keeweebirb's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
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? It's complicated
3.5
moirwyn's review against another edition
4.0
This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2014/02/19/line-j-d-horn/
" Truth was, we’d always been held at a respectful arm’s length, sensed to be useful but dangerous–kind of like a nuclear power plant. People liked to benefit from our presence, but they didn’t want to think too often about us or in too much detail."
-from The Line by J.D. Horn
The Line by J.D. Horn is a coming-of-age paranormal story about a young witch living in Savannah, Georgia. Mercy Taylor is part of a long line of witches. Her problem? Unlike pretty much everyone else in her family, including her twin sister Maise, Mercy has no magical powers. Her Aunt Ginny hates her for it and deliberately excludes her from family time, making her feel like an outcast. Mercy has a massive crush on her sister’s boyfriend, Jackson, but knows that he’s taken. Her childhood friend Peter has adored her for years, and she wants to feel the same way about him. Hoping to fix one part of her life, Mercy approaches Mother Jilo, a voodoo witch doctor, hoping that she can cast a spell to make Mercy love Peter the way that he loves her. However, Jilo’s magic has a cost, and when Aunt Ginny is brutally murdered, Mercy wonders if she’s made a horrible mistake.
This book is glorious in a 90s movie kind of way. I generally find love triangles obnoxious, but I thought that Horn handled it extremely well. Mercy doesn’t *want* to be in a love triangle. She doesn’t want to have feelings for Jackson, and she knows better than to act on them. That’s a major plus.
Mercy is the kind of protagonist that I enjoy. She’s quirky and independent. As a side job, she gives the “Liar’s Tour” of Savannah, where she takes people around the city telling made-up stories about the local attractions while giving them a flask full of gin. Yeah, she’s not magical, but she doesn’t let it become a handicap. Her twin, on the other hand, is a bitch.
I loved seeing the dynamics of the Taylor family. There are plenty of secrets, eccentricities, and skeletons in the closet. As the book progresses, Mercy has to realize that none of the people in her family is perfect, but that at heart at least most of them mean well.
Mother Jilo was, of course, my favorite character in the book. Even though she makes her living through lies and deceit, she’s the only character in the book that’s upfront with Mercy about some of the things going on. It’s Jilo that helps Mercy discover some of her family’s secrets, and then Mercy uses that knowledge to help them heal. I’m sure that wasn’t Jilo’s intention, but the fact that Jilo isn’t a part of the witching families and uses her own wits to go after power makes me secretly root for her the whole time. She’s not really a villain so much as a force of nature.
The Line is pretty much what I wanted Beautiful Creatures to be. The writing is a bit more mature and the plot isn’t quite as cheesy, making it a light but pleasant read. I’ve been in a bit of a blogging slump lately, and this was exactly the type of book that I needed to nudge me back on track.
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2014/02/19/line-j-d-horn/
" Truth was, we’d always been held at a respectful arm’s length, sensed to be useful but dangerous–kind of like a nuclear power plant. People liked to benefit from our presence, but they didn’t want to think too often about us or in too much detail."
-from The Line by J.D. Horn
The Line by J.D. Horn is a coming-of-age paranormal story about a young witch living in Savannah, Georgia. Mercy Taylor is part of a long line of witches. Her problem? Unlike pretty much everyone else in her family, including her twin sister Maise, Mercy has no magical powers. Her Aunt Ginny hates her for it and deliberately excludes her from family time, making her feel like an outcast. Mercy has a massive crush on her sister’s boyfriend, Jackson, but knows that he’s taken. Her childhood friend Peter has adored her for years, and she wants to feel the same way about him. Hoping to fix one part of her life, Mercy approaches Mother Jilo, a voodoo witch doctor, hoping that she can cast a spell to make Mercy love Peter the way that he loves her. However, Jilo’s magic has a cost, and when Aunt Ginny is brutally murdered, Mercy wonders if she’s made a horrible mistake.
This book is glorious in a 90s movie kind of way. I generally find love triangles obnoxious, but I thought that Horn handled it extremely well. Mercy doesn’t *want* to be in a love triangle. She doesn’t want to have feelings for Jackson, and she knows better than to act on them. That’s a major plus.
