Startup Hell
This was a fun urban romantasy that satirizes office culture. Main character Morgan is working for Zabloom, a company whose CEO keeps changing what their product is. When her boss dies while summoning demon Lucareoth (Luke) to make a soul-exchange Deal, Lucareoth ends up freed from his salt circle and Morgan agrees to help him get home before he gets in trouble with his own boss. Things do not go as planned, and they end up needing to try to make a Deal for a soul at Zabloom.
The satire was amusing, as were Luke’s reactions to some of the things humans do. I enjoyed some of the side characters, especially Morgan’s roommate Gisele. There’s also a pet demon dog who might be my favorite character. However, the book did seem to drag in places, with some of the office satire becoming a bit repetitive. While overall I enjoyed the book, it didn’t quite live up to the promise of the author’s first two books. 3.75 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC. All my opinions are my own.
The Brides of High Hill
Well, Nghi Vo certainly has range. While I have yet to read any of her books outside of the Singing Hills Cycle, this series alone showcases her writing skills. It’s the first of the books that doesn’t have at least some semblance of a story-within-a-story framing device, instead veering gothic, and it was suitably creepy. Each novella has been different in its own way, which helps keep the series fresh. I really love how with each book we get a tidbit or two of information about Cleric Chih, helping us learn more about who they are.
[Edited because I realized I forgot to add a book description: Chih accompanies a prospective bride to her future husband’s estate. Things get creepy.]
Vo accomplishes a lot in such a small amount of space, and she does a lot of this through skillful employment of dialogue. She is able to convey a lot in just a brief exchange between characters. It’s impressive. I’m looking forward to continuing with the remaining 2 books (to date) in the series and eventually moving on to one of her other books.
