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A review by neni
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This was disappointing. The writing style wanted to be cool in a sarcastic way but came out mostly annoying and unrealistic (the dialogue was practically all smart comebacks and snappy remarks to the point none of the characters felt like real people - no one talks like that).
The characters were extremely shallow, not interesting and not that likeable either. The main character especially was just ugh - tipical smartass loner weird dude who doesn't have a single believable reaction to anything that happens to him and who's constantly praised for being "a good guy" for literally the most mundane, decent human being attitudes that everyone should have (there was a part where he was stuck somewhere with a naked werewolf girl - don't ask - whom he ended up befriending, and he kept patting himself on the back for not "taking advantage" of her in her vulnerable emotional state but that "she better give him her number at the end of all this" - like WTF you disgust me). And don't get me started on Brid (naked werewolf girl). Talk about a 2D character jesus. Shallower than a dinner plate man. Also the villain was a shit villain with no real motivations or agenda except power power more power? and violence? whatever man.
The worldbuilding was a giant jumbled mess, it felt like the author threw all the shit she wanted in there (werewolfs? check. necromancers? check. werewolf-fey hybrids, tiny dragon creature who also turns into a cat, weird ghosts zombies that aren't actually ghosts? - i mean it was kinda ridiculous) and made the bare minimum effort to sort of (but not really) integrate them into a world.
I suppose that the author wanted this to be a fun, urban fantasy, fast-paced romp. But the truth is, it does take even a little bit of talent to write good "trashy" fiction and this ain't it. Don't bother. The whole thing was extremely weak. I only finished it to fulfill a prompt in a book challenge I'm doing, otherwise would have DNF'd it a third of the way through.
The characters were extremely shallow, not interesting and not that likeable either. The main character especially was just ugh - tipical smartass loner weird dude who doesn't have a single believable reaction to anything that happens to him and who's constantly praised for being "a good guy" for literally the most mundane, decent human being attitudes that everyone should have (there was a part where he was stuck somewhere with a naked werewolf girl - don't ask - whom he ended up befriending, and he kept patting himself on the back for not "taking advantage" of her in her vulnerable emotional state but that "she better give him her number at the end of all this" - like WTF you disgust me). And don't get me started on Brid (naked werewolf girl). Talk about a 2D character jesus. Shallower than a dinner plate man. Also the villain was a shit villain with no real motivations or agenda except power power more power? and violence? whatever man.
The worldbuilding was a giant jumbled mess, it felt like the author threw all the shit she wanted in there (werewolfs? check. necromancers? check. werewolf-fey hybrids, tiny dragon creature who also turns into a cat, weird ghosts zombies that aren't actually ghosts? - i mean it was kinda ridiculous) and made the bare minimum effort to sort of (but not really) integrate them into a world.
I suppose that the author wanted this to be a fun, urban fantasy, fast-paced romp. But the truth is, it does take even a little bit of talent to write good "trashy" fiction and this ain't it. Don't bother. The whole thing was extremely weak. I only finished it to fulfill a prompt in a book challenge I'm doing, otherwise would have DNF'd it a third of the way through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Kidnapping, Violence, Animal death, Death, and Torture