So far, a bit on the "fluffy" or light side of paranormal (and not trying to be or supposed to be humorous).  An easy seeming world building I expect to get deeper as book goes further along.  Right now a bit girl-in-city chicklit with some supernaturals thrown in.

My impressions

If a novel is described as  “vampiric, postpunk, metal-fanged, dark-doomed romance at its best” it makes me interested almost despite myself. I grant it - Golgotham is a very original setting. So original, in fact, that it overshadowed a bit the main characters and the action; mind you the action, although sensibly paced, still seemed more important than the whole romance between Hexe and Tate.

 I was really strange – the pair of protagonists were simply lost among all those colourful Kymerans, maenads, centaurs, werewolves, changelings and satyrs. I really loved the fact that the author knew her mythology but wasn’t this novel supposed to be about an interracial romance? Dark-doomed to boot, whatever it means? And let me assure you that I haven’t noticed one single vampire, at least not in the first part of this series.

 What’s more the narration left plenty to be desired, with smaller and bigger infodumps here and there. The baddies were cardboard-thin and, when I come to think about it, the world build had to save the day too many times.

 Final verdict:

 Would I like to revisit Golgotham? Maybe, providing that there is more character development in the next parts and the writing style is better..

A series that got even better with book 2, I do love when that happens.In this one things are heating up between humans and, well non-humans. Tate is in the middle of it all as she lives in Golgatham. Yes Tate, I do like her cos she is not kick-ass, neither is she a damsel in distress. She is just your average kind of human who loves to make things in her studio. She has a warlock boyfriend and she is very curious. Yes that puts her in trouble too. I do love kick-ass heroines, but it's a nice change to have someone like Tate. She also puts all her faith in love, because when things got tricky in Golgatham, well I would have left. It was scary there for a long moment of the book.Oh look I made this short :DA great series, that I do recommend.

This series was one of my “finds” last year when I stumbled upon Right Hand Magic, the first book in this series. Ms. Collons was a new voice with fresh look at the urban fantasy genre that I had yet to be seen done before. The world of Golgotham was a living, breathing, tangible essence that nearly jumped off the pages. It was because of this experience that I was so eager to read the next book set in Golgotham, Left Hand Magic. And while the experience had a few misses, overall I was impressed with my second journey into Golgotham. So, come along with me to the gate of skulls and let us peek into NCY’s strangest neighborhood.

In Left Hand Magic we pick up pretty much where we left off with the beguiling Tate still finding her place as a human among the magical residents of Golgotham and Hexe using his right hand magic to heal and lift curses while trying to downplay his status as the heir apparent for the Kymeran throne—as ceremonial—for the most part—as that title may be. Uncle Esau takes the forefront as the villain in this book, and both black or left-hand magic and racial warmongering ensue.

I like this story a lot; I was fun and lighthearted while still keeping the tension to stop it from devolving into plain silliness. The plot in this book moved along already foreshadowed avenues, but in such a way as to avoid the often trite-feeling of being lead. My biggest problem with this book lay in the characterization; I even took over a month break from reading it when one too many times the main character made a stupid choice, even with the foresight to know that it was not-so-bright. That kind of decision making tends to irk me, and about two-thirds of the way through this story it managed to so to the point that I put the book down and walked away. Since finishing it, I can concede that the author did seem to have a purpose for sending her heroine into trouble, but even still it annoyed me. I hope that in future installments of this pretty fabulous series we see better choices in our main characters and a depth of characterization to match the stunning breadth of the world building.

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Tate and Hexe are trying to create a happily ever in Golgotham but life is not easy for the human and Kymeran. First there are racial riots and tension in Golgotham between human tourists and the native Golgotham’s, then everyone thinks the couple should break up because it is not good for the royal family nor is it good for the heiress.

I admit I absolutely loved this story. Ms. Collins has created a highly plausible world where tension probably would be high between humans and magical people. The situation was further complicated when the result of these actions had some real consequences people are taken advantage of and they are hurt. I really enjoyed the relationship between Tate and Hexe, while at times they are very corny they are also still two people who are fighting to be with each other. It was also interesting to see how this story is revolving around Tate and understanding her motives and choices.

The only reason why I am not rating this one a five is because the end was a bit rushed and there were these really interesting story lines that were summed up but it did not feel complete.
Even still great book!