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A review by dawn_marie
Throwing Shade by Deborah Wilde
1.0
Throwing Shade by Deborah Wilde was a bit of a mixed bag. Although there were many aspects of the story that I thought were great fun, I had enough issues with the novel that detracted from my overall enjoyment.
The novel follows Miriam (Miri) Feldman, a 42-year old divorcée who spent the last 30 years repressing her magical abilities until they manifest/reappear after a particularly harrowing experience. At the same time, her best friend disappears under mysterious circumstances and Miri decides to use her newly reawakened magical abilities to find her.
I liked the fact that Miri appears to be a relatively well adjusted woman, with a job she enjoys, solid friendships, a happy teenage daughter, and has a great relationship with her ex-husband. The narrative makes mention of the fact that Miri has attended counseling sessions to deal with her divorce, a refreshing change from the typical "bitter divorcée" that seem prevalent in so many of these midlife paranormal stories. I just wish she wasn't so stupid . . . she always does the exact opposite of what she's supposed to do/what's she asked to do . . and she tells a joke and it's all fine?
I really appreciate the use of Jewish mysticism as the base for the magic system of Ms. Wilde's universe (which happens to be modern day Vancouver) and I thought Miri's magical ability was particularly interesting. The rest of the universe is filled with your typical paranormal creatures; shifters, vampires, magic wielders, gargoyles, and a golem.
Where the story falls down is in character development, that is to say there wasn't any beyond "sexy French wolf", "artistic best friend", "determined protagonist", "mysterious head of magical organization", "helpful shopkeeper" and so on. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, nor did I actively dislike them. At best I felt ambivalent toward them and wasn't especially invested in their fates.
The writing was just . . . weird. While I enjoy humor in my stories and like a witty, sassy protagonist who isn't afraid to let the sarcasm fly, I do find it grating when every character feels the need to use sarcasm or make wisecracks/tell jokes . . . no matter the situation. Attacked by a stranger . . . let fly a few wisecracks; cornered by a werewolf . . . .sarcasm to the rescue; trapped by a vampire . . . use jokes to save yourself. Since every characters had their humor/sarcasm dialed up to 11, all of it fell flat. Additionally, there were numerous grade school level "yuck-yuck, wink-wink" sex jokes (for lack of a better word) - you know the kind, "Oh, you said 'oral . . . Hee hee hee" - that really made the story feel quite immature.
The novel could have used a stronger editor - or perhaps another rewrite. There were skips and jumps in the writing that really interrupted the narrative (i.e., Character A has Character B pinned against a wall while Character C asks questions; in the very next sentence Character A is now mopping the floor and Character C is still asking questions of Character B).
While there were fun and unique aspects of Throwing Shade the one-note, dialed up to 11 sarcasm and weird (sometimes immature) writing really detracted from my overall enjoyment of the novel.
The novel follows Miriam (Miri) Feldman, a 42-year old divorcée who spent the last 30 years repressing her magical abilities until they manifest/reappear after a particularly harrowing experience. At the same time, her best friend disappears under mysterious circumstances and Miri decides to use her newly reawakened magical abilities to find her.
I liked the fact that Miri appears to be a relatively well adjusted woman, with a job she enjoys, solid friendships, a happy teenage daughter, and has a great relationship with her ex-husband. The narrative makes mention of the fact that Miri has attended counseling sessions to deal with her divorce, a refreshing change from the typical "bitter divorcée" that seem prevalent in so many of these midlife paranormal stories. I just wish she wasn't so stupid . . . she always does the exact opposite of what she's supposed to do/what's she asked to do . . and she tells a joke and it's all fine?
I really appreciate the use of Jewish mysticism as the base for the magic system of Ms. Wilde's universe (which happens to be modern day Vancouver) and I thought Miri's magical ability was particularly interesting. The rest of the universe is filled with your typical paranormal creatures; shifters, vampires, magic wielders, gargoyles, and a golem.
Where the story falls down is in character development, that is to say there wasn't any beyond "sexy French wolf", "artistic best friend", "determined protagonist", "mysterious head of magical organization", "helpful shopkeeper" and so on. I didn't particularly like any of the characters, nor did I actively dislike them. At best I felt ambivalent toward them and wasn't especially invested in their fates.
The writing was just . . . weird. While I enjoy humor in my stories and like a witty, sassy protagonist who isn't afraid to let the sarcasm fly, I do find it grating when every character feels the need to use sarcasm or make wisecracks/tell jokes . . . no matter the situation. Attacked by a stranger . . . let fly a few wisecracks; cornered by a werewolf . . . .sarcasm to the rescue; trapped by a vampire . . . use jokes to save yourself. Since every characters had their humor/sarcasm dialed up to 11, all of it fell flat. Additionally, there were numerous grade school level "yuck-yuck, wink-wink" sex jokes (for lack of a better word) - you know the kind, "Oh, you said 'oral . . . Hee hee hee" - that really made the story feel quite immature.
The novel could have used a stronger editor - or perhaps another rewrite. There were skips and jumps in the writing that really interrupted the narrative (i.e., Character A has Character B pinned against a wall while Character C asks questions; in the very next sentence Character A is now mopping the floor and Character C is still asking questions of Character B).
While there were fun and unique aspects of Throwing Shade the one-note, dialed up to 11 sarcasm and weird (sometimes immature) writing really detracted from my overall enjoyment of the novel.