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3.04 AVERAGE
3.04 AVERAGE
Author showed a love for the English language not matched by a love of story. "Clever" and "pretty" phrasings kept drawing attention to themselves and knocking me out of the book.
Woof, I made it. I wasn't sure that I would, as this novel started out normally and devolved into a stream-of-consciousness mess. I was seriously motivated to keep going, though, because I read the rest of the series and this is the last book in it.
So I pushed on through, got to a bit of light in the tunnel, and then there was more muck. Really, Mr. Battis - this is a popular work! Or did you just feel like, "Hey, this is the end of my contract, I can do whatever I want..." That's the feeling I got, honestly. It doesn't motivate me to pick up whatever Battis publishes in the future.
So I pushed on through, got to a bit of light in the tunnel, and then there was more muck. Really, Mr. Battis - this is a popular work! Or did you just feel like, "Hey, this is the end of my contract, I can do whatever I want..." That's the feeling I got, honestly. It doesn't motivate me to pick up whatever Battis publishes in the future.
SPOILER ALERT
I am SOOOOOO mad!!! The first thing I read were the acknowledgments and it said (to paraphrase) "the hardest thing to do is to close out a series." WHAT?? You mean this is it? I don't get any more after this one?? That is just mean. How am I supposed to start a novel knowing that after 4 other books, getting to know and love (mostly) these characters (I can't exactly call all of them people now, can I?) I have fewer than 300 pages to say goodbye? Not fair, Jes!
Thatsaidranted, I did enjoy reading every bit of it. I wanted more, of course, but what was there, I liked. I still want to know what happens ten or twenty years down the road, but maybe that's the point. Everything is tied up, while not exactly neatly, at least somewhat satisfactorily. I can live with the results and I'm happy I was along for the ride.
I am SOOOOOO mad!!! The first thing I read were the acknowledgments and it said (to paraphrase) "the hardest thing to do is to close out a series." WHAT?? You mean this is it? I don't get any more after this one?? That is just mean. How am I supposed to start a novel knowing that after 4 other books, getting to know and love (mostly) these characters (I can't exactly call all of them people now, can I?) I have fewer than 300 pages to say goodbye? Not fair, Jes!
That
I have mixed feelings about this book, I enjoyed this series, but this last book was strange. It had a trippy, disjointed quality that was different from the rest o the series. I didn't feel as connected to the charactors as in the past, it was hard to follow where the story was heading or how it was all going to end. Still I am sorry that this is the last book, I hope he author has a new story to tell.
This book was an odd mix, and for me some parts were 5-star, some were barely 3, and the combination was fascinating but not quite workable... the rating is a compromise.
The things I liked best about this series were still there although only in parts of this book. Tess Corday is a more-than-half demon but still very human magic-wielder with a self-made family consisting of her telepathic gay best friend, his deaf boyfriend, her adopted/fostered two teenage vampires, and a dead necromancer boyfriend. The family parts of these stories really worked for me - maternal angst, teen snark, BFF and romance insecurities.
The magic parts were more problematic while at the same time engendering some truly wonderful language and images that I reread just for the flow of words. However in the end I found it hard to pay attention to or care about the details. There were several events relating to the deaths and world-building in this book, and I'm still not sure the resolution worked for me. So this is an interesting, at times gorgeous (in the I-hate-inner-angsting-for-pages-but-this-is-kind-of-amazing sense,) sometimes fun, ending to a series I've enjoyed.
The things I liked best about this series were still there although only in parts of this book. Tess Corday is a more-than-half demon but still very human magic-wielder with a self-made family consisting of her telepathic gay best friend, his deaf boyfriend, her adopted/fostered two teenage vampires, and a dead necromancer boyfriend. The family parts of these stories really worked for me - maternal angst, teen snark, BFF and romance insecurities.
The magic parts were more problematic while at the same time engendering some truly wonderful language and images that I reread just for the flow of words. However in the end I found it hard to pay attention to or care about the details. There were several events relating to the deaths and world-building in this book, and I'm still not sure the resolution worked for me. So this is an interesting, at times gorgeous (in the I-hate-inner-angsting-for-pages-but-this-is-kind-of-amazing sense,) sometimes fun, ending to a series I've enjoyed.