Title: Shrill Dusk
Series: City of Magic #1
Author: Helen Harper
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: January 4, 2019
Format: eBook
Pages: 270
Source: Kindle Unlimited

 

 

Shrill Dusk is book one in the City of Magic by Helen Harper. 

 

I’m not sure if I missed a book or series before this one; because when we start the story we are following Charley who seems to be a side character – while the main characters are in the back ground fighting to stop the apocalypse. 

 

I liked Charley to a point. She kept her positivity and faith in the essential goodness of man when everything was going to shit, but she was also incredibly naive. Charley isn’t sure what the heck is happening and rolls with it, but at times I kept rolling my eyes at her; because she wants to help everybody, but you can’t help everybody and it’s all going to come crashing down around her eventually. 

 

There’s a lot going on in Shrill Dusk. We get a lot of unnecessary info-dumping, self-sacrificial behavior and self-righteousness from the character(s). Theirs a lot of characters introduced and so it was a bit overwhelming. The story is fast-paced and the plot doesn’t fell fully flushed out or cohesive, yet, which left me feeling confused by the end. 

 

Their might be a possible romance, but it’s an odd set up and really nothing happens in Shrill Dusk. Maybe we will get more in the next book.

 

Shrill Dusk had good potential, but in the end, it just turned out alright.

 

Rated: 3 Stars

 

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Angela 

I was born and raised in Northern Indiana. I’m an outdoor sun loving reader living near San Fransisco. I’m a mother, wife, dog owner, animal, and book lover. I’m the owner, reviewer, and mind behind Angel’s Guilty Pleasures. My favorite animals are horses & dogs. As for reading I love all things paranormal & urban fantasy. My favorite shifters are dragons!

Charley is a cleaner by day and a professional gambler by night. She might be haunted by her tragic past but she's never thought of herself as anything or anyone special. Until, that is, things start to go terribly wrong all across the city of Manchester. Between plagues of rats, firestorms and the gleaming blue eyes of a sexy Scottish werewolf, she might just have landed herself in the middle of a magical apocalypse. She might also be the only person who has the ability to bring order to an utterly chaotic new world.

This was a new author for me and the plot of the story is one that I’m seeing pop up more and more, so I was curious. It was a quick and enjoyable read as I followed Charley on her journey into her new life. I can’t wait to read more from this author. I recommend.

**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

Truly the most awful book I've attempted to read in years. The characters are awful, the language is awful, and the premise is awful. DNF after the absolute minimum 50 pages.

Paperback. I don't even know how this book came to be on my shelf, but I'm tossing it rather than inflicting it on someone else by putting it in the donation box. 

I was attempting to read this book for the Booklikes Halloween Bingo 2019, for the square American Horror Story: Horror set in the United States, but will pick a different book instead. 

I don't actually have a lot to say about this slender novella. One of the things I like about McGuire is that her world building often feels unique and surprising, and this story was no exception - I enjoyed the magic and world she built. The book was atmospheric and melancholy, which I appreciated. I also liked her treatment of the themes of loss, depression, and how living means more than simply existing. Where this book fell down for me is that it wasn't quite what I wanted it to be. I was really wanting a ghost story, and while it is literally that, it feels more like an urban fantasy. There are more trappings of an urban fantasy romp here than a gothic horror, and while that's not really damning it's not really what I was craving. All in all I liked it, but it wasn't quite the story I was hunting for.