Tuesday 28 June 2016

ARC #Review: THE CITY'S SON by Tom Pollock

THE CITY'S SON

Summary:
Running from her traitorous best friend and her estranged father, graffiti artist Beth Bradley is looking for sanctuary. What she finds is Urchin, the ragged and cocky crown prince of London’s mystical underworld. Urchin opens Beth’s eyes to the city she’s never truly seen-where vast spiders crawl telephone wires seeking voices to steal, railwraiths escape their tethers, and statues conceal an ancient priesthood robed in bronze.

But it all teeters on the brink of destruction. Amid rumors that Urchin’s goddess mother will soon return from her 15-year exile, Reach, a malign god of urban decay, wants the young prince dead. Helping Urchin raise an alleyway army to reclaim his skyscraper throne, Beth soon forgets her old life. But when her best friend is captured, Beth must choose between this wondrous existence and the life she left behind.


Title: THE CITY'S SON
Author: Tom Pollock
Series: The Skyscraper Throne #1
Source: eARC via the Publisher
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Publication Date: April 5, 2016
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase:
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
"War's coming, Filius. The King of The Cranes and the Lady of the Streets will not share the city"

I was a bit skeptical when I first started this one because not only did it switch perspectives, but it also switched how these perspectives were told, and it was also about electric creature things that I'm still not sure what to call. But I am really glad I picked this one up because it was actually really good and a lot of fun for me to read.


My biggest problem was the fact that I couldn't fully connect to the story because I couldn't picture any of the creature things. This made it hard for me to imagine the characters and their fighting techniques. I feel like I got more used to it as time passed, but I was very weary of it at the beginning and throughout the novel to the point that I just kinda gave up on trying to imagine them in general. Which did really detract from my reading.

But I LOVED all the characters. I loved how Beth really took charge and put herself 100% into everything she did. I loved that she saw the streets as her own too because of her nights spent tagging. I loved that she was an artist. I loved everything about Beth tbh. And Filius was just as attached to my heart strings. He was scared and vulnerable but also had to make tough decisions. But he really lived up to them. He bore the weight of all the decisions he made on his shoulders and didn't let them make him into any less of an individual. I also liked their relationship because they made each other into better versions of themselves.

I liked Pen as well. I liked that she had her own story and her own problems that she hid from Beth but also that she saved Beth's ass more than once. I would have liked a bit more from her throughout but I did like what we saw and do hope that she will be more involved in the next book. I would have liked a bit more of Pen and Beth's relationship at the beginning but I did like seeing snippets of it from Beth as the story went along and she and Filius came across places that the two of them had been together. I liked that Pen also tried to hang on to her individuality while she was ... possessed but I was very confused during these chapters because of how they were written.

I think some of the writing was easy to read and follow and then some of it I had to read multiple times to really get a good grasp on what was happening. I think this wouldn't have been the case if I could picture the creatures better but this is still a good book to read. The plot also really made sense, considering it was an urban fantasy novel in literally every sense of those two words. I liked how it ended as well because it tied up some loose ends but also left other things open for a sequel.

I really enjoyed this one and will definitely be continuing with the series! I recommend you checking this one out but be warned that it will be hard to imagine the characters. If you can get past that, you will be reading a really good book, I promise.


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