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llmacrae 's review for:
Minimum Wage Magic
by Rachel Aaron
Copying review from previous GR account:
It gives me physical pain that I am unable to rate this any higher than five stars! This. Was. My. Jam.
Wait, I'm British. This. Was. My. Cup. Of. TEA!
Wondrous world-building, compelling characters, p... perfect plot? Okay, so it wasn't perfect, but it's been a long day and my alliteration game isn't quite up to par right now.
I love world-building, characters, and plot in that order. I can deal with a plot full of holes as long as I like (at least) one or two of the characters. I can deal with unlikeable or unrelatable characters as long as the world-building tickles my fancy - and the more magical or fantastical the better.
Rachel Aaron has now become one of my insta-buy authors. I discovered her Heartstrikers series last year and became so engrossed, I refused to wait for my next Audible credit when I'd finished one, and simply paid full price for the next book.
It was a similar story with Minimum Wage Magic. Sleep became an irritation, because I had to pause the story. I listen to audiobooks during my commute to and from work as it's a drive of reasonable length. More than once, I ended up sat in my car on my driveway, refusing to go inside, because I was listening.
There's something about her writing style that just sings of intrigue. Whatever happens, there's always something else you have to know. For me personally, Rachel Aaron has this down to an art form.
It's a short read that's faced paced and full of action, suspense, and emotion. Despite being less than ten hours as an audiobook, there's SO much packed into it. It's my own fault that I wish it were twice or three times as long, just so I could spend more time with the characters and the world.
Having read the Heartstrikers series, I immediately found the DFZ to be familiar ground - although there's so much more to it in Minimum Wage Magic. You're discovering new places, jobs, myths, and as it's set a little while after the end of Heartstrikers, there are some great nods to that series, too, which were just beautiful.
The ending provides plenty of closure, but also an uncontrollable urge to find out more. So many questions need to be answered, so many details need to be revealed, and I'll be buying the second book as soon as it drops.
There are two - three, really - main characters and a handful of side ones. They're all given perfect voices that are unique, fully fleshed out, and utterly compelling. I sympathised with an AI, I screamed at the speakers when characters did or said - or almost did or almost said - things. I was gripped from the first sentence until the end, and never did I feel bored.
Opal is a fantastic protagonist. She has plenty of spunk, sass, and determination. She's also flawed in so many ways (not all of her own doing) and my heart went out to her so many times. Her recent run of bad luck (five months' worth) has left her bank account precariously low, and she takes riskier and riskier steps to get back into the black. She's got $10,000 to find by the end of the week, or she'll be screwed. Things spiral out of control when she finds a dead body in a unit she buys, and it turns out the deceased professor had a very interesting project on the go. Thus, Opal is thrown into a spiral of a hunt to find out what the work was, if it's worth anywhere near enough to cover her debt, and why on earth there is now a team of mercenaries shooting at her.
Sybil, her AI (and I apologise for any typos, I had the Audible version), is a fantastic companion who spoke so much sense and also irritated me at certain points, but I couldn't help but love her. A social companion AI, Sybil tries to keep Opal on the straight and narrow - or at least keep her safe while she gets herself into deeper and deeper problems. She was fab.
And then there's Nik, who I think has shot up to the top of my favourite characters list. I'm DYING to know more about him and his story. A fellow Cleaner with more than a few secrets of his own, he complemented and clashed with Opal in brilliant ways. Although appearing at first as a cookie cutter character, the amount of depth - and mystery - that builds around him as the story progesses is entrancing.
Rina is also an interesting side character whose more cybernetic than human, and even though we only spent a few minutes with her, she has so much presence that I'm keeping my fingers crossed she reappears in the sequels. I can't not mention the Empty Wind, God of the Forgotten Dead, one of the multiple death gods now roaming the world, who was fantastic. A favourite character of mine from Heartstrikers, having him reappear and play a role in this fiasco was brilliant.
I don't want to give too much away as far as the other characters go for fear of spoilers or ruining the twists and surprises (two of which I predicted, the rest were all "holy shit" moments), but I cannot recommend this read highly enough.
I've found urban fantasy - especially with well-timed, well-written humour - is fast becoming a favourite sub-genre for me, and I implore you to pick it up (or the Heartstrikers series) if you want a light-hearted, fast-paced, fun read. They work well as palate cleansers after denser stuff, too.
Absolutely superb and really kept me going during some tough days at work where I felt rubbish.
