James Bow

Trigger warnings: Murder, building collapse, death of a brother in a helicopter accident, near-death experience, displacement

6/10, now that I look back I definitely wouldn't consider this book a masterpiece but rather another OK obscure sci-fi novel that should be way more popular than it is now. The worldbuilding is fine but left me a few questions and the characters were just there to move the story along and weren't developed at all since they were just so flat and uninteresting. It begins with Isaac dying in a helicopter accident then it cuts to Simon living in a city called Iapyx which is like a flying refugee city but it doesn't make any sense since no electricity works in Icarus Down and everything runs on steam so how did they fly the ship and place it on the planet, I really don't know. The first half is all about Simon living in the city when someone was sabotaging it and at the first climax since there are actually two climaxes the entire city collapses into the ravine and Simon falls in and somehow survives. He meets some weird creatures and why they were there wasn't really explained and that mildly annoyed me but I moved on from that eventually.

The second half still revolves around Simon and the new main character whose name was Eliza and they discover the old mothership somehow which has a recording of how it got there and it explains some information about the world like the government is evil because it killed an entire alien species and rerouted the remainder of humanity from a nice blue habitable planet to a deserted wasteland planet and the way Earth ended was kind of unoriginal because there were just four big continental powers who wiped the world with nuclear powers but somehow they got together to make one last ditch effort to save all the humans which was kind of hard to believe.

In the conclusion they work together to rally the people and bring down the dystopian government and the antagonists were arrested or face some similar fate, the remaining twelve cities moved from Icarus Down to Icarus Rising and I'm surprised that they still work considering the issue I mentioned earlier and the fact that they've been there for three generations but maybe they worked on the engines just for this to happen, I'm confused but at least the ending was good. If you like an unpopular post-apocalyptic story about humans on another planet this one is for you.… (plus d'informations)

For my full review please visit my blog: https://geeking-by.net/review/the-night-girl-by-james-bow/

The Night Girl was provided for free by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to NetGalley and the Independent Book Publishers Association for the opportunity to review this book.

The Night Girl was a fun read with an interesting premise, however, it fell short for me personally. If you’re looking for a humorous fantasy romp then this book has it all. From the opening sentences to one of the most inventive scenes with a piece of furniture, there are some really unique scenes in The Night Girl. As a protagonist, Perpetua is interesting and to begin with feels genuine, resembling a real person rather than a fictional one.

The problem is that as the novel continued Perpetua didn’t hold up to scrutiny. At the start, I was impressed with how she was portrayed as a woman attending interviews and having to contend with annoying and often ridiculous questions. Her reactions to interviews and job applications were completely on point, not over the top, but the right mixture of wariness and anger that women worldwide know all too well. Likewise, when she first becomes aware of the supernatural she doesn’t freak out. She doesn’t exactly take it in her stride, she just weighs it up practically; she needs a job and it’s a good job. There are a lot worse things out there and she knows that for sure because she interviewed for a lot of them!

This sort of attitude leads to her being championed as someone who “sees everything”, however, the further along the story goes the more the wool is pulled over Perpetua’s eyes. She is supposed to be so aware and yet she misses the most obvious information despite it being mentioned multiple times. These clues, given to her and the reader, are given too many times. I’m not sure if this book is intended for an adult or young adult audience (other books by the author have been YA), and honestly, I don’t think that should make a difference. I’ve read young adult books all my life and in my experience, a perceived younger audience does not require the author to drop more tips.

What started as a novel with brilliant opening sentences and great world-building just didn’t quite meet the finishing line for me. I still enjoyed the novel, hence the three-star rating, and for some people, a fun fantasy read is just what they’re looking for in a book. I’ll admit, I’m a little pickier and there was only so much nose wrinkling I could take by the protagonist before the author’s lack of ingenuity being able to find another response got irritating.… (plus d'informations)