Charley is a cleaner by day and a professional gambler by night. She might be haunted by her tragic past but she’s never thought of herself as anything or anyone special. Until, that is, things start to go terribly wrong all across the city of Manchester. Between plagues of rats, firestorms and the gleaming blue eyes of a sexy Scottish werewolf, she might just have landed herself in the middle of … of a magical apocalypse. She might also be the only person who has the ability to bring order to an utterly chaotic new world.
This is the first book in The City Of Magic series.
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Shrill Dusk is book one in the City of Magic by Helen Harper.
I’m not sure if I missed a book or series before this one; because when we start the story we are following Charley who seems to be a side character – while the main characters are in the back ground fighting to stop the apocalypse.
I liked Charley to a point. She kept her positivity and faith in the essential goodness of man when everything was going to shit, but she was also incredibly naive. Charley isn’t sure what the heck is happening and rolls with it, but at times I kept rolling my eyes at her; because she wants to help everybody, but you can’t help everybody and it’s all going to come crashing down around her eventually.
There’s a lot going on in Shrill Dusk. We get a lot of unnecessary info-dumping, self-sacrificial behavior and self-righteousness from the character(s). Theirs a lot of characters introduced and so it was a bit overwhelming. The story is fast-paced and the plot doesn’t fell fully flushed out or cohesive, yet, which left me feeling confused by the end.
There might be a possible romance, but it’s an odd set up and really nothing happens in Shrill Dusk. Maybe we will get more in the next book.
Shrill Dusk had good potential, but in the end, it just turned out alright.
Rated: 3 Stars
Shrill Dusk by Helen Harper a five-star read that will clