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A review by kitvaria_sarene
Twenty Palaces by Harry Connolly
3.0
I wanted to like this more than I actually did. Which is mostly due to *my taste*, not the book itself..
I read the author's other (not urban) fantasy, and really enjoyed it, so I was really looking forward to this!
While it's a solid 3 star book I don't regret reading, it just isn't written for me.
My first problem was the style of the story - it's Urban Fantasy, and so I expected something like Harry Dresden or Hellequin. It's more like a Lovecraft meets Urban Style though, with some sort of creatures trying to get a hold on earth. That's not bad, it's just not my personal cup of tea.
The next thing that made it hard for me is the main character just getting out of prison. He wants to start a good normal life now. So far so good! I quite enjoyed the slight mystery of his backstory, and learning slowly what happened between him and his former best friend. However, the (luckily few!) moments when he thinks about female main characters looks, or if they want to kiss him annoyed me. Yes it might be very realistic that he is starved of human interaction and especially "romantic" moments. Another review even complains about it being unrealistic how little he thinks about this, and there not being any actual sex scenes. So it's not necessarily bad writing, I just can't stand it, again, personally.
Aside from these gripes, the book was well written and managed to keep me interested all the way through.
I read the author's other (not urban) fantasy, and really enjoyed it, so I was really looking forward to this!
While it's a solid 3 star book I don't regret reading, it just isn't written for me.
My first problem was the style of the story - it's Urban Fantasy, and so I expected something like Harry Dresden or Hellequin. It's more like a Lovecraft meets Urban Style though, with some sort of creatures trying to get a hold on earth. That's not bad, it's just not my personal cup of tea.
The next thing that made it hard for me is the main character just getting out of prison. He wants to start a good normal life now. So far so good! I quite enjoyed the slight mystery of his backstory, and learning slowly what happened between him and his former best friend. However, the (luckily few!) moments when he thinks about female main characters looks, or if they want to kiss him annoyed me. Yes it might be very realistic that he is starved of human interaction and especially "romantic" moments. Another review even complains about it being unrealistic how little he thinks about this, and there not being any actual sex scenes. So it's not necessarily bad writing, I just can't stand it, again, personally.
Aside from these gripes, the book was well written and managed to keep me interested all the way through.