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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
An incredibly interesting and unique world. I can't wait to continue on with the series. This installment raises many questions that I hope will be answered.
This world and the characters are very intriguing, and I can't wait to read the next book.
I'm not really sure I read the same book as everyone else. Or my tastes are just WILDLY different.
This book started out interesting to me. I'm not a big fan of Westerns, but this was interesting. Unfortunately about a third of the way through I just got incredibly bored. At about half way, I skimmed a LOT. I'm not sure exactly what I didn't care for here, other than there was just a LOT of internal monologue from Iz, debating the same things over and over again. Seeing her thought process a few times is interesting. Every other page, not so much. So, yeah.
This book started out interesting to me. I'm not a big fan of Westerns, but this was interesting. Unfortunately about a third of the way through I just got incredibly bored. At about half way, I skimmed a LOT. I'm not sure exactly what I didn't care for here, other than there was just a LOT of internal monologue from Iz, debating the same things over and over again. Seeing her thought process a few times is interesting. Every other page, not so much. So, yeah.
There were parts of this book that I REALLY liked but the through line was not strong enough and it moved very lugubriously. I was definitely The atmosphere was really great, though, and I really liked both of the main characters.
This took me an embarrassingly long time to read. A lot of that's on me, since I started it during a week of deadlines and very sudden family visits, and reading just stopped being a priority. But the book also isn't a pick-up-and-can't put-down kind of story. Which is actually fine--I generally enjoy the slower pace here, like I was wandering the Road with Izzy and Gabriel, and we didn't have to get anywhere in a hurry. Journey, not the destination, and all that. Very appropriate for a western. But I do feel like I have some problems in the last third of the book, and I think one of the main ones is that there doesn't feel like a lot of payoff. I saw one review on Goodreads noting that Izzy and Gabriel always seem to arrive after the action/horror/Big Event has happened, and I think the book might have been stronger if that wasn't always the case, especially at the end. (It's hard to talk about this without going into more spoiler-y details, which I won't be doing today.)
I like this whole world a lot. The weaving of different mythologies and magic systems is fascinating, and I'm entirely in love with the Territory. The worldbuilding works well for me, informative without ever being boring. I also really like the characters: Gabriel's probably my favorite, but I enjoy Izzy and Farron and the Devil, too, despite not spending much time with him. I enjoy the relationship between Gabriel and Izzy; it, along with just the general awesomeness of this AU world, really make the whole book for me.
Still, I do have problems. Repetition is a big one: I became very tired of hearing how mad Farron was, especially when he never struck me as terribly mad. Izzy notices the madness in his eyes, or Gabriel will call him mad, but for the sheer amount of times the word is used, I really needed a moment where Farron did something and I thought, "Holy hell, he is MAD." That really never happened. Also--and again, this is difficult without spoilers--at a certain point, it feels like Gabriel's basically repeating the same thought process over and over again, once we learn something about him. I kept thinking, "I get this, I understand, let's move on now and learn the actual details of this revelation." But we never actually get those details, which was jarring for me because, somehow, I entirely missed that this was the first book in a series. It wasn't until I reached the end and was like, "Um," that I looked it up and realized this book was not a standalone. So I'm struggling here. Some of my dissatisfaction with the end is surely because of that. But I do feel that the last third is a bit underwhelming overall.
Still. I definitely liked this book enough that I plan to read the next one. Repetition aside, it's very well written and I want to know what happens to Izzy and Gabriel.
I like this whole world a lot. The weaving of different mythologies and magic systems is fascinating, and I'm entirely in love with the Territory. The worldbuilding works well for me, informative without ever being boring. I also really like the characters: Gabriel's probably my favorite, but I enjoy Izzy and Farron and the Devil, too, despite not spending much time with him. I enjoy the relationship between Gabriel and Izzy; it, along with just the general awesomeness of this AU world, really make the whole book for me.
