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cerysharrison 's review for:
Babayaga: A Novel of Witches in Paris
by Toby Barlow
It started off with a bang, a great beginning, but as the plots moved on I became increasingly confused. Was this a mystery? A fantasy ? Historical fiction? And what’s up with those “Songs”? Don’t get me wrong: I don’t believe a book should neatly fit in a genre but I do expect the author to decide what he’s writing. Ultimately I think there were two very entertaining books here that shouldn’t have been bound in one volume: a thriller about the CIA’s infiltration of American companies abroad and co-opting them for use in espionage and another about a group of expatriate babayagas navigating the mid 20th century. Finally one last pet peeve, I am tried of authors whose main character is modeled on themselves (a loner, moderately attractive, etc) who becomes sexual heroin for hot female characters (in this case a woman who is a stand-in for Jackie Kennedy). Just no. That truly requires a tremendous leap of faith from the reader.