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A review by kitvaria_sarene
Seven Kinds of Hell by Dana Cameron
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Seven Kinds of Hell by Dana Cameron sits right on the border between Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance for me.
It's definitely not enough romance to satisfy the actual romance crowd, but it's decidedly more romance than I'd like in my Urban Fantasy. This mix might hit the sweet spot for some people, but it doesn't make it easy to sort into a target audience.
I really enjoyed the start, a 20 something female main character, an archaeologist as well, who doesn't really know her place in the world yet. The book starts with her losing her mum, her only real family, as they spent all her life fleeing from her father's family. I liked how she wasn't a badass fighter right from the get go, but a young woman trying to find a way through all the obstacles life throws at her. She makes a lot of dumb decisions, but they didn't feel like ones made for plot purposes, but realistic, considering she has just lost her only anker in society.
I really loved how there were strong friendships between her and two male best friends, even though they were a bit too stereotypical, with the muscled nice guy and the super intelligent coder. She meets new people who she immediately trusts with important stuff, and who are willing to help her no matter what. It is explained in the story, but it did feel a bit convenient really. About half way through, the romance does start to kick in though, and instead of adding to the book, I found it rather sigh worthy in its predictability. I especially bought this book because it did *not* sound like a romance, and I'm always looking for UF written by women, so I was quite annoyed at the book taking this slant.
The world building was ok, but didn't really blow me away. We race around half of Europe, and as a German myself I found it a bit funny when some "European habits" were mentioned. However it seemed quite well researched in the places I did know! The supernatural take on Pandora's box was interesting, but just too small a part to really catch my interest as much as I'd have liked.
The end is really frustrating instead of satisfying, and definitely a main reason why I'm going for 3 and not 4 stars, despite it being a quick and entertaining read.
It's definitely not enough romance to satisfy the actual romance crowd, but it's decidedly more romance than I'd like in my Urban Fantasy. This mix might hit the sweet spot for some people, but it doesn't make it easy to sort into a target audience.
I really enjoyed the start, a 20 something female main character, an archaeologist as well, who doesn't really know her place in the world yet. The book starts with her losing her mum, her only real family, as they spent all her life fleeing from her father's family. I liked how she wasn't a badass fighter right from the get go, but a young woman trying to find a way through all the obstacles life throws at her. She makes a lot of dumb decisions, but they didn't feel like ones made for plot purposes, but realistic, considering she has just lost her only anker in society.
I really loved how there were strong friendships between her and two male best friends, even though they were a bit too stereotypical, with the muscled nice guy and the super intelligent coder. She meets new people who she immediately trusts with important stuff, and who are willing to help her no matter what. It is explained in the story, but it did feel a bit convenient really. About half way through, the romance does start to kick in though, and instead of adding to the book, I found it rather sigh worthy in its predictability. I especially bought this book because it did *not* sound like a romance, and I'm always looking for UF written by women, so I was quite annoyed at the book taking this slant.
The world building was ok, but didn't really blow me away. We race around half of Europe, and as a German myself I found it a bit funny when some "European habits" were mentioned. However it seemed quite well researched in the places I did know! The supernatural take on Pandora's box was interesting, but just too small a part to really catch my interest as much as I'd have liked.
The end is really frustrating instead of satisfying, and definitely a main reason why I'm going for 3 and not 4 stars, despite it being a quick and entertaining read.