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kblincoln's review
4.0
This book succeeds with characters with complicated, unexplained backstories where other books would fail mainly because of the narrator character; Ray Lily.
Ray Lily is an ex con. In hints dropped throughout the book but never fully realized, we find out he's killed, stolen, cheated, and basically been a thug.
And yet, in this story he is a compelling POV character because he can throw down the bad guys, gives into anger, kills, and yet still has a the vestiges of a conscience that compel you to care for him.
We are dropped into the middle of a complicated story with little preparation. We discover Ray Lily is the "wooden man" (decoy/slave) of a powerful and taciturn wielder of magic named Annalise. We know she hates him, but the why is never fully explained either. Together they are trying to track down the cause of children immolating and turning into worms in a small town in the Pacific Northwest (insert my comment about delight in reading about my current stomping grounds here.)
The other strength of the story is the bad guys in this book. They are fully realized, fallible, self-serving, weak, and the magic they wield is unlike anything I've come across (i.e. causing children to suddenly turn into fire worms.)
As Ray and Annalise work out the mystery of what's happening, there is a high body count and many people in the town are exposed as either evil doers or, even harder for Ray, people who knew of the evil and let it happen.
Extremely compelling and yet slightly frustrating. I definitely have to read the next one just to clarify the backstory!
Food Designation Rating: Cool Ranch Doritos; you're not exactly what that taste is or what went into the flavoring of the chip, but you can't stop eating them anyway. At the end of the bag, you may feel slightly greasy and full from the cheese.
Ray Lily is an ex con. In hints dropped throughout the book but never fully realized, we find out he's killed, stolen, cheated, and basically been a thug.
And yet, in this story he is a compelling POV character because he can throw down the bad guys, gives into anger, kills, and yet still has a the vestiges of a conscience that compel you to care for him.
We are dropped into the middle of a complicated story with little preparation. We discover Ray Lily is the "wooden man" (decoy/slave) of a powerful and taciturn wielder of magic named Annalise. We know she hates him, but the why is never fully explained either. Together they are trying to track down the cause of children immolating and turning into worms in a small town in the Pacific Northwest (insert my comment about delight in reading about my current stomping grounds here.)
The other strength of the story is the bad guys in this book. They are fully realized, fallible, self-serving, weak, and the magic they wield is unlike anything I've come across (i.e. causing children to suddenly turn into fire worms.)
As Ray and Annalise work out the mystery of what's happening, there is a high body count and many people in the town are exposed as either evil doers or, even harder for Ray, people who knew of the evil and let it happen.
Extremely compelling and yet slightly frustrating. I definitely have to read the next one just to clarify the backstory!
Food Designation Rating: Cool Ranch Doritos; you're not exactly what that taste is or what went into the flavoring of the chip, but you can't stop eating them anyway. At the end of the bag, you may feel slightly greasy and full from the cheese.
brownsugarfreshmilk's review
Didn’t care about the characters
Plot moving too slowly
Plot moving too slowly
mparker546's review
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
helalost's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child death, Gun violence, Gore, and Body horror
Moderate: Police brutality
iffer's review
2.0
I wanted to like this, and honestly, I didn't come in with high expectations, because I was knowingly searching for something Dresden-esque. However, my attention kept wandering during this book, and although I wanted to like the main character, there wasn't enough emotional substance, character development, or even character conversations/relationships to flesh him out enough for me to become attached to him.
I liked the plot idea, which if executed better, could've had an appealingly creepy and isolated tone or weird happenings in a small town. The urban fantasy setting, as well as the characters' backgrounds were annoyingly vague, and I couldn't tell if this was on purpose because the author thought that he was laying appealing breadcrumbs, or because the author didn't actually have a fully fleshed out setting and magic system in his mind while writing.
I liked the plot idea, which if executed better, could've had an appealingly creepy and isolated tone or weird happenings in a small town. The urban fantasy setting, as well as the characters' backgrounds were annoyingly vague, and I couldn't tell if this was on purpose because the author thought that he was laying appealing breadcrumbs, or because the author didn't actually have a fully fleshed out setting and magic system in his mind while writing.
bibliofiendlm's review
2.0
2.5-2.75 for me. I just didn't engage with this book. It was okay and maybe that is partly due to the lackluster audiobook.
thinde's review
5.0
This is my second read for the series. I'm just as happy as the first time.
While the overall magic systems in this world are of the soft and undefined variety, the protagonist basically only has one magical tool and it's fun watching him use it in so many ways.
While the overall magic systems in this world are of the soft and undefined variety, the protagonist basically only has one magical tool and it's fun watching him use it in so many ways.
gabtpr's review
4.0
This one was a solid 3 1/2 for me and I liked the book enough to purchase the second in the series. The main character is basically a good guy in a bad situation and the magic was interesting. Overall a quick, fun read.
rachelini's review
3.0
The 3 stars is for the second half of the book. The beginning didn't really grab me - it was violent and sort of miserable, plus I felt like I was dropped into the middle of a story but yet nothing was happening. But as the the book went on, it relaxed, there was more story, a little dark humour, and I quite enjoyed it by the end.
wildflowerz76's review against another edition
4.0
I believe I saw this from a rec on Felicia Days' GR account. I d/l it for the Kindle and then didn't think too much of it. By the time I got to it, I'd forgotten anything about it. To be perfectly honest, I'm somewhat prejudiced with books. I tend to lean toward the ones with mainly female protagonists. And those are usually written by female writers. So I wasn't terribly anxious to pick this one up since I'd forgotten most everything about it...and isn't there an action or thriller author with the last name Connelly? I might have mistaken this one for him, leading me to wonder why I got it in the first place.
Anyway, after all that, I did finally start it and I liked it a LOT! In the beginning, it didn't feel like the first in a series, despite the fact that Ray had just gotten out of prison. I even went and checked to make sure this was the first one. There were some things that weren't really explained (like that the heck the Twenty Palaces Society even IS), but they didn't detract too much from the story and just made me want to read more. I don't mind the sexy times that usually appear in books like this, but it was nice to have one without any sexual tension at all that was still very entertaining. I REALLY hope they aren't going to go there for Ray and Annalise because I'm really not feeling that. I'll definitely be reading more of these in the future. For sure.
Anyway, after all that, I did finally start it and I liked it a LOT! In the beginning, it didn't feel like the first in a series, despite the fact that Ray had just gotten out of prison. I even went and checked to make sure this was the first one. There were some things that weren't really explained (like that the heck the Twenty Palaces Society even IS), but they didn't detract too much from the story and just made me want to read more. I don't mind the sexy times that usually appear in books like this, but it was nice to have one without any sexual tension at all that was still very entertaining. I REALLY hope they aren't going to go there for Ray and Annalise because I'm really not feeling that. I'll definitely be reading more of these in the future. For sure.