This is Holly Black's first novel for adults. I fell in love with the author because of her young adult novels, in particular, The Folk of the Air series. I was intrigued by the concept of this book, though I was also a bit sceptical. Somehow I knew it would lack the magic and the fascination that the books surrounding Elfhame had.
It started off OK. Charlie clearly has an intriguing past that engages the reader and a mysterious boyfriend. She starts to get herself mixed up in things she probably shouldn't. But Charlie Hall has a habit for attracting trouble and it isn't long before she finds herself right back in the middle of the world that she was trying to escape from.
Charlie's story slowly unravels as we are shown glimpses from the past and how she got into the criminal world. We're also given a few looks into the lives of other characters to help piece the puzzle together.
It isn't straight forward. There are a lot of things to remember, a lot of characters to keep track of, a lot of components. I couldn't quite keep all the details straight and found it hard to stay engaged by the time I got to the last fifty pages or so. I just wanted everyone to get on with it and the story to end.
Of course, it is one of those stories that doesn't simply end and there will be more books to follow.
Being an adult novel, it can be gory sometimes. There's strong language, stronger than in Holly Black's other books and there is more descriptive sexual content as well.
It was reasonably good. I was certainly into it to start with and I would be interested in finding out what happens next. On the other hand, the book generally follows the line of things that have been done before.
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