Helpful Score: 5
Tate is a metal sculpture artist who is asked to leave her apartment due the noise her welding etc makes. Glad to leave there and her cheating boyfriend she is tempted by cheap rent at an room for rent in Golgotham, the lost borough of NYC where all the mystical races and people live.
Things are going well in her new place, she learns a lot about the people of Golgotham. One night she is chased into the garden by a were-cougar, her landlord (Hexe) decides to save him. Evidently he has been drugged, maimed and forced to fight. Hexe only practices Right Hand Magic (healing and defense) instead of Left Hand or mixing the two. Soon the Mafia comes looking for Lukas, whose actually a nice 16 year old boy and a were-cougar. The poop hits the fan when Lukas is kidnapped back during Tate's big art show. The action goes from there.
I liked this book, I really did. The author has created a whole new world and mythology which is really awesome! But the first half and a little more of the book was SO SLOW! If I hadn't been interested in the backgrounds and descriptions I would have put it down. The author also pulls a bit of a Twilight on you, describing all the boys down to their scuffed Chuck Taylors but leaving us with only an impression that Tate is hot and has tattoos. So my imagination just popped in the cover gal and there you go. The end of the book has closure, but there are some ends left to explore in other books. I'll pick them up, I just hope we get some more action.
Things are going well in her new place, she learns a lot about the people of Golgotham. One night she is chased into the garden by a were-cougar, her landlord (Hexe) decides to save him. Evidently he has been drugged, maimed and forced to fight. Hexe only practices Right Hand Magic (healing and defense) instead of Left Hand or mixing the two. Soon the Mafia comes looking for Lukas, whose actually a nice 16 year old boy and a were-cougar. The poop hits the fan when Lukas is kidnapped back during Tate's big art show. The action goes from there.
I liked this book, I really did. The author has created a whole new world and mythology which is really awesome! But the first half and a little more of the book was SO SLOW! If I hadn't been interested in the backgrounds and descriptions I would have put it down. The author also pulls a bit of a Twilight on you, describing all the boys down to their scuffed Chuck Taylors but leaving us with only an impression that Tate is hot and has tattoos. So my imagination just popped in the cover gal and there you go. The end of the book has closure, but there are some ends left to explore in other books. I'll pick them up, I just hope we get some more action.
Helpful Score: 3
I enjoyed reading this book, it was an easy read but very enjoyable. The characters were great and when they interacted with each other it was always fun. Golgotham was an interesting city, with very strange citizens; sorcerers,shape-shifters, etc. I would recommend this book for anyone wanting a fun quick read.
It's all in the perspective.
For about the first 5/6ths of this book, I couldn't figure out quite what to make of it. There's interesting characters, good plot, and colorful complex world building. Many of the other plot elements are less appealing; mini info dumps, name dropping, abundant cliche's, predictable elements, and the characters feel more mid-teenish than the mid-twenties claimed. The verbage is sometimes stilted which gives it a rather Olde World feel...can't tell if that's the author's goal or merely awkward. Seriously, I kept mentally visualizing the main characters as Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys ages...or maybe the Archies, and sometimes even down to The Boxcar Children. They didn't really work well as adults from upper social class strata. There's much to like here, and unfortunately just as much to annoy the reader.
About 5/6ths through the book, I discovered and read the author's bio...the light bulb goes on! She's a former COMIC BOOK author! Clarity quickly follows. If the reader has the ability to visualize paragraphs as comic book illustration blocks, the writing style becomes almost elegant. When read in this manner, the writing style fits the story elements and the book actually becomes very good.
For about the first 5/6ths of this book, I couldn't figure out quite what to make of it. There's interesting characters, good plot, and colorful complex world building. Many of the other plot elements are less appealing; mini info dumps, name dropping, abundant cliche's, predictable elements, and the characters feel more mid-teenish than the mid-twenties claimed. The verbage is sometimes stilted which gives it a rather Olde World feel...can't tell if that's the author's goal or merely awkward. Seriously, I kept mentally visualizing the main characters as Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys ages...or maybe the Archies, and sometimes even down to The Boxcar Children. They didn't really work well as adults from upper social class strata. There's much to like here, and unfortunately just as much to annoy the reader.
About 5/6ths through the book, I discovered and read the author's bio...the light bulb goes on! She's a former COMIC BOOK author! Clarity quickly follows. If the reader has the ability to visualize paragraphs as comic book illustration blocks, the writing style becomes almost elegant. When read in this manner, the writing style fits the story elements and the book actually becomes very good.
Helpful Score: 1
This book has a fantastic setting but the dialogue is sometimes laughably bad and also contains a lot of info dumping. Many of the characters come across as cartoon-y, especially the villains and not in a good way. Funny moments in the story are really not that funny. It's too bad because, as I said, the setting really is fascinating. Too bad the execution is lacking.
