Author: Magnus Flyte
Paperback: 448 pages (ARC version)
Publisher: Penguin
Published date: December 2012
FTC: Received to review from publisher
Disappointed. That about sums it up. Take Prague, Beethoven's manuscripts and mysterious Immortal Beloved, time-travel, a four-hundred year old dwarf, a prince, and a description of "rom-com paranormal suspense" and how can you go wrong? Well I guess you can. Sigh.
Back of the book:
Once a city of enormous wealth and culture, Prague was home to emperors, alchemists, astronomers, and, as it’s whispered, hell portals. When music student Sarah Weston lands a summer job at Prague Castle cataloging Beethoven’s manuscripts, she has no idea how dangerous her life is about to become. Prague is a threshold, Sarah is warned, and it is steeped in blood.
Soon after Sarah arrives, strange things begin to happen. She learns that her mentor, who was working at the castle, may not have committed suicide after all. Could his cryptic notes be warnings? As Sarah parses his clues about Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved,” she manages to get arrested, to have tantric sex in a public fountain, and to discover a time-warping drug. She also catches the attention of a four-hundred-year-old dwarf, the handsome Prince Max, and a powerful U.S. senator with secrets she will do anything to hide.
City of Dark Magic could be called a rom-com paranormal suspense novel—or it could simply be called one of the most entertaining novels of the year.
My thoughts:
Blah. I've put off reviewing this one because of how let down I was. I was expecting something awesome. Instead I got a lot of juvenile humor and talk, uncomfortable sex scenes that were not at all romantic, and an unrealistic romance. I felt like the authors didn't think that readers would be as interested in the history and the story if the scholarly characters didn't talk like high schoolers and have random sex with unknown people in the bathroom. Gross.
The horrible part is that City of Dark Magic has one of the most original and realistic time travel-ish thing I've read about in a while. I also tagged a ton of pages because there is so much cool history about Prague, Prague Castle, and Beethoven's life. I wasn't around a computer or phone when I read it and there was so many historical things I wanted to Google. The only character I really liked was the dwarf. He reminded me of the humor and wit of Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones. Arg. This book had so much potential! There's going to be at least one sequel but I am obviously not going to be picking it up.
That's really all I can write. I'm off to check out other people's reviews. Have you read this one? Thoughts?
Also Reviewed By:
Luxury Reading
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