book_whispers's review against another edition
2.0
It's clear from my reviews that I have not been doing well with indie/self pub books for Urban Fantasy. That said I enjoyed the humor immensely in this book, and the grammar was clean. Wow, what a nice little twist. Sadly it felt like non-stop jokes. Which is a sad coincidence as I was talking to some Goodreads friends about how of late Urban Fantasy authors seem to think snarky/witty jokes is the way to go. Completely leaving character development and world building in the background. Which also led to how snarky humor may not be witty, but simply rude.
Thankfully it comes off witty in Maggie For Hire. Sadly the writing is bare bones. When I read a book the words need to transport me into the world. Where all I can visualize is this world. Taste, smell, feel, and just be in a freaking book coma. Where I don't need to eat or sleep because the author is providing all my needs. Maggie was a stranger going into the book, and coming out of it. She has a great since of humor. Yeah. None of the other cast of characters stood out much. And no I didn't find the elf sexy. With poor writing. Or I should say it's “telling” writing. Don't tell me how hot and sexy this elf is, make me believe it through the writing.
Now the plot. Nothing special. Runs like an uninspired UF, with nothing new. In fact, there is so little new material here that this is how it goes: chasing, little mini fight, find some one, ask questions. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. By the end of the book I skimmed. GASP! Yeah, me the advocate of no skimming. Sorry, by the last 50% I know longer cared. And actually considered exercising my “Did Not Finish” powers. But I wanted to get the last few jokes in.
Come for the jokes, and stay for them. Because you're not going to get much else out of this. There are some amazing authors out there, especially in the UF genre, and I know what I want. Sadly Maggie For Hire may have some solid writing—especially compared to some of the shit ARCs lately—but it's not quite there yet. A bit more work with world building, characters, and not telling the story is needed. Right now the book is free on Amazon for Kindle, try it out don't be shy. I read this as a group read and there were many readers who enjoyed it and moved on the the next books. For me, I want more. Nay, I need more.
Sexual Content: Sexual jokes, a few. Clean, cleaner than most YA.
2/5- Average/disappointing, library check-out.
Originally reviewed at Book Whispers.
Thankfully it comes off witty in Maggie For Hire. Sadly the writing is bare bones. When I read a book the words need to transport me into the world. Where all I can visualize is this world. Taste, smell, feel, and just be in a freaking book coma. Where I don't need to eat or sleep because the author is providing all my needs. Maggie was a stranger going into the book, and coming out of it. She has a great since of humor. Yeah. None of the other cast of characters stood out much. And no I didn't find the elf sexy. With poor writing. Or I should say it's “telling” writing. Don't tell me how hot and sexy this elf is, make me believe it through the writing.
Now the plot. Nothing special. Runs like an uninspired UF, with nothing new. In fact, there is so little new material here that this is how it goes: chasing, little mini fight, find some one, ask questions. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. By the end of the book I skimmed. GASP! Yeah, me the advocate of no skimming. Sorry, by the last 50% I know longer cared. And actually considered exercising my “Did Not Finish” powers. But I wanted to get the last few jokes in.
Come for the jokes, and stay for them. Because you're not going to get much else out of this. There are some amazing authors out there, especially in the UF genre, and I know what I want. Sadly Maggie For Hire may have some solid writing—especially compared to some of the shit ARCs lately—but it's not quite there yet. A bit more work with world building, characters, and not telling the story is needed. Right now the book is free on Amazon for Kindle, try it out don't be shy. I read this as a group read and there were many readers who enjoyed it and moved on the the next books. For me, I want more. Nay, I need more.
Sexual Content: Sexual jokes, a few. Clean, cleaner than most YA.
2/5- Average/disappointing, library check-out.
Originally reviewed at Book Whispers.
kaziteega's review
3.0
...?
It started out funny, and it seemed like it would be a fun good read. It wasn't horrible, it had some funny parts, some action parts, happy moments but all in all the book was just okay.
It started out funny, and it seemed like it would be a fun good read. It wasn't horrible, it had some funny parts, some action parts, happy moments but all in all the book was just okay.
siggie's review against another edition
3.0
I got this book because I read an excerpt that made me laugh and made me want to read more. I had high hopes but for me the book as a whole didn’t live up to that excerpt. That said, it was an enjoyable, quick read. It just wasn’t as special as I thought it would be. I also felt that the ending was rushed. We were in the middle of a fight and suddenly everything was wrapped up.
phoff's review
adventurous
funny
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
shelovestoread81's review against another edition
5.0
I got this book free from Amazon. It was a good book. Funny, quirky, and great dialogue. I can't wait to read more.
bananatricky's review against another edition
3.0
Hmm, found this a bit confusing TBH.
Maggie is a bit of a supernatural bounty hunter. She can cross at will from normal 'earth' to the Other World. She is approached by an elf to assist in stopping the destruction of the veil between the worlds.
Much of my confusion arose because I couldn't keep straight which world Maggie was in at any point in time -- I would think she was in the Other World then she would go to her sister's house (which is in the normal world) etc.
The book wasn't as sarcastic or as funny as it wanted to be. Maggie is no Kate Daniels, nor is she a Sukie Stackhouse.
Nevertheless, it wasn't bad.
Maggie is a bit of a supernatural bounty hunter. She can cross at will from normal 'earth' to the Other World. She is approached by an elf to assist in stopping the destruction of the veil between the worlds.
Much of my confusion arose because I couldn't keep straight which world Maggie was in at any point in time -- I would think she was in the Other World then she would go to her sister's house (which is in the normal world) etc.
The book wasn't as sarcastic or as funny as it wanted to be. Maggie is no Kate Daniels, nor is she a Sukie Stackhouse.
Nevertheless, it wasn't bad.
diane's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book, but I found the story was nothing special (in fact, I had a hard time recalling it when all was said and done). I liked Maggie a great deal, but the Otherworld scenes left me feeling a little too off-balance (wondering, what's going on here?).