Overall, a good read that blended elements of history, magic, romance, and adventure. My only compliant is that sometimes it felt like the story switched between a romance novel and a paranormal adventure, making it feel a little uneven. I may need to check out the other books in this series. ( )

I really loved the dynamic in this, and I think the story overall was pretty fun, if a bit fast-paced at times. The cast is lovely. What let it down was a bit of weirdness with plot that got a bit... overly silly, and I'm mostly just grateful there was no point where it was revealed that Pavel designing potions they didn't know the use of and them ending up being entirely used up by the antagonists was actually a GOOD thing and what the potions were meant for.

I'm also not entirely sure if I love the dynamic on its own, or mostly because it resembles another character dynamic with part of a vaguely similar plot to an ongoing serial I'm reading, and so I see that here and like it, but not so much on its own merits.

I also agree that the time period/locale/culture was underused, but I don't fully expect an overwhelming look at Prohibition-era New York, especially with white leads. It's m/m romance, not just historical fiction with a romance subplot. And I honestly found the dialect more distracting than interesting, used correctly or not. It did vaguely give me "Lackadaisy" vibes, for obvious reasons (Rory in particular reminds me a bit of Freckle). But of course "Lackadaisay" can just show us all the neat Prohibition-era research that Tracy Butler did for that comic, whereas the book has to tell us... and it kind of does. Sort of. I was more... surprised than anything else that we were frequently in Hell's Kitchen than feeling like we were actually in it, to the point that I just kept expecting Daredevil to jump down at some point rather than imagining the world Rory lived in.

Perhaps the biggest issue was I found the climax disappointing. At first irritating, and then it kind of made up for itself, but overall it was just... silly, in a lot of ways. Rory bumping into Ellis was okay enough, but then Ace somehow not getting Rory kicked out, and then seemingly standing in plain sight to talk to waitstaff and no one said anything? And Rory is 20 years old, yes, we know, and seemingly has no comprehension that being visibly gay with another man could be dangerous for him? Because it's never something that pops into his mind. We're meant to see him as smart and street savvy and yet he's at turns quick-witted and creative, and other times truly oblivious. I love how bi/pansexual he's written, but the fact that Ace heavily emphasizes the danger, even though he's far more privileged (though admittedly his concern is more for his family than himself), while Ace, a far less privileged person who is used to having run-ins with authority figures and has reached the mature age of 20 years old while living in Hell's Kitchen is entirely oblivious is... well...

It's also frustrating how the story punishes you for taking it seriously. You're not meant to think too hard about how dumb it is that Ace and Co., just bring some unknown potions with them with no attempt to discover their usefulness on the off-chance they'll be useful, despite how incredibly stupid it is, and how you're told, time and again, that the people in this group are quite smart and good at what they do. But you were meant to think a bit how strange it was that "Phillipe" died in a fire at sea. And the second is obviously strange. My assumption was that Phillipe was a traitor who got killed by someone else. He knew something. Which is sort of true. I also still have no idea why Rory was able to use one relic to find Ace. Not the relic ON Ace. Ace. The relic, which was locked and not bound to him, just sort of... modified a vision of the past to give him a direction to his boyfriend?

I also do appreciate that the magic in this universe has a lot of rules, and it's not the most useful or even safest thing in the world, though it can be made to do incredible things in the right hands and with the right training. But this world's magic seems to much more trouble than it's worth, and it's not all that fun to explore. When even an object of power just in the open air hurts anyone with magic. When mundanes can't see magic users who can go invisible but magic users... can? The rules are just weird and kind of silly. If you don't think too hard about it, it's fine, and that's fair enough, but it's... mm...

Overall, it was an interesting introduction to the story universe, and given what I've seen of the summary for book 2, I'm interested in going on, particularly because I want to read the spin-off novel. But I'm cautious going on. ( )

Very enjoyable and fast moving urban fantasy set during prohibition in NYC. I liked the paranormal aspects of the story and really enjoyed all the different characters. Rory and Arthur are so very cute together! I've binged the second story already as well and am on to reading the third! ( )

I feel privileged to have gotten to read this as an ARC. The prose is great, the characters are great, and I am now a fan of Allie Therin. Not only all that, the typos are very rare! Awesome work, awesome story, so glad there will be more.

If you enjoy feisty romances, mid-1920s historicals, New York City, and very interesting magic worldbuilding, this is for you, too. it comes out July 29. Pre-order! ( )

3.5

I had fun reading this book (the blend of paranormal/fantasy historical romance has been my biggest weakness for ages now), it was entertaining and well-written, especially for a debut novel.

However, some things still niggled me. This read a little like a YA book, in the sense that most of the characters were a bit too ‘goody-goody’ for my taste. Especially Arthur, he was as perfect as they come. Perfect face, hair, eyes, body (his dick was probably perfect as well, but the sex scenes are all fade-to-black here — another one of my niggles — so that’s unconfirmed), and perfect personality! ( )