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A review by wanderinglynn
Dead To Me by Anton Strout
2.0
First, I'll preface this review by saying I do love the urban fantasy genre. But, this story has too many inconsistencies in it. The kinda that make you go "but wait, that doesn't make any sense." I might be able to get past some of the story inconsistencies, but the characters are flat and also inconsistent.
We first meet Simon at his apartment with a woman named Tamara, who doesn't stay in the story but a few pages. But we know the two have been flirting for about 3 weeks. In this scene, we're also introduced to Simon's power - psychometry, the ability to touch an object and see information about its history & its owner. And Simon cannot control this power. So of course, right as he & Tamara are starting to get hot and heavy, he touches her cell phone and sees her screwing someone at Mardi Gras. First, I won't even comment on the odds of a woman's cell phone ending up on the bed where Simon just happens to touch it. My bigger issue, was after he had this vision, instead of blowing off his abrupt departure from the bed and weakness (he falls over) as an illness, he actually says "Fergus" in response to her questioning what happened. She then goes ballistic, accuses him of stalking her and reading her diary (because no one aside from her & Fergus know about their rendavous) and storms out. Okay, so maybe if the stars align right, this is believable.
Within the next scene, after collapsing, because apparently psychometry is similar to a hypoglycemic attack, he catches a cab. He goes to some sort of flea-type market because he needs to find a hidden treasure because he needs money as his fridge is way empty. Wait, what? He apparently can't afford groceries, but just took a taxi and then turns around and spends 20 dollars on an old video game system and old games because his vision showed a bitch mom trashing her sons treasured possession. Then he gets a phone call from work mentor and catches another cab back downtown. Okay, I'm all for setting wrongs right, so I'll overlook the 20 for the game system. My issue is that this guy apparently can't afford cereal, milk, and a loaf of bread, but can afford two taxi rides in NYC? Hmm, something isn't adding up here.
And these problems are within the first 25 pages. Reading further into the story, Conner flips from acting like adolescent, who lashes out at the slightest resistance to him, the then acts like the adult mentor/boss he's supposed to be with sage advice. Simon goes from whiney to cool former thief mode. I would expect someone who previously lived a life of crime to remain a bit more collected, but often Simon acts like he's a 17 year-old fresh faced kid who's never been to the big city.
Overall, the concept was good, but the story and characters failed to deliver. I just couldn't buy into the world the author attempted to create. Needless to say, I won't be reading any more in this series.
We first meet Simon at his apartment with a woman named Tamara, who doesn't stay in the story but a few pages. But we know the two have been flirting for about 3 weeks. In this scene, we're also introduced to Simon's power - psychometry, the ability to touch an object and see information about its history & its owner. And Simon cannot control this power. So of course, right as he & Tamara are starting to get hot and heavy, he touches her cell phone and sees her screwing someone at Mardi Gras. First, I won't even comment on the odds of a woman's cell phone ending up on the bed where Simon just happens to touch it. My bigger issue, was after he had this vision, instead of blowing off his abrupt departure from the bed and weakness (he falls over) as an illness, he actually says "Fergus" in response to her questioning what happened. She then goes ballistic, accuses him of stalking her and reading her diary (because no one aside from her & Fergus know about their rendavous) and storms out. Okay, so maybe if the stars align right, this is believable.
Within the next scene, after collapsing, because apparently psychometry is similar to a hypoglycemic attack, he catches a cab. He goes to some sort of flea-type market because he needs to find a hidden treasure because he needs money as his fridge is way empty. Wait, what? He apparently can't afford groceries, but just took a taxi and then turns around and spends 20 dollars on an old video game system and old games because his vision showed a bitch mom trashing her sons treasured possession. Then he gets a phone call from work mentor and catches another cab back downtown. Okay, I'm all for setting wrongs right, so I'll overlook the 20 for the game system. My issue is that this guy apparently can't afford cereal, milk, and a loaf of bread, but can afford two taxi rides in NYC? Hmm, something isn't adding up here.
And these problems are within the first 25 pages. Reading further into the story, Conner flips from acting like adolescent, who lashes out at the slightest resistance to him, the then acts like the adult mentor/boss he's supposed to be with sage advice. Simon goes from whiney to cool former thief mode. I would expect someone who previously lived a life of crime to remain a bit more collected, but often Simon acts like he's a 17 year-old fresh faced kid who's never been to the big city.
Overall, the concept was good, but the story and characters failed to deliver. I just couldn't buy into the world the author attempted to create. Needless to say, I won't be reading any more in this series.