City of Light by Keri Arthur (Outpost #1)
Urban Fantasy
Released: January 5, 2016
Signet
Reviewed by Mandi
I love when I see a new urban fantasy series – but unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be reading book two of this series. Here is the blurb:
When the bombs that stopped the species war tore holes in the veil between this world and the next, they allowed entry to the Others—demons, wraiths, and death spirits who turned the shadows into their hunting grounds. Now, a hundred years later, humans and shifters alike live in artificially lit cities designed to keep the darkness at bay….
As a déchet—a breed of humanoid super-soldiers almost eradicated by the war—Tiger has spent her life in hiding. But when she risks her life to save a little girl on the outskirts of Central City, she discovers that the child is one of many abducted in broad daylight by a wraith-like being—an impossibility with dangerous implications for everyone on earth.
Because if the light is no longer enough to protect them, nowhere is safe…
Tiger, or Tig is our heroine. She has been living/hiding inside a bombed out, underground base alone. Tig is a dechet, designed to kill shifters that were wiping out humanity. Created in a lab:
These labs had created not only an enzyme that gave humans the same capacity to heal as the shifters, but also the designed humanoid. Or dechet, as we’d become known.
Tig, had extra powers as a dechet. She can alter her appearance, she can see well in the dark, she can see ghosts and can communicate with them. Currently, the world’s biggest threat are vampires – who come out at night and are horrific creatures. The main plot of this story is that Tig needs to figure out how wraiths are kidnapping children – and put a stop to it.
For me, this world had too many things going on. So many supernatural creatures. A world ravaged by war, but also by biological threats and vampires and wraiths and shifters and other things. I also felt like Tig had a gazillion different powers too. She can change into other people, she can talk to ghosts, she can see in the dark when others can’t, she can read people’s emotions, she is immune to all known poisons – just to name a few. It was too much, and at the same time I found it to be a tedious read. I don’t mind a complex urban fantasy world, but it has to be presented in a way that doesn’t make my eyeballs cross as I read it.
Plus – Tig didn’t do it for me – she fell flat. I never felt endeared to her. Jonas and Sal, two other central characters in this story intrigued me more. Jonas is a shifter who is more of a mystery and you don’t know if he is good or bad. And Sal is a blast from Tig’s past – who she has romantic interests tied to.
Overall, a confusing and slow book for me to read.
Grade: D
Recent Review:
Fiction Vixen
Goodreads l Author Website l Series
Leave a Reply