New Dark Academia Urban Fantasy

 

image copied from Bookshop.org

Half City by Kate Golden is a new urban fantasy series that was just released this past January and offers a fun spin on the dark academia trope. I thought it was unique in that it was set in our world but one in which a chasm exists where demons or deviants were unleashed on the world in some alternate past. Lymantrians, or supernatural beings, then came down to Earth from an upper plane of existence to fight them and seal the chasm. That is the world in which the made up city of Astera is located. So, our world with some alternate history twists. 

The main character Viv is a born hunter, unlike her sister and mom. Therefore, she's been forced to live in the mortal world while keeping her abilities and hunting of deviants a secret from her own family since her father (who was the parent she inherited her gifts from) was killed by demons years ago. In this world hunters mainly hunt and kill demons but other forms of deviants exist such a vampires, werewolves, warlocks, etc. As a lone hunter since her father died, Viv has developed her own code of conduct in who she hunts and kills to protect mortals. Much of her ethics revolve around what her father taught her, but some have evolved as she has. I thought this was an excellent way to portray her as a character. She loves her family but cannot be fully herself with them. She abhors deviants that prey on humans, but only hunts and kills them if she feels they're posing an actual threat to someone, not just because she recognizes them as a deviant or something other than human.

As such, Viv is tough, cynical, conflicted, isolated, and very lonely at the start of the novel. Her conflict, backstory and the backstory of this world are all introduced well through action and dialogue right from the beginning. I was immediately drawn in and left wanting to read on to figure out what might happen with her next. She was a very relatable and well-drawn heroine. While defending herself from yet another deviant encounter after showing up late for her best friend's birthday party, Viv meets a recruiter for a university for hunters, Reid Graveheart from Harker Academy. What a fun name! 

Intrigued that there might actually be a university for demon hunters, Viv decides to check it out. While she isn't sure she'll want to enroll, it would mean more lying to her mortal family and friends after all, another hunter who befriends her encourages her to give it a day. Viv is surprised to find she feels at home at Harker and decides to enroll. She also realizes that attending college there might give her more of a chance to figure out who her dad really was and what might have led to his death. 

The description of the campus and of Viv's classes and training were all fun and rich in detail. I felt that I was discovering this world Viv never knew existed right along with her. She is able to form friendships with other hunters where she can finally be herself and not have to hide all of who or what she is. The mystery about what happened to her dad and the events as they unfold on campus  throughout the story were intriguing and intertwined well. The romance that develops between Reid and Viv was also tense and believable. Even though he's Viv's instructor, which I would normally find icky for a love interest, the backstory for both characters and the fact that Viv is of age made it less of a problem for me. 

My only complaint, and it's not really a big one, was the cliffhanger ending. While the threads of the mystery for this novel were wrapped up, the ending leaves you wondering how Viv or Reid might survive. So, many questions and so much action still lie ahead for both. I'll be eagerly anticipating the sequel to this one! I hope it isn't released too long after this book.

The next book I'll be reviewing in a couple of weeks is Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. It is a suspense thriller about a group of women who worked as assassins and have to figure out a way to avoid being retired by the company they worked for permanently. The cover and book blurb below have both been copied from Bookshop.org.

Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that’s their secret weapon. They’ve spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they're sixty years old, four women friends can’t just retire—it’s kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller by New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have worked for the Museum, an elite network of assassins, for forty years. Now their talents are considered old-school and no one appreciates what they have to offer in an age that relies more on technology than people skills.  

When the foursome is sent on an all-expenses paid vacation to mark their retirement, they are targeted by one of their own. Only the Board, the top-level members of the Museum, can order the termination of field agents, and the women realize they’ve been marked for death. 

Now to get out alive they have to turn against their own organization, relying on experience and each other to get the job done, knowing that working together is the secret to their survival. They’re about to teach the Board what it really means to be a woman—and a killer—of a certain age.