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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
honestly, it was a pretty solid urban fantasy and i haven't read the genre in a while
4 stars
I received an e-ARC copy of The Veil from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Claire Connelly lives in post paranormal war New Orleans. She runs an old antiques shop that now sells lots of stuff including food and MREs. Magic in any way, shape or form is banned being found in possession of magic (aka being magic)can land you in Devil's Isle, the containment zone that the government stuffed all the paranormals in after the war. Claire has a problem, she by accident discovered that she is sensitive to magic and is telekinetic. When she is attacked by two wraiths and her use of magic draws the attention of bounty hunter Liam Quinn. The two of them soon discover that they are in over their heads and that the veil may not be as stable as they thought.
So I was super excited to something new from Chloe Neill. I follow her Merit Series (Chicagoland Vampires) and I enjoy it. However my one quibble with series is how little actually gets done in each book and the swinging back and forth door of Merit and Ethan's relationship. So I was hoping for an absents of both those things in this book. And it seems to deliver.
I love the set up and I am super curious about the politics behind the paranormal invasion. I was also super happy to see all kinds of paranormal and that they are not all misunderstood good guys. So world building is very good and there are enough holes to spend exploring in the next book, like why exactly wraith's kill people and what the paranormals want with our world.
Claire's friends were good. The 3 of them seem to sandwich well and I like the dynamic. I will continue to like it as long as Tadji deals with the magic disliking and nobody goes off the deep end *coughmallorycough*. Gunnar is an awesome friend. He gets stuff done. I look forward to seeing more of him.
I find Liam interesting. Which as a reader I appreciated as much as hotness, and sometimes more. I love that their relationship is a maybe. And Gavin's advice at the end, awesome.
So I want to read the next book.
I received an e-ARC copy of The Veil from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Claire Connelly lives in post paranormal war New Orleans. She runs an old antiques shop that now sells lots of stuff including food and MREs. Magic in any way, shape or form is banned being found in possession of magic (aka being magic)can land you in Devil's Isle, the containment zone that the government stuffed all the paranormals in after the war. Claire has a problem, she by accident discovered that she is sensitive to magic and is telekinetic. When she is attacked by two wraiths and her use of magic draws the attention of bounty hunter Liam Quinn. The two of them soon discover that they are in over their heads and that the veil may not be as stable as they thought.
So I was super excited to something new from Chloe Neill. I follow her Merit Series (Chicagoland Vampires) and I enjoy it. However my one quibble with series is how little actually gets done in each book and the swinging back and forth door of Merit and Ethan's relationship. So I was hoping for an absents of both those things in this book. And it seems to deliver.
I love the set up and I am super curious about the politics behind the paranormal invasion. I was also super happy to see all kinds of paranormal and that they are not all misunderstood good guys. So world building is very good and there are enough holes to spend exploring in the next book, like why exactly wraith's kill people and what the paranormals want with our world.
Claire's friends were good. The 3 of them seem to sandwich well and I like the dynamic. I will continue to like it as long as Tadji deals with the magic disliking and nobody goes off the deep end *coughmallorycough*. Gunnar is an awesome friend. He gets stuff done. I look forward to seeing more of him.
I find Liam interesting. Which as a reader I appreciated as much as hotness, and sometimes more. I love that their relationship is a maybe. And Gavin's advice at the end, awesome.
So I want to read the next book.
I gave it 3.5 stars
Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires novels have a prominent place on my bookshelf so when I saw that she had a new series coming out, I knew I would be reading it as soon as I could get my hands on it.
The setting was a big plus for me. I have never been to New Orleans, but have read a lot about it and I found Chloe's version of New Orleans to be very interesting and easy to follow. I enjoyed the post-apocalyptic/Dystopian feel as well as the whole Devil's Isle aspect of the city. The Fae storyline was interesting and I found myself looking forward to more details as I was reading.
For some reason I wasn't overly invested in the main characters and actually connected to a few of the secondary characters quicker, which is a bit weird to me. That's not to say I didn't LIKE the main characters, I did, I just would have liked to feel more invested in them by the end of the book. There was some romance between Claire and Liam, which I actually enjoyed quite a bit. Liam held himself back a lot and it takes a bit for us to find out why, but I was rooting for their relationship (and still am moving forward).
Neill's Chicagoland Vampires series is still my favorite of hers, but I really enjoyed the introduction the Devil's Isle series and I am very interested in seeing what will happen next for Claire and Liam.
* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires novels have a prominent place on my bookshelf so when I saw that she had a new series coming out, I knew I would be reading it as soon as I could get my hands on it.
