Scan barcode
A review by barometz
A Ferry of Bones & Gold by Hailey Turner
2.0
I think this was a combination of "it's me" and "it's the book" on this one.
Like other people have pointed out, I think this could have used a more aggressive editor to cut out some of the repetitive details and purple prose, and to help space out the infodumping. But I also think that this could easily have been separated into two books that were the second and third in a series--where the first book was about the event that is repeatedly alluded to, but not explained until very late in the story. There are too many characters and too many three-letter agencies that the book doesn't really take time to explore or develop, and I think it would have benefited from breaking it up. It very clearly feels like it's trying to build a world to put other stories in, but it's just too much all at once without a lot of detail, unfortunately. There's also a good 15% of the book after the final conflict that just doesn't really feel like it belongs; the energy is gone and I only even skimmed through at all because another review mentioned that something important got revealed at the 89% mark.
On the "it's me" side of things, I definitely thought there was going to be more murder investigation (main characters kind of just show up on the scene and go "yep, it's demons") and more romance (couple kinda just sticks together because the plot demands it and fall in love after everything is over). It really felt like it was fantasy first, and drama and romance second, which isn't really what I expected or wanted and I think that did a lot to sour the experience for me.
There was nothing wrong with the premise here, but the execution just didn't work for me.
Like other people have pointed out, I think this could have used a more aggressive editor to cut out some of the repetitive details and purple prose, and to help space out the infodumping. But I also think that this could easily have been separated into two books that were the second and third in a series--where the first book was about the event that is repeatedly alluded to, but not explained until very late in the story. There are too many characters and too many three-letter agencies that the book doesn't really take time to explore or develop, and I think it would have benefited from breaking it up. It very clearly feels like it's trying to build a world to put other stories in, but it's just too much all at once without a lot of detail, unfortunately. There's also a good 15% of the book after the final conflict that just doesn't really feel like it belongs; the energy is gone and I only even skimmed through at all because another review mentioned that something important got revealed at the 89% mark.
On the "it's me" side of things, I definitely thought there was going to be more murder investigation (main characters kind of just show up on the scene and go "yep, it's demons") and more romance (couple kinda just sticks together because the plot demands it and fall in love after everything is over). It really felt like it was fantasy first, and drama and romance second, which isn't really what I expected or wanted and I think that did a lot to sour the experience for me.
There was nothing wrong with the premise here, but the execution just didn't work for me.