Kathleen in Oslo's Reviews > Liar City

I’ve read the first two of Allie Therin’s Magic in Manhattan series, and for the most part really enjoyed them. Insofar as I had reservations, it was that I dug the characters, but the worldbuilding and magic stuff kind of imploded.

In this case, I had pretty much the opposite reaction. I am intrigued by the setup and the outlines of this world of (newly discovered) empaths – and the backlash sparked by their supposed mind control powers – but I just couldn’t with the main character. For all that Reece is an empath, he reads like someone with the emotional intelligence, maturity, and impulse control of your average 5-year-old – with the equally strong conviction that he is RIGHT!, everyone else is WRONG! *tantrum* *woe is me*.

The constant POV shifts at least got us out of Reece’s head for a while, at the cost of being too many and too much, creating a stop-start narrative that was frustrating rather than tension-raising. Indeed, I found myself befuddled much of the time, either from baffling logic leaps Reece was making that had no grounding in the text, or obvious logic leaps Reece wasn't making that made him seem like a dunderhead.

After pulling myself through the first 20 percent or so, I put this aside in exasperation since the HCP strike had started and I figured I would be holding the review anyway. I resumed reading with a resolution to stop being Mean! Kathleen, but alas. Mean! Kathleen can only be held off so long. Indeed, it only took another section of Reece for Mean! Kathleen to come roaring back. At which point I realized that I will never buy Reece as a convincing romantic hero (I should note that the author has advised that the romance is a very slow burn, stretching out over the course of the series – so adjust expectations accordingly). And because I simply wasn’t invested enough in the mystery to push on considering my antipathy to one of the main characters (Mean! Kathleen is impatient) -- dnf with no hard feelings at 34%.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC! Much as I dislike dnf'ing ARCs, I think it's better for everyone if I peace out here. This is (obviously) my unvarnished review.