Still, I do have problems. Repetition is a big one: I became very tired of hearing how mad Farron was, especially when he never struck me as terribly mad. Izzy notices the madness in his eyes, or Gabriel will call him mad, but for the sheer amount of times the word is used, I really needed a moment where Farron did something and I thought, "Holy hell, he is MAD." That really never happened. Also--and again, this is difficult without spoilers--at a certain point, it feels like Gabriel's basically repeating the same thought process over and over again, once we learn something about him. I kept thinking, "I get this, I understand, let's move on now and learn the actual details of this revelation." But we never actually get those details, which was jarring for me because, somehow, I entirely missed that this was the first book in a series. It wasn't until I reached the end and was like, "Um," that I looked it up and realized this book was not a standalone. So I'm struggling here. Some of my dissatisfaction with the end is surely because of that. But I do feel that the last third is a bit underwhelming overall.
Still. I definitely liked this book enough that I plan to read the next one. Repetition aside, it's very well written and I want to know what happens to Izzy and Gabriel.
I picked this book up on the strength of the description alone and I wasn’t disappointed. I thought the characters were strong and the plot is fascinating. It was basically exactly what I wanted to read right now weirdly enough: A western dark fantasy.
On her sixteenth birthday, Isobel makes the choice to work for the devil in his territory west of the Mississippi. But this is not the devil you know. This is a being who deals fairly with immense—but not unlimited—power, who offers opportunities to people who want to make a deal, and makes sure they always get what they deserve. But his land is a wild west that needs a human touch, and that’s where Izzy comes in. Inadvertently trained by him to see the clues in and manipulations of human desire, Izzy is raised to be his left hand and travel the circuitous road through the territory. As we all know, where there is magic there is power and chaos…and death.
The world that was created for this book is vast and complicated and yet it feels very lived in and realistic. Part of it might be because although it is a alternative United States where the Devil rules over the unsettled West, it still reflects the feeling of that time. It is a wild, lawless place where anything can happen. The towns Isobel visits along her path feel true to the time period and full of real people. There isn’t really anything I would describe in this book as cardboard or 2 dimensional which has been a real problem in the books I’ve been reading lately.
Speaking of Isobel, and all the other characters that inhabit this world, they are fantastic. At 16 years old, Isobel makes a very big decision to work for the Devil and it isn’t at all what she thought it would be. Isobel hoped to remain in Flood the town where she grew up, but the Devil has other ideas naming her his Left Hand and sending her out into the vast Territories to keep the peace. She is helped on this venture by what I would call the secondary main character, Gabriel. He is a young man who comes into the Devil’s bar in Flood and leaves after making a bargain to protect Isobel. It was interesting to see their friendship develop over the course of the book. He is primarily a teacher and then later a friend. His job is to teach Isobel how to survive on The Road and to help her navigate her new job/abilities. He is a very dry character for me which made it a bit difficult to get into his narration sections in the book, but I ended up liking him quite a bit.
The plot of the book comes into better focus when we start to learn of ominous and terrifying things happening to settlers and towns around the territory. It was a pretty intriguing little mystery with some pretty fantastic set pieces. It really helps that the story is written very lyrically or poetically. Things happen that take on a very appropriately dream-like quality and I was a big fan of the writing in this book.
If I had to point to anything that annoyed me in the book it was the amount of whining Isobel does throughout the story. I get it, she’s 16 years old, but it can get pretty tiresome during some sections of this story. Also, this negativity means that she remains pretty passive throughout the whole story until the end when she finally steps up and fights back.
Overall, I really liked this book and I definitely recommend it! I’m certainly going to look for the second book soon.
On her sixteenth birthday, Isobel makes the choice to work for the devil in his territory west of the Mississippi. But this is not the devil you know. This is a being who deals fairly with immense—but not unlimited—power, who offers opportunities to people who want to make a deal, and makes sure they always get what they deserve. But his land is a wild west that needs a human touch, and that’s where Izzy comes in. Inadvertently trained by him to see the clues in and manipulations of human desire, Izzy is raised to be his left hand and travel the circuitous road through the territory. As we all know, where there is magic there is power and chaos…and death.
