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camillou 's review for:
Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge
by Paul Krueger
— 2.5 stars —
Well, I’m underwhelmed.
(as per usual, this is not really a review —I'm bad at reviews— but thoughts I have about this book and I needed to write them down)
The premise looked really good. I mean, a twenty-something year old stumbling across a secret society of monster-hunting bartenders gaining their superpowers by drinking cocktails they made? It sounded interesting and unique and I was so down for it.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me, and I'm sad about it.
For the most part, I found the characters to be annoying. The only ones I liked were Vincent and Bucket, and even Bucket, towards the ending, started to be a bit annoying. They lacked of depth, and I found some of their reactions to be incoherent, childish and/or confusing at times.
The ‘underlying’ romance was not my cup of tea, at all. I don't usually mind love triangle. They're not my favorite thing but I don't mind them, when well executed. Here, I hated it. It was so bad, some things that have been made were just plain wrong and that's not okay. As for the ending and the resolution of this, there was no explanation whatsoever and it just was a no for me.
It did have really good representation, so that’s a great thing!
I also liked the little insert thingy in between the chapters, with the cocktails recipes and the history built around each of them. I thought it was pretty interesting, and added a little something to every cocktails we came across in the book.
As for the plot, I liked it but it was not crazy. There was a bit of mystery, which I appreciated, and some plot-twists. I was a bit confused at first, not knowing were the story was going, but I was curious and wanted to know more. I did like the parts were everything moved a bit faster, the action sequences and such. I liked the part with Bailey's training too. I think it was very interesting. I was more intrigued by the whole Cupbearer Court and fighting part, than by the search for the Long Island for the most part of the book.
By the way, Poppy didn't deserved to die. I'm so mad about this!
The ending did felt a bit rushed. I think I wanted to know a bit more about all this, and even if the 'main' matter was explained, I still have many unanswered questions.
And even though I kind of predicted the ending mid-book, which usually never happens to me —the Mona part, though I didn't think that she could be/was Hortense LaRue—, it was still entertaining and it kept me intrigued enough to keep reading the book. Nonetheless, the good didn't outweigh the things I didn't like. I'm glad I read it. It didn’t mesh with me as much as I hoped it would.
Well, I’m underwhelmed.
(as per usual, this is not really a review —I'm bad at reviews— but thoughts I have about this book and I needed to write them down)
The premise looked really good. I mean, a twenty-something year old stumbling across a secret society of monster-hunting bartenders gaining their superpowers by drinking cocktails they made? It sounded interesting and unique and I was so down for it.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me, and I'm sad about it.
For the most part, I found the characters to be annoying. The only ones I liked were Vincent and Bucket, and even Bucket, towards the ending, started to be a bit annoying. They lacked of depth, and I found some of their reactions to be incoherent, childish and/or confusing at times.
The ‘underlying’ romance was not my cup of tea, at all. I don't usually mind love triangle. They're not my favorite thing but I don't mind them, when well executed. Here, I hated it. It was so bad, some things that have been made were just plain wrong and that's not okay. As for the ending and the resolution of this, there was no explanation whatsoever and it just was a no for me.
It did have really good representation, so that’s a great thing!
I also liked the little insert thingy in between the chapters, with the cocktails recipes and the history built around each of them. I thought it was pretty interesting, and added a little something to every cocktails we came across in the book.
As for the plot, I liked it but it was not crazy. There was a bit of mystery, which I appreciated, and some plot-twists. I was a bit confused at first, not knowing were the story was going, but I was curious and wanted to know more. I did like the parts were everything moved a bit faster, the action sequences and such. I liked the part with Bailey's training too. I think it was very interesting. I was more intrigued by the whole Cupbearer Court and fighting part, than by the search for the Long Island for the most part of the book.
By the way, Poppy didn't deserved to die. I'm so mad about this!
The ending did felt a bit rushed. I think I wanted to know a bit more about all this, and even if the 'main' matter was explained, I still have many unanswered questions.
And even though I kind of predicted the ending mid-book, which usually never happens to me —the Mona part, though I didn't think that she could be/was Hortense LaRue—, it was still entertaining and it kept me intrigued enough to keep reading the book. Nonetheless, the good didn't outweigh the things I didn't like. I'm glad I read it. It didn’t mesh with me as much as I hoped it would.
—————————————◆ buddy read with the Dragons & Tea book club.