Hoffman, Nina Kiriki - Spirits That Walk in Shadow

[oyceter]

Ok, is this a sequel to something? Or set in the same world as another of Hoffman's books? I keep feeling like there's a giant other story in there about Jaimie and her adolescence, but I wasn't sure if it had already been told in another book or not.

Kim thinks in paintings and visuals and colors. Jaimie was raised in a magical family isolated from real life. They fight crime! become college roommates. Kim's depressed out of her mind due to a traumatic high school social incidence, and Jaimie and her cousins eventually figure out that's it's because of a spirit that feeds off of emotion.

They fight crime! solve the mystery!

I dunno. The book didn't work for me. It wasn't bad, but it was very prosaic. I wasn't surprised by anything, I didn't really like any of the characters, and I wasn't particularly interested in what happened to them. Also, I don't particularly get along with many made-up words for magical techniques.

Comments

Re: Hoffman geeking

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Ack, I hope that wasn't too spoilery for anyone. It didn't seem like one to me, so I just thought of that. I am a dork.

If the prosaically lovely thing doesn't grab you, though, maybe you don't need to read FoS?

Re: Hoffman geeking

[oyceter]

I think another bit of it is just that I am severely bored with elemental magic.

I do like prosaically lovely, but um... I found the prose sort of clunky and not much of the wonder that usually comes with urban fantasy/magical realism/whatever genre it is. Dunno... do you like FoS better?

Re: Hoffman geeking

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I do like FoS better, and the magic's not elemental at all in that one. The thing about the prose that grabs me, though, is the same, so I don't know whether I can recommend it to you or not.

Re: Hoffman geeking

[oyceter]

Hrm, ok, thanks!