The world that was created for this book is vast and complicated and yet it feels very lived in and realistic. Part of it might be because although it is a alternative United States where the Devil rules over the unsettled West, it still reflects the feeling of that time. It is a wild, lawless place where anything can happen. The towns Isobel visits along her path feel true to the time period and full of real people. There isn’t really anything I would describe in this book as cardboard or 2 dimensional which has been a real problem in the books I’ve been reading lately.
Speaking of Isobel, and all the other characters that inhabit this world, they are fantastic. At 16 years old, Isobel makes a very big decision to work for the Devil and it isn’t at all what she thought it would be. Isobel hoped to remain in Flood the town where she grew up, but the Devil has other ideas naming her his Left Hand and sending her out into the vast Territories to keep the peace. She is helped on this venture by what I would call the secondary main character, Gabriel. He is a young man who comes into the Devil’s bar in Flood and leaves after making a bargain to protect Isobel. It was interesting to see their friendship develop over the course of the book. He is primarily a teacher and then later a friend. His job is to teach Isobel how to survive on The Road and to help her navigate her new job/abilities. He is a very dry character for me which made it a bit difficult to get into his narration sections in the book, but I ended up liking him quite a bit.
The plot of the book comes into better focus when we start to learn of ominous and terrifying things happening to settlers and towns around the territory. It was a pretty intriguing little mystery with some pretty fantastic set pieces. It really helps that the story is written very lyrically or poetically. Things happen that take on a very appropriately dream-like quality and I was a big fan of the writing in this book.
If I had to point to anything that annoyed me in the book it was the amount of whining Isobel does throughout the story. I get it, she’s 16 years old, but it can get pretty tiresome during some sections of this story. Also, this negativity means that she remains pretty passive throughout the whole story until the end when she finally steps up and fights back.
Overall, I really liked this book and I definitely recommend it! I’m certainly going to look for the second book soon.
Augh, so several things:
1) I enjoyed this book as well as its characterizations of pretty much everyone, including the West itself
2) This is only the most recent book that has caused me to say, "oh! this is YA. I had no idea." It's apparently not? It's not a problem for me, since the genre wouldn't have dissuaded me from reading it anyway, but FYI.
3) The worldbuilding is magnificent, and one of my favorites in the current Paranormal Old West
rage.
4) DEAR SWEET BABY JESUS DOESN'T ANYONE JUST WRITE A DAMN BOOK ANYMORE. I know I sound like a grumpy old man waving a rusty shotgun at a bunch of teenagers slinking off the lawn, but help me. The end of this book is a damn setup for ten thousand more. It's like, the pilot of Supernatural, or say, Friday the 13th (the series). We do get some closure, but it's not satisfying; it feels like a setup, and I'm annoyed. bah. anyway. Wake me when the series ends and I may return.
1) I enjoyed this book as well as its characterizations of pretty much everyone, including the West itself
2) This is only the most recent book that has caused me to say, "oh! this is YA. I had no idea." It's apparently not? It's not a problem for me, since the genre wouldn't have dissuaded me from reading it anyway, but FYI.
3) The worldbuilding is magnificent, and one of my favorites in the current Paranormal Old West
rage.
4) DEAR SWEET BABY JESUS DOESN'T ANYONE JUST WRITE A DAMN BOOK ANYMORE. I know I sound like a grumpy old man waving a rusty shotgun at a bunch of teenagers slinking off the lawn, but help me. The end of this book is a damn setup for ten thousand more. It's like, the pilot of Supernatural, or say, Friday the 13th (the series). We do get some closure, but it's not satisfying; it feels like a setup, and I'm annoyed. bah. anyway. Wake me when the series ends and I may return.
Spoiler
Also, I now need a giant otter in my life. The end.
3.5 stars
Interesting world building, but the ending was a letdown.
Interesting world building, but the ending was a letdown.
This book was just not for me. I didn't much care what happened to the main character nor to her mentor. I was not all that satisfied by the ending, mostly b/c I think I had presumed they would wrap back around to Flood and they never did, so we didn't get to hear any additional info from the devil. Overall just a little too slow and rambly and long for my taste.