the_fenharel's review
5.0
I have to admit, I'm a loyal patreon supporter to Bob so my review might be a little bias, but I loved this book! I love that the protagonist and the love interest are both morally grey. Riley makes some really poor choices while Westwood has some seriously dark secrets.
I love characters that aren't perfect because it's more realistic. We're going to push away our partner and be dicks about it, and we're going to find ourselves attracted to the wrong person, and we're going to be giant hypocrites! But that's life!
I would have liked to see some more female characters in the story (hopefully in the future) just to see some fresh blood.
I really can't wait for the next book! Bring it on!
I love characters that aren't perfect because it's more realistic. We're going to push away our partner and be dicks about it, and we're going to find ourselves attracted to the wrong person, and we're going to be giant hypocrites! But that's life!
I would have liked to see some more female characters in the story (hopefully in the future) just to see some fresh blood.
I really can't wait for the next book! Bring it on!
reviewerlarissa's review
2.0
Review for Gay Book Reviews
Art of the Death is the first book in a new series called Lychgate, an organisation of undead (without rotting to pieces) creatures that tolerates no wrongdoing from their own. It’s a story that shows much promise with its (very) flawed characters and interesting plot, but fails to deliver because the story and its characters are too limited.
Art of Death follows Riley Burke an artist who’s not quite making it, so he’s a nude model on the side at the local art college. When a top notch painter wants Riley to model for him. However there is a controversy surrounding Coliaro as his nude paintings always tranfer into a grisley murder scene and someone ends up dead. Of course Riley models for him and the story starts snowballing from there.
While the bare bones and the idea of this story is good, the execution is limited. For one there are very few characters in this story and this makes it predictable. Within a few chapters I had a good grasp of what was going to happen and who the murdering follower is and everyone’s role in the story.
Even when Riley finds a body, there is no talking to the police, no follow-ups. In fact at is as if the police don’t exist in this story. Outside of his partner, Westwood, his old college professor and another undead, Riley doesn’t talk much to others. He has no friends even though he mentions having them during college. His life is very one-dimensional. He’s an illustrator, but not once does he work or talks much about his work other than to say he has a freelance job. ...... Read the entire review at Gay Book Reviews
Art of the Death is the first book in a new series called Lychgate, an organisation of undead (without rotting to pieces) creatures that tolerates no wrongdoing from their own. It’s a story that shows much promise with its (very) flawed characters and interesting plot, but fails to deliver because the story and its characters are too limited.
Art of Death follows Riley Burke an artist who’s not quite making it, so he’s a nude model on the side at the local art college. When a top notch painter wants Riley to model for him. However there is a controversy surrounding Coliaro as his nude paintings always tranfer into a grisley murder scene and someone ends up dead. Of course Riley models for him and the story starts snowballing from there.
While the bare bones and the idea of this story is good, the execution is limited. For one there are very few characters in this story and this makes it predictable. Within a few chapters I had a good grasp of what was going to happen and who the murdering follower is and everyone’s role in the story.
Even when Riley finds a body, there is no talking to the police, no follow-ups. In fact at is as if the police don’t exist in this story. Outside of his partner, Westwood, his old college professor and another undead, Riley doesn’t talk much to others. He has no friends even though he mentions having them during college. His life is very one-dimensional. He’s an illustrator, but not once does he work or talks much about his work other than to say he has a freelance job. ...... Read the entire review at Gay Book Reviews
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