The setting was a big plus for me. I have never been to New Orleans, but have read a lot about it and I found Chloe's version of New Orleans to be very interesting and easy to follow. I enjoyed the post-apocalyptic/Dystopian feel as well as the whole Devil's Isle aspect of the city. The Fae storyline was interesting and I found myself looking forward to more details as I was reading.
For some reason I wasn't overly invested in the main characters and actually connected to a few of the secondary characters quicker, which is a bit weird to me. That's not to say I didn't LIKE the main characters, I did, I just would have liked to feel more invested in them by the end of the book. There was some romance between Claire and Liam, which I actually enjoyed quite a bit. Liam held himself back a lot and it takes a bit for us to find out why, but I was rooting for their relationship (and still am moving forward).
Neill's Chicagoland Vampires series is still my favorite of hers, but I really enjoyed the introduction the Devil's Isle series and I am very interested in seeing what will happen next for Claire and Liam.
* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Interesting dystopian world. Based in New Orleans, the Veil between the human world and the Other world was ripped apart. Creatures of myths/legends/fairytales entered our world and chaos ensued. The Veil was eventually sealed but the creatures trapped here are now prisoners regardless of their being friend or foe.
Claire Connolly is a human Sensitive who can absorb magic energy and channel it to achieve telekinesis. She accidentally discovered this power while trying to avoid mortal danger. Needing to hide this power for fear of being imprisoned for her magic, she is forced to use it to help a girl being attacked by two wraiths. A bounty hunter, Liam, happens upon the scene and helps her cover her tracks. The two of them join forces to investigate unheard of wraiths collaborating together. They soon uncover a plot to reopen the Veil.
There is too much "tell" and not nearly enough "show." The monotonous narrative makes me feel like I am watching through a window from the outside, making it very easy to just walk away when things are slow, which is about the first third of the book. Things get interesting as more creatures are revealed but there is not enough character development to really keep my interest.
ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.
Claire Connolly is a human Sensitive who can absorb magic energy and channel it to achieve telekinesis. She accidentally discovered this power while trying to avoid mortal danger. Needing to hide this power for fear of being imprisoned for her magic, she is forced to use it to help a girl being attacked by two wraiths. A bounty hunter, Liam, happens upon the scene and helps her cover her tracks. The two of them join forces to investigate unheard of wraiths collaborating together. They soon uncover a plot to reopen the Veil.
There is too much "tell" and not nearly enough "show." The monotonous narrative makes me feel like I am watching through a window from the outside, making it very easy to just walk away when things are slow, which is about the first third of the book. Things get interesting as more creatures are revealed but there is not enough character development to really keep my interest.
ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.
interesting new series. A little slow to get started but there is a lot of history and world building. there was a lot of nice supporting character and very interesting main characters
This review appeared first at Fantasy is More Fun.
Here's the thing y'all. I read A LOT of Urban Fantasy. It's easily one of my favorite genres. But the downside of reading a lot of one genre is that it's easy for things to get stale. You've been there seen that a million times.
I NEVER had that problem reading The Veil. If it weren't for that pesky need to sleep, I would have read The Veil in one sitting, easily. Chloe Neill took some of my favorite paranormal elements - the fae!! Squee!! - and put them in a fairly brilliant new world that I adored.
World building can so easily bog down book 1 of an Urban Fantasy, but Chloe is an expert at weaving in details as you need to know them while keeping the momentum going. It certainly helps that she's taken one of my favorite settings - New Orleans - and used it's rich history of fascination with the paranormal to give it a great post-apocalyptic twist.
I just loved reading about life in the zone -the area where paranormal creatures passed through into our world, which includes New Orleans - their struggles with electricity, growing food and most especially, their fear of anything and anyone magical. It's good old human racism at it's finest. I saw a bit of what reminded me of the Jewish Ghettos that popped up in Early Modern Europe - but this time humans are afraid of anyone magical, even humans -- called Sensitives -- that have no control over who they are. I thought Chloe did a really great job showing how this situation was much more complicated than clear cut good and evil, particularly through the eyes of her main character Claire.
Claire is a Sensitive and yet, she holds some of these prejudices. I really enjoyed seeing her world view shaken and stirred up. It totally helped that the main shaker and stirrer was an equally great charater - Liam. I'm so excited for this love interest - it's going to be a slow build with lots of obstacles... AKA The Best Kind!! Claire and Liam are very likable characters. Claire lives in a world where exposing her abilities - that she's a Sensitive - could mean permanaent lockdown, but she's willing to take that chance to save a complete stranger. What's not to love? And Liam - well, I like that he doesn't share the prejudices that the majority of the world seem to share and is willing to put pressure on Claire and other's to make them see things differently, even at his own expense. Like I said, LIKEABLE!!
