A Touch of Brimstone (Magic of the Damned #1)

A Touch of Brimstone
by McKenzie Hunter
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

My recommendation: 1.5 -> Read at own Risk

I don't even know where to start with this book. I mean, the cliff-hanger was, meh, the story was slow, a little boring, the romance was next to non, and Luna... I can't with Luna.

I don't know what the author was going for when creating Luna. She in-bodies pick me energy, and has the critical thinking skills of a snail. (There's no way I'm going to disrespect children like that, those little humans are pro problems solvers.) I kept getting this feeling like the author was trying so hard to make Luna -not like the other girls- that she created a self-center, naive woman-child, that would rather bury her head in the sad then try to understand the supernatural world.

The rose coloured glasses were thick with this one.

Not just that, there was no urgency. The drama was ill placed, the action was one dimensional, and Luna was a hypocrite. She condemned the supernatural violence, but then resorted to violence the minute she felt threatened.

Maybe I'm being basis because I'm a military veteran, and my fight or flight response has been groomed out of me... Or it could be that I'm not scared of death, as I have almost died a few times over my years. But this character was a fail for me, big big fail.

Also, I'm firm believer that people can have their coffee in any which way they please. This troupe of having the barista get mad at customers because they want "fancy" drinks, isn't cute and I'm over it.

The romance was forced, it was just tossed in there as an after thought; they had no chemistry. I want to know if the author has ever seen a 5'2 human next to someone 6 feet. Cause the way it was being described in the book, had them almost eye to eye. I say this because I am 5'2, and have dated people close to and over 6 feet. Kissing was a bit of a trick cause either I was on the tips of my tippy toes, or they where bent over at a uncomfortable angle. And unless we are sitting down, I'm always looking up at people, unless they are my height or shorter.

There were a few times where I knew the author didn't research something. Something as simple as knowing that ocean water smells different then fresh.

The overall premises of the story is okay. Though the big reveal wasn't earth shattering (honesty I knew who the dark caster was from the start, it wasn't that hard to piece together. All Luna needed to do was use some basic detective skills) and, there wasn't a climax. Once the not so big reveal happened, it was just, bawl, my cats put on better dramatic performances. Maybe a split POV would have helped.

Unfortunately there wasn't enough good to outweigh the bad to move this book into a 3 star. Though I did want it to pull through, as I said, I did like the over all premises. There is a uniqueness to the plot that I wish was just, better. A plot like this should have moved fast something like -There are dangerous super killers out there, lets get this solved ASAP-. This was book was the equivalent with Driving Miss Daisy.

Will I continue on? Probably not, as I believe I have the whole, three book plot, figured out. That and I can't take Luna POV anymore. She made this absurd statement about trying to save all humans from the supernatural because they were using us... Like girl, how can you make such a blanket statement when only being in their world for 5 days? All the while thinking human are better cause we got no powers... Turn on the news, we got something much worst. Ego's, money, power, and the ability to destroy the whole world with a push of a button. If a vamps want to snack on me, so be it.

Luna, yes I'm speaking directly to you fictional little girl "Humans are not better then these fictional supernaturals, they are simply what we humans would be, if we had supernatural powers. Full stop"

That's all I have. Read this book at your own risk. I did because there are lot of good reviews singing it's praises. Makes you wonder.

Happy Reading

-E.A. Walsh.