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cozysquib 's review for:
Three Kinds of Lucky
by Kim Harrison
Three Kinds of Lucky by Kim Harrison
I'm not in love with this one, but the magic system was just too unique and full of potential to put down completely.
Right out of the gate, there’s more world building and info dumping than I expected. Not that anything about the book promised otherwise, it just caught me off guard.
About 30% in I figured out what was throwing me off. The writing has a more formal, almost old-school, early 2000's paranormal romance vibe to it. Not inherently a bad thing, but when paired with a super passive main character, it becomes really hard to get hooked. The FMC is by no means weak within the story. She’s clearly smart, capable, and well within the logic of her own world. But she just... floats. She feels like a character the plot is happening to, not one who’s actively driving any of it forward.
That lack of momentum starts to really show. The plot depends entirely on this intelligent woman noticing red flags, even calling them out, and then immediately forgetting them or brushing them off. Wow, that guy who definitely should not be here said something suspicious that lines up exactly with what I’m already thinking? Hmm, better go make some pancakes. Everyone around me keeps dropping truth bombs that I admit are wildly out of character? Wild. Better move on!
The writing itself also feels oddly rough for an author with as much experience as Kim Harrison. From turning to look at someone, to then jumping in surprise two lines later because she forgot they were there, to just odd pacing in conversations and clunky transitions, the whole thing felt strangely unpolished.
And listen. I can overlook a lot of things, I don't really have any true triggers. But there is an on-page pet death, and not only is it upsetting, it is then brought up over and over and over again. Every time I felt like it might be done with, it circled back around. It was exhausting.
I had a really hard time pushing through this one. I sat at 80% for three days before finally forcing myself to finish it. It’s frustrating, because the bones are good. There’s a lot of creativity in the way the magic works, and you can feel that there’s a big, cool world hiding in the background. But between the passivity of the FMC, the lack of plot momentum, and the clunky execution, it just didn’t hit.
It had some fun moments, sure. But overall, I wouldn’t recommend it based on my personal taste. I’ve read and liked other work from Kim Harrison, so I know she’s capable of more. This one just didn’t land.
I'm not in love with this one, but the magic system was just too unique and full of potential to put down completely.
Right out of the gate, there’s more world building and info dumping than I expected. Not that anything about the book promised otherwise, it just caught me off guard.
About 30% in I figured out what was throwing me off. The writing has a more formal, almost old-school, early 2000's paranormal romance vibe to it. Not inherently a bad thing, but when paired with a super passive main character, it becomes really hard to get hooked. The FMC is by no means weak within the story. She’s clearly smart, capable, and well within the logic of her own world. But she just... floats. She feels like a character the plot is happening to, not one who’s actively driving any of it forward.
That lack of momentum starts to really show. The plot depends entirely on this intelligent woman noticing red flags, even calling them out, and then immediately forgetting them or brushing them off. Wow, that guy who definitely should not be here said something suspicious that lines up exactly with what I’m already thinking? Hmm, better go make some pancakes. Everyone around me keeps dropping truth bombs that I admit are wildly out of character? Wild. Better move on!
The writing itself also feels oddly rough for an author with as much experience as Kim Harrison. From turning to look at someone, to then jumping in surprise two lines later because she forgot they were there, to just odd pacing in conversations and clunky transitions, the whole thing felt strangely unpolished.
And listen. I can overlook a lot of things, I don't really have any true triggers. But there is an on-page pet death, and not only is it upsetting, it is then brought up over and over and over again. Every time I felt like it might be done with, it circled back around. It was exhausting.
I had a really hard time pushing through this one. I sat at 80% for three days before finally forcing myself to finish it. It’s frustrating, because the bones are good. There’s a lot of creativity in the way the magic works, and you can feel that there’s a big, cool world hiding in the background. But between the passivity of the FMC, the lack of plot momentum, and the clunky execution, it just didn’t hit.
It had some fun moments, sure. But overall, I wouldn’t recommend it based on my personal taste. I’ve read and liked other work from Kim Harrison, so I know she’s capable of more. This one just didn’t land.