Vanessa V. reviewed on
Not a bad book, but not great either.
It came across as well researched, which is a plus, but I was never able to connect to the main character, who had the annoying habit of wavering on whether to continue investigating several times throughout the book. Although I understand why this conflict of interest continued to reappear - he was constantly finding new information that raised the stakes of the investigation - I wasn't fully convinced in his doubt and never worried that he would seriously consider giving up. The passages where he decided to continue were weak; they appeared rushed, with no time for him to really consider quitting, and he would come to the realization that he couldn't walk away with a suddenness that rang false to me, making the whole thing appear more as a device to raise tension (will he or won't he?) than anything true to the story.
There were also one or two times where he ignored information that, to the reader, was obviously important. Perhaps because he's a newly appointed yoriki and this is his first big crime it's only natural that he would brush aside what he thought to be meaningless chatter, but as a reader I was annoyed with what I took to be weak attempts to stretch the story out.
The mastermind behind the crime is easy enough to figure out and probably won't come as a huge surprise to anyone.
There are also a few cases of explicit sexual content and violence, in case anyone prefers to be warned about those in advance.
The story moved a little slowly for my tastes, although it picked up near the end. There were a few chapters in the point of view of side characters that I thought didn't add anything and could have been done away with in order to keep it moving at a better clip. While I might get the second book to see if I enjoy it more, I'm in no rush.
It came across as well researched, which is a plus, but I was never able to connect to the main character, who had the annoying habit of wavering on whether to continue investigating several times throughout the book. Although I understand why this conflict of interest continued to reappear - he was constantly finding new information that raised the stakes of the investigation - I wasn't fully convinced in his doubt and never worried that he would seriously consider giving up. The passages where he decided to continue were weak; they appeared rushed, with no time for him to really consider quitting, and he would come to the realization that he couldn't walk away with a suddenness that rang false to me, making the whole thing appear more as a device to raise tension (will he or won't he?) than anything true to the story.
There were also one or two times where he ignored information that, to the reader, was obviously important. Perhaps because he's a newly appointed yoriki and this is his first big crime it's only natural that he would brush aside what he thought to be meaningless chatter, but as a reader I was annoyed with what I took to be weak attempts to stretch the story out.
The mastermind behind the crime is easy enough to figure out and probably won't come as a huge surprise to anyone.
There are also a few cases of explicit sexual content and violence, in case anyone prefers to be warned about those in advance.
The story moved a little slowly for my tastes, although it picked up near the end. There were a few chapters in the point of view of side characters that I thought didn't add anything and could have been done away with in order to keep it moving at a better clip. While I might get the second book to see if I enjoy it more, I'm in no rush.
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