DNF 24%

I like futuristic but this is not my cup of tea. I don't know why but "contemporary" urban fantasy is difficult to me.

A good urban fantasy. Not really a romance, but I like the hints of it :) Hopefully it will move along in the next book. ( )

Since this is a DSP Publications title, I didn't expect it to be romantic. But I wanted I bit more than I got.

Kai Gracen is definitely a weird creature. In every sense of the word. It's not enough that he's an elfin, he also talks to himself. And to his cat, but that I can forgive, I talk to my dogs all the time. He's not just muttering and cursing, everyone does that. But whole sentences about reasonable things. That's just weird as hell. No offense to anyone who does that.

The world-building is good, but I got confused about a few things, which might have been the author's intention. For a long time I thought that the elfin and the sidhe are a different race. Which made some of the dialogues confusing, when they talked about sidhe traditions. And then I finally realized that the elfin is the race, and elfins are either sidhe (good ones) or unsidhe (evil ones). But it just didn't register at first.

Also there is this thing with Kai and touching. I'm not sure if elfins are some kind of empath creatures, or what. Coz he seemed to want to touch everyone to feel something, but also didn't want to touch anyone because of his abused and tortured past. So it was like his nature was fighting with him constantly, but it was never said that the elfin possessed the ability to feel emotion through touch, or that they craved it. So I think it was specifically a Kai thing.

I didn't like that everyone tried to shove their tongue down his throat, men or women, he's very popular in all circles.

The whole story was a bit flat. I was missing something, not sure what.
But I felt engaged enough to finish it. ( )

I have very mixed feelings about this book, so I am going to stick to my golden rule: When in doubt, go by the tags :D

ALERTS and WARNINGS:
No romance of any kind, m/m or m/f
Girl cooties (sucking face and pawing)
Boy cooties (sucking face and pawing)

Grammar: - 2 stars

Misplaced modifiers. Yep. Those pesky things.



They might not bother some readers, and I want to say "It's OK" and skip it, but on the second thought - NO. Butchered grammar is never OK. "Screaming like a banshee, my foot kicked out..." (don't remember the exact wording, sorry) is not OK. Talking, swearing, grabbing for weapons/air pissed off body parts or inanimate objects are NOT OK, unless they are from Toy Story.

Similes. I can take a few, but not in every paragraph. Just write a separate book about that classic by now 'chihuahua pooping in the snow' or 'a butt cheek, whining like a dog in heat', and get over it already.

To be fair: English is not my native and I know my grammar suffers. However, I do not publish books and charge readers 7 bucks for an unfinished product.

Adventure: - 3.5 stars
I loved the story, I loved the bad-assness of it, I loved that Kai didn't talk his head off at the most critical moments, just shot, knifed, drove through the person that posed a threat.
On the downside, no matter when, no matter where, while most desperate, Kai always had unexpected help, always. O.o

M/M, M/F, Romance:
There is no romance in this book whatsoever. I can't even tag it m/m or m/f. Kai wanted girls and boys alike and it didn't bother me a bit. Girl cooties alert, tho ;)

Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Post-Apocalyptic: - 4.5 stars
Post-Apocalyptic - check. Some time ago, looks like in the beginning of 21st century, human and magical worlds collided, resulting in The Merge. There are some cataclysmic consequences, but in the long run I think humans and Earth benefited from it. Turns out, Elves are very environmentally savvy. Unfortunately, there is not enough background on the actual events.
Elves - check. The honest to God tall and beautiful pointy eared magical creatures shooting arrows.
Sci-Fi - check. Technologically advanced elves. Yep :)

Final rating - 3.5 stars

PS I really dislike this new cover. The guy on the red Mustang looked much hotter. ( )

3.5 - I am intrigued by this first in a new series novel. There is a lot going on here and much of it is not resolved, and I would have liked a little more background to the world. Still I am intrigued, Kai is strong character and damaged enough to make me want to know him better. Ryder needs to be fleshed out more, I didn't really get a good feel for him here, who he is, what his strengths are - why he wants Kai and why he should have him.

I like Rhys Ford and I will see where this story goes. ( )