Scan barcode
A review by moirwyn
The Line by J.D. Horn
4.0
This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2014/02/19/line-j-d-horn/
" Truth was, we’d always been held at a respectful arm’s length, sensed to be useful but dangerous–kind of like a nuclear power plant. People liked to benefit from our presence, but they didn’t want to think too often about us or in too much detail."
-from The Line by J.D. Horn
The Line by J.D. Horn is a coming-of-age paranormal story about a young witch living in Savannah, Georgia. Mercy Taylor is part of a long line of witches. Her problem? Unlike pretty much everyone else in her family, including her twin sister Maise, Mercy has no magical powers. Her Aunt Ginny hates her for it and deliberately excludes her from family time, making her feel like an outcast. Mercy has a massive crush on her sister’s boyfriend, Jackson, but knows that he’s taken. Her childhood friend Peter has adored her for years, and she wants to feel the same way about him. Hoping to fix one part of her life, Mercy approaches Mother Jilo, a voodoo witch doctor, hoping that she can cast a spell to make Mercy love Peter the way that he loves her. However, Jilo’s magic has a cost, and when Aunt Ginny is brutally murdered, Mercy wonders if she’s made a horrible mistake.
This book is glorious in a 90s movie kind of way. I generally find love triangles obnoxious, but I thought that Horn handled it extremely well. Mercy doesn’t *want* to be in a love triangle. She doesn’t want to have feelings for Jackson, and she knows better than to act on them. That’s a major plus.
Mercy is the kind of protagonist that I enjoy. She’s quirky and independent. As a side job, she gives the “Liar’s Tour” of Savannah, where she takes people around the city telling made-up stories about the local attractions while giving them a flask full of gin. Yeah, she’s not magical, but she doesn’t let it become a handicap. Her twin, on the other hand, is a bitch.
I loved seeing the dynamics of the Taylor family. There are plenty of secrets, eccentricities, and skeletons in the closet. As the book progresses, Mercy has to realize that none of the people in her family is perfect, but that at heart at least most of them mean well.
Mother Jilo was, of course, my favorite character in the book. Even though she makes her living through lies and deceit, she’s the only character in the book that’s upfront with Mercy about some of the things going on. It’s Jilo that helps Mercy discover some of her family’s secrets, and then Mercy uses that knowledge to help them heal. I’m sure that wasn’t Jilo’s intention, but the fact that Jilo isn’t a part of the witching families and uses her own wits to go after power makes me secretly root for her the whole time. She’s not really a villain so much as a force of nature.
The Line is pretty much what I wanted Beautiful Creatures to be. The writing is a bit more mature and the plot isn’t quite as cheesy, making it a light but pleasant read. I’ve been in a bit of a blogging slump lately, and this was exactly the type of book that I needed to nudge me back on track.
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2014/02/19/line-j-d-horn/
" Truth was, we’d always been held at a respectful arm’s length, sensed to be useful but dangerous–kind of like a nuclear power plant. People liked to benefit from our presence, but they didn’t want to think too often about us or in too much detail."
-from The Line by J.D. Horn
The Line by J.D. Horn is a coming-of-age paranormal story about a young witch living in Savannah, Georgia. Mercy Taylor is part of a long line of witches. Her problem? Unlike pretty much everyone else in her family, including her twin sister Maise, Mercy has no magical powers. Her Aunt Ginny hates her for it and deliberately excludes her from family time, making her feel like an outcast. Mercy has a massive crush on her sister’s boyfriend, Jackson, but knows that he’s taken. Her childhood friend Peter has adored her for years, and she wants to feel the same way about him. Hoping to fix one part of her life, Mercy approaches Mother Jilo, a voodoo witch doctor, hoping that she can cast a spell to make Mercy love Peter the way that he loves her. However, Jilo’s magic has a cost, and when Aunt Ginny is brutally murdered, Mercy wonders if she’s made a horrible mistake.
This book is glorious in a 90s movie kind of way. I generally find love triangles obnoxious, but I thought that Horn handled it extremely well. Mercy doesn’t *want* to be in a love triangle. She doesn’t want to have feelings for Jackson, and she knows better than to act on them. That’s a major plus.
Mercy is the kind of protagonist that I enjoy. She’s quirky and independent. As a side job, she gives the “Liar’s Tour” of Savannah, where she takes people around the city telling made-up stories about the local attractions while giving them a flask full of gin. Yeah, she’s not magical, but she doesn’t let it become a handicap. Her twin, on the other hand, is a bitch.
I loved seeing the dynamics of the Taylor family. There are plenty of secrets, eccentricities, and skeletons in the closet. As the book progresses, Mercy has to realize that none of the people in her family is perfect, but that at heart at least most of them mean well.
Mother Jilo was, of course, my favorite character in the book. Even though she makes her living through lies and deceit, she’s the only character in the book that’s upfront with Mercy about some of the things going on. It’s Jilo that helps Mercy discover some of her family’s secrets, and then Mercy uses that knowledge to help them heal. I’m sure that wasn’t Jilo’s intention, but the fact that Jilo isn’t a part of the witching families and uses her own wits to go after power makes me secretly root for her the whole time. She’s not really a villain so much as a force of nature.
The Line is pretty much what I wanted Beautiful Creatures to be. The writing is a bit more mature and the plot isn’t quite as cheesy, making it a light but pleasant read. I’ve been in a bit of a blogging slump lately, and this was exactly the type of book that I needed to nudge me back on track.