Mercy is the kind of protagonist that I enjoy. She’s quirky and independent. As a side job, she gives the “Liar’s Tour” of Savannah, where she takes people around the city telling made-up stories about the local attractions while giving them a flask full of gin. Yeah, she’s not magical, but she doesn’t let it become a handicap. Her twin, on the other hand, is a bitch.
I loved seeing the dynamics of the Taylor family. There are plenty of secrets, eccentricities, and skeletons in the closet. As the book progresses, Mercy has to realize that none of the people in her family is perfect, but that at heart at least most of them mean well.
Mother Jilo was, of course, my favorite character in the book. Even though she makes her living through lies and deceit, she’s the only character in the book that’s upfront with Mercy about some of the things going on. It’s Jilo that helps Mercy discover some of her family’s secrets, and then Mercy uses that knowledge to help them heal. I’m sure that wasn’t Jilo’s intention, but the fact that Jilo isn’t a part of the witching families and uses her own wits to go after power makes me secretly root for her the whole time. She’s not really a villain so much as a force of nature.
The Line is pretty much what I wanted Beautiful Creatures to be. The writing is a bit more mature and the plot isn’t quite as cheesy, making it a light but pleasant read. I’ve been in a bit of a blogging slump lately, and this was exactly the type of book that I needed to nudge me back on track.
cordelyajade's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book much more than I expected to! It surprised me so many times and definitely kept me guessing!
sjj169's review against another edition
3.0
Set in Savannah GA this book begins with a family of witches. The main anchor Aunt Ginny has been murdered. Got to find a replacement for her ole hateful ass. So the families converge on Savannah.
Savannah is the perfect setting for this book. A strong family of witches in one of my favorite cities? Heck yes.
At about 40% of the book I got frustrated. I thought it was going to go the love triangle way and I hate that crap. People if your book is good YOU DO NOT NEED THAT!
Luckily, that ended and the book turned out actually pretty good. I love books about witches and there just isn't enough of them. Yes I know there is paranormal romance ones but most of those suck.
In this one you get some hoodoo, boo hags, a golem and a whole gang of witches which equals awesomeness.
I do want to read on to the next in this series before making final judgment on it.
I recieved an arc copy of this book from Netgalley and 47 North in exchange for an honest review.
Savannah is the perfect setting for this book. A strong family of witches in one of my favorite cities? Heck yes.
At about 40% of the book I got frustrated. I thought it was going to go the love triangle way and I hate that crap. People if your book is good YOU DO NOT NEED THAT!
Luckily, that ended and the book turned out actually pretty good. I love books about witches and there just isn't enough of them. Yes I know there is paranormal romance ones but most of those suck.
In this one you get some hoodoo, boo hags, a golem and a whole gang of witches which equals awesomeness.
I do want to read on to the next in this series before making final judgment on it.
I recieved an arc copy of this book from Netgalley and 47 North in exchange for an honest review.
turrean's review against another edition
3.0
Got this pre-pub through the "Kindle First" program.
Mercy is an apparently ordinary person born to a powerful family of witches. Her twin sister has all the power, charisma, and looks. The tyrannical witch who has been the head of their clan for decades dies in uncanny circumstances; a few sexy but boorish men hover around the two sisters; and an astonishing number of family secrets come to light in the month-long span of the book. No one is who they seem to be, and Mercy has to come to grips it all.
The Savannah setting was great. The heat, the tourists, the descriptions of several monuments and parks all added to a clear sense of place. In particular, the scene set near the old Candler Hospital was eerily well-detailed.
The cast of characters was large; I can see the author is making a run at a series, so this is the book in which he establishes everybody's backstory. Over the course of the novel, some shocking revelations come to light which completely change our understanding of the people in Mercy's life.
