Tag Archives: urban fantasy

Book Review: Splintered Loyalty, by W.R. Gingell

I contributed to the Kickstarter for W.R. Gingell‘s Splintered Loyalty and therefore received an early-release e-copy of the book. I’ve reviewed the previous books here: Splintered Mind, Splintered Life, Splintered Sight, and Splintered Path.

Luca is back. Jasper is shady. The Tea House has returned to its regularly scheduled programming.

But nothing is quite normal for Viv, who knows that someone in the Tea House hacked her phone and stole valuable information about her mother before she had a chance to look at it. Tech Support can help with that—but only so much.

And before Viv has a chance to get to the safe deposit box belonging to her parents that might or might not still be in an old, gothic Melbourne bank, she and the rest of the Tea House denizens are overrun by an invasion of Forex agents taking over the Tea House.

Viv knows she can’t trust Jasper completely. She trusts Luca completely, but knows she shouldn’t. She’ll need all her wits—and allies—about her to save the Tea House and uncover her own family secrets before it’s too late.

I find reviewing books well into a series difficult. There comes a point where I just want to go, “I’ve made it to book five in this series. I clearly enjoy this world, these characters, and this story. And I’ve likely already explained why in at least one of the previous four reviews.” But it’s true. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Gingell, and the Shattered World series is no exception. I like her writing style, authorial tone, wit, humor, and characters.

Viv and Luca are marvelous, and both are allowed to grow separately in this book. Though the reader sees more of Viv’s growth than Luca’s. I did miss seeing them work together, but I appreciate that Viv needed a chance to prove her abilities on her own. And she does, saving the day as only she can.

I did feel the writing here was a tad more rushed in some indefinable, perhaps imagined, way. But I still finished the book wishing the next one was already in hand. I’ll be waiting impatiently.

Other Reviews:

Book Review: Tall, Dark & Dead – by Tate Hallaway

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I picked up a used copy of Tate Hallaway’s Tall, Dark & Dead at Savers some time back.

The line between magic and sanity is very thin.
That’s part of why I, Garnet Lacey, quit cold turkey.
Never touch the stuff. No exceptions.
But magic is so addictive…and my inner Goddess Lilith is hard to resist. Besides, restraint isn’t easy when you manage Wisconsin’s premiere occult bookstore, and get customers like Sebastian Von Traum—piercing brown eyes, a sexy accent, and a killer body in denim and black leather. The only thing missing is an aura. Which means he’s dead… And that means trouble. I guess I’m a sucker for it. The Vatican witch hunters are on to us. My long-lost vampire ex has crawled out of the woodwork looking for action. And Sebastian’s frustrated ex is stirring in her grave. So what’s a girl to do if she’s hot for a dead man walking? Run like hell—and take full advantage of the nights…

I was mostly just confused by this book. I think it was aiming for paranormal romance, but I finished it not at all convinced of the romance. I wasn’t even sure it was a happy-for-now, beyond ‘yay, we survived together.’ But it didn’t feel like urban fantasy or even magical realism, either. In the end, I came to the last page with a bewildered shrug. That’s a thing I’ve read now.

I liked Garnet well enough. But no one else particularly stood out to me, not even the theoretical male romantic lead(s). I appreciate that Hallaway eschewed some of the genre’s usual tropes, whichever genre she was aiming for. (Or maybe, being that the book is a bit older, when it was written, the genre tropes were not yet as cemented as they are now.) But I also think that doing it less than successfully is part of my confusion about how to feel about the book.

All in all, I don’t think I’ll continue the series.