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Jun 04, 2020Arthur_of_Camelot rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This was a really solid book and a good read! I'm just picky about giving out five star reviews to save those for books that are Favorites. I think maybe if I enjoyed westerns a little more, or if this book had been a little to the left, I would have given it five stars. So the lack of a star is purely a personal thing, and I'm sure it will be a Favorite read for lots of other people! The MC's voice was very good, not whiny or annoying, but also realistic for what can be expected of a 16 year old in terms of emotional maturity. I think this is the little to the left that didn't quite reach out and grab me though--I fall in love with characters who are smart and spiteful and fighting BACK against something. And Izzy was smart, but she didn't have any cause to be a little bit mean and angry, and as a person feeling pretty mean and angry myself these days, I didn't connect with her as much as I could have. She definitely wasn't an annoying passive, reactionary character who only does things in response to what others do, but she did spend the book searching for herself and what she wanted. Which is a valid story! She did a great job, and the writing was excellent at keeping that narrative realistic and interesting, so I'm chalking this up purely to personal preference, that I want characters who already know exactly what they want, are mad as hell about it, and willing to spit and claw their way into success. I do have to say the fantasy and world building aspects were super cool and very interesting. They also weren't info-dumped all at once--maybe a little sense of "oh yeah and also this other thing" BUT that at least had the narrative justification that Izzy was new to a lot of things herself, so we learned as she learned. Her lessons with Gabriel were a great way to build up the world and the sense of magic. I also really loved that the devil wasn't the bad guy--not a good guy at all, but not Bad either. That's for the Catholics, lol