I went to Minneapolis for the first time while I was in high school, when my dad attended a conference there. There was one day when my mother wanted I went to Minneapolis for the first time while I was in high school, when my dad attended a conference there. There was one day when my mother wanted to go on an all-day excursion for spouses/families that I was deeply uninterested in, and instead of making me go with her anyway (as had happened at other conferences), she was like, "Well, you can just stay here." That seemed like a pretty unbelievable opportunity (and still seems that way! I mentioned it to her recently - "I can't believe you let me wander around by myself all day in a city we didn't know!" - to which she was just like, "Yeah, but you're still here, so it was fine"), and I was ALL OVER IT. I had the best day: wandering around wherever I wanted, trying to take artistic photos, eating a slightly nice lunch out and feeling extremely fancy and grown up. And, what has stuck with me most, a glorious hour or two spent sitting on the steps in Peavey Plaza, drinking coffee and listening to live music and reading a Charles de Lint book (my introduction to urban fantasy!) and enjoying a gorgeous day. I didn't actually remember the name Peavey Plaza (if I ever even knew it), but when it showed up on page two of this book I was like, "Wait, this seems familiar," and looked it up and was like, "Omigod! I know this place!"
So what I'm saying is that this book hit me right in that perfect nostalgic place that made me inclined to like it very much. There's nothing new here - I saw every single plot point coming from miles and miles away - but once upon a time when this book was helping shape urban fantasy, everything about it was new and fresh, and it's pretty delightful looking at it from that perspective. I loved the phouka and music-as-magic and the female friendship and how charmingly predictable it all was.
On the other hand, there was some stuff involving consent and race - among other things - that didn't sit well with me and that I would expect to be handled differently/not appear in something more current. There's definitely an attitude going on in regard to some things that occasionally makes the book feel unpleasantly dated, which is a good thing to be aware of going into it.
The fashion also makes it feel really dated, but in an A-MA-ZING way. There are so many shoulder pads in this book, and I loved all of them. I think I'm in the minority here - at least judging from the other reviews I glanced at - but every '80s-tastic fashion description was a delight (but then I was always a never-skip-chapter-2 girl when I reading the Baby-Sitters Club, so I have a high tolerance for outfit description).
All in all, this was enjoyable on its own and really interesting for its place in urban fantasy history....more
This is how to read a series: four books devoured over a few days (in planes, in airports, in bed late at night even when I knew I needed to wake up eThis is how to read a series: four books devoured over a few days (in planes, in airports, in bed late at night even when I knew I needed to wake up early). I'm just done with reading things as they come out. If it's a series I want the story all at once.
And I'm really glad I read this all at once. (It's kind of hard to review each book on its own though - they all blend into each other.)
Four-starring the whole series, although I don't really know how much I liked it? I honestly can't tell. Like, I really enjoyed reading it, and I loved things about the writing and the characters (Noah! Gwenllian! Ronan! Adam! (view spoiler)[Ronan and Adam! (hide spoiler)]) and the plot (dreams and dead Welsh kings: keys to my heart). But I think the plot feels way more substantial than it really is, and there are things about it that don't really sit well with me, and I don't know. I don't know if I would like it less or more on a reread. I don't know if it's something I will ever reread (but maybe?). I enjoyed it more than I didn't though. And I don't usually even manage to read while on vacation! I always bring a book and fail to read more than a chapter. So yay for being entertained enough to get through an entire series while traveling....more
Lovely. It had been a long while since I read a Newford book, and I'd forgotten just how much I love that world. Good stuff here - characters I loved Lovely. It had been a long while since I read a Newford book, and I'd forgotten just how much I love that world. Good stuff here - characters I loved and identified with (I loved Maxine and Pelly best of all), a resolution that wasn't completely obvious from the beginning, and first person narration that didn't drive me up a wall. Also, yay for YA that assumes intelligence in its audience.
