A review by platinumwarlock
Flex by Ferrett Steinmetz
4.0
Smart, creative, interesting. Really cool premise, especially for someone who hasn’t read a lot of urban fantasy and/or magic themes (beyond Harry Potter). Some compelling characters (Valentine, Anathema, Aliyah), although I wish I’d liked Paul a little more.
The story was a little choppy for me, and the flash-forward with Paul chained to the radiator was clumsy and lacked subtlety, but neither was sufficiently egregious to make me stop reading. I loved the integration of video games and wish I were familiar with more of them so I could understand the references better.
I always love a story with some version of a “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” message, even when it’s a cliché (which it often is, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done well), and this was no exception.
All in all - very enjoyable. I’ll be interested to see what else Mr. Steinmetz produces.
The story was a little choppy for me, and the flash-forward with Paul chained to the radiator was clumsy and lacked subtlety, but neither was sufficiently egregious to make me stop reading. I loved the integration of video games and wish I were familiar with more of them so I could understand the references better.
I always love a story with some version of a “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” message, even when it’s a cliché (which it often is, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done well), and this was no exception.
All in all - very enjoyable. I’ll be interested to see what else Mr. Steinmetz produces.