A review by ailsaod
River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

adventurous dark fast-paced
  • 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

Am a bit conflicted by this book. Overall I enjoyed it - although it is very short and I got through it in an afternoon.

The setting was great - I really enjoyed the effects the introduction of hippos had on the course of history and how integrated they had become into daily life as well as how this was all done in such a small number of words and the plot is solid, though fast moving.

When the characters were introduced I HATED almost all of them on sight to varying degrees so it is an achievement that in ~170 pages I came to care for three of them (I would advise that you not read this if you like your main characters to be good people). Admittedly Hero was great from the start (if very murderous). The (domesticated) hippos are actually dears and are another reason this story was good. The romance is a little insta-lovey but with so few pages that is to be expected I suppose and Hero and Houndstooth were a delight together. I won't spoil anything (oh boy does a lot happen in the second half of the book) but in my opinion Hero saved this book for me and is the reason this is 4 stars rather than 3!)

However I wasn't so much a fan of how brutal things got at times. It fits the story but at one point I thought someone was going to get their mustache cut off and instead it was their EAR!

Finally let me warn you that there is a v unsatisfying ending and if you think you are going to like it then maybe have book 2 on hand because I don't and I need to know what happens next. Romeo and Juliet much!
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