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kriscricket's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
fiddlak's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
jrmarr's review
4.0
Fun. Funny. Very entertaining and hard to put down. This second instalment in the series wasn't the same delightful surprise as the first, but it was still a great read. Looking forward to the third.
roseangel2's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Funny, great blend of two genres. Still feels like a fresh voice even though it is almost 15 years old. Strong Black lead with lots to say. Definitely a book most people are going to underestimate - has some honestly moving moments amid the funny and crime solving ones.
Content Warnings
Minor: Suicide
guppyur's review against another edition
2.0
Still a bit of fun pulp, but with more problems.
Problem 1: Authors have always liked to dot their work with references to things they like. Jim Butcher likes aikido, for example, so he made a secondary character an expert. Good, fine. Aaronovitch lacks self-restraint, however, and he's not so much dotted his work as upended the entire bucket on it. His preference is jazz, and its role is both more prominent and more ridiculous. It's a central part of the plot in ways it has no business being. Jazz featured a bit in the previous installment, and if a bit heavy-handed was fine as character background. He's gone far overboard this time, though. He also likes to show off -- not just his knowledge of jazz standards, but of particular versions of them. It's downright masturbatory and it takes me out of the story.
Problem 2: Sex scenes. There are quite a lot, and they're simultaneously overly explicit and profoundly unsexy. If you must have them, you should probably avoid taking the worst of all worlds. Every time he started one, I'd think "oh god, he's trying this again." It also appears to be important to Aaronovitch that his protagonist be a sexual Superman. It reeks of insecurity and, again, takes me out of the story.
Problem 3: Implausibility. At least once I was utterly unable to suspend my disbelief that characters would act as they did, and -- you guessed it -- boom, out of the story again.
It's fun enough if you're willing to overlook all these issues, but a literary award winner this is not. I've not decided whether to continue with the series.
Problem 1: Authors have always liked to dot their work with references to things they like. Jim Butcher likes aikido, for example, so he made a secondary character an expert. Good, fine. Aaronovitch lacks self-restraint, however, and he's not so much dotted his work as upended the entire bucket on it. His preference is jazz, and its role is both more prominent and more ridiculous. It's a central part of the plot in ways it has no business being. Jazz featured a bit in the previous installment, and if a bit heavy-handed was fine as character background. He's gone far overboard this time, though. He also likes to show off -- not just his knowledge of jazz standards, but of particular versions of them. It's downright masturbatory and it takes me out of the story.
Problem 2: Sex scenes. There are quite a lot, and they're simultaneously overly explicit and profoundly unsexy. If you must have them, you should probably avoid taking the worst of all worlds. Every time he started one, I'd think "oh god, he's trying this again." It also appears to be important to Aaronovitch that his protagonist be a sexual Superman. It reeks of insecurity and, again, takes me out of the story.
Problem 3: Implausibility. At least once I was utterly unable to suspend my disbelief that characters would act as they did, and -- you guessed it -- boom, out of the story again.
It's fun enough if you're willing to overlook all these issues, but a literary award winner this is not. I've not decided whether to continue with the series.
_inge_'s review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
isabellabaker's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
katie1775's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
euanspeaks's review
3.0
A good sequel that probably lacks the magic (pun intended) of the first. We get to know some old characters better but there are still some question marks left by the end, and again it feels like the ending happens at a disappointingly asymmetrical speed.