Review by thebookscientist - City of Gods and Monsters

thebookscientist 's review for:

City of Gods and Monsters by Kayla Edwards

4.0

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Kayla Edwards had me from page one. Loren Calla is a human trying to survive in a city run by supernaturals. After a failed kidnapping leaves her best friend missing and a bounty slapped on her head, she winds up with Darien Cassel—the broody, morally grey, infuriatingly hot leader of the Seven Devils (aka supernatural bounty hunters). Instead of cashing in on her, he decides to protect her. Lucky her… or maybe not, since trying not to fall for him is a full-time job.

📢Attention: Darien Cassel has entered the book boyfriend chat. He’s moody, dangerous, stubborn, and yet somehow the softest when it comes to the people he loves. He's all the things that make up my favorite type of book boyfriend.

“Who are you, her boyfriend?” “I’m Darien f*cking Cassel.”

Let’s be clear—this is a slow burn. And by slow, I mean painfully slow. These two go back and forth on their feelings for each other and drag it out for almost 90% of the book. Yes, there are spicy scenes sprinkled in, but the real payoff doesn’t come until the very end. Worth it? Absolutely. Torturous? Also yes.

The worldbuilding sucked me right in, the side characters

(looking at you, Max and Dallas 👀)

added so much, and the narration mostly worked—though I’d beg Wen Ross to retire his “woman voice”. Zura Johnson carried the team with her stellar work.

The only downside for me was the takedown of some of the bad guys—it felt a little anticlimactic,

especially when it came to Darien’s father.

I wanted more buildup and payoff there. Still, this book is a solid 4 stars for me. Now, excuse me while I dive straight into book 2!

Content Warnings