Moonshine, Alaya Johnson (365 Books, Day 22)

Copy sent me by rachelmanija, in exchange for reviewing it.

An interesting although occasionally slightly incoherent take on the sort of urban fantasy where vampires, werewolves, fairies etc. are a mainstream and acknowledged part of life: this time, it's the nineteen-twenties. The protagonist, Zephyr, is a suffragette (votes for vampires-- it's after female suffrage), tireless do-gooding crusader, and rather ashamed of her demon-hunting past. Cue a complex plot involving the familial politics of vampire bootleggers.

I enjoyed the worldbuilding very much. This is a diverse and interesting take on New York City and the Jazz Age, with only a few points where I looked at possible anachronisms with raised eyebrows. It's fun and energetic. I found the plot mildly confusing, and Zephyr's love interest is exactly the usual sort of character one gets in these roles in this sort of romance. So this was a book I liked much better on a scene-to-scene level than as a whole, especially as I thought some of the characterization varied scene-to-scene in ways that were mildly inconsistent, and therefore preferred to take each scene as something of a separate episode.

With those caveats, I did like this much better than oh the last seven things I read that could have been classified as paranormal romance. I might read another, when it comes out.

Moonshine, Alaya Johnson (365 Books, Day 22)

Copy sent me by rachelmanija, in exchange for reviewing it.

An interesting although occasionally slightly incoherent take on the sort of urban fantasy where vampires, werewolves, fairies etc. are a mainstream and acknowledged part of life: this time, it's the nineteen-twenties. The protagonist, Zephyr, is a suffragette (votes for vampires-- it's after female suffrage), tireless do-gooding crusader, and rather ashamed of her demon-hunting past. Cue a complex plot involving the familial politics of vampire bootleggers.

I enjoyed the worldbuilding very much. This is a diverse and interesting take on New York City and the Jazz Age, with only a few points where I looked at possible anachronisms with raised eyebrows. It's fun and energetic. I found the plot mildly confusing, and Zephyr's love interest is exactly the usual sort of character one gets in these roles in this sort of romance. So this was a book I liked much better on a scene-to-scene level than as a whole, especially as I thought some of the characterization varied scene-to-scene in ways that were mildly inconsistent, and therefore preferred to take each scene as something of a separate episode.

With those caveats, I did like this much better than oh the last seven things I read that could have been classified as paranormal romance. I might read another, when it comes out.

You can comment here or at the Dreamwidth crosspost. There are comments over there.