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A review by timinbc
The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff
3.0
Hmm, weird book. Excellent setup with a magical emporium, a family that appears to have some interesting powers, and a problem shaping up. Easy, breezy writing and a plot that moves along well. Some characters that look interestingly diverse.
Along comes Graham. First guy she sees is Mr. McDreamy, whose descriptions kept making me think of the guy on the cover of every Harlequin Romance ever printed.
And the longer the book went on, the more squirmy details appeared. The Gales are not nice people, despite all the baking and knitting. They're screwing with people, they're screwing each other in every permutation possible. They're deeply into incestuous eugenics. I suspect that in a few more chapters I would have decided that they were not any better than the apparent Bad Guys.
And, as things developed, we learn that this person JUST HAPPENS to be connected to this one a certain way, and to that one another way, and this OTHER person JUST HAPPENS to be .... you know what I mean. Near the end is a hint that some of this, perhaps a lot if it, is not entirely coincidental, but for me that doesn't justify it. The plot shouldn't hang on that.
We're told over and over about the three circles of family magic, and the "crossing" process. But never any really useful detail, except that there's a lot of sex involved. We get that first-circle members are powerful. Near the end, we learn that the aunties
In the end, the framework of the plot turned out to be the kind you just can't really explain. Well, there was this guy, a sorcerer, and he ... nah, it doesn't fly. The other framework, Allie's maturation, was OK.
In the end, we don't find out what was the point of including Joe. Nor do we learn why the yoyos matter, if indeed they do.
Several times, I had to go back because it felt as if I had just missed a few paragraphs. Some of these turned out to be an unannounced change in the point-of-view character; others were just failures of flow.
Could have been a great book, but I gave it too many negatives for a rating higher than three. I leave it feeling disappointed, which doesn't happen often. I wanted it to be better!
Along comes Graham. First guy she sees is Mr. McDreamy, whose descriptions kept making me think of the guy on the cover of every Harlequin Romance ever printed.
And the longer the book went on, the more squirmy details appeared. The Gales are not nice people, despite all the baking and knitting. They're screwing with people, they're screwing each other in every permutation possible. They're deeply into incestuous eugenics. I suspect that in a few more chapters I would have decided that they were not any better than the apparent Bad Guys.
And, as things developed, we learn that this person JUST HAPPENS to be connected to this one a certain way, and to that one another way, and this OTHER person JUST HAPPENS to be .... you know what I mean. Near the end is a hint that some of this, perhaps a lot if it, is not entirely coincidental, but for me that doesn't justify it. The plot shouldn't hang on that.
We're told over and over about the three circles of family magic, and the "crossing" process. But never any really useful detail, except that there's a lot of sex involved. We get that first-circle members are powerful. Near the end, we learn that the aunties
Spoiler
can fly. Which was a bit of a waste because that turned out only to be included so that one of them could fall out of the air and sprain her ankle. Indeed, after all their travel and preparation, I didn't notice that they actually did anything much at the end.In the end, the framework of the plot turned out to be the kind you just can't really explain. Well, there was this guy, a sorcerer, and he ... nah, it doesn't fly. The other framework, Allie's maturation, was OK.
In the end, we don't find out what was the point of including Joe. Nor do we learn why the yoyos matter, if indeed they do.
Several times, I had to go back because it felt as if I had just missed a few paragraphs. Some of these turned out to be an unannounced change in the point-of-view character; others were just failures of flow.
Could have been a great book, but I gave it too many negatives for a rating higher than three. I leave it feeling disappointed, which doesn't happen often. I wanted it to be better!