Witchmark

DNF - PG 207

Why?

I would like to say that at one time I could have truly enjoyed this book - but I'm not entirely sure that's accurate. (This is super sad because I have been beyond excited for this book for so long.)

At a glance, it sounds perfect for me: a magic filled society wherein our main character is something of a second tier citizen chaffing under his abilities not being enough. It's set in a quasi-historical quasi-England (the first part is one of my favorite things ever) that is filling with soldiers returning from war. (Added bonus' include sweet gay romance and our main character being a doctor - which opens the door for all kinds of creepy medical practices.)

That all being said...while reading it I was at turns bored out of my mind and furious.

The boring:
Our main character, Miles inspires me to want to shove my boot up his backside in an effort to get him to move. He is hiding at the start of the story, because otherwise he'll be little more than a battery for his sister (more on her later) and he likens himself to a mouse more than once. I don't need my characters to be kick butt, but I do need them to have something going in the personality department. Miles has nothing: he isn't strong in any way, he isn't funny, he isn't, really, much of anything. He just is and lets the world around him push him in any direction it wants.

I thought I was going to like the mystery, at the start. It was kind of gothic and a little creepy and something I thought I could get behind. But...oh my gosh, we go nowhere. Miles spends so much time ruminating on what is wrong with his patients without attempting to solve anything. He should have been working on a case study for them, instead of his ‘I don't know what it is and I don't want to try anything.' (I don't really think the murder is the main mystery, but it was there too and moved just as slowly.)

The writing style is old-fashioned. It wouldn't be terribly out of place in a Jane Austen or Jules Verne. That being said...I do kind of like the writing style, but without a little zip to the characters, it just makes me feel even more like thirty minutes of this book is all I can take at a time.

Now, what made me furious:
Grace. The aforementioned sister. She is so insufferable. Oh, she wants to help the poor oppressed people. By turning her brother into one of them. Oh, but that's the only way she could possibly make them see what they could be. After all, if Miles does it, anyone can. Let's not even get into her assisting in someone's coercion into, essentially, slavery. But it's okay, because she wants to help them. (Except, not really, because she would rather die than release her slave.) And, you know what? The second book is her story. So, go ahead, ask me if I'll read any more of this series.

There were actually some good things as well.
I actually like Eleanor somewhat. Tristan, while a little too perfect for me to truly like, I was curious about.

Another reviewer referred to this as twee and, I kind of have to agree. (Even if that's a term I've never used.) There is so much here that could have been bolder. Towards the beginning of the book, there's hints of PTSD, a powerful conspiracy and the whole story is strung through with oppression.

But, these things get little screen time and definitely none of them are given any real gravitas, instead we have to listen to Miles ruminate over his patients, how handsome Tristan is and ride along with him as he bicycles through the town. Now, I'm all for light reads - but I'm not a fan of the old switcheroo of we're going to be serious, but only long enough to sucker people in for the romance.

Finally, world building? This book knows you not. Goodbye.