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A review by jenhurst
The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs
2.0
2.5.
This book is really uneven. I really love the mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs but I find the rest of her books to be very hit or miss. This had potential since it’s a loose beauty and the beast retelling, which much like hades and Persephone is such a basic idea that it’s hard to screw up. Plus it has the green man and the hob are both underutilized aspects in fantasy. But I found the book struggling in what it wanted to be. Was this a fantasy? A romance? A romantic fantasy? The world building was very info dumpy and moved rather quickly but then the romance was extremely underdeveloped. The hob wasn’t even introduced until almost 40% in. I want to say I think it should’ve been longer to develop the romance more and showcase parts of the story but I’m not sure that would’ve solved the problems I had with the story. I felt like parts were really dragging and it felt too long in some ways already. Plus the hob isn’t a human or humanoid like vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters. Why was that not discussed?
This book is really uneven. I really love the mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs but I find the rest of her books to be very hit or miss. This had potential since it’s a loose beauty and the beast retelling, which much like hades and Persephone is such a basic idea that it’s hard to screw up. Plus it has the green man and the hob are both underutilized aspects in fantasy. But I found the book struggling in what it wanted to be. Was this a fantasy? A romance? A romantic fantasy? The world building was very info dumpy and moved rather quickly but then the romance was extremely underdeveloped. The hob wasn’t even introduced until almost 40% in. I want to say I think it should’ve been longer to develop the romance more and showcase parts of the story but I’m not sure that would’ve solved the problems I had with the story. I felt like parts were really dragging and it felt too long in some ways already. Plus the hob isn’t a human or humanoid like vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters. Why was that not discussed?