiences with both (I'm pretty sure that, as a culture, we have had one collective, prolonged bad experience with paranormal romances: it's called Twilight). This left me feeling a bit underwhelmed by Wicked Gentlemen, even though I loved everything else about it.
The mystery is satisfying (rare in crime fiction!); the worldbuilding is, too, unfolding subtly enough to pique interest without ever overwhelming.
Hale is also just a really good writer: she underwrites rather than overwrites, leaving you wanting more, and she knows exactly how to draw you through the story with good pacing and dialogue. I read this in a single afternoon, pretty much straight through, it was that seamless.
I'm giving this four stars, because it's written exactly the way I love novels to be written, and hey, it's not Ginn Hale's fault that I'm fed up with Byronic heroes.
The mystery is satisfying (rare in crime fiction!); the worldbuilding is, too, unfolding subtly enough to pique interest without ever overwhelming.
Hale is also just a really good writer: she underwrites rather than overwrites, leaving you wanting more, and she knows exactly how to draw you through the story with good pacing and dialogue. I read this in a single afternoon, pretty much straight through, it was that seamless.
I'm giving this four stars, because it's written exactly the way I love novels to be written, and hey, it's not Ginn Hale's fault that I'm fed up with Byronic heroes.
A missing woman brings together a clergyman/detective and a disgraced demonic descendant. As the premise implies, the worldbuilding here is indulgent and stylized, something like Fallen London-lite: otherworldly Prodigal and their demonic magics, the strict and corrupt church-cum-police force, a city with its propriety and dirty underbelly. The pair of protagonists almost live up to that; they're ultimately too nice, and their romance resolves too easily, but between them they offer a diverse, ambiguous view of their world. The mysteries that fuel the plot are only adequate, dependent on coincidence and fairly simplistic in fact, but with a moral ambiguity that echoes the worldbuilding. I wish this lived up to its potential (and had stronger editing, especially re: dialog), but it's fun.