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A review by lynseyisreading
The Thing About Weres by Leigh Evans
5.0
Find this and other reviews at The Demon Librarian.
One true thing.
I don’t know if you know this about me, but I’m a bit of an Urban Fantasy fanatic.
You’re deeply shocked, I can tell.
Yes, I confess, I’ve read a lot of UF series. Or more specifically, I’ve read book one of a lot of UF series. And generally I always find at least something to enjoy in each one, but in many cases, not enough to entice me into reaching for book two.
Then of course I have my FAVOURITE UF AUTHORS OF ALL-TIME. The frontrunners. The trailblazers. The Big Cheeses. The Top Dogs. The—okay, you get it. Those select few authors whose imagination and creativity I find infinitely superior. Authors like Kim Harrison, Patricia Briggs, Karen Chance, Ilona Andrews...the list goes on. And here’s the point I’m trying to make: I see Leigh Evans joining that latter group of all-time favourite UF authors. In fact, at times during THE THING ABOUT WERES, I already found myself finishing a scene and thinking to myself, “Wow, that could have easily been written by Author X”, it was that good.
If you’re not familiar with the authors I’m referencing above (and you really, really should be), you might not realise what a ginormic compliment it is to be lumped (even if only in my mind) into that elite group, or just how happy it makes me to have discovered a potential new member. Because the really great writers of UF are so few and far between, it makes it ridiculously exciting to find one with something new to bring to the buffet, rather than just handing out the same tired old sausage rolls as everyone else. And new ideas is something Leigh Evans apparently has in spades. Whether it be her fantastically imagined realm of Threall, her new take on both the Fae and Were races, or her most awesome creation of all: Merry, the tiny-Fae-soul-trapped-inside-an-enchanted-amulet character. A character that is a necklace. A necklace character. I can’t even...
Okay. Moving swiftly on lest I make another food analogy.
Oh! Speaking of food and delicious things one might like to eat—and I have no idea how my brain made that leap of topic, honest—we have the equally gorgeous, equally irritating, Alpha of Creemore himself, Mr Robson Trowbridge. And I have to say, it’s a very different Robson Trowbridge that we meet in THE THING ABOUT WERES, compared to the man we met in THE TROUBLE WITH FATE. I just love how many risks Evans has taken with her characters in this series, and how fearless she seems to be when it comes to torturing them. Sometimes literally.
Well, when I say I love it... For entertainment purposes, I love it. But for the sake of my poor, wee heart and my overtaxed tear ducts, I guess shouldn't be quite so encouraging. I find myself actually wondering what else she can possibly do to these two characters to complicate things further. It’s only been two books and I already feel like they've run the gauntlet. There were some extremely emotionally fraught scenes in TTAW. Some chest-squeezing, heart-dropping, ouch-that-freakin’-hurts scenes. As well as some absolutely humdinger plot twists. (Actually, there was this one particular section—I think I updated my Goodreads status about 12 times during it— that made me absolutely frantic because I had to stop reading right at the point when everything was still all up in the air because it was daft o’clock in the morning and I had to be up for work the next day, and it was all I could think about at work. I practically raced home to finish it, not actually convinced I even wanted to know what was about to happen next!)
Of course, all of this heartache and drama is lived vicariously through our wonderful protagonist Hedi—we couldn't very well have a review without mentioning her, now could we? Hedi has progressed a lot as a character over the course of the series so far, and she's been faced with some pretty tough challenges, to say the very least. Sure, her age sometimes shows in her behaviour (she’s only 22), and her insecurities can affect her thought processes at times. But it’s because of these flaws that the growth we’re seeing, and her gradual evolution from timid introvert to... to whatever she’ll end up as, is so very enjoyable. I’m highly anticipating finishing the series and looking back on Hedi’s journey and just being like, “Woah. You freakin’ go, girlfriend”.
And finally. To sum up my thoughts, on the slight chance I haven’t made it completely clear yet in my seven-page review, let me state explicitly: I really enjoyed THE THING ABOUT WERES. The Mystwalker series is shaping up to be truly fantastic UF, with a great romantic backbone, wonderful secondary characters, well-thought-out back stories, and the worldbuilding? In a word: Phenomenal.
