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A review by rosepetals1984
Frost Moon by Anthony Francis
2.0
I have a lukewarm impression of Anthony Francis' "Frost Moon" overall - not so much for the blunt content with respect to violence, language or sex (which for all three measures, this book was graphic in spurts so mature audiences ONLY), but for the rather choppy presentation and lack of directive focus with the story overall. It has potential to turn into something interesting, I'm just not sure that the story gripped me enough the whole way through to really immerse me in the story and hold my attention. I had to pick up the book and put it down several times before I really got into it. I liked the subsequent worldbuilding of an alternative culture version of Atlanta (complete with distinct dialect), where paranormal creatures are at every turn and mystic tattoos are as real as werewolves, vampires, witches and other otherworldly kin. I will say that it engaged me as far as the creative aspects of the work were concerned, and I liked the female protagonist (savvy female leads are always a plus in my book).
This is my first foray into the works of Francis, so I'm not passing judgement too soon, and I will read the ARC for the second book in this series to see how it turns out.
To give a brief summary of the plot, Dakota Moon is a mystic tattoo artist (a.k.a. Skindancer) who takes on a harrowing quest when a serial killer targeting tattooed elite clientele, and the Feds as well as the police recruit Dakota to catch the person responsible. There's a very colorful (and I do mean colorful) cast to be had in this book, but even with the way these characters come across, I feel like I'm told more about them than having a fair idea of seeing their interactions and getting into their heads in an entertaining way. There's some bits of humor here that if you're into the culture it's displaying, some of the references are actually fun (I'm kind of surprised I recognized the anime type references in this story - that was interesting), but others feel like they're thrown in there just to be edgy and it feels forced in conjunction with the work as a whole.
I think alt culture, adult urban fantasy fans might enjoy this mystery/paranormal foray, but it takes a bit of patience to get into. My hope is that it'll come across a little more organized in the second installation of this series.
Overall score: 2/5
This is my first foray into the works of Francis, so I'm not passing judgement too soon, and I will read the ARC for the second book in this series to see how it turns out.
To give a brief summary of the plot, Dakota Moon is a mystic tattoo artist (a.k.a. Skindancer) who takes on a harrowing quest when a serial killer targeting tattooed elite clientele, and the Feds as well as the police recruit Dakota to catch the person responsible. There's a very colorful (and I do mean colorful) cast to be had in this book, but even with the way these characters come across, I feel like I'm told more about them than having a fair idea of seeing their interactions and getting into their heads in an entertaining way. There's some bits of humor here that if you're into the culture it's displaying, some of the references are actually fun (I'm kind of surprised I recognized the anime type references in this story - that was interesting), but others feel like they're thrown in there just to be edgy and it feels forced in conjunction with the work as a whole.
I think alt culture, adult urban fantasy fans might enjoy this mystery/paranormal foray, but it takes a bit of patience to get into. My hope is that it'll come across a little more organized in the second installation of this series.
Overall score: 2/5