I liked it enough to finish it, I GUESS. There was interesting bits, some intriguing writing going on. But, God, is this contrived and a little corny. The atmosphere was nice, at least.
okay so apparently this book is to be read after reading another series first titled "shades of magic." (like, it's a must, apparently, and this is not a standalone title)
Hm........ Didn't like about 70% of this. It didn't get interesting until 200 pages in, and this book isn't that long to begin with. This book isn't very thrilling, it reads more like a historical fiction book. There's nothing really "gothic" about this, either. Also, Chess has to be the most annoying character everrrrr. The timeline skips also bothered the hell out of me. It kept driving me out of the story.
so boring i can't do it anymore. i had issues with the way n.e. davenport writes in the first book, but there were interesting plots and high points that kept me going until the end. this book makes all of davenport's poor writing skills so glaringly obvious that i can't force myself to stay until the end this time. i can't stand any of these characters.
i'm convinced all of—if not most—of grady hendrix's books have unnecessary anti-blackness in them. you can have a book set in the past, or in the south, and not include out of place micro aggressions. i don't even like his writing this aside but i keep giving him chances because the premises of his stories sound interesting. yet again, disappointed