Not the best de Lint I've ever read, but definitely an excellent book to lose myself in for the evening.
(It also made me remember a book I loved when I was little but had completely forgotten - when Imogene mentioned she was named after a book about a girl who wakes up with antlers, I went, "Oh! Oh!" and I could see the cover and then the illustrations and then the entire plot and, oh, it's lovely to be reminded of a forgotten, beloved book.)...more
**spoiler alert** I liked the main plot of this one better than the first two. Fae! Interesting! And Zee is awesome.
I had a lot of issues with other t**spoiler alert** I liked the main plot of this one better than the first two. Fae! Interesting! And Zee is awesome.
I had a lot of issues with other things though. I think I would enjoy this series a lot more without the romance, and this book had more of that than the others did. I think that, if the choice is between Adam and Samuel, Mercy made the right choice; that doesn't mean I like Adam. I hate all the werewolf dominance stuff, and Adam has his dominance turned up to eleven. He's controlling and possessive and can control her against her will (and does, immediately after saying he won't; I don't care if he thought it for her own good, that should not be his call) and, oh yeah, will stalk her to the ends of the earth if she tries to get away from him. That's not romantic, it's creepy as hell. He might give her more freedom than Samuel would have, but not by much. I feel like she's giving up a lot of herself for him, and he doesn't seem worth it. Mercy goes on about pretending to be submissive, but it seems like she's actually submitting to him more than she realizes. I'm just really uncomfortable with their relationship.
The rape was another thing I had issues with. The actual event I could deal with; it was horrifying, but that was the point. But I was very uncomfortable with the aftermath, particularly that she was ready for a sexual relationship so soon after it happened. A sexual relationship with someone who, like her rapist, can potentially control her against her will (I don't care if he says he won't). It seemed way too soon for that after such a seriously traumatic event. I don't like rape as a plot device anyway, but rape as a plot device that ends up bringing people together romantically? CREEPY.
The werewolf politics and whatnot just make me generally uncomfortable. I like Warren and Ben, but I could do without all the rest of them and be very happy.
I'll definitely get the next book in the series whenever it is published, but, yeah, I also definitely have a lot of issues with it.
Still fun that it's set where I live though. This one was especially weird since, not only could I picture where everything was, but they were at Tumbleweed. I go to that music festival every year! If this book was real, I would have walked right by Samuel when he was performing that day. ...more
First, what a horrible cover. I mean, it's horribly deceptive about the contents of the book.
But whatever, really, as I liked the book and wasn't readFirst, what a horrible cover. I mean, it's horribly deceptive about the contents of the book.
But whatever, really, as I liked the book and wasn't reading it based on its cover anyway.
I don't usually read the sort of fantasy with werewolves and vampires and shape-shifters (oh my), but I'm making an effort this year to broaden my horizons and am glad I did in this case. It was a good story, and I liked it. Mercy is non-annoyingly spunky and knows her limitations. And even though werewolves are usually so not my thing - Alpha males and dominance and blah blah blah, oh how I hate it - I tried not to let it bother me and mostly succeeded.
It helped that I was so interested in the setting. See, here is where we get to the point of this review. I picked this up because I only just learned today that Patricia Briggs is (or was, as I gather she is in Montana now) a local author and that this series is set in Tri-Cities, Washington. Tri-Cities being here, where I live now and where I have lived for the majority of my life. And although I've certainly read books set in places I love and know well - Seattle, Orange County, etc. - I've never read a book actually set in the place that I know best. How very odd to know exactly where things were and how they looked: where Kyle parked and the path they walked on at Howard Amon, what Warren's house and yard and street would look like (situated so very close to the shop I bought the book in!), the ritzy hillside neighborhood where the vampires lived, the area around Mercy's shop. It was odd and kind of awesome and, despite the fact that we were dealing with vampires and shape-shifters and werewolves, it made it seem more real than if it had been set elsewhere.
I'll definitely be checking out the other books in the series....more
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