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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
Fantastic! Slightly flaky in parts but oh my goodness what atmosphere! Rebecca Roanhorse can write!
Show me the sequel, need to see what Living Arrow gets up to with her Medicine man!
Show me the sequel, need to see what Living Arrow gets up to with her Medicine man!
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
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
At first I wasnt sold because I thought it would be all monster slaying and no real story, but then it actually gets pretty interesting and I will def read the second book!
3.5 stars. Love the setting, the lore. The author doesn’t spoon feed you (aka no info dumping) she makes you work for it. World building is awesome. The characters fell a little flat for me… mainly Neizghání. So much build up to this god/mentor/lover/friend and for what? Also the “reveals” were only a surprise to the main character.
Though I loved Ma’ii. And writing is amazing as expected with this wonderful author.
Though I loved Ma’ii. And writing is amazing as expected with this wonderful author.
4.5 stars
Yep, this will definitely appeal to fans of the show Supernatural. It has the same feel, and it definitely has some of the same action and gore. Nevertheless, I will say that I was definitely dragged quickly into this story, and was eagerly turning pages to see what would happen next. I am absolutely looking forward to the next book in the series.
Yep, this will definitely appeal to fans of the show Supernatural. It has the same feel, and it definitely has some of the same action and gore. Nevertheless, I will say that I was definitely dragged quickly into this story, and was eagerly turning pages to see what would happen next. I am absolutely looking forward to the next book in the series.
A promising, but flawed, urban fantasy debut, set in a post-apocalyptic U.S. after "Big Waters" and wars over energy put most of the country under water. More specifically, the setting is Dinétah, land of the Diné or Navajo, and our protagonist, Maggie Hoskie, is a member of that nation.
At the novel's start, Maggie's a dark brooder, having been abandoned for some unknown reason by her mentor, a god who rescued her from murderous bad guys and taught her to use her "clan powers" to fight monsters. Maggie fears that she's been abandoned because she's too evil, unworthy, and the book is appropriately dark to reflect this, with lots of killing and bloodshed.
I enjoy a fantasy that draws on a mythology/religion (in this case, the Diné or Navajo) not typically featured in the genre. I was a bit confused by its use in the book at times, though. Are the gods good? Some good, some evil? How/why do they interact with the human world? Are there different types/levels of gods?
As for the plot of this first book: A particularly nasty type of monster is suddenly appearing in Dinétah, and Maggie reluctantly tries to discover from whence it is coming. Maggie and her new sidekick, Kai, get jerked around from place to place and slaughter to slaughter, without a sense of building toward a clear end point, without collecting leads and clues that build toward a surprising conclusion. And when we do get to the climactic scene, it is really confusing; there seem to be multiple villains, without any clear sense of why they've involved Maggie in their doings/rivalry.
Maggie appears on the surface to be a kick-ass heroine, but she doesn't have a lot of agency. She's pretty much pushed around by the men (human and god alike) in her life. She may kill a lot of monsters, but she doesn't feel empowered at all.
I thought when Kai was first introduced that he was gay, a mistake on my part, but the vibe between him and Maggie did not seem at all romantic, or even lustful, not then, and not later on in the story. So their later tiny sexy scene felt off to me, too. So not much on the romance front to draw in a romance-oriented reader, alas.
At the novel's start, Maggie's a dark brooder, having been abandoned for some unknown reason by her mentor, a god who rescued her from murderous bad guys and taught her to use her "clan powers" to fight monsters. Maggie fears that she's been abandoned because she's too evil, unworthy, and the book is appropriately dark to reflect this, with lots of killing and bloodshed.
I enjoy a fantasy that draws on a mythology/religion (in this case, the Diné or Navajo) not typically featured in the genre. I was a bit confused by its use in the book at times, though. Are the gods good? Some good, some evil? How/why do they interact with the human world? Are there different types/levels of gods?
As for the plot of this first book: A particularly nasty type of monster is suddenly appearing in Dinétah, and Maggie reluctantly tries to discover from whence it is coming. Maggie and her new sidekick, Kai, get jerked around from place to place and slaughter to slaughter, without a sense of building toward a clear end point, without collecting leads and clues that build toward a surprising conclusion. And when we do get to the climactic scene, it is really confusing; there seem to be multiple villains, without any clear sense of why they've involved Maggie in their doings/rivalry.
Maggie appears on the surface to be a kick-ass heroine, but she doesn't have a lot of agency. She's pretty much pushed around by the men (human and god alike) in her life. She may kill a lot of monsters, but she doesn't feel empowered at all.
I thought when Kai was first introduced that he was gay, a mistake on my part, but the vibe between him and Maggie did not seem at all romantic, or even lustful, not then, and not later on in the story. So their later tiny sexy scene felt off to me, too. So not much on the romance front to draw in a romance-oriented reader, alas.
adventurous
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
This should be marketed as a young adult novel. Boilerplate characters. Misunderstandings between them just for the sake of the plot. Awkward writing style. A lot of things was handled in a very heavy handed way. Never struggled so much to read a book with such a fast moving plot. Not touching the second part with a ten-foot-pole. The only saving grace was the Navajo culture, but it wasn’t explained enough for a reader who might not be familiar with it at all (yes, I was that confused reader).
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really interesting read! It moved a little slow for my taste, but kept my interest well enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence