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A review by mackle13
Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman
2.0
Upon completing this book I commented to my husband that this is the kind of book which, because of it's non-ending, there's a part of me that wants to go out and get the next book to continue/finish the story... but it's also one of those books which I'm sure I'd pretty much forget about if I leave it sit for a few months.
Well, it's been less than a week and I already almost forgot I'd even read it.
This book, like so many, has so much potential and interesting ideas, but falls flat in the execution. I mean, it could be a cool mash-up of UF and Regency, both of which are genres I read (though I've been digging the Regency more than the UF these days, with a few exceptions). But it never manages to blend very well, leaving it more sort of rough and haphazard than an actual coherent story. (Well, it's not not coherent... it just doesn't flow very well.)
Anyway -
The blurb makes this sound like it's primarily Max's story, but Catherine seems, to me, to actually be the main focus of the story. Catherine is... well, Catherine should be the kind of character that I really sympathize with. Part of one of the "Fae-touched" families who live in the Nether (a realm between Mundanus, our world, and Exilium, where the Fae have been, well, exhiled), she tries to escape to our world to get away from a culture stuck in the past, where woman have no rights and no voice, and where her family is particularly abusive and horrible.
A woman stuck in a backwards society who wants to be more than a socialite and use her mind instead? These are the kind of characters I usually love.
But she made it ever so hard to care about her. She's supposed to be strong and forthright and whatnot, but she mostly comes across as whiney and petulant and useless. (I also found it hard that someone raised in the Nether would so quickly adapt to our culture after what seemed only a year or so, but that was more a background thing.)
Anyway -
My favorite character in the book was Max's gargoyle - a gargoyle brought to life for what was meant to be a short-term thing, but which got stuck with Max's soul inside him. (Max is an Arbiter and they have their souls removed to make them immune to Fae magic.)
The gargoyle was great.
Unfortunately, after Max and Gargy get to the Sorcerer, they all but disappear from the story except for little bits here and there, and a thing at the end, and that's more Max than Gargy, and Max is annoying and kinda a dick.
Pretty much all the men in this story are dicks except Sam. And, well, Will grows on you - and is probably the second most interesting and charming character - though he's one of those people who is all "one step back for every step forward" kinda guys. He's also a bit too perfect, and downright smug about it.
As to the plot - it seems to focus much more on Society and manners and whatnot than it does the actual mystery of the missing person or the stuff that Max encounters in the beginning, which leads us to the non-ending, because it sets up a lot of stuff that's clearly meant to be explored in the next book... I'm just not sure I really care enough about any of these people to bother.
Overall: Interesting ideas, but not great execution. Flat writing, annoying characters, and no one to really care about.
Well, it's been less than a week and I already almost forgot I'd even read it.
This book, like so many, has so much potential and interesting ideas, but falls flat in the execution. I mean, it could be a cool mash-up of UF and Regency, both of which are genres I read (though I've been digging the Regency more than the UF these days, with a few exceptions). But it never manages to blend very well, leaving it more sort of rough and haphazard than an actual coherent story. (Well, it's not not coherent... it just doesn't flow very well.)
Anyway -
The blurb makes this sound like it's primarily Max's story, but Catherine seems, to me, to actually be the main focus of the story. Catherine is... well, Catherine should be the kind of character that I really sympathize with. Part of one of the "Fae-touched" families who live in the Nether (a realm between Mundanus, our world, and Exilium, where the Fae have been, well, exhiled), she tries to escape to our world to get away from a culture stuck in the past, where woman have no rights and no voice, and where her family is particularly abusive and horrible.
A woman stuck in a backwards society who wants to be more than a socialite and use her mind instead? These are the kind of characters I usually love.
But she made it ever so hard to care about her. She's supposed to be strong and forthright and whatnot, but she mostly comes across as whiney and petulant and useless. (I also found it hard that someone raised in the Nether would so quickly adapt to our culture after what seemed only a year or so, but that was more a background thing.)
Anyway -
My favorite character in the book was Max's gargoyle - a gargoyle brought to life for what was meant to be a short-term thing, but which got stuck with Max's soul inside him. (Max is an Arbiter and they have their souls removed to make them immune to Fae magic.)
The gargoyle was great.
Unfortunately, after Max and Gargy get to the Sorcerer, they all but disappear from the story except for little bits here and there, and a thing at the end, and that's more Max than Gargy, and Max is annoying and kinda a dick.
Pretty much all the men in this story are dicks except Sam. And, well, Will grows on you - and is probably the second most interesting and charming character - though he's one of those people who is all "one step back for every step forward" kinda guys. He's also a bit too perfect, and downright smug about it.
As to the plot - it seems to focus much more on Society and manners and whatnot than it does the actual mystery of the missing person or the stuff that Max encounters in the beginning, which leads us to the non-ending, because it sets up a lot of stuff that's clearly meant to be explored in the next book... I'm just not sure I really care enough about any of these people to bother.
Overall: Interesting ideas, but not great execution. Flat writing, annoying characters, and no one to really care about.