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nedge's review
Auto-returned to library on due date (25/12). Too busy to read in lead up to Xmas + never really got into it
claire_loves_books's review against another edition
2.0
I really liked the characters and the world building but the plot itself fell a bit short for me, It just felt like a standard detective story. I also found Sunny Rico about the dullest character in the whole story, I don't really see what Orient sees in her and I wish that we could have had more of the elves rather than a thoroughly predictable 'good cop in a bad town' character. The end was an anticlimax and it all just felt a bit pointless.
chloefrizzle's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely adore this book. Emotions and mystery and vibes.
kcelena's review against another edition
5.0
My second foray across the city lines of Bordertown and I find myself as entirely enchanted as the first time. The characters are real and nuanced, the writing is on point, and the city itself is nothing short of incredible. I am hungry for more!
slimikin's review against another edition
1.0
I can imagine that for those who read the Borderlands books growing up, this might've been a vivid exploration of a beloved terrain, but as a newcomer, I found it mostly boring. The worldbuilding is more quirky-small-town-with-elves than richly textured urban fantasy. The protagonist reads like a middle-aged woman instead of a man in his early twenties. And once I realized Sunny Rico looked rather strikingly like the author, it was impossible to ignore the potential self-insertion.
But while all that would've earned a two- or three-star rating, I bumped this one down even further because. That this book's protagonist, himself, is almost excruciatingly uninteresting in spite of his ability and hard-luck past just adds insult to injury.
But while all that would've earned a two- or three-star rating, I bumped this one down even further because
Spoiler
I am really, really, really tired of reading books where the author kills off the most interesting character so the protagonist has a reason to grow/fight/act crazy/get revenge/whatever else the plot might requireveethorn's review against another edition
4.0
Oh, she's so good. So good. She handles grief well here, too, in addition to a plot that gets more complicated as you go along. She really isn't a beginnings kind of writer, but she's very good indeed at wrapping it all up.
softbitten's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Xenophobia
Minor: Addiction and Sexual content
foxysocksy's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
immovabletype's review against another edition
2.5
The aesthetic of this book is so eighties. Or, more precisely, the part of the early nineties that still hadn't realised how much it would look back on the previous decade and cringe. It actually took me a while to get past this! I didn't even know it was possible for a book to do this!
I'm having a hard time figuring out what I was meant to get from this story. The writing was competent — smart, even — the characters were likeable enough, the mystery was engaging. But it was strangely episodic in a way that made it feel like the narrative wasn't enough to contain the important emotional moments. Instead of having the impact they were supposed to, I felt cheated and angry and like the onus had been put on me to find meaning when I'd only just begun to know and care about the characters. And I simply don't see the necessity or benefit of these turns to the narrative — it would have required hitting on a much stronger theme throughout in order to have been successful at it.
This was a solid three stars for the majority of the book, but this problem toward the end knocks it down to 2.5 stars.
I'm having a hard time figuring out what I was meant to get from this story. The writing was competent — smart, even — the characters were likeable enough, the mystery was engaging. But it was strangely episodic in a way that made it feel like the narrative wasn't enough to contain the important emotional moments. Instead of having the impact they were supposed to, I felt cheated and angry and like the onus had been put on me to find meaning when I'd only just begun to know and care about the characters. And I simply don't see the necessity or benefit of these turns to the narrative — it would have required hitting on a much stronger theme throughout in order to have been successful at it.
This was a solid three stars for the majority of the book, but this problem toward the end knocks it down to 2.5 stars.