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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
An ARC of The Veil was provided to me by the publisher this year at SDCC!
I remember vaguely hearing about this book at a publishing panel– thinking it was going to be kind of cliche because banned magic coupled with a sensitive? BORING. Chloe Neill proved me WAY wrong. Because here’s this book, the first non-YA book I’ve read in ages, and I ended up staying up until I couldn’t keep my eyes open only to wake up hour later, pumped to finish it.
The rest of this review can be found on my blog: http://duckiereads.tumblr.com/post/125811339811/an-arc-of-the-veil-was-provided-to-me-by-the
I remember vaguely hearing about this book at a publishing panel– thinking it was going to be kind of cliche because banned magic coupled with a sensitive? BORING. Chloe Neill proved me WAY wrong. Because here’s this book, the first non-YA book I’ve read in ages, and I ended up staying up until I couldn’t keep my eyes open only to wake up hour later, pumped to finish it.
The rest of this review can be found on my blog: http://duckiereads.tumblr.com/post/125811339811/an-arc-of-the-veil-was-provided-to-me-by-the
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I don't know if I just had too many expectations for this new book / series because it's Chloe Neill. Her Chicagoland Vampires is one of my favorites so when I started reading The Veil I think I was prepared for at least a few similarities. That didn't happen.
The Veil takes place in New Orleans seven years after the veil between worlds was ripped open and a war broke out between humans and paranormals. Humans won, for the most part, and the remaining Paras were sent to Devil's Isle. Now anyone showing any signs of magic is taken to Devil's Isle this includes Sensitives (humans with magical abilities).
Eight months ago Claire Connolly discovered she can move things with her mind. It's a secret she's been keeping ever since then, even from the people she's closest to. When Claire is attacked on her way home one night, she has to use her magic to save herself. Liam Quinn is a bounty hunter and he saw Claire work her magic. He's not there to turn her in, he's there to help her train her magic. Claire begins to realize that things aren't just good and evil, black and white anymore, and never really were in the first place.
The concept of The Veil and this series is very interesting. There were just a few pieces of information that irked me and didn't really sit right. I think it's the fact that I felt like this was a partial post-apocalyptic story. I say partial because the whole of the world (or even the entirety of the US) wasn't effected by the war with Paras. Only places like New Orleans, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi (I believe that's it) were effected in this war. It just nagged at me the whole time I was reading that these people are continuing to live in an area that may or may not have electricity (among other amenities) on any given day, yet it read to me that the rest of the continent didn't suffer this problem. I kept asking myself "why would you stay in that situation?" I suppose I can buy the attachment to ones home and land etc., but then wouldn't you try harder to get these things back to working order despite the presence of magic? There were other things like this that irked me and I don't know if it was because the information was made to be presented in a mysterious way or what, but I know if I was in this situation I would ask questions, I would try to find solutions, or I would just move to somewhere else entirely.
I also felt a huge lack of any kind of connection between the characters. I'm trying not to compare this series too much with Neill's Chicagoland series, but here I feel I have to. The Chicagoland series reeled me in right away at the first book. One of the main reasons why was the clear cut, loving relationships between the characters. The Veil lacks that feeling for me for all that we are introduced to Gunnar and Tadji, the two people Claire calls her best friends. In fact, I think a couple of these characters were off page for quite a while and I didn't even really miss them. Even our hero Liam didn't make a huge impact on me. We're clearly told (quite a few times from Claire's point of view) that there's an attraction between them, but this feeling didn't jump off page for me like a certain Sentinel and Master's attraction did. The thing is, I want that chemistry. Even if a couple doesn't officially get together in the first book, I still want to feel what's undeniably there.
Despite my grievances with this first book, like I said, the idea is still really interesting to me. There were enough smaller secondary characters that popped up that I loved and I hope will make appearances down the line. I also didn't really have an issue with Claire and Liam's characters overall. They are two people who went through a lot in the war, but they fight for what they believe in and what's right. I felt like all events in The Veil were a starting off point, an introduction, for what's to come next. This is one of those books where I will read to see what happens next before I make any overall judgments of the series. By the end there were a lot of promising developments, I feel very positive about the next book.
The Veil takes place in New Orleans seven years after the veil between worlds was ripped open and a war broke out between humans and paranormals. Humans won, for the most part, and the remaining Paras were sent to Devil's Isle. Now anyone showing any signs of magic is taken to Devil's Isle this includes Sensitives (humans with magical abilities).
