A review by anzunagi
The Enforcer Enigma by Gail Carriger, G.L. Carriger
DNF at like 50%
This series has never been my favorite from Gail Carriger but usually I want to at least finish it. This book is just...boring. I never wanted to pick it up after putting it down. Judd and Colin are not unique as characters (especially in book full of like 4 too many characters) so I wasn't particularly drawn to their stories.
Yes, Colin had a rough past and is unsure of who he wants to be. 50% into the book and that's still what's going on with him - he wasn't working through it at all. Judd has such an opportunity to be a rich and explored character but we just get some "nudge nudge wink wink" to parasolverse stuff and like nothing else of interest. Also the emphasis on Judd being "too old" for Colin (as a werewolf who is over 100) was hit as a note so many times I started to believe it and wasn't even really rooting for the couple.
They also don't talk about like anything that isn't sex which also doesn't make me invested in the characters or their relationship. Where's the romance? Where's the heartfelt talks of understanding and connection? I think the implication is that their "bond" is established off screen in the other books, since this is the third book in a series, but I think we needed to see this play out in this book vs it being assumed.
The B plot with Trick is ok. He's the exact same archetype as Max & Marvin so he wasn't bringing anything new to the table. The C plot with Kevin & Colin's country singing mother could have been fun and given something of interest to Colin but she was just Umbridge levels of evil so I was uninterested in seeing that play out.
The writing in this is also pretty bad which is disappointing from Carriger. Some paragraphs were just littered with sentence fragments and other basic writing missteps.
This series has never been my favorite from Gail Carriger but usually I want to at least finish it. This book is just...boring. I never wanted to pick it up after putting it down. Judd and Colin are not unique as characters (especially in book full of like 4 too many characters) so I wasn't particularly drawn to their stories.
Yes, Colin had a rough past and is unsure of who he wants to be. 50% into the book and that's still what's going on with him - he wasn't working through it at all. Judd has such an opportunity to be a rich and explored character but we just get some "nudge nudge wink wink" to parasolverse stuff and like nothing else of interest. Also the emphasis on Judd being "too old" for Colin (as a werewolf who is over 100) was hit as a note so many times I started to believe it and wasn't even really rooting for the couple.
They also don't talk about like anything that isn't sex which also doesn't make me invested in the characters or their relationship. Where's the romance? Where's the heartfelt talks of understanding and connection? I think the implication is that their "bond" is established off screen in the other books, since this is the third book in a series, but I think we needed to see this play out in this book vs it being assumed.
The B plot with Trick is ok. He's the exact same archetype as Max & Marvin so he wasn't bringing anything new to the table. The C plot with Kevin & Colin's country singing mother could have been fun and given something of interest to Colin but she was just Umbridge levels of evil so I was uninterested in seeing that play out.
The writing in this is also pretty bad which is disappointing from Carriger. Some paragraphs were just littered with sentence fragments and other basic writing missteps.