Simcha-Sophie

I don't have the energy to write a decent review, but this book was annoying. Could the author could so not have tried harder to make Allie sound cool? Probably not. In random order, please explain to me, someone, how lavender smells peppery, why the author would set us up for a sequel when the ending of the first novel is painfully anticlimactic, how come Nola -- the same age as Allie -- is a mother figure, and why certain words have to be capitalized? I understand they're supposed to be types of spells, but we don't capitalize words based on whether they're adjectives or verbs regardless of whether they're homonyms. It's arbitrary and irritating. Allie is about as pleasant as a case of poison ivy up the ass. But wait, she's not meant to be pleasant. She's a rebel: "I could handle dangerous. Dangerous and me went back a long way. We did lunch when dangerous was in town." (p 79). There are other similarly -written, redundant gems throughout the book. Monk has Allie saying these things when it's already quite clear what she meant a few sentences earlier, embellishing in this pseudo-tough, pseudo-noir style that just does not work. It's not urban fantasy but if you want excellent noir written by a woman, try Sara Gran's Dope. Truly one of the best books I've ever read.

Damn, I have read a lot of bad books this year!