Eight months ago Claire Connolly discovered she can move things with her mind. It's a secret she's been keeping ever since then, even from the people she's closest to. When Claire is attacked on her way home one night, she has to use her magic to save herself. Liam Quinn is a bounty hunter and he saw Claire work her magic. He's not there to turn her in, he's there to help her train her magic. Claire begins to realize that things aren't just good and evil, black and white anymore, and never really were in the first place.
The concept of The Veil and this series is very interesting. There were just a few pieces of information that irked me and didn't really sit right. I think it's the fact that I felt like this was a partial post-apocalyptic story. I say partial because the whole of the world (or even the entirety of the US) wasn't effected by the war with Paras. Only places like New Orleans, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi (I believe that's it) were effected in this war. It just nagged at me the whole time I was reading that these people are continuing to live in an area that may or may not have electricity (among other amenities) on any given day, yet it read to me that the rest of the continent didn't suffer this problem. I kept asking myself "why would you stay in that situation?" I suppose I can buy the attachment to ones home and land etc., but then wouldn't you try harder to get these things back to working order despite the presence of magic? There were other things like this that irked me and I don't know if it was because the information was made to be presented in a mysterious way or what, but I know if I was in this situation I would ask questions, I would try to find solutions, or I would just move to somewhere else entirely.
I also felt a huge lack of any kind of connection between the characters. I'm trying not to compare this series too much with Neill's Chicagoland series, but here I feel I have to. The Chicagoland series reeled me in right away at the first book. One of the main reasons why was the clear cut, loving relationships between the characters. The Veil lacks that feeling for me for all that we are introduced to Gunnar and Tadji, the two people Claire calls her best friends. In fact, I think a couple of these characters were off page for quite a while and I didn't even really miss them. Even our hero Liam didn't make a huge impact on me. We're clearly told (quite a few times from Claire's point of view) that there's an attraction between them, but this feeling didn't jump off page for me like a certain Sentinel and Master's attraction did. The thing is, I want that chemistry. Even if a couple doesn't officially get together in the first book, I still want to feel what's undeniably there.
Despite my grievances with this first book, like I said, the idea is still really interesting to me. There were enough smaller secondary characters that popped up that I loved and I hope will make appearances down the line. I also didn't really have an issue with Claire and Liam's characters overall. They are two people who went through a lot in the war, but they fight for what they believe in and what's right. I felt like all events in The Veil were a starting off point, an introduction, for what's to come next. This is one of those books where I will read to see what happens next before I make any overall judgments of the series. By the end there were a lot of promising developments, I feel very positive about the next book.
Fafa's Book Corner (Wordpress)
Fafa's Book Corner (Blogger)
Beware spoilers ahead!
When I first heard about this book I wasn't excited. I was kind of bitter of the fact that The Dark Elites (the author's other series) didn't have a fourth book. At some point I decided to stop being better and try this. I remembered how much I enjoyed The Dark Elites. I am happy to say that I was not disappointed!
This book is written in first person. Focusing on Claire's point of view. It takes place New Orleans which was pretty cool! Her other series took place in Chicago so it was nice to read about something new.
The book begins with Claire who is trying to fix a mechanical owl. She hears fireworks in the background and jumps back. Much to her surprise the owl levitates in the air. She checks the magic monitor to make sure she didn't tip off Containment. She is relived to see that it didn't go off.
Seven years prior to the book humans found out that magic was real. There was apparently a veil that blocked the paras (angels, vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc.) from coming into our world. Once it was opened the paras leaked through and started attacking and killing humans. Claire at the time was sixteen. Her father ran this shop and they had to move a lot to avoid the fight. Claire's father was not comfortable with getting involved with the paras so they kept their heads down. At some point the veil was closed and the government created Containment. An organization that round up paras and send them to The Devil's Isle.
In a way magic was like a disease. Some humans found that they were developing magic. They were called Sensitives. Sensitives absorbed magic, kind of like when a sponge absorbs water. If they absorbed too much magic they would become Wraiths. Monster like beings that needed magic to survive.
Some time prior to the book Claire discovered that she was a Sensitive . Her father had this thing for old signs and decided to get one. As she was setting it up it started to tip over. She didn't have time to think or roll over. She shut her eyes and when it didn't fall on her she opened them. She was surprised to find that the sign was floating inches above her face.
