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sydapel's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Never something I would have picked up if it hadn't been for Mel Thomas on Tiktok, but even as someone who does not love mystery that much, this was charming! Hats off to the audiobook narrator as well for doing an excellent portrayal of both Kim and Will.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, War, and Injury/Injury detail
astrangewind's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Slippery Creatures was... fine. There was a plot that made sense and was easy to follow; the characters had clear motivations; the twists were foreshadowed well and felt intentional; the stakes were clear and in line with the situation. Arguably, these should just be expected of any novel worth reading.
Historical fiction and romance don't even clear my top ten genres. It's not that I'm not a fan - it's just that my preferences lie elsewhere - so it's possible that my criticisms come down to not being very familiar with the genres.
Mainly, I didn't find the book particularly compelling. The plot seems rather run-of-the-mill - "war veteran gets caught up in Government vs. Anarchist conspiracyand falls in love with a spy ." Will and Kim are practically indistinguishable; I often had to read back to see who the hell was saying what. The characters who aren't indistinguishable are caricatures: Maisie is the acquiescent "mom friend"; Phoebe is the gossipy socialite; Libra is violent.
And the sex scenes? Not only crude, but boring. I dreaded reading them. I once read that if you want to practice writing sex scenes, you should try writing a mundane task, getting your mail, say, in an erotic way. That leaves you with a piece of writing that, despite its lack of sexual actions, evokes the feeling of sensuality in the reader. I think that KJ Charles would entirely fail at this exercise. I could tell that a sex scene was happening because there were words like "cock" and "blowjob," but I didn't feel the eroticism.
Slippery Creatures itself was quite slow. It's an incredibly dialogue-heavy book. At first, I found it quite charming; I think in part Charles has a knack for writing convincing dialogue in 1920's Britain (as far as I can tell, at least). But after pages and pages of dialogue that just repeats a written description, or dialogue that goes on way too long, or dialogue shifting into exposition and ignoring the mannerisms of the speaker, it gets dull. It's like the characters aren't even in the world around them - several times I noticed a character asking another a question that would have been answered if they had looked around them. I wish there had been more real description of the world - the sights, the smells, the sounds, the sensations - to ground me in it, to find it more believable. Incidentally, that probably would have made the sex scenes better. (The only sensation I remember from the sex scenes is using teeth... during a blowjob... shudder)
Although Slippery Creatures wasn't good, it also wasn't bad. It was a quick enough read, and there were moments where I really felt the connection between Will and Kim, though they were few and far between. I'm also always appreciative of queer characters whose queerness is natural, and not over-emphasized, and not the cause of all of their problems. And you know what? The world needs more just-OK queer books.
Historical fiction and romance don't even clear my top ten genres. It's not that I'm not a fan - it's just that my preferences lie elsewhere - so it's possible that my criticisms come down to not being very familiar with the genres.
Mainly, I didn't find the book particularly compelling. The plot seems rather run-of-the-mill - "war veteran gets caught up in Government vs. Anarchist conspiracy
And the sex scenes? Not only crude, but boring. I dreaded reading them. I once read that if you want to practice writing sex scenes, you should try writing a mundane task, getting your mail, say, in an erotic way. That leaves you with a piece of writing that, despite its lack of sexual actions, evokes the feeling of sensuality in the reader. I think that KJ Charles would entirely fail at this exercise. I could tell that a sex scene was happening because there were words like "cock" and "blowjob," but I didn't feel the eroticism.
Slippery Creatures itself was quite slow. It's an incredibly dialogue-heavy book. At first, I found it quite charming; I think in part Charles has a knack for writing convincing dialogue in 1920's Britain (as far as I can tell, at least). But after pages and pages of dialogue that just repeats a written description, or dialogue that goes on way too long, or dialogue shifting into exposition and ignoring the mannerisms of the speaker, it gets dull. It's like the characters aren't even in the world around them - several times I noticed a character asking another a question that would have been answered if they had looked around them. I wish there had been more real description of the world - the sights, the smells, the sounds, the sensations - to ground me in it, to find it more believable. Incidentally, that probably would have made the sex scenes better. (The only sensation I remember from the sex scenes is using teeth... during a blowjob... shudder)
Although Slippery Creatures wasn't good, it also wasn't bad. It was a quick enough read, and there were moments where I really felt the connection between Will and Kim, though they were few and far between. I'm also always appreciative of queer characters whose queerness is natural, and not over-emphasized, and not the cause of all of their problems. And you know what? The world needs more just-OK queer books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Torture
Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, Violence, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence, Alcohol, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
capriqueen's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
These are six star books for me, I absolutely love them
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: War
callidoralblack's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Police brutality, and Kidnapping
Minor: Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Torture, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
yourbookishbff's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.5
KJ Charles set out to write a 1920s Golden Age pulp fiction romantic mystery and she nailed it. I love how theatric and, at times, over-the-top KJC's mysteries feel and how well they play to earlier styles and plot devices. This is a tight first installment, with a single clear arc, a mysterious external conflict and the dawning of romantic interest between our two main characters. It's an emotional journey in very few pages, and I was giddy and confused and angry and then confused again and then eventually content (or as content as you can be when both characters are probably still in some kind of mortal peril). No-one does betrayal like KJ Charles. Looking forward to the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Gun violence, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Homophobia and War
kaneebli's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Torture, Violence, and War
Minor: Homophobia, Infidelity, Murder, and Pandemic/Epidemic
notthatlibrarian's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture
Moderate: War
kmoz's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Torture and Violence
Minor: War
cleot's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Confinement, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and War
Minor: Suicide
booksthatburn's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
SLIPPERY CREATURES is a dynamic story with vivid characters and intimate stakes for a former soldier come bookshop owner who keeps having his calm interrupted.
Normally I cannot stand books where one of the main characters is lying to the other, especially in the context of a relationship. I think what makes the difference is that Will figures out quickly that Kim is lying to him about some pretty important things, even if he doesn't know the precise shape of it for a while. Kim is fascinating as a character, but I would not want to hang around him in person. Will and Kim have a very nice time at their first meeting, but Kim keeps lying to him because he has priorities other than Will and it takes most of the book book to get to a point where Will might be more important to him than his prior commitments. Will for his part wants to know where he stands and wants everyone to stop messing up his life for the sake of something he originally didn’t know it was in his possession and has no desire to hold.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this, I will keep reading the series because I want to know what happens next. Future books seem likely to deal more with Zodiac and the relationship between Kim and Will.
Normally I cannot stand books where one of the main characters is lying to the other, especially in the context of a relationship. I think what makes the difference is that Will figures out quickly that Kim is lying to him about some pretty important things, even if he doesn't know the precise shape of it for a while. Kim is fascinating as a character, but I would not want to hang around him in person. Will and Kim have a very nice time at their first meeting, but Kim keeps lying to him because he has priorities other than Will and it takes most of the book book to get to a point where Will might be more important to him than his prior commitments. Will for his part wants to know where he stands and wants everyone to stop messing up his life for the sake of something he originally didn’t know it was in his possession and has no desire to hold.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this, I will keep reading the series because I want to know what happens next. Future books seem likely to deal more with Zodiac and the relationship between Kim and Will.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic