Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Breach of Peace

A little darker than what I usually read, but definitely an intriguing start to the series. I knew this was a debut novella going in and it does read like one. But everyone has to start somewhere, right? I am left wondering how many questions the sequel novella is going to answer. The world seems interesting, but so few hints are given that I don't have anywhere near a basic understanding of it. The closest I can come to describing this novella is something akin to a cross of King, Nix's Sabriel , and a Ghibli nightmare. The magic and political systems are so vaguely described I had a hard time following some of the plot. A little more editing might have smoothed some awkward paragraph jumps. On the whole, I felt another 50 pages might have made a big difference, but I'll reserve judgement on the series as a whole for now.

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

So I needed to see what all the hubbub was about so I bought the ebook and audio. (Audio is narrated by the wonderful Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. I did feel like I was reading from Shallan's POV though and Kaladin/Dalinar. LOL (if you know, you know.....)

I'll start with a few good things and then get to the things I did not like. Right off the bat, I'll put it out there that this book isn't for me and I won't be continuing with the novella series. I MAY pick up a full novel in the future but not if it continues as is.....

The Good:
I understand being a first time author, you need to find your voice and figure out your writing style. While this left a lot to be desired overall, I felt the action scenes in chapter 6 flowed very well. Chapter 8 also had very good flow and I felt like I was reading from a more experienced author.

I knew that Greene, being a new author, I probably wouldn't be wow'd by this book, so I went in with low expectations. I wanted to to see what the internet was screaming about. As usual, I disagree with the internet. Many had felt that this novella was a glorification of police and I disagree. There was a huge line crossed at a couple points in the story but we're also told by the end what happens to those officers who cross that line.

The Bad:
I understand the basic bones of this story as a crime/detective story set in a fantasy world, but I wish Greene had been able to expand more on the characters and the worldbuilding. I had some nitpicky problems with the prose such as we'd be reading along at super plain prose and then suddenly there is an SAT/ACT vocabulary word thrown in. Your average reader probably doesn't know what "ameliorate" means for example. That word and a few more just felt very out of place.

The "horror" vs thriller shelf needs to be added to this book. No wonder Amazon had this book listed in horror. I haven't read anything this grotesque in many years (by choice obviously). The book opens up with a child having been hung....I was prepared for that because I had heard from some big Booktubers about this. What I wasn't prepared for was the in-depth description of the crime scene AND when they thought the killer was still around and went searching for him, and BLECH!!!! I thought, okay that's done. Nope.....another action scene with horrid descriptions. Maybe that's for you.

I was taken aback at the use of one building (a brothel) and the scene that happened there was just weird.....the names given for the people who ran it "mother/father" (REALLY???) as well as did I really need to know that this dude had an erection???? I mean he was drugged out of his mind, someone tried to "sober him up" with a few slaps and then we were told he had an erection???? (eye roll)

I also think Greene could have made a few better decisions on the names given to the religious overlords.....but that's my own personal line in the sand.

I personally didn't like that one of the main characters was working with her husband on this case. That wasn't as bad though as the PDA while you're supposed to be ON DUTY! Kisses here, I love you's there, rubbing her back when she's anxious.....That was the only character development shown trying to establish a close relationship.

So I wish I had more positive things to say about this. Give this a try if none of the things I mentioned above don't matter to you but I wont' be recommending this unless I know someone likes this type of description and are fine with below average prose.

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