Syndrie
This was one of those stories that ended up being deeper than it originally seemed like it would be. Starting off it feels more like it could be a potential mystery of the week kind of deal where we’ll be following along as DEUS — a government agency that helps keeps supernatural beings & events out of the public eye — tries to uncover the mystery behind a disappearing neighborhood. But as the story progresses, it really digs deeper into bigger themes of ethics, society, and community.
The good: - Satisfying character development. - A good mix of humorous antics as well as serious moments and concepts. - The idea of humans simply being too blind to notice gods and mythological beings living amongst in secret is definitely entertaining. - Lots of diversity amongst the Others - we get to see jinns, wyverns, necromancers, and more alongside some concepts that I believe are unique to this novel. (I found the idea behind the Gardeners especially interesting!) - I loved how the top secret government agency tasked with helping manage the Others is forced to deal with the same bureaucratic bs that the average human employee experiences.
The less good: - At times, it seemed like the prose started to ramble a bit and it did lose my attention here and there. Other times it felt like too much information too fast and I had to reread portions to fully take a new concept in. - It feels like the first half of the story was more plot focused, but towards the end the plot felt like it really took a backseat to the message that the book was trying to portray. So by the end, when the stakes should’ve been at the highest for our characters, it felt somewhat predictable and did not hold the same tension that the middle portions had.
Overall this was a nice read and, as a starting point for a new series, it did give us the foundations of the world and its rules while giving a good introduction to our main cast of characters. So even though I had a couple of problems with it, I’ll probably be keeping an eye out for the second book in the future to see how it plays out!
(I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher, Orbit Books, via NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.)
This was one of those stories that ended up being deeper than it originally seemed like it would be. Starting off it feels more like it could be a potential mystery of the week kind of deal where we’ll be following along as DEUS — a government agency that helps keeps supernatural beings & events out of the public eye — tries to uncover the mystery behind a disappearing neighborhood. But as the story progresses, it really digs deeper into bigger themes of ethics, society, and community.
The good: - Satisfying character development. - A good mix of humorous antics as well as serious moments and concepts. - The idea of humans simply being too blind to notice gods and mythological beings living amongst in secret is definitely entertaining. - Lots of diversity amongst the Others - we get to see jinns, wyverns, necromancers, and more alongside some concepts that I believe are unique to this novel. (I found the idea behind the Gardeners especially interesting!) - I loved how the top secret government agency tasked with helping manage the Others is forced to deal with the same bureaucratic bs that the average human employee experiences.
The less good: - At times, it seemed like the prose started to ramble a bit and it did lose my attention here and there. Other times it felt like too much information too fast and I had to reread portions to fully take a new concept in. - It feels like the first half of the story was more plot focused, but towards the end the plot felt like it really took a backseat to the message that the book was trying to portray. So by the end, when the stakes should’ve been at the highest for our characters, it felt somewhat predictable and did not hold the same tension that the middle portions had.
Overall this was a nice read and, as a starting point for a new series, it did give us the foundations of the world and its rules while giving a good introduction to our main cast of characters. So even though I had a couple of problems with it, I’ll probably be keeping an eye out for the second book in the future to see how it plays out!
(I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher, Orbit Books, via NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.)