The Veil wasn't perfect though. I have two main complaints - first off, and this is the big one... Claire's sudden ability fast-forward. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say that one of the things I was loving was that Claire was STRUGGLING hard-core with her magic. And then, all of sudden, well, she wasn't. It was a bummer for me. Secondly, and this is very minor - I want to know more about what's going on outside the zone. Probably not fair to ask for because that's not the focus of the book, but I just want to understand how the rest of the world is coping a bit better. I mean, their REALLY having a hard time in the Zone and I'm wondering, what's the rest of the world doing to help them? Because it seems like some of their problems the world SHOULD be able to do something about. But I do know our world, so I believe that they aren't... I just want to know WHY. I'm curious.
Ultimately, The Veil was pretty great. I loved the world, I loved the characters- including the friendships that I haven't had time to talk about but were pretty strong - and I loved the sense of potential epicness for the series over the long haul. I mean, that ending! Yowzers y'all! Things are going to get INTENSE!! And I can't wait for the ride!
Here's the thing y'all. I read A LOT of Urban Fantasy. It's easily one of my favorite genres. But the downside of reading a lot of one genre is that it's easy for things to get stale. You've been there seen that a million times.
I NEVER had that problem reading The Veil. If it weren't for that pesky need to sleep, I would have read The Veil in one sitting, easily. Chloe Neill took some of my favorite paranormal elements - the fae!! Squee!! - and put them in a fairly brilliant new world that I adored.
World building can so easily bog down book 1 of an Urban Fantasy, but Chloe is an expert at weaving in details as you need to know them while keeping the momentum going. It certainly helps that she's taken one of my favorite settings - New Orleans - and used it's rich history of fascination with the paranormal to give it a great post-apocalyptic twist.
I just loved reading about life in the zone -the area where paranormal creatures passed through into our world, which includes New Orleans - their struggles with electricity, growing food and most especially, their fear of anything and anyone magical. It's good old human racism at it's finest. I saw a bit of what reminded me of the Jewish Ghettos that popped up in Early Modern Europe - but this time humans are afraid of anyone magical, even humans -- called Sensitives -- that have no control over who they are. I thought Chloe did a really great job showing how this situation was much more complicated than clear cut good and evil, particularly through the eyes of her main character Claire.
Claire is a Sensitive and yet, she holds some of these prejudices. I really enjoyed seeing her world view shaken and stirred up. It totally helped that the main shaker and stirrer was an equally great charater - Liam. I'm so excited for this love interest - it's going to be a slow build with lots of obstacles... AKA The Best Kind!! Claire and Liam are very likable characters. Claire lives in a world where exposing her abilities - that she's a Sensitive - could mean permanaent lockdown, but she's willing to take that chance to save a complete stranger. What's not to love? And Liam - well, I like that he doesn't share the prejudices that the majority of the world seem to share and is willing to put pressure on Claire and other's to make them see things differently, even at his own expense. Like I said, LIKEABLE!!
The Veil wasn't perfect though. I have two main complaints - first off, and this is the big one... Claire's sudden ability fast-forward. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say that one of the things I was loving was that Claire was STRUGGLING hard-core with her magic. And then, all of sudden, well, she wasn't. It was a bummer for me. Secondly, and this is very minor - I want to know more about what's going on outside the zone. Probably not fair to ask for because that's not the focus of the book, but I just want to understand how the rest of the world is coping a bit better. I mean, their REALLY having a hard time in the Zone and I'm wondering, what's the rest of the world doing to help them? Because it seems like some of their problems the world SHOULD be able to do something about. But I do know our world, so I believe that they aren't... I just want to know WHY. I'm curious.
Ultimately, The Veil was pretty great. I loved the world, I loved the characters- including the friendships that I haven't had time to talk about but were pretty strong - and I loved the sense of potential epicness for the series over the long haul. I mean, that ending! Yowzers y'all! Things are going to get INTENSE!! And I can't wait for the ride!
Really good world building, interesting main and side characters. Audio narration is well done and immersive. Going to jump right into book 2.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ok series. I love this author so want to read the next book to decide.
I read this book, I thought, for the November/December 2015 Vaginal Fantasy Book Club. I'm not sure what the deal is with that for this holiday maybe hiatus, but I'd read the first two in this author's Chicagoland series and really liked them, so I didn't mind at all.
Imagine my surprise when mostly what I felt for this book was utter boredom. I'm not sure exactly why it didn't catch me, but I just couldn't wait to finish this book. I'll be going back to the Chicagoland books now and won't read any more of these.
Imagine my surprise when mostly what I felt for this book was utter boredom. I'm not sure exactly why it didn't catch me, but I just couldn't wait to finish this book. I'll be going back to the Chicagoland books now and won't read any more of these.