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A review by thepiqht
City of Halves by Lucy Inglis
4.0
You know there's people who would pay good money for your pelt? They bind books in it, all sorts of kinky stuff. Can I have first dibs?
Unfortunately, the beginning of this book was terrible. The main love interest was slightly sexist and the main character could think of nothing but muscles when she was in a strange room with a strange man. There were tiny hints of 'hey, maybe this guy could be a serial killer' but then it was back to the gorgeous eyes and intricate tattoo. This frustrated me so much because a) Lily is obviously very smart, she knows how to hack into government sites without leaving a trace. b) It was just so cliche, how many times have we read about girls being saved by mysterious, dreamy guys and then falling in love with them in the end. I would say sorry for spoiling things for you, but we all know how these situations pan out. c) The middle was so so much better, I made the decision to keep reading it, partly because I didn't want to waste my money, and the rest of the book ended up kicking ass. Regan, the main love interest, stopped with all of the shitty sexism and Lily got to hack her way into victory.
Things that Made Me Smile!
✓ The Characters
There was such a variety of characters, I sometimes forgot that we were in London. True, sometimes remembering all of their names can be a hassle (especially once you've left the book for a while and then come back), but I think the diversity really enriches the story which would have been rated a lot more harshly if there wasn't any. There were some stereotypes, like the Indian man running a convince store, but he was also kind of a badass which may or may not make up for it.
✓ Character Growth
Yes, there was a tiny bit of sexism in the beginning from Regan. The guy who we're all supposed to swoon over because of his grey, gold specked eyes (or something like that). Obviously that wasn't going to happen when he was treating the main character like an incompetent child. Yet gradually he began to grow on me, mostly because he started treating Lily like an actual person.
✓ The Folklore
Like the characters, there was also a huge variety of 'creatures'. Some of them were adorable –actually all of them were adorable, even the bloodthirsty, people tearing ones. Some of them were dead, some of them lived underwater and a few others were huge moths. Kind of. Well, read the book and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Things that Made Me Frown(?)
✖︎ The beginning . . . and the end
The middle of the book was really really good. Why were the other parts so bad? Obviously, Lucy Inglis can write as seen through around chapters 5 to 16 but apparently she doesn't like goodbyes. Or hellos. Which is understandable, those are the awkward parts of relationships but, books kind of need a good start, middle and end. All three of them.
✖︎ Trope Overload
The creatures and the characters what what made this book quirky and fun, the plot was okay but it was so cliché that I knew almost everything that was going to happen. I will say this one positive thing though. Lily is a 'special snowflake' but only minimal emphasis is put on that, which is good because I'm getting pretty sick of reading how 'this one girl, finds out she's a princess, super rich and oh! the most powerful sorceress in the land'. Gosh, what a Sunday that would be.