Kate M.'s Reviews > The Etched City

Given the wealth of glowing reviews on the cover, I went in hoping to like this book, but I couldn't. The main problem was that I couldn't connect with any of the characters. I can deal with morally grey characters and anti-heroes sometimes, but Gwynn is outright despicable. I spent most of the book wanting to be out of his company. Raule is more sympathetic, but never really pulled me in.

The plot has sections where it's gripping, but mostly it meanders way too much. I don't refer to the surreal occurrences; those were some of the coolest parts of the book for me. However, there were far too many longwinded discussions of theology and events that seemed to be put in mostly for atmosphere. The prose sometimes veers over the line from interesting to pretentious and even purple.

It achieved two stars rather than one because there was some genuinely fascinating imagery and because the conclusion was more interesting and satisfying than most of the path to get there.