Review: City Of Light by Keri Arthur

City of Light

Author: Keri Arthur
Publisher: Piatkus Books
Series: Outcast #1
Pages: Paperback, 304 pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Dystopia, Sci-Fi
Release Date: January 5th 2016

Summary:

The first in an all-new futuristic fantasy series from Keri Arthur—the New York Times bestselling author of the Souls of Fire novels.

When the bombs that stopped the species war tore holes in the veil between this world and the next, they allowed entry to the Others—demons, wraiths, and death spirits who turned the shadows into their hunting grounds. Now, a hundred years later, humans and shifters alike live in artificially lit cities designed to keep the darkness at bay....

As a déchet—a breed of humanoid super-soldiers almost eradicated by the war—Tiger has spent her life in hiding. But when she risks her life to save a little girl on the outskirts of Central City, she discovers that the child is one of many abducted in broad daylight by a wraith-like being—an impossibility with dangerous implications for everyone on earth.

Because if the light is no longer enough to protect them, nowhere is safe...

Review:

I really enjoyed City of Lights. There were many good surprises and I can't wait to get my hands on the next book.


Let's get straight to the point: I loved the world building. It's imaginative and unique. I like the idea of the dechet. And one slowly gets to know more and more about the past wars, learning about the rifts and the after effects of the past. A complex and interesting world.
I think City of Light shines with the world building- my favorite part of the book.

Tiger is a great female lead and I really liked . This is mostly told from her POV. I loved her vulnerability, her strength and her level-headedness but also her utter kindness. She is a kick-ass hero, who is complex and likable. I liked her choices at the end - in fact I was so upset with Branna and her crew at the time, I felt I would have not been as kind as Tig at the time.
While I found that Branna and her crew were questionable at times- their actions absolutely infuriating- I am intrigued by them- I want to know more. Especially Jonas.
I found the ghost really an interesting part of this. Arthur used them very cleverly, more than that I loved how Tig interacted with them. Their reactions are totally believable and relatable. It ties in with the great world building and I love this aspect just as much.

The plot was despite the huge amount of action scenes quite slow- but steady. In fact not that much happens, I mean lots of battles and stuff but we actually not give that much. The mystery however does keep one entertained and guessing.
I liked the story line even if it is definitely same old same old for Arthur in some ways. Honestly: I thoroughly enjoyed it.
But I was left with a gazillion questions! The fact that I am going to have to wait a while before I get to read the next book is a huge issue! ( in the best possible way(

My biggest issue with this: The romance aspect and the smut. I don't exactly know why Arthur always let's the heroin sleep around- but well, she does. And the sex scenes here were not particularly good, nor did they make much sense to me. I liked Tig's chemistry with Jonas. I didn't think she had any chemistry with Sol. None whatsoever actually.
So I found their relationship off kilter and I didn't believe their supposed old bond.
It's actually quite odd, because Arthur usually excels on the romance parts.
The good news, the romances bits are rather a side track in this. Which was another surprise for me, since I expected this to be a PNR. Which this is not. I really liked that. I am however hoping that we will get some more romance in the next installment.

A solid start to a new series!
The world building is brilliant. I loved most of the character building and enjoyed the mystery and have high hopes for the next installment.
I am intrigued




Side note: I took a long while to read this. But not because the book wasn't any good- I had issues in how the ARC formated on my kindle. I found myself reading a page at times twice or thrice- took ages to read and was quite often distracted by the odd break in between sentences and even words.
I ended up downloading it onto my ipad and reading it on there... Don't ask me why I waiting for nearly half the book to do so, well actually I simply prefer to read novels on my paperwhite- it's way nicer to read on.
This is not a real issue connected to the book- I just thought I mention it, because it took me a couple of weeks to get through the book- which is an eternity really.
Once I gave in and just read it on my ipad- I read this in a few hours.

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