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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
kestrelfire's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, and Violence
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
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
jess_always_reading's review
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This type of story (mystery/thriller) isn't usually what I go for but someone recommended it and I'm so glad they did! Noir-esque with interesting characters and featuring a developing and wonderfully twisty relationship, it's worth a read!
9/10 would recommend
9/10 would recommend
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Homophobia, Violence, and War
sarahfigs412's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Fun, sexy and oh so British
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Homophobia and Violence
nesscoffeee's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
A solid first book and a good start to the trilogy, I'd say. I enjoyed the book as a whole! Though there was nothing that particularly stood out to me.
Will and Kim had a good dynamic. Their banter was great - and their feelings complex enough to be intriguing. Also, I was amazed how factual the spicy scenes were.
Will and Kim had a good dynamic. Their banter was great - and their feelings complex enough to be intriguing. Also, I was amazed how factual the spicy scenes were.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping
Minor: Violence and War
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
An LGBTQIA+ read involving a book store and a mysterious power struggle over secret information sounded like a perfect pick for me. Unfortunately, I didn't love this. The writing style didn't quite work for me, and I didn't much enjoy the character relationship. The pacing also felt a bit off, and it's obvious the author doesn't know what PTSD is like but wanted to use it as character flavor anyway.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, Violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Murder