Since that day she has avoided using her powers. She has no desire to be sent to The Devil's Isle. She lets go of the owl and goes back to fixing it. It's War Night in New Orleans and the residents are celebrating. Her friend Gunnar comes in and the two join the party. They meet up with their other friend Tadji.
Some time into the party Claire decides to leave so she can get some sleep. On her way back a girl literally runs her over. Claire tries getting the girls attention but she continues to run. Then two male wraiths emerge and Claire realizes that they are chasing the girl. After some thought she intervenes and tells the girl to run. During the fight she has no choice but to use her powers to defend herself.
After the fight she runs home and gets her to-go back to run away. There were cameras when she used magic and sooner or later Containment will take her and send her to The Devil's Isle. When she is downstairs she finds a man in her store. The man reveals that he knows she is a sensitive and that if she wants to stay out of The Devil's Isle he is willing to help her. Claire does not know whether she should trust this man but she has no choice.
Containment arrive at the store and ask her some questions about the wraith attack. Much to her relief they have not seen the tape in which she displayed her powers. The man turns out to be Liam Quinn a bounty hunter. Once Containment leave Liam take's Claire with him to have the tape erased. After that she takes her to his grandmother's so that they can decide who will train her.
I was really surprised to read that Liam was very nice. It didn't sound that way when I read the synopsis. I thought that he would be a jerk. But he surprised me. He was a genuinely nice person who really cared for people. I ended up liking him!
Claire was also an awesome character! I really loved her whole outlook on life and everything that she did. It surprised me whenever she pushed her emotions away and instead focused on what needed to be done. Her friends were also pretty cool (no love triangle)!
I liked reading about Claire and Liam's interactions. They made a good team. While they do like each other there really isn't a lot of romance in this book. The romance did not take away from the plot.
The world was very interesting! All the sensitives had different powers and it was interesting to read about some of the paras. As well as the team that some of the characters formed to stop the veil from opening. There was no black and white just grey in this world. I also found it surprising that after the war the characters didn't have that much access to things like sugar.
Now for the characters backstories. I'll start with Liam. Liam is twenty-seven. When his house got attacked he went searching for a job and got contracted to work for the government. During which he found out that not all sensitives are bad. His contract got terminated and he instead he became a bounty hunter. Sometime before the book his sister was murdered by wraiths. He has made it his mission to find out what's happening with the wraiths.
Claire is twenty-four years old. Her father was killed during the war and since then she has taken over his shop. For the longest time she didn't interact with anybody because she missed her father too much. But then she meet Gunnar and Tadji and they became friends.
While I was reading this I got confused on the amount of government sects there were. Some of the plot was a bit confusing. But aside from that I had no problems with this book.
Overall this was a really good book! I will definitely be reading the sequel The Sight! I recommend it to fans of the author and fans of fantasy.
Fafa's Book Corner (Blogger)
Beware spoilers ahead!
When I first heard about this book I wasn't excited. I was kind of bitter of the fact that The Dark Elites (the author's other series) didn't have a fourth book. At some point I decided to stop being better and try this. I remembered how much I enjoyed The Dark Elites. I am happy to say that I was not disappointed!
This book is written in first person. Focusing on Claire's point of view. It takes place New Orleans which was pretty cool! Her other series took place in Chicago so it was nice to read about something new.
The book begins with Claire who is trying to fix a mechanical owl. She hears fireworks in the background and jumps back. Much to her surprise the owl levitates in the air. She checks the magic monitor to make sure she didn't tip off Containment. She is relived to see that it didn't go off.
Seven years prior to the book humans found out that magic was real. There was apparently a veil that blocked the paras (angels, vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc.) from coming into our world. Once it was opened the paras leaked through and started attacking and killing humans. Claire at the time was sixteen. Her father ran this shop and they had to move a lot to avoid the fight. Claire's father was not comfortable with getting involved with the paras so they kept their heads down. At some point the veil was closed and the government created Containment. An organization that round up paras and send them to The Devil's Isle.
In a way magic was like a disease. Some humans found that they were developing magic. They were called Sensitives. Sensitives absorbed magic, kind of like when a sponge absorbs water. If they absorbed too much magic they would become Wraiths. Monster like beings that needed magic to survive.
Some time prior to the book Claire discovered that she was a Sensitive . Her father had this thing for old signs and decided to get one. As she was setting it up it started to tip over. She didn't have time to think or roll over. She shut her eyes and when it didn't fall on her she opened them. She was surprised to find that the sign was floating inches above her face.
Since that day she has avoided using her powers. She has no desire to be sent to The Devil's Isle. She lets go of the owl and goes back to fixing it. It's War Night in New Orleans and the residents are celebrating. Her friend Gunnar comes in and the two join the party. They meet up with their other friend Tadji.
Some time into the party Claire decides to leave so she can get some sleep. On her way back a girl literally runs her over. Claire tries getting the girls attention but she continues to run. Then two male wraiths emerge and Claire realizes that they are chasing the girl. After some thought she intervenes and tells the girl to run. During the fight she has no choice but to use her powers to defend herself.
After the fight she runs home and gets her to-go back to run away. There were cameras when she used magic and sooner or later Containment will take her and send her to The Devil's Isle. When she is downstairs she finds a man in her store. The man reveals that he knows she is a sensitive and that if she wants to stay out of The Devil's Isle he is willing to help her. Claire does not know whether she should trust this man but she has no choice.
Containment arrive at the store and ask her some questions about the wraith attack. Much to her relief they have not seen the tape in which she displayed her powers. The man turns out to be Liam Quinn a bounty hunter. Once Containment leave Liam take's Claire with him to have the tape erased. After that she takes her to his grandmother's so that they can decide who will train her.
I was really surprised to read that Liam was very nice. It didn't sound that way when I read the synopsis. I thought that he would be a jerk. But he surprised me. He was a genuinely nice person who really cared for people. I ended up liking him!
Claire was also an awesome character! I really loved her whole outlook on life and everything that she did. It surprised me whenever she pushed her emotions away and instead focused on what needed to be done. Her friends were also pretty cool (no love triangle)!
I liked reading about Claire and Liam's interactions. They made a good team. While they do like each other there really isn't a lot of romance in this book. The romance did not take away from the plot.
The world was very interesting! All the sensitives had different powers and it was interesting to read about some of the paras. As well as the team that some of the characters formed to stop the veil from opening. There was no black and white just grey in this world. I also found it surprising that after the war the characters didn't have that much access to things like sugar.
Now for the characters backstories. I'll start with Liam. Liam is twenty-seven. When his house got attacked he went searching for a job and got contracted to work for the government. During which he found out that not all sensitives are bad. His contract got terminated and he instead he became a bounty hunter. Sometime before the book his sister was murdered by wraiths. He has made it his mission to find out what's happening with the wraiths.
Claire is twenty-four years old. Her father was killed during the war and since then she has taken over his shop. For the longest time she didn't interact with anybody because she missed her father too much. But then she meet Gunnar and Tadji and they became friends.
While I was reading this I got confused on the amount of government sects there were. Some of the plot was a bit confusing. But aside from that I had no problems with this book.
Overall this was a really good book! I will definitely be reading the sequel The Sight! I recommend it to fans of the author and fans of fantasy.
Notes:
The Veil was the easier story to fall into of the two I had started around the same time. That said, I found the dissonance between setting elements and character actions to be a bit rough. Intrigued by the concepts for the "war", magic and other world elements. The politics and strife was not as well established. Decent attempt at giving the Nawlin's flair to the story. Fun concepts but I found the Paranormals to be more interesting than the main character and her love interest.
The Veil was the easier story to fall into of the two I had started around the same time. That said, I found the dissonance between setting elements and character actions to be a bit rough. Intrigued by the concepts for the "war", magic and other world elements. The politics and strife was not as well established. Decent attempt at giving the Nawlin's flair to the story. Fun concepts but I found the Paranormals to be more interesting than the main character and her love interest.
4.5/5 Stars!
Initial Thoughts 7/17/15: Damn! That's how you start a new urban fantasy series! Full review coming soon!
Gah! I need book two!
*I received an eARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Initial Thoughts 7/17/15: Damn! That's how you start a new urban fantasy series! Full review coming soon!
Gah! I need book two!
*I received an eARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 rounding up!
I’m a huge fan of Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland Vampires series so I knew I was going to be grabbing this start of a new paranormal series immediately!
