Review: Lustre

Title: Lustre (A Witchlight novela)
Author: Jaime Munn
Page Count: 196
My Rating: 4 TURTLES: A great read, I definitely recommend.
Amazon
 
Review:

Nilla Hayes is still trying to get over her werewolf ex-girlfriend when an angel comes to call on her witchy services to track down a dream thief. Despite her reluctance to work for an angelic being – they’re usually bad news – she accepts and tracks the thief to the small town of Whisper Falls. Nilla quickly realizes her target is much more dangerous than she originally thought and has to catch him before it’s too late.

This was a really fun and unexpected read!

I loved Nilla’s dry sense of humor and her wry and conversational narrating voice. The strong, humorous sense of voice was one of my favorite things about this story. It is so hard to craft and keep consistent, but when it’s done well it can make even slow points in a plot engaging and interesting. (Some of my favorite authors like Rick Riordan and Eoin Colfer have earned that spot because of this narration style). Since Lustre is so short, there isn’t much of a lull in the action, so the combo of voice and snappy plot made it a breeze to read!

In the short span of the book we are introduced to a very complex urban fantasy world. While what is in the plot is only the tip of the iceberg, we get glimpses of what lays beneath the water and I’d be excited to see what more we’d learn in the future book set in this world. Having said that, I was a little confused because I don’t think we ever learn where on Earth Nilla is. We know she lives in a city and travels to a small town called Whisper Falls a ways outside the city, but we never learn which city it’s in, or even what country it’s in. Just saying what city it is, or making up a fictional city in a real country, would have grounded the story so much more. How I envision the surroundings is going to change so much depending where in the world, or where in a country, it is and it is an easy enough detail to through in.

I don’t want to give anything away, but I love the unexpected turns the story and characters take. Everything is much more complicated and personal than it first appears and it raises the stakes and makes the result all the more gratifying.

I definitely recommend you check out Lustre! Fans of Urban Fantasy or TV shows like Supernatural or Grimm should especially consider putting it on your TBR lists! 

Disclosure: this post contains links to an affiliate program (Amazon), for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases.