Hypnos

<strong>Fantastic. Loved every word. </strong><br /><br />Go, Buy, Read. Highly recommend this book. <br /><br />Magic, strong characters, interesting world building, fast pace, likeable invested-in-their-fate main and secondary characters, budding romance...a short list of some of the things I love about this story.<br /><br />I kept checking the book countdown in the corner, hoping that the end was far away as I definitely did not want the story to be over. But it still was over before I was ready. This part of the story wrapped up well. Looking forward to the next book. <br /><br />Magic and its creation in this world was different, though some types were familiar like elementals, warlocks. <br /><br />Love the take charge heroine. The hero was a great foil. <br /><br />I so want more of this world but also more Magical Rom Coms (with body count), more Royal States, basically anything this author writes. <br /><br />cross posted amazon, goodreads, book bub.<br /><br />

<br />Stayed up late to finish on a work night so that’s a four. Usual style for this one so another one to just go along with and enjoy the ride. Loved the characters and the story, looking forward to the next one.

<strong>Couldn't get enough! </strong><br /><br />Disclosure - I am an addicy when it comes to the Magical Comedy with a Body Count series... ans Zodiac just hopped right on up there as another pre-order obsession! You HAVE to read these books if you like strong characters and world building! Enjoy - and join me in my addiction!

<strong>I would love to edit these</strong><br /><br />It can be very enjoyable reading this author’s writing. But it also be a little disorienting. Sometimes the verbal sparring can slow down the progress of the plot. Other times you may forget exactly who else is present while two characters trade insults. Or you can forget that they’re in a car and traveling. I do wish there would be a few characters who did not participate in the near endless badinage.<br /><br />I do enjoy the interesting new world. Having a concrete reason for magic entering the world is different from a lot of other urban fantasy. <br /><br />I will continue to buy the authors novels or short stories as they become available. Her inventiveness in designing her worlds seems endless.

FB lugemise väljakutse<br />#ulmemini <br /><br />See läks nüüd küll hästi. Postapokalüptiline ulmekas paneb mind mõtlema peamiselt tähtedevaheliste lendude lõppemisele ja kohutvale hulgale kosmposeprügile. R. J. Blain on aga oma maailmalõpuloo seadnud pärast kolmandat maailmasõda, kus tuumapommide üleküllus vallandas hoopis uskumatutes kogustes maagiad ja inimestel on palju uusi ja maagilisi võimeid. Sh. vampiirid ja empaadid ja vee-, tule ja maa elementalid. <br />Hypno on sellesse maailma seatud romantiline krimilugu, kus hiina ema ja ameerika isa järeltulija näeb vapustav välja, tal on uskumatud maagilised võimed, terav keel ja toredad kolleegid. Sisu rohkem spoilima ei hakka. Kellele sellised fantasy-segused lustlikumat laadi postapokalüptilised lood meeldivad, siis see tunneb suurt rõõmu sellest raamatust. Või siis need, keda sõna postapokalüptiline juba värisema paneb.

My biggest issue with the book was how other people treated Olivia. It wasn't until toward the end of the book that anyone seemed to show her any respect at all despite her position in the FBI. Not only did they call her a damsel in distress they often treated her like one and she let them. Yet she's the one they look to take down the big bad. I feel like she ought to have received more respect that that from everyone.<br /><br />The relationship between Oliva and Raymond was outright weird and was a bit like a business deal for sex that doesn't actually occur in the book. It's entirely bonkers to move in with someone days after meeting them and they went from strangers to pseudo couple like in a blink. The whole thing was downright jarring. <br /><br />Additionally Olivia often takes juvenile to beyond extremes, she can honestly he described as a brat most of the book and I think that childlike behavior is actually encouraged in the way everyone else treats her. <br /><br />The book was interesting but odd to say the least. I'd definitely read other titles in the work, but I'm hoping people stop acting like Olivia is some sort of delicate flower incapable of making her own decisions in future installments.

Unfortunately I’ve had to DNF this book. The premise looked really interesting, but the protagonist was the one who ruined it for me. Some would call it sass, but for me it was more snarky than sass - and unnecessarily too. It made it very hard for me to be interested in finding out more about her. The worst thing for me was the writing seemed to force the reader to like the protagonist, which definitely did not work for me. <br /><br />For example, the author made it a point that the protagonist was hardworking by having everyone in her circle say that she needed to rest, that she lacked sleep, and so on. While I appreciate the “show, don’t tell” strategy - bombarding me with such things was grating to me, and thus I feel like I was being forced to admire the protagonist for being hardworking.<br /><br />It's a shame, as I could see a lot of people really liked this book. But it wasn't for me.