Now go check it out.
5 Stars ★★★★★
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
One true thing.
I don’t know if you know this about me, but I’m a bit of an Urban Fantasy fanatic.
You’re deeply shocked, I can tell.
Yes, I confess, I’ve read a lot of UF series. Or more specifically, I’ve read book one of a lot of UF series. And generally I always find at least something to enjoy in each one, but in many cases, not enough to entice me into reaching for book two.
Then of course I have my FAVOURITE UF AUTHORS OF ALL-TIME. The frontrunners. The trailblazers. The Big Cheeses. The Top Dogs. The—okay, you get it. Those select few authors whose imagination and creativity I find infinitely superior. Authors like Kim Harrison, Patricia Briggs, Karen Chance, Ilona Andrews...the list goes on. And here’s the point I’m trying to make: I see Leigh Evans joining that latter group of all-time favourite UF authors. In fact, at times during THE THING ABOUT WERES, I already found myself finishing a scene and thinking to myself, “Wow, that could have easily been written by Author X”, it was that good.
If you’re not familiar with the authors I’m referencing above (and you really, really should be), you might not realise what a ginormic compliment it is to be lumped (even if only in my mind) into that elite group, or just how happy it makes me to have discovered a potential new member. Because the really great writers of UF are so few and far between, it makes it ridiculously exciting to find one with something new to bring to the buffet, rather than just handing out the same tired old sausage rolls as everyone else. And new ideas is something Leigh Evans apparently has in spades. Whether it be her fantastically imagined realm of Threall, her new take on both the Fae and Were races, or her most awesome creation of all: Merry, the tiny-Fae-soul-trapped-inside-an-enchanted-amulet character. A character that is a necklace. A necklace character. I can’t even...
Okay. Moving swiftly on lest I make another food analogy.
Oh! Speaking of food and delicious things one might like to eat—and I have no idea how my brain made that leap of topic, honest—we have the equally gorgeous, equally irritating, Alpha of Creemore himself, Mr Robson Trowbridge. And I have to say, it’s a very different Robson Trowbridge that we meet in THE THING ABOUT WERES, compared to the man we met in THE TROUBLE WITH FATE. I just love how many risks Evans has taken with her characters in this series, and how fearless she seems to be when it comes to torturing them. Sometimes literally.
Well, when I say I love it... For entertainment purposes, I love it. But for the sake of my poor, wee heart and my overtaxed tear ducts, I guess shouldn't be quite so encouraging. I find myself actually wondering what else she can possibly do to these two characters to complicate things further. It’s only been two books and I already feel like they've run the gauntlet. There were some extremely emotionally fraught scenes in TTAW. Some chest-squeezing, heart-dropping, ouch-that-freakin’-hurts scenes. As well as some absolutely humdinger plot twists. (Actually, there was this one particular section—I think I updated my Goodreads status about 12 times during it— that made me absolutely frantic because I had to stop reading right at the point when everything was still all up in the air because it was daft o’clock in the morning and I had to be up for work the next day, and it was all I could think about at work. I practically raced home to finish it, not actually convinced I even wanted to know what was about to happen next!)
Of course, all of this heartache and drama is lived vicariously through our wonderful protagonist Hedi—we couldn't very well have a review without mentioning her, now could we? Hedi has progressed a lot as a character over the course of the series so far, and she's been faced with some pretty tough challenges, to say the very least. Sure, her age sometimes shows in her behaviour (she’s only 22), and her insecurities can affect her thought processes at times. But it’s because of these flaws that the growth we’re seeing, and her gradual evolution from timid introvert to... to whatever she’ll end up as, is so very enjoyable. I’m highly anticipating finishing the series and looking back on Hedi’s journey and just being like, “Woah. You freakin’ go, girlfriend”.
And finally. To sum up my thoughts, on the slight chance I haven’t made it completely clear yet in my seven-page review, let me state explicitly: I really enjoyed THE THING ABOUT WERES. The Mystwalker series is shaping up to be truly fantastic UF, with a great romantic backbone, wonderful secondary characters, well-thought-out back stories, and the worldbuilding? In a word: Phenomenal.
Now go check it out.
5 Stars ★★★★★
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.