The Witchkin Murders has everything I could ask for in a book. A strong take no crap heroine; a yummy, flawed hero, interesting world building. Magic, and secrets, and impending doom. Oh my.
I like Diana Pharoah Francis. I loved her Diamond City Magic Series. I dove into this book hoping to find another read like Trace of Magic but didn't find it.
This book is a spin-off/offshoot? of The Horngate Witches and I really wish I'd read that first. The world building is interesting, but there is a lot of it (a huge info dump). The society is messed up because of the events that happened in The Horngate Witches (more info dump). The magic structure requires a fair amount of explanation (multiple info dumps) Basically there is just a crapload of info dumps.
The story starts 4 years after the Witch Wars, and I went into it blind. It felt like reading about someone walking away from a car crash unscathed and not knowing what a car is. Very little made sense. Witches are pariah's except for Techno Wizards for some reason. Magic is bad, except everyone buys charms all the time. They live in a magical society, and except for the technological aspects of magic the cops seem to ignore it.
When I stopped trying to understand the foundation, I started to enjoy the story. Kayla used to be a cop. A damn good one. Then magic walloped Portland and she couldn't be a cop anymore. Now she's a woman with a secret. Well if you want to get technical, she has two...no, three secrets. A big one. A monster sized one. And a "What did you just say?" one.
She just stepped into a murder scene She's not a cop anymore. But some instincts can't be stifled. So, she's going to reach out to Ray; the partner she walked away from without a backward glance. A man carrying his own secrets.
There isn't time to find a new balance. They have to hit the ground running. Stuff is about to hit the fan. Cops may ignore magic unless it smacks them upside the head, but magic is coming that they can't ignore. And they are woefully unprepared for it.
I like Kayla, she is small and scrappy and does not take injustice laying down. I like Ray, he's a strong character with heart, and enough sense to beat down his inner Neanderthal when Kayla sticks her neck out further than he'd like.
Ordinarily I don't like a shifting perspective. But it works beautifully here. It gave me just enough relationship drama without making me want to throw up my hands and yell "oh my God, just talk to each other already!" The supporting characters keep the story lively. And once it gets going, (it takes its sweet time getting up to speed, but it does get there) the story is highly entertaining.
I'm giving this a 3.5 on the It's not you, it's me premise for a couple reasons.
1- Not understanding the backstory kept me from fully appreciating the story
2- Poorly executed HTML turned my draft copy into a big italicized mess.
I received a copy from Netgalley for review.
These are my honest thoughts.
#the witchkinmurders/netgalley
I like Diana Pharoah Francis. I loved her Diamond City Magic Series. I dove into this book hoping to find another read like Trace of Magic but didn't find it.
This book is a spin-off/offshoot? of The Horngate Witches and I really wish I'd read that first. The world building is interesting, but there is a lot of it (a huge info dump). The society is messed up because of the events that happened in The Horngate Witches (more info dump). The magic structure requires a fair amount of explanation (multiple info dumps) Basically there is just a crapload of info dumps.
The story starts 4 years after the Witch Wars, and I went into it blind. It felt like reading about someone walking away from a car crash unscathed and not knowing what a car is. Very little made sense. Witches are pariah's except for Techno Wizards for some reason. Magic is bad, except everyone buys charms all the time. They live in a magical society, and except for the technological aspects of magic the cops seem to ignore it.
When I stopped trying to understand the foundation, I started to enjoy the story. Kayla used to be a cop. A damn good one. Then magic walloped Portland and she couldn't be a cop anymore. Now she's a woman with a secret. Well if you want to get technical, she has two...no, three secrets. A big one. A monster sized one. And a "What did you just say?" one.
She just stepped into a murder scene She's not a cop anymore. But some instincts can't be stifled. So, she's going to reach out to Ray; the partner she walked away from without a backward glance. A man carrying his own secrets.
There isn't time to find a new balance. They have to hit the ground running. Stuff is about to hit the fan. Cops may ignore magic unless it smacks them upside the head, but magic is coming that they can't ignore. And they are woefully unprepared for it.
I like Kayla, she is small and scrappy and does not take injustice laying down. I like Ray, he's a strong character with heart, and enough sense to beat down his inner Neanderthal when Kayla sticks her neck out further than he'd like.
Ordinarily I don't like a shifting perspective. But it works beautifully here. It gave me just enough relationship drama without making me want to throw up my hands and yell "oh my God, just talk to each other already!" The supporting characters keep the story lively. And once it gets going, (it takes its sweet time getting up to speed, but it does get there) the story is highly entertaining.
I'm giving this a 3.5 on the It's not you, it's me premise for a couple reasons.
1- Not understanding the backstory kept me from fully appreciating the story
2- Poorly executed HTML turned my draft copy into a big italicized mess.
I received a copy from Netgalley for review.
These are my honest thoughts.
#the witchkinmurders/netgalley