Love. Love. Love.
It gives me physical pain that I am unable to rate this any higher than five stars! This. Was. My. Jam.
Wait, I'm British. This. Was. My. Cup. Of. TEA!
Wondrous world-building, compelling characters, p... perfect plot? Okay, so it wasn't perfect, but it's been a long day and my alliteration game isn't quite up to par right now.
I love world-building, characters, and plot in that order. I can deal with a plot full of holes as long as I like (at least) one or two of the characters. I can deal with unlikeable or unrelatable characters as long as the world-building tickles my fancy - and the more magical or fantastical the better.
Rachel Aaron has now become one of my insta-buy authors. I discovered her Heartstrikers series last year and became so engrossed, I refused to wait for my next Audible credit when I'd finished one, and simply paid full price for the next book.
It was a similar story with Minimum Wage Magic. Sleep became an irritation, because I had to pause the story. I listen to audiobooks during my commute to and from work as it's a drive of reasonable length. More than once, I ended up sat in my car on my driveway, refusing to go inside, because I was listening.
There's something about her writing style that just sings of intrigue. Whatever happens, there's always something else you have to know. For me personally, Rachel Aaron has this down to an art form.
It's a short read that's faced paced and full of action, suspense, and emotion. Despite being less than ten hours as an audiobook, there's SO much packed into it. It's my own fault that I wish it were twice or three times as long, just so I could spend more time with the characters and the world.
Having read the Heartstrikers series, I immediately found the DFZ to be familiar ground - although there's so much more to it in Minimum Wage Magic. You're discovering new places, jobs, myths, and as it's set a little while after the end of Heartstrikers, there are some great nods to that series, too, which were just beautiful.
The ending provides plenty of closure, but also an uncontrollable urge to find out more. So many questions need to be answered, so many details need to be revealed, and I'll be buying the second book as soon as it drops.
There are two - three, really - main characters and a handful of side ones. They're all given perfect voices that are unique, fully fleshed out, and utterly compelling. I sympathised with an AI, I screamed at the speakers when characters did or said - or almost did or almost said - things. I was gripped from the first sentence until the end, and never did I feel bored.
Opal is a fantastic protagonist. She has plenty of spunk, sass, and determination. She's also flawed in so many ways (not all of her own doing) and my heart went out to her so many times. Her recent run of bad luck (five months' worth) has left her bank account precariously low, and she takes riskier and riskier steps to get back into the black. She's got $10,000 to find by the end of the week, or she'll be screwed. Things spiral out of control when she finds a dead body in a unit she buys, and it turns out the deceased professor had a very interesting project on the go. Thus, Opal is thrown into a spiral of a hunt to find out what the work was, if it's worth anywhere near enough to cover her debt, and why on earth there is now a team of mercenaries shooting at her.
Sybil, her AI (and I apologise for any typos, I had the Audible version), is a fantastic companion who spoke so much sense and also irritated me at certain points, but I couldn't help but love her. A social companion AI, Sybil tries to keep Opal on the straight and narrow - or at least keep her safe while she gets herself into deeper and deeper problems. She was fab.
And then there's Nik, who I think has shot up to the top of my favourite characters list. I'm DYING to know more about him and his story. A fellow Cleaner with more than a few secrets of his own, he complemented and clashed with Opal in brilliant ways. Although appearing at first as a cookie cutter character, the amount of depth - and mystery - that builds around him as the story progesses is entrancing.
Rina is also an interesting side character whose more cybernetic than human, and even though we only spent a few minutes with her, she has so much presence that I'm keeping my fingers crossed she reappears in the sequels. I can't not mention the Empty Wind, God of the Forgotten Dead, one of the multiple death gods now roaming the world, who was fantastic. A favourite character of mine from Heartstrikers, having him reappear and play a role in this fiasco was brilliant.
I don't want to give too much away as far as the other characters go for fear of spoilers or ruining the twists and surprises (two of which I predicted, the rest were all "holy shit" moments), but I cannot recommend this read highly enough.
I've found urban fantasy - especially with well-timed, well-written humour - is fast becoming a favourite sub-genre for me, and I implore you to pick it up (or the Heartstrikers series) if you want a light-hearted, fast-paced, fun read. They work well as palate cleansers after denser stuff, too.
Absolutely superb and really kept me going during some tough days at work where I felt rubbish.
Love. Love. Love.