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sunnyevie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Better then a plain 4 stars but I can't quite give it 5. I loved this. It actually reminded me of yhe way Holly wrote the White Cat series which is criminally (ha, pun) underrated. I loved Charlie Hall, she's a mix of Veronica Mars, Dex Parios from Stumptown, and Haymitch from the Hunger Games (which might be an odd comparison but it's how I feel). I didn't find her boring at all. And Vince definitely kept the story going as such an enigma. The story was great and the magic system has good bones.
But here are the reasons I can't give it 5 stars:
One, the magic system, while intriguing, wad sloppily and poorly fleshed out. I barely have any idea about the rules and implications. Though MAYBE that's purposeful as in the story the shadow magic is supposed to be relatively new. Though it's interesting that her sister is hell bent on getting the magic, scouring the web to find nothing, but then Charlie runs into random bits of really helpful information about the shadow magic from people around her as if some people DO know more. If people can know more then the internet should know it because there are always attention seekers willing to shout their info.
Two, Charlie would make mental LEAPS with the information she had and connect dots that really felt like jumping to a massive conclusion that turned out to be right because... plot. I really hope Holly will take more time in the next novel to flesh out the clues leading to the next bit of logical work so that I can work these things out WITH Charlie or lay out the strings better so that when she ties them all together it's an "aha!" moment for me and not a "well, that was a giant tangle that happened to work out". Charlie would refer randomly to people that were mentioned so little and then expect me to follow, like Raven, and I was like "huh? who?"
Anyway. It was fun for me because I really like Veronica Mars. I just hope the next one is a bit better.
But here are the reasons I can't give it 5 stars:
One, the magic system, while intriguing, wad sloppily and poorly fleshed out. I barely have any idea about the rules and implications. Though MAYBE that's purposeful as in the story the shadow magic is supposed to be relatively new. Though it's interesting that her sister is hell bent on getting the magic, scouring the web to find nothing, but then Charlie runs into random bits of really helpful information about the shadow magic from people around her as if some people DO know more. If people can know more then the internet should know it because there are always attention seekers willing to shout their info.
Two, Charlie would make mental LEAPS with the information she had and connect dots that really felt like jumping to a massive conclusion that turned out to be right because... plot. I really hope Holly will take more time in the next novel to flesh out the clues leading to the next bit of logical work so that I can work these things out WITH Charlie or lay out the strings better so that when she ties them all together it's an "aha!" moment for me and not a "well, that was a giant tangle that happened to work out". Charlie would refer randomly to people that were mentioned so little and then expect me to follow, like Raven, and I was like "huh? who?"
Anyway. It was fun for me because I really like Veronica Mars. I just hope the next one is a bit better.
meganagain's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
Mixed feelings.
We start badly, introducing a character with the standard gray eyes that mean This Is The Important Character.
We advance slowly, with some sketched-rather-than-drawn worldbuilding, which I suspect is all that this setup could stand. I'd say the decision to go with shadow magic made this a difficult assignment. Despite that, Black follows the rules in developing it consistently.
We are told/shown that Charlie is a thief with self-esteem issues who make bad decisions. For hundreds of pages, this develops. She's yer basic Plucky Girl. In the last 50 or so pages, she turns into Arsene Lupin + James Bond, and I was expecting the final scenes to reveal her hidden mastery of bartitsu and teleportation.
HOWever, those last pages get up to a heck of a gallop, and the inevitable "You see, Jim" wrapup brings together all the loose ends in Agatha Christie style.
I was left with a bit of brow-furrowing when I recalled scenes in which the 3rd-person flat PoV conveniently omitted something that turned out to be rather important. I admit that revealing them then would have messed things up, but still ...
I might read #2, to see if Black has now finished changing gears into writing for adults. The talent's clearly there.
But she's going to have to address some questions about how the shadow stuff works.
We start badly, introducing a character with the standard gray eyes that mean This Is The Important Character.
We advance slowly, with some sketched-rather-than-drawn worldbuilding, which I suspect is all that this setup could stand. I'd say the decision to go with shadow magic made this a difficult assignment. Despite that, Black follows the rules in developing it consistently.
We are told/shown that Charlie is a thief with self-esteem issues who make bad decisions. For hundreds of pages, this develops. She's yer basic Plucky Girl. In the last 50 or so pages, she turns into Arsene Lupin + James Bond, and I was expecting the final scenes to reveal her hidden mastery of bartitsu and teleportation.
HOWever, those last pages get up to a heck of a gallop, and the inevitable "You see, Jim" wrapup brings together all the loose ends in Agatha Christie style.
I was left with a bit of brow-furrowing when I recalled scenes in which the 3rd-person flat PoV conveniently omitted something that turned out to be rather important. I admit that revealing them then would have messed things up, but still ...
I might read #2, to see if Black has now finished changing gears into writing for adults. The talent's clearly there.
But she's going to have to address some questions about how the shadow stuff works.
jenijenocide's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
teagz2's review against another edition
Was not vibing with this book at all. I didn’t understand the magic system and I felt this was a weird book of advertisement with the amount of name brand things that randomly came up. Like dr brauners soap?? Don’t date your book and Just say soap ! So weird.
j_walter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Underdog, morally gray but lovable main character. Quirky, dark humor. Mysteries. Twisty plot.
jacyceleste's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sovier's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75