Review: Elements of Mischief

Elements of Mischief by Tate James
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I’m not the biggest fan of reverse harem but every so often a synopsis will have me picking up another reverse harem book. Such is what happened with Elements of Mischief, the first book in the Hijinks Harem series. To me, it sounded like a book filled with things I enjoy – humour, supernatural happenings, and a series worth being addicted to – meaning I was happy to face the reverse harem if the other elements interested me.

Surprisingly, the revere harem was my favourite thing about this book. I did not expect it to be, I never thought I would claim such a thing, yet it is the truth. The reverse harem element was wonderfully steamy, and I didn’t mind it anywhere near as much as I usually do.

My issues were with the rest of the book, and how it let me down.

At first, I thought this would be a humorous read. There was plenty of inappropriate humour to be found, many plumbing jokes, and I was enjoying it. Sadly, it quickly grew old. The jokes were repetitive and desperate. I started by chuckling, then I was rolling my eyes, then I was groaning, before I found I didn’t care for the humour any more. It was too much, ruining the effect. The occasional joke here and there would have been wonderful, but as it was I grew tired of reading the same jokes over and over. I mean, I get it – pipes.

The supernatural element could have been a lot of fun, but it felt a bit all over the place at times. Some elements sucked me in, but I felt as though there was too much and not enough explanation. As our leading lady was new to the world, I would have expected more detail to be fired in her direction – if not, I would have liked for her to ask for it. As it was, she seemed to roll with it far too easily. There were plenty of things I wanted explaining, things I wanted to find out more about, but I was left with quite a few gaps in my knowledge.

I possibly would have considered reading the next book to see how things developed had I cared for the characters. As it was, I didn’t care for them at all. I couldn’t tell you the names of any of the males, I couldn’t tell you how to differentiate them, and due to that I see no reason to continue with the series. It was not the addiction I had been hoping for, even if I was surprised by the reverse harem element.

Overall, I was disappointed by this one – it really could have been so much more.

View all my reviews