Set in a war torn New Orleans, Neill has made the setting itself a character in this story. Seven years ago, The Veil that separated the city from the paranormal world was opened and a war between the two worlds occurred. When the Veil was finally closed normal life was no more, all paranormals were imprisoned in a separate district and any kind of magic is outlawed.
Claire Connolly is just trying to live a quiet life taking care of the store her father left when he died. But she has a secret. She’s a Sensitive… a person who has magic abilities. She can’t reveal her secret to anyone because it would mean she’d be confined to Devil’s Isle.
Liam Quinn is a bounty hunter who doesn’t have time for a Sensitive who is untrained and can’t control herself, but he can’t deny a connection to Claire. When he sees her using her powers to help someone he offers to help her in return and provide the training she will need to survive in the new world.
As usual, Neill does an amazing job building the world her characters live in. While reading you’ll learn not only about the New Orleans that we know today, but the new city it’s become. That said, it kind of slows the pacing of the story… we spend a lot of time learning about what happened during the war and now after the war to make the city what it is today. I know it can’t be helped and I expect that in the coming books this won’t be as much of an issue because all the groundwork has been laid.
I really enjoy the characters that Neill creates. They’re always incredibly layered and interesting… and both Liam and Claire are that! And the sexual tension between these two!! I can’t tell you how often I thought “OMG JUST KISS ALREADY!” while reading this. I know once they get into relationship territory it’s going to be just plain amazing!
Neill always has done secondary characters so well… she makes them an integral part of her books and she definitely does that again here. I really liked Gunnar and Tadji… though definitely Gunnar more than Tadji, for some reason she just rubbed me the wrong way in a couple scenes. I’m hoping to learn more about them as the series progresses and connect to them a bit more. I’m also really excited to learn more about Liam’s family!
Of course there is an overarching story here that Liam and Claire need to work together to solve… Wraiths are turning up all over the city and attacking innocent people… but why and why are the big questions and the answers aren’t exactly what they were expecting!
Overall a great start to a new paranormal series from an author I love! If you don’t have this on your to read list, make sure you get it there asap! I think it’s going to be an amazing ride!
Thank you to Penguin/NAL for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
I’m a huge fan of Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland Vampires series so I knew I was going to be grabbing this start of a new paranormal series immediately!
Set in a war torn New Orleans, Neill has made the setting itself a character in this story. Seven years ago, The Veil that separated the city from the paranormal world was opened and a war between the two worlds occurred. When the Veil was finally closed normal life was no more, all paranormals were imprisoned in a separate district and any kind of magic is outlawed.
Claire Connolly is just trying to live a quiet life taking care of the store her father left when he died. But she has a secret. She’s a Sensitive… a person who has magic abilities. She can’t reveal her secret to anyone because it would mean she’d be confined to Devil’s Isle.
Liam Quinn is a bounty hunter who doesn’t have time for a Sensitive who is untrained and can’t control herself, but he can’t deny a connection to Claire. When he sees her using her powers to help someone he offers to help her in return and provide the training she will need to survive in the new world.
As usual, Neill does an amazing job building the world her characters live in. While reading you’ll learn not only about the New Orleans that we know today, but the new city it’s become. That said, it kind of slows the pacing of the story… we spend a lot of time learning about what happened during the war and now after the war to make the city what it is today. I know it can’t be helped and I expect that in the coming books this won’t be as much of an issue because all the groundwork has been laid.
I really enjoy the characters that Neill creates. They’re always incredibly layered and interesting… and both Liam and Claire are that! And the sexual tension between these two!! I can’t tell you how often I thought “OMG JUST KISS ALREADY!” while reading this. I know once they get into relationship territory it’s going to be just plain amazing!
Neill always has done secondary characters so well… she makes them an integral part of her books and she definitely does that again here. I really liked Gunnar and Tadji… though definitely Gunnar more than Tadji, for some reason she just rubbed me the wrong way in a couple scenes. I’m hoping to learn more about them as the series progresses and connect to them a bit more. I’m also really excited to learn more about Liam’s family!
Of course there is an overarching story here that Liam and Claire need to work together to solve… Wraiths are turning up all over the city and attacking innocent people… but why and why are the big questions and the answers aren’t exactly what they were expecting!
Overall a great start to a new paranormal series from an author I love! If you don’t have this on your to read list, make sure you get it there asap! I think it’s going to be an amazing ride!
Thank you to Penguin/NAL for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Blood, Grief