The City of Dusk comes at a handy five stars for me, PRIMARILY FOR ITS COVER!
It's actually a solid four, but I just had to make an exception; such is the feeling I have toward this new read.
I wonder why The City of Dusk has, at the time of writing this review, less than a 4 rating on GR. It's surely deserving of better, as it packs action, twists, and thrills with impressive literary deftness.
So, while my five stars may seem in excess, I believe it's thoroughly deserving. The author puts in serious effort into this one, and it shows in a work that reads smoothly yet remains gripping.
If you're not convinced of my reasoning, read on. I'll break it down in a bit.
First, let's talk about the world.
Read City of Dusk for its brilliant world! I'm a big fan of great world-building, and the systems portrayed in the book are as impressive as you'll ever find in epic fantasy. There's a slightly more "urban" element to it than in contemporaries, but it retains much of the grimness you'd expect in the genre.
One of my most beloved things in the book was the characters. They're brave, petulant, criminal, and amusing.
It's interesting to observe the relationships between the characters, with the author seemingly choosing to pair them off in the YA style. This doesn't change anything in the story, though. And there are lots of personality clashes and moments of truth as the MCs have life-changing experiences, battle guilt, plot world domination, then later martyrdom.
It's hard to pick the aspects I enjoyed overall, although I believe it's a tussle between Plot and Characterization as the best-done literary element. However, the storyline and its many, many twists make this an unputdownable book. I can't say too much here, as I would be giving away spoilers. All I'll say is that the story is great enough to go into TV.
GOOD BOOK HERE! VERY GOOD BOOK! Looking forward to the next book in the series.