I like the premise. I find the magic system &amp; world very interesting. <br /><br />But the frenetic babbling of the characters detract from the story. For me the characters blend into each other too much. They all have the same irrational loud nutty personality. Rather than being able to enjoy the strong female characters, or the push and pull between characters that are getting to know each other, or characters that have known each other for years, the same voice is used making it hard to care about individuals. I was hoping eventually RJ Blaine would find the right mixture, but I’m starting to think it won’t happen.

This has been a good start to a new series.<br /><br /><u>What I liked</u><br /><b>Worldbuilding:</b> It's post-WWIII and the mutations inflicted by nuclear warfare have resulted in nuclear radiation either killing people or manifesting as "magic" in people predisposed to mutation.<br /><blockquote> World War III had changed everything, every nuke dropped adding to the chaos of magic exploding into the world. Instead of the world dying to fallout, the ashes either killed or birthed powers. For lack of anything else to call it, it'd been dubbed magic (ch.2, pg.6).</blockquote><br />It's an interesting urban fantasy world and I liked the execution of the worldbuilding. At the same time, I have a few questions about how the "magic" - essentially radiation - would take its toll over time, but I think the magic structure will be explained as the story progresses. At least I hope so.<br /><br /><u>What I Didn't Like As Much</u><br /><b> The Dialogue (by extension, the chemistry - or lack thereof):</b> Simply put - there's too much dialogue. Everyone is talking. All the time. Pages of it. I've never been more exhausted by conversations I'm not even part of. While it's used well for characterisation, there's no time to <i>breathe</i>. The characters are all go-go-go. As a result, Raymond and Olivia barely ever talk to each other alone and so there's no chemistry. Raymond was introduced as a shy 'awkward-with-girls' guy, but he does a flip and turns into Ladykiller Extraordinaire in a few pages. <br /><blockquote> Detective Hunk, as shy as accused, averted his gaze, accidentally stared into the mirror, and his face turned red (ch.3 pg. 19)</blockquote><br />A chapter later, she's woken up clinging to him and he's perfectly comfortable.<br /><blockquote> A better woman would've let the cop go, but I was warm and didn't want to move. "I don't usually take Eddy's suggestions seriously."<br />Detective Davis sighed. "Good morning. How much of yesterday do you remember?" (ch. 4 pg. 9)</blockquote><br />Like what happened?<br /><br /><b> The Tone:</b><br />It's a humorous lighthearted novel, but there's a maniac warlock running around killing people and this supernatural <i>FBI</i> squad are acting like the cast of a sitcom. Frankly, the only stakes in this story are the ones Olivia's eating. Literally no one was on the edge of their seat when the UN authorised a nuke to drop on thousands of people. Like oh damn death. But there's Olivia slapping the psycho warlock with a fish. That's fun.<br /><br />All in all, I did like the story. Don't read it if you like people acting like actual people. The only people who died in this novel are people we don't know and don't care about. Maybe it'll take off in <i>Achlys</i>? I will be looking out for the next book in 2021.

<strong>High Paced Urban Fantasy</strong><br /><br />I decided to read this book based on the fact that Faith Hunter (one of my favourite authors) likes this book. It’s tenuous I know but I really really like her books. This one is pretty good. <br /><br />Olivia is a woman of dual cultures, with her mother being born in China and her father being American. She looks like her mother and thinks like her father, much to her mother’s dismay. Both parents adore their daughter but they are slightly crazy and bicker. Olivia’s father is a Police Commissioner and is disappointed his daughter joined the FBI rather than become a cop.<br /><br />The world in which they live is one riddled with magic, caused by the dropping of nuclear bombs during World War III. Olivia is a rare survivor of the bomb that took out New York. Those that survived were very high powered magic users. Olivia is a supervisor of magic units called Quads made up mainly of drafted magic users. Olivia works incredibly long hours, can get by with little food and was at the limits of her body and power when disaster struck her city of San Francisco.<br /><br />I liked how the book started out with her being weakened and struggling to stay awake. It showed that she wasn’t all powerful right from the beginning. I also liked how her main team flocked around her to try and make her take care of herself. It showed a strong woman, who is respected and cared for. I like it when the main characters are already established in their powers.<br /><br />The world building was very good and the characters were all interesting. The plot was complex and kept me reading late into the night. However, the level of banter felt a little excessive to me. It was over the top and felt forced. It dropped off a little as the book went on, which made the read much more enjoyable, but it did make me hesitate a bit at the beginning. I’m glad I stuck with it.<br /><br />I think future books in this series would make for a good read and will definitely read one when they become available.