Reviews

Smoke Signals by Meredith Katz

arturourbanos's review against another edition

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4.0

*Tuve la oportunidad de leer una copia avanzada de esta novela antes de su fecha de salida (1 de octubre). Mi opinión es completamente personal.*


No había leído a Meredith Katz antes, aunque sí que la conocía de oídas tras ver listas de recomendaciones. Pero fue Laura Bailo quien me habló de esta novela corta y quise leerla y reseñarla cuando leí su argumento y también porque supe que la autora está autoeditando las obras que había publicado con una editorial que ahora mismo ya ha cerrado.


En esta obra de Meredith Katz conocemos a Mike St. George, un técnico informático que trabaja en una empresa dedicada a la distribución de videojuegos. Su trabajo no le da demasiados quebraderos de cabeza hasta que un día le avisan de que ha aparecido un dragón en la recepción de la compañía, y que quieren que vaya a su casa para descargar e instalar todos los videojuegos de su catálogo.

Surrealista, ¿verdad? Pero va adquiriendo cada vez más sentido. A raíz de esa visita de Mike a Zali’thurg, conoceremos al dragón y la importancia que tiene su tesoro para él. Al igual que Mike, tendremos que navegar por su egocentrismo y el resto de rasgos de su extraña personalidad.

He disfrutado mucho leyendo esta novela. Me he sentido muy identificado con el protagonista y su profesión a raíz del trabajo que tuve durante parte de este verano. En ese mundo los dragones existen, pero tampoco es común relacionarse con ninguno. Y cuando Mike decide aceptar, su empresa quiere que realice cualquier encargo que le pida por la inmensidad de oro que guardan.

Al principio, Mike no tiene una buena impresión de Zali’thurg. Pero después de su primer encuentro, tendrán varios más. Y en ellos se conocerán el uno al otro, aprenderán más de sus vidas y se plantearán muchas cosas. Ambos personajes me han encantado y también lo ha hecho su coherente evolución a lo largo de la historia. Y es coherente porque Meredith Katz ha sabido delimitar bien los rasgos de estos personajes, aunque también me ha parecido algo sorprendente porque no me esperaba los temas que se han tratado gracias a ella.


En definitiva, Señales de humo es una novela corta muy disfrutable con una creatividad y un poco de humor muy buenos. Me ha encantado conocer a Mike y a Zali’thurg y las vidas, personalidades y prejuicios que tienen. Aunque esta historia es totalmente autoconlusiva, me han gustado tanto los personajes que quiero seguir leyendo más historias de ellos.

Podéis conseguir Señales de humo en Lektu o en Amazon.

eyelit's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

ilibra's review against another edition

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5.0

4.5* rounded up!

This was so freaking cute and funny!!

Zali'thurg was such an accidental asshole, he's probably one of my favorite characters ever, I love him! Mike was also a great main character and I loved seeing the cultural differences between them and how they started learning from each other over time. It was also the perfect length for my taste, it was slow-burn enough to feel genuine, but it also not so slow that it didn't have time to develope properly. Definitely highly recommended!

prgchrqltma's review against another edition

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4.0

A dragon whose hoard of games requires video game downloads was something that I had never thought of. Cute and fluffy.

melaniebopp's review against another edition

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When I read the summary, I had no idea what to expect - a dragon who hoards games and is moving into the digital gaming horde? Okay, sure, why not. But the end result is surprisingly sweet! And I can not say how much I love a couple who actually tries to communicate with each other, especially when they have completely different cultures (well, and species).

lucyphob's review

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hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

millah's review against another edition

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5.0

Adorable story. I was totally charmed by the characters, and especially how the dragon was portrayed.

Lots of things in this story made me smile. Such a cute story! The mix with a dragon, games, knitting and a cute cat wasjust... irresistible. Mike handled Zee’s typical dragon-possessiveness in a way I appreciated a lot. Just enough and not too much miscommunication. All in all, the story was sweet, funny and hot, too.

undertheteacup's review against another edition

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4.0

Wonderfully nerdy and humorous.

My one disappointment was that the dragon spent so much time in his pseudohuman form. It'd have been cool to see gaming equipment adapted to a dragon's form. It's not like Zali'thurg didn't have the money for a custom-made rig. It could've been something Mike helped him figure out, even!

Also, one of the reasons I like "monster" romances is because of the strangeness, the way you can't expect any of the usual norms to apply in terms of how sex and romance go. This story explored that to a great extent in terms of what a relationship would look like, but didn't delve quite as deeply as I'd have liked, and when it came to sex it very much leaned on the "this is just like with humans but with one or two differences".

The ending felt a bit rushed, too - the story just felt a whole lot less immersive after the "we both like each other" conversation.

theladyinreds's review against another edition

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4.0

Adorable. One grumpy dragon, one patient customer service rep who is good about setting boundaries, a catalog of video games, and a cute kitty, all mixed together for maximum adorableness.

anacoqui's review against another edition

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5.0

Smoke Signals by Meredith Katz (m/m, PNR) CSR for a video game company is called in to assist a dragon that collects games. They game, bond, flirt, miss/mix signals & they talk. Adorable, sexy story about boundaries & communication. Mike knits! #Rombklove crafting! #bkbrk