Several of them do flip back and forth between good and evil in a way I found pretty unconvincing. (One does a complete journey from Glinda to Wicked Witch and back again twice. Would you like some sweet tea? And a knife in your heart?) I also found the selection of the successor to the powerful "anchor" position baffling. The author dedicates quite a bit of time describing the importance of the process to the witches involved. Yet when the magical selection yields a wildly unconventional candidate for the job, everyone kind of throws up their hands and says, "Probably just a mistake. We'll ignore it," and goes on as if everything had proceeded as expected.
These are safely minor points, though. Mercy is a complete innocent when it comes to dealing with her Machiavellian family; the reader learns along with her. The characters were refreshingly complex, the setting was a treat, and woohoo! a love triangle (quadrangle?) with no vampires or werewolves. I'll be back for the next book.
Mercy is an apparently ordinary person born to a powerful family of witches. Her twin sister has all the power, charisma, and looks. The tyrannical witch who has been the head of their clan for decades dies in uncanny circumstances; a few sexy but boorish men hover around the two sisters; and an astonishing number of family secrets come to light in the month-long span of the book. No one is who they seem to be, and Mercy has to come to grips it all.
The Savannah setting was great. The heat, the tourists, the descriptions of several monuments and parks all added to a clear sense of place. In particular, the scene set near the old Candler Hospital was eerily well-detailed.
The cast of characters was large; I can see the author is making a run at a series, so this is the book in which he establishes everybody's backstory. Over the course of the novel, some shocking revelations come to light which completely change our understanding of the people in Mercy's life.
Several of them do flip back and forth between good and evil in a way I found pretty unconvincing. (One does a complete journey from Glinda to Wicked Witch and back again twice. Would you like some sweet tea? And a knife in your heart?) I also found the selection of the successor to the powerful "anchor" position baffling. The author dedicates quite a bit of time describing the importance of the process to the witches involved. Yet when the magical selection yields a wildly unconventional candidate for the job, everyone kind of throws up their hands and says, "Probably just a mistake. We'll ignore it," and goes on as if everything had proceeded as expected.
These are safely minor points, though. Mercy is a complete innocent when it comes to dealing with her Machiavellian family; the reader learns along with her. The characters were refreshingly complex, the setting was a treat, and woohoo! a love triangle (quadrangle?) with no vampires or werewolves. I'll be back for the next book.
brit25131's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
robin_f's review against another edition
3.0
It started out pretty good and original, and I really enjoyed the descriptions of the Southern climate and stuff, but Jesus, did it turn into a mess. It felt rushed at times, and there's one aspect towards the end that almost ruined the whole book for me, but I won't spoil it. I'll probably read the next book in the series, but my expectations aren't necessarily sky high.
kelliaujulii's review against another edition
3.0
It had its moments, but overall the story had too many confusing twists that didn't fully make sense. There were several plot points that seemed thrown in simply to be a shock. The characters also, while interesting, changed their motivations and behaviors too regularly to actually seem like a real person.
indianajane's review
3.0
This book about a family of witches in Savannah, Georgia had some good points: There were some interesting elements to the story. The main character was someone that I cared about enough to make me care about the outcome of the story, and some of the other characters were at least interesting.
But the book also had its weaknesses: It felt chaotic, like it didn't quite hang together. The magical elements of the story often felt inconsistent, like the author didn't quite have the world he was writing about figured out. There was almost too much going on; a little editing of story lines could have made it a stronger book. I wasn't surprised to find that the author was male, because in some ways Mercy, the main character, seemed like a caricature of a teenaged girl. (Which was another peeve of mine: Mercy was supposed to be 20, but she read about 16.)
The second installment is due out in June and I may read it to see what happens next and to see if the consistency has improved, or I may not.
But the book also had its weaknesses: It felt chaotic, like it didn't quite hang together. The magical elements of the story often felt inconsistent, like the author didn't quite have the world he was writing about figured out. There was almost too much going on; a little editing of story lines could have made it a stronger book. I wasn't surprised to find that the author was male, because in some ways Mercy, the main character, seemed like a caricature of a teenaged girl. (Which was another peeve of mine: Mercy was supposed to be 20, but she read about 16.)
The second installment is due out in June and I may read it to see what happens next and to see if the consistency has improved, or I may not.