ghosthermione's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
4.0
Only one flaw: too short! This was a breeze to read through and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lots of fun and a dollop of scifi references, and then a good bit of mystery too. I want to know what happens next like, right now immediately!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Sexism, and Stalking
kblincoln's review
4.0
3.5 stars, actually.
The book starts with a comedic conceit that wasn't to my particular taste:
"Her chestnut hair barely reflected the starlight, her mint-green eyes flashing with confusion as her caramel skin darkened to the color of milk chocolate with increasing ire.
"Who the f-ck is hiding in the woods describing me like a damned dessert?"
About 8 Kindle pages in, the book switched over to a more normal first person narrative that was easier for me to enjoy. Victoria Marmot is at a new school in a new town after both her parents die. But the folks at her new school are anything but normal. There is a stalkery handsome guy named Edik (cue some really fun lampooning of Twilight here) and a nice young man named Seamus who seems to disappear whenever a wolf happens to be around.
But don't get me wrong, this is not a Twilight-esque book. Its pretty comedic and fun in loosely-built world adventury kind of way. Vic learns a surprise about her past that indicates she isn't entirely human and thrusts her into a vague quest to save people from a shadowy government agency.
This quest involves climbing sheer rock faces naked (what do were-creatures do with their clothes is a running thread in this book) and handling a goddess who pops in and out of her life.
Vic herself is a pretty lively, fun, sarcastic narrator. I think I wasn't drawn as much into her world partially because I'm drawn into quests when the emotional stake are high-- and due to the brief nature of her acquaintance with her new found friends and also the obvious lampooning/light lambasting of popular franchises in this book I never quite felt like I had emotional skin in the game.
It's a great book to flirt with, but not boyfriend material, if you know what I mean.
The book starts with a comedic conceit that wasn't to my particular taste:
"Her chestnut hair barely reflected the starlight, her mint-green eyes flashing with confusion as her caramel skin darkened to the color of milk chocolate with increasing ire.
"Who the f-ck is hiding in the woods describing me like a damned dessert?"
About 8 Kindle pages in, the book switched over to a more normal first person narrative that was easier for me to enjoy. Victoria Marmot is at a new school in a new town after both her parents die. But the folks at her new school are anything but normal. There is a stalkery handsome guy named Edik (cue some really fun lampooning of Twilight here) and a nice young man named Seamus who seems to disappear whenever a wolf happens to be around.
But don't get me wrong, this is not a Twilight-esque book. Its pretty comedic and fun in loosely-built world adventury kind of way. Vic learns a surprise about her past that indicates she isn't entirely human and thrusts her into a vague quest to save people from a shadowy government agency.
This quest involves climbing sheer rock faces naked (what do were-creatures do with their clothes is a running thread in this book) and handling a goddess who pops in and out of her life.
Vic herself is a pretty lively, fun, sarcastic narrator. I think I wasn't drawn as much into her world partially because I'm drawn into quests when the emotional stake are high-- and due to the brief nature of her acquaintance with her new found friends and also the obvious lampooning/light lambasting of popular franchises in this book I never quite felt like I had emotional skin in the game.
It's a great book to flirt with, but not boyfriend material, if you know what I mean.
emmar's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
stephaniecaye's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I love the basic premise of the book, and most of the wacky stuff that goes on (the opening argument around the narrator was unique and interesting, and Gwen is definitely my favourite character). That said, I feel like it could use a good edit. Information gets repeated unnecessarily and the pacing doesn't flow smoothly--like the sudden jump from meeting the new characters, to Vic having her whole life change due to hidden information, to suddenly being mid-fight at a government installation made me think I'd skipped a few chapters. While I love the idea of an urban fantasy parody, I don't really care about the characters or their relationships, and everybody's kind of one-dimensional. In any event, I'll probably try out the second book to see if it improves because there's definitely things to enjoy here.
regitzexenia's review against another edition
2.0
I recieved a free digital ARC ig this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
It’s not that I hated this book. I just don’t care about it at all. The story wasn’t engaging at all. It took me forever to get into the story as the first chapter was so damn confusing and trying to be meta-edgy and I hated that part. From there the story went back and forth between infodumping and ridiculous dialogue with barely any action. I couldn’t tell you how many different mythological being and folklorish happenings were in this story, but it was a lot. None of the characters interested me and the only moment where I felt a tiny bit of excitement was towards the end. The last chapter ends of a cliffhanger and before that there’s hinted at some bigger questions. I read this book fast, but I wasn’t paying attention to it the same way I normally would. I loved the cover, but the story was a mess. I’m confused to who this would be entertaining and really I just wanted the book to be over so I could be done with it. A very disappointing read, that could have done with a heavy editing in pretty much all aspects.
It’s not that I hated this book. I just don’t care about it at all. The story wasn’t engaging at all. It took me forever to get into the story as the first chapter was so damn confusing and trying to be meta-edgy and I hated that part. From there the story went back and forth between infodumping and ridiculous dialogue with barely any action. I couldn’t tell you how many different mythological being and folklorish happenings were in this story, but it was a lot. None of the characters interested me and the only moment where I felt a tiny bit of excitement was towards the end. The last chapter ends of a cliffhanger and before that there’s hinted at some bigger questions. I read this book fast, but I wasn’t paying attention to it the same way I normally would. I loved the cover, but the story was a mess. I’m confused to who this would be entertaining and really I just wanted the book to be over so I could be done with it. A very disappointing read, that could have done with a heavy editing in pretty much all aspects.
lady_valhella's review against another edition
5.0
This story has magic, weres, vamps, phoenixes and awesome out of the box humor. Great use of colorful language, this story is so right up my alley!
maddness22's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 Stars
This is a very fun and quick Urban Fantasy satire perfect for those on the inside joke. If you're aware of the current Urban Fantasy tropes, you're going to have fun with this book. It's insanely fast paced, which is great for my tendency to speed read, and the story hidden among all of the parodies of various YA fantasies (Twilight is a huge one) is pretty compelling. Overall, the fun of this book can be summed up in one phrase the main character delightfully exclaims throughout the novel:
"I'M A MOTHERFUCKING SNOW LEOPARD"
This is a very fun and quick Urban Fantasy satire perfect for those on the inside joke. If you're aware of the current Urban Fantasy tropes, you're going to have fun with this book. It's insanely fast paced, which is great for my tendency to speed read, and the story hidden among all of the parodies of various YA fantasies (Twilight is a huge one) is pretty compelling. Overall, the fun of this book can be summed up in one phrase the main character delightfully exclaims throughout the novel:
"I'M A MOTHERFUCKING SNOW LEOPARD"
nerdyderdie's review against another edition
3.0
I picked it up as it was billed as fantasy with more diversity and it delivered on that. Although I felt like it was weak overall (maybe needs some heavy editing?) the storyline is interesting and the humor is quirky enough that I’ll keep reading the series.