"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." Groucho Marx



Tuesday, November 26, 2013

City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte



I am having a difficult time deciding if this was a two or three-star read for me. As a matter of fact, at last count I had changed the star rating on this review four times. Ugh. All elements for an engaging read are present and accounted for. Mystery, intrigue, romance, a dashing prince, a brainy beauty, alchemy, magic, drugs. Really. It is ALL here. But… (the ubiquitous "but") I found it incredibly difficult to keep things straight. One moment I felt I was enmeshed in a clever Young Adult novel (which this book never claims to be), the next I was hopelessly mired in plot complications I could not untangle and bizarre and disturbing sex scenes that had me checking the front cover to make sure I hadn't mindlessly picked up the wrong book right in the middle. Two days later I'm still not sure I've figured out what the premise was or how it was resolved. I read another review by a gentleman who felt the sex in the novel distracted from the story rather than added anything to the experience. I have to agree with him. The promiscuity of the musically inclined heroine really adds NOTHING to the story line. Shock factor? Maybe. That was the two-star part. 

Now for the three-star part- I loved the Beethoven stuff. I always love entertaining thoughts of famous historical figures going about their daily lives. Talking with friends, making bad jokes, eating too much. When Flyte's characters walk through time and visit the energy of characters' past I couldn't get enough. So I will try the next book in this series, conveniently released today,  and see where it takes me :0). 

You will find an official plot summary at: 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15808242-city-of-dark-magic?from_search=true.

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