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A review by ekr
Cities of Smoke and Starlight by Alli Earnest
2.5
I really wanted to like this one, and while the last quarter of the book redeemed it somewhat, I do have some gripes.
I was excited for the dynamic between Kase and Hallie, but I didn't find either very likable. I like banter as much as the next bookworm, but a lot of their bickering seemed unprompted and unfounded. Kase is a bit of a whiner, but Hallie is so "adorably clumsy" that maybe I would have been complaining too. I mean, I was complaining. Girl, pick 👏🏻 up 👏🏻 your 👏🏻 feet 👏🏻. I'm still trying to decide what makes these characters redeemable, aside from maybe their tragic backstories.
The fictional slang was a little overdone. There were so many fluff chapters that didn't move the story forward. Too many repeated ideas between the different POVs. Honestly? I think this book just needed a good editor. Someone to challenge some of the scenes that were left in that probably shouldn't have been included in a final draft. I like the premise. There were some real stakes and action there in the end that finally had me invested. That's where the story really shined. It got stronger and stronger, which might motivate me enough to pick up the sequel.
I was excited for the dynamic between Kase and Hallie, but I didn't find either very likable. I like banter as much as the next bookworm, but a lot of their bickering seemed unprompted and unfounded. Kase is a bit of a whiner, but Hallie is so "adorably clumsy" that maybe I would have been complaining too. I mean, I was complaining. Girl, pick 👏🏻 up 👏🏻 your 👏🏻 feet 👏🏻. I'm still trying to decide what makes these characters redeemable, aside from maybe their tragic backstories.
The fictional slang was a little overdone. There were so many fluff chapters that didn't move the story forward. Too many repeated ideas between the different POVs. Honestly? I think this book just needed a good editor. Someone to challenge some of the scenes that were left in that probably shouldn't have been included in a final draft. I like the premise. There were some real stakes and action there in the end that finally had me invested. That's where the story really shined. It got stronger and stronger, which might motivate me enough to pick up the sequel.