Review: City of Light

City of Light by Keri Arthur
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If the truth is to be known, I was expecting something more from this one.

I’ll start with a little confession: I wasn’t overly excited to read this one. It’s one I picked up in an offer as it had potential, yet I didn’t feel the need to push it to the top of my to-read list as I sometimes do with books. It grabbed my attention but it did not leave me with an obsession to read it. Nevertheless, as I was interested, I was more than happy to see whether or not it would be a series I would want to continue.

Throughout there were a lot of ups and downs, and I could never quite decide how I felt towards the book. In many ways, I felt as though it dragged. This, however, was due to the fact that I was never really given much of what I had expected. As I said, the book had potential. Unfortunately, I feel as though it didn’t quite live up to the potential.

The blurb suggested we would have a little bit of everything. Magic. Supernatural creatures. Science fiction. All of the good things combined. I’m always tentative about such combinations – they are either wonderful or fall flat on their face – but I was happy to give this one a try. Surprisingly, it left me experiencing something new. This one feel short in a way I had not expected of a potential genre mix. It seemed to be lacking somewhat. There was certainly magic and the supernatural creatures, yet the science fiction aspect seemed to fall short. I had wanted more than just the mystery that surrounded that aspect of the story – an aspect that could just as easily be attributed to another fantasy element rather than the science fiction element I was made to expect.

Despite this, I did love the magic and supernatural creatures. The two were brought together wonderfully, the story being a really interesting one. There is much potential for where things can go, with that aspect of the story being great. Creatures we know of exist, along with giving us something a little bit different. Wonderful, in short.

However, the way in which the story progressed seemed to take the attention away from how great the creatures are. At first, I thought we were to be free of romance – yet I was naïve, and soon proven wrong. I quickly realised that the romance was going to keep slipping into the storyline, complicating matters where emotions are concerned. It is a tale as old as time, and I do not need to tell you what to expect. Whilst things do not progress to the extent of some other stories in this first book, I know more is to come.

Honestly, the story would have been just as fun if I wasn’t distracted every time the main character seemed to have a sudden thought tangent related to romantic aspects of the world. Then again, I also had trouble with the pacing. It wasn’t simply the romance that caused this, but it did seem to progress slowly. The action was all held off until the end. Things would build and never really reach the point I was expecting them to. I wanted more in terms of action.

Mostly, I feel indifferent to this one.

Actually, that’s not quite true. I was disappointed, and yet at the same time I want to know where things go. As my friend informed me after I told her I was done with this one (having spent my reading of the book complaining about how it seemed to be taking me forever to progress through it), I’m a masochist when it comes to my reading.

Whether or not I’ll find out what comes next, however, has yet to be decided. Somehow, I feel as though it is unlikely. There are many other sequels I’m a lot more interested in.

Nevertheless, whilst this one didn’t quite hit the right chords with me, I know there are many who will enjoy it.

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