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A review by a_reader_obsessed
Black Dog Blues by Rhys Ford
3.0
3.5 Stars
For inquiring minds, I felt that this was basically an amalgam of Ford's 2 most popular series. Take Sinner's descriptive, purple prose and mix it with McGinnis's gritty, harsh realism. Then place that into an alternate universe, where humans and sidhe coexist in the complete opposite of friendly and peaceful.
I will admit that not everything is neatly explained. Kai is still quite the mystery. He's hostile and purposely detached, having carefully formed a few safe friendships, while putting up a solid wall against any extra feelings or affection. Of course his predictable existence is thrown for a loop when he's tasked for a job to help Ryder, a sidhe high lord. As he gets more and more involved, Kai's horrific past unfortunately comes to the forefront.
So there's pretty extensive world building here. There's definitely race politics featuring the usual dark and light courts that make up the sidhe, and predictably there's continuous power plays and ulterior motives constantly at work. In and amongst all that, Ryder makes it no secret that he finds Kai intriguingly enticing, and tho Kai feels the same way, he adamantly maintains his distance. Of course, no man is an island, and though he may say he doesn't care, Kai inevitably is led by his morality and falls deeper and deeper into the sidhe world he's so fiercely avoided. Begrudgingly and quite in denial, he forms a tenuous attachment to the seductive Ryder.
As many have said, this is not a romance. Yet.
Of course Ford has a plan and knows the exact journey herantihero is going to traverse. I'm intrigued. It helps a lot to have listened to Tremblay expertly narrate this. Hopefully love is on the horizon, but I know it's going to be a tough journey for Kai because he definitely isn't going to go down easily without a fight.
For inquiring minds, I felt that this was basically an amalgam of Ford's 2 most popular series. Take Sinner's descriptive, purple prose and mix it with McGinnis's gritty, harsh realism. Then place that into an alternate universe, where humans and sidhe coexist in the complete opposite of friendly and peaceful.
I will admit that not everything is neatly explained. Kai is still quite the mystery. He's hostile and purposely detached, having carefully formed a few safe friendships, while putting up a solid wall against any extra feelings or affection. Of course his predictable existence is thrown for a loop when he's tasked for a job to help Ryder, a sidhe high lord. As he gets more and more involved, Kai's horrific past unfortunately comes to the forefront.
So there's pretty extensive world building here. There's definitely race politics featuring the usual dark and light courts that make up the sidhe, and predictably there's continuous power plays and ulterior motives constantly at work. In and amongst all that, Ryder makes it no secret that he finds Kai intriguingly enticing, and tho Kai feels the same way, he adamantly maintains his distance. Of course, no man is an island, and though he may say he doesn't care, Kai inevitably is led by his morality and falls deeper and deeper into the sidhe world he's so fiercely avoided. Begrudgingly and quite in denial, he forms a tenuous attachment to the seductive Ryder.
As many have said, this is not a romance. Yet.
Of course Ford has a plan and knows the exact journey her