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mrtlives's review
4.0
Overall, I was thoroughly impressed by the creativity of Daniel Greene! I've only ever been a YouTube fan of his and when A Witch's Sin was announced, I had to try it (also that cool cover!).
I felt like Greene did a great job executing a really unique idea of combining cyberpunk with supernatural fantasy. It's a combo that I didn't know I needed or wanted, but I got and I loved. I also really like how he made a lot of the staples of both genres his own. Some spoiler examples include:. It really added to the uniqueness that I feel like Greene was going for. Overall, his worldbuilding was really good and I hope he keeps it up with the rest of his novels.
However, I did have one main problem with the novel and that is the characters and their relationships to each other. I was very confused about Quinn's character as we are constantly told not to trust him from the very beginning so I never really liked him. I also felt confused about Taya's character as well. I don't really understand why she kept trying to solve the case when there were multiple outs and it feels like she has no skin in the game besides Ms. Carlson (the client who has a friendly relationship with Taya we are told, but isn't really shown enough for me). I just don't understand Taya enough to feel compelled by her character. Then, I'm confused as to how Quinn and Taya became partners because it does not seem like either of them like each other enough to have a business relationship, much less a acquaintanceship.
.
Overall, I think the book was really good. I really want to know how he came up with this idea honestly. I am pretty excited for the novella Greene has mentioned on his channel about the expedition to Mars (to which has been mentioned multiple times in this book and I can feel a major lore drop that I am just dying for!). I can't wait to see what happens in book 2!
I felt like Greene did a great job executing a really unique idea of combining cyberpunk with supernatural fantasy. It's a combo that I didn't know I needed or wanted, but I got and I loved. I also really like how he made a lot of the staples of both genres his own. Some spoiler examples include:
Spoiler
The vampires having a human and demon soul in one body, making them vampires; human society living in structures after a climate catastrophe/magical decay; vampires can't have cyberware, so the tech is forced out of their body (points for body horror I never thought of and would pay for Junji Ito to draw)However, I did have one main problem with the novel and that is the characters and their relationships to each other. I was very confused about Quinn's character as we are constantly told not to trust him from the very beginning so I never really liked him
Spoiler
which makes sense as he was a dirty cop for the Labors, but the twist didn't work as the foreshadowing was very heavy handed and he just treated Taya in an annoying way where I couldn't like him so the twist had no edgeSpoiler
I also really liked the moral ambiguity by the end. Like it isn't really clear who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. If anything there are just sides to this war that has been fought for hundreds of years. I really liked that feeling that Taya felt of terror as she realizes that she has been played and that she will continue to be played, never an agent of free will.Overall, I think the book was really good. I really want to know how he came up with this idea honestly. I am pretty excited for the novella Greene has mentioned on his channel about the expedition to Mars (to which has been mentioned multiple times in this book and I can feel a major lore drop that I am just dying for!). I can't wait to see what happens in book 2!
davids_pookie's review
4.0
Its the first book i read from this author and i don’t regret it! Omg i loved this, im obsessed!
alocalarchivist's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ronitjauthor's review
3.0
I love Daniel Greene's work on YouTube. He's the reason I started reading The Wheel of Time, The Poppy War, The Expanse, and much more. And I genuinely believe that he has the potential to become a good writer, given his vast appetite and experience with SFF books. When he announced this book and its Kickstarter, I was pumped. The cover is dope and the blurb had me sold.
WHAT I LIKED:
I genuinely liked the world of Neon Ghosts. It isn't the most original Sci-Fi Cyberpunk world out there, but it felt realised enough for me to immerse in. The megastructures were sinister and fascinating all at once. The whole concept of Vampires living among humans in a post-apocalyptic Cyberpunk megastructure was intriguing, and I wanted to learn more about this class of society more than anything else.
The plot too was full of exciting moments. I can see the similarities in themes and plot points that the Dishevelled Goblin has re-explored here. Every major plot point makes up for an explosive event that adds to the world-building, keeping the book ever-expanding. Even with the climax.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
Can't mention the positives without the negatives. I'll repeat myself and say that I believe our beloved Goblin has the potential to become a good writer. And Neon Ghosts is definitely a step up from his previous works, where his strengths are reinforced and weaknesses worked upon. Sadly, there's still a lot of room for improvement.
One major issue I had with this book – which didn't exist for me in his last 2 books – was the protagonist. I didn't vibe with Taya, couldn't find myself liking her despite her backstory, and just got annoyed with her overall. She doesn't seem to have as much agency as a protagonist should; Taya's decisions feel plot-driven, making her remain a puppet even in the end. With a different treatment, maybe this aspect would've felt damning and nihilistic, but here it felt weak.
The book also has a lot of pacing issues. I pretty much skipped James Labor's speeches and debates cause they felt very dry. There was a ton of exposition that felt repetitive and at times overloaded me with information I might or might not need. And these expositions bring me to my last point.
The build-ups weren't appropriate enough. The first third of the book was a drag tbh.
The book could've started from the point that and building the story non-linearly would've fixed the pacing issues significantly. There was a lot of teasing for the future instalments, which again didn't feel satisfying cause most of it isn't resolved. Lack of enough closure is mostly why I ended up not liking the ending. I strongly believe a few more rounds of edits could've benefited the book in many ways.
The book was a 3/3 for me. But seeing Daniel's progress as a writer makes me hopeful that the coming instalments will be better.
TL;DR:
WHAT I LIKED: Setting, world-building, plot
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: protagonist, pacing issues, too much focus on teasing the future
WHAT I LIKED:
I genuinely liked the world of Neon Ghosts. It isn't the most original Sci-Fi Cyberpunk world out there, but it felt realised enough for me to immerse in. The megastructures were sinister and fascinating all at once. The whole concept of Vampires living among humans in a post-apocalyptic Cyberpunk megastructure was intriguing, and I wanted to learn more about this class of society more than anything else.
The plot too was full of exciting moments. I can see the similarities in themes and plot points that the Dishevelled Goblin has re-explored here. Every major plot point makes up for an explosive event that adds to the world-building, keeping the book ever-expanding. Even with the climax.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
Can't mention the positives without the negatives. I'll repeat myself and say that I believe our beloved Goblin has the potential to become a good writer. And Neon Ghosts is definitely a step up from his previous works, where his strengths are reinforced and weaknesses worked upon. Sadly, there's still a lot of room for improvement.
One major issue I had with this book – which didn't exist for me in his last 2 books – was the protagonist. I didn't vibe with Taya, couldn't find myself liking her despite her backstory, and just got annoyed with her overall. She doesn't seem to have as much agency as a protagonist should; Taya's decisions feel plot-driven, making her remain a puppet even in the end. With a different treatment, maybe this aspect would've felt damning and nihilistic, but here it felt weak.
The book also has a lot of pacing issues. I pretty much skipped James Labor's speeches and debates cause they felt very dry. There was a ton of exposition that felt repetitive and at times overloaded me with information I might or might not need. And these expositions bring me to my last point.
The build-ups weren't appropriate enough. The first third of the book was a drag tbh.
The book could've started from the point that
Spoiler
Taya discovers Mrs Carlson's bodyThe book was a 3/3 for me. But seeing Daniel's progress as a writer makes me hopeful that the coming instalments will be better.
TL;DR:
WHAT I LIKED: Setting, world-building, plot
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: protagonist, pacing issues, too much focus on teasing the future
evamarina's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
natcommon's review
4.0
I enjoyed this book a lot. I read Breach of Peace by the author and even though I did like it, it felt like a first writing project. However, I saw the protentional in his writing and said I would pick up his next book. That brings us to "A Witch's Sin".
The worldbuilding is outstanding in this book and you connect with the main character, Taya, straight away. The beginning is super strong and has wonderful scenes that gives you information about the world naturally.
Also, it gave me the vibe of another book I read earlier this year that I enjoyed "The City of Nightmares" by Rebecca Schaeffer. They are very different books, but both gave me that gritty underbelly city vibe and have the main character solving a mystery with a vampire. I love the dynamic and I found myself reading a lot of vampire books this year and loving it. Give me more vampires that are dangerous, but still human. Also, give me more sci-fi books with witches.
The only negative I have is that parts of the middle part seemed to be too long and dragged the spacing for my personal taste.
Overall, I recommend giving this a read, especially if you are sci-fi mystery fan.
The worldbuilding is outstanding in this book and you connect with the main character, Taya, straight away. The beginning is super strong and has wonderful scenes that gives you information about the world naturally.
Also, it gave me the vibe of another book I read earlier this year that I enjoyed "The City of Nightmares" by Rebecca Schaeffer. They are very different books, but both gave me that gritty underbelly city vibe and have the main character solving a mystery with a vampire. I love the dynamic and I found myself reading a lot of vampire books this year and loving it. Give me more vampires that are dangerous, but still human. Also, give me more sci-fi books with witches.
The only negative I have is that parts of the middle part seemed to be too long and dragged the spacing for my personal taste.
Overall, I recommend giving this a read, especially if you are sci-fi mystery fan.
devinb333's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
imaginary_sauropod's review against another edition
4.0
Taya gets her last job before becoming an enforcer, but a warning forces her to realize the target was set up and the major powers that be are actually behind a larger scheme. Forced to ally with the vampire she thought was the murderer, she discovers a magical war brewing inside her megastructure.
I struggled sympathizing with Taya. She has righteous anger, sure, but she needs a nicer side. Once I pushed through not caring much about her, everything came together and was compelling and interesting. Interesting mix of sci-fi futuristic setting and fantasy elements.
I struggled sympathizing with Taya. She has righteous anger, sure, but she needs a nicer side. Once I pushed through not caring much about her, everything came together and was compelling and interesting. Interesting mix of sci-fi futuristic setting and fantasy elements.
jethrov's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
jessica_'s review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed the first half of this book, an easy 4 stars- possibly 5 stars.
The world was immersive, the setting interesting, and I was really enjoying the characters and their relationships.
It is easy to see how much Daniel Greene has improved since the publication of his first book.
I’m not used to sci-fi but the technology and different levels of the superstructure that the population lives in to protect the poisonous haze in the outside world really drew me in. The initial introduction of a particular virus was very interesting to me vampires :)
I adored how advertisements were pushed on everyone, to the point that an open window was used as consent for a drone to come into your home to try and sell you products
I love the talk about the failed terraforming of Mars, class structures, and how different the levels of the megastructure operated. Overall, the world building was one of my favourite aspects of this book
________
But around the halfway point, things took a turn. It was like being reintroduced to a new story. There was a lot of exposition to explain the new thing introduced, conversations felt repetitive, and the plot lost a lot of interest for me.
Then once I got used to this first change, the story changed again and more exposition was needed before we settled into another new normal. It was like there were three different stories in this book.
With my investment lacking, I started to notice little issues that hadn’t bothered me in the first half- the most notably being jokes about how people bypassed government restrictions to get weapons/modifications… giving the feeling that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
And thats setting aside my longstanding issues with vampires being depicted as an oppressed class.... I try to overlook it whenever it's depicted in shows/books but the more the plot brings up laws introduced to subject a group of super strong, dangerous creatures, with a demon whispering in their ear, that when they go on a rampage actively kill people. it's just not a good allegory for real world issues. Especially when they say thing like Vampires don't bite kids :/
Character interactions no longer felt natural and were used as more exposition to move the plot along, lacking the genuine feelings from the first half.
The characters voice in the second half all start to sound the same. They all talked, texted, cursed the same way regardless of their age, upbringing, or motives. With no distinct voice.
The villains we’re cartoonishly evil and I really just stopped paying attention :(
Other issues arose from how little consequences the protagonist faced but I need to go into spoilers for that one so in this cyber punk inspired story advance tech and enhancements are very important. Vampires are not compatible with these enhancements so when the main character is turned -not only is her soul saved by a witch, so she don’t have a demon whispering in her ear, and her frenzied state won’t be as bad as a normal vampire transformation-She is given a suit that has better modifications then she had before leaving her no reason to learn a new way to fight or alter how she lives in this world….. also while I’m talking spoilers… Why turn the main character into a vampire in the last third of book 1??? Isn’t that like a book 3 plot line?
Regardless that the second half of this story wasn’t to my personal taste I am excited to see what he publishes next, and will happily support his career going forward... happily awaiting for my physical copy as it looks beautiful :)
The world was immersive, the setting interesting, and I was really enjoying the characters and their relationships.
It is easy to see how much Daniel Greene has improved since the publication of his first book.
I’m not used to sci-fi but the technology and different levels of the superstructure that the population lives in to protect the poisonous haze in the outside world really drew me in. The initial introduction of a particular virus was very interesting to me
I adored how advertisements were pushed on everyone, to the point that an open window was used as consent for a drone to come into your home to try and sell you products
I love the talk about the failed terraforming of Mars, class structures, and how different the levels of the megastructure operated. Overall, the world building was one of my favourite aspects of this book
________
But around the halfway point, things took a turn. It was like being reintroduced to a new story. There was a lot of exposition to explain the new thing introduced, conversations felt repetitive, and the plot lost a lot of interest for me.
Then once I got used to this first change, the story changed again and more exposition was needed before we settled into another new normal. It was like there were three different stories in this book.
With my investment lacking, I started to notice little issues that hadn’t bothered me in the first half- the most notably being jokes about how people bypassed government restrictions to get weapons/modifications… giving the feeling that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
And thats setting aside my longstanding issues with
Character interactions no longer felt natural and were used as more exposition to move the plot along, lacking the genuine feelings from the first half.
The characters voice in the second half all start to sound the same. They all talked, texted, cursed the same way regardless of their age, upbringing, or motives. With no distinct voice.
The villains we’re cartoonishly evil and I really just stopped paying attention :(
Other issues arose from how little consequences the protagonist faced but I need to go into spoilers for that one
Regardless that the second half of this story wasn’t to my personal taste I am excited to see what he publishes next, and will happily support his career going forward... happily awaiting for my physical copy as it looks beautiful :)