Shrill Dusk
Helen Harper
Overall: 3/5
Plot and themes: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Writing style: 3/5
Attention-grabbing: 4/5
I may be on a slight paranormal binge right now, and Helen Harper's books are really pushing that forward. Shrill Dusk is the first book in the City of Magic series, it's also kind of a spin-off of another series that I didn't read so I don't really find it all that necessary to enjoy. Charley cleans for the police department by day and gambles illegally at night, she has a strategic mind and likes to help others whenever she can. When magic is set off all across Manchester and her housemate turns into a gigantic and terrifying monster, she knows she owes it to her and to the others she meets along the way to step up and try to use her strategic mind to everyone's advantage. But in a city that has been abandoned by government officials with magic running rampant, no one is really sure what will happen.
I liked it well enough, it was a little disappointing compared to her Firebrand series but also these books came a couple of years earlier so it might just be a good demonstration of Harper's growth as an author. The magic was a tad ill-defined, I hope that that's something that'll be addressed in the next two books. I specifically don't understand the limitations or basis for Charley's magic, it all seems a bit all over the board. I did like her as a character, I think she has some room to grow but I think she has the kind of moral integrity that I like to see from protagonists.
Bottom-line, it was pretty enjoyable but it wasn't super memorable at this point. I also think it blends kind of the traditional dystopian aspect with fantasy in a fun and very defined sort of way. It's more of an under the dome type of microcosm of greater society and how individuals would function in the absence of law but combined with the lighthearted comedy of an urban fantasy. Not something I've read before but definitely something I'm looking forward to!
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