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A review by emmaskies
Soft Flannel Hank by Eliza MacArthur
3.0
I would say I never knew I needed Charlie Swan fanfiction in my life, but that would be a lie. This was sitting at a solid 3.5 before the ending brought it down to a 3, but I had a fun time with this one.
It was pretty fun! An interesting little paranormal romance between a witch on the run from a group of vampires and a man who is quite literally Charlie Swan with the serial number filed off. Non-derogatory. I'm pretty sure that was in fact the initial thought experiment for this book.
But Eliza MacArthur has built her own world around that initial idea. The cast of characters is good and there are paranormal creatures abound in this world that will be interesting to pursue in future books.
As far as the romance, it's alright. Hank Dove is a bit of a pathetic man, and quite frankly I'd like to see more of them in the genre. He borders on being too much of a sad sack sometimes but he's newly in therapy and I love that for him. Esther held my interest as a main character and the way her story is parsed out through the book I think is well timed. Despite the initial romantic conflict revolving around a one-night-stand-esque miscommunication I would put this in the insta-love category.
The non-romance plot is where this book loses points for me. The basic premise is that Esther is running from a group of vampires because she saw something she shouldn't have and now they're after her. The book never answers WHY. Why are they after her? Who could she possibly tell and what could the potential consequences be? The foundational why of the conflict, why the antagonists care about her seeing something, is never explained.
And in the end, nothing matters anyway. The plot wraps up in such a way that the entire book from page one never needed to happen. I love a good bit of "it's about the journey, not the destination" as much as the next person, but for the climax of a book to tell you that nothing you just read mattered or needed to happen is the least satisfying way possible to wrap things up.
So would I recommend this? Honestly, sure! If you wanted to see Charlie Swan get his happy ending give this book a shot and have a nice time with it without expecting too much from the paranormal in terms of plot.
It was pretty fun! An interesting little paranormal romance between a witch on the run from a group of vampires and a man who is quite literally Charlie Swan with the serial number filed off. Non-derogatory. I'm pretty sure that was in fact the initial thought experiment for this book.
But Eliza MacArthur has built her own world around that initial idea. The cast of characters is good and there are paranormal creatures abound in this world that will be interesting to pursue in future books.
As far as the romance, it's alright. Hank Dove is a bit of a pathetic man, and quite frankly I'd like to see more of them in the genre. He borders on being too much of a sad sack sometimes but he's newly in therapy and I love that for him. Esther held my interest as a main character and the way her story is parsed out through the book I think is well timed. Despite the initial romantic conflict revolving around a one-night-stand-esque miscommunication I would put this in the insta-love category.
The non-romance plot is where this book loses points for me. The basic premise is that Esther is running from a group of vampires because she saw something she shouldn't have and now they're after her. The book never answers WHY. Why are they after her? Who could she possibly tell and what could the potential consequences be? The foundational why of the conflict, why the antagonists care about her seeing something, is never explained.
And in the end, nothing matters anyway. The plot wraps up in such a way that the entire book from page one never needed to happen. I love a good bit of "it's about the journey, not the destination" as much as the next person, but for the climax of a book to tell you that nothing you just read mattered or needed to happen is the least satisfying way possible to wrap things up.
So would I recommend this? Honestly, sure! If you wanted to see Charlie Swan get his happy ending give this book a shot and have a nice time with it without expecting too much from the paranormal in terms of plot.