Catherine Cerveny

While the world-building in this story was certainly fascinating, I felt the plot was overwhelmed by the numerous mundane and cliched romance tropes, particularly the possessive alpha male hero and the female protagonist who has no practically no agency. I felt the story would have been much stronger if it had struck a better balance between the science fiction elements and the romance elements. Unfortunately, the cliched romance made it pretty difficult to focus on much else, and the rest show more of the plot fell very flat for me.

[NOTE: I received an ARC copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley.] show less

DNF. I got through over a hundred pages and didn't *hate* it, but there were so many weird, uncomfortable flags that I just don't think it's worth finishing.

Here are the warning flags:

- The main character, Felicia, is Romani and the author is not. I don't know enough about Romani culture to spot any really racist stuff, but Cerveny's portrayal of Felicia's tarot powers didn't deviate from stereotypes.

- The world building was cool, but there's this weird portrayal of Nairobi going on. show more Kenya is one of the great Earth cities, post- massive environmental shifts and a world war. Felicia lives and works in expensive, chic neighborhoods, but talks a lot about the slums and just generally doesn't seem to like the people who live in less expensive/fashionable neighborhoods. Which is just weird and feels like a dog whistle.

- There's a scene ~page 75 in which Felicia rubs off on the main love interest (a big, bad, overwhelmingly handsome Russian mobster who presumably has a heart of gold) and there was some suspiciously dubcon language. Based on a few prior hints--the mobster answers several of Felicia's questions as she thinks them, as if he can read her mind--I think the love interest is telepathic, and possibly mind-controlled Felicia into having sex with him (even though she has a long term boyfriend [who she doesn't even seem to like?] and immediately feels overwhelmingly guilty for doing so.

In which case, there is a graphic rape scene on page 75. So, you know, keep an eye out for that.

I'm really glad I only borrowed this book from the library. Don't pay money for it. show less

The romance aspect of the story definitely takes a back seat. To the extent there is a romance, it's pretty formulaic. Gorgeous ingénue, greek god alpha male, will they or won't they, blah, blah, blah. (I'm not a fan of traditional romance, in case that isn't clear.) But the romance is a subplot at best. This is really a mystery/sci-fi/thriller, and judged in that light, it's a good read.

4.5 stars.

I devoured the first book in this series. The second...lost me a bit. The Game of Luck definitely rebounded and finished strong. I am invested in Felicia's story. Catherine Cerveny created a unique world that I would have liked to see more of or would be excited to read other stories in.

The only thing that kept this from being five stars is a fairly predictable twist partway through. It did pick back up and ended nicely.

I will look forward to future books from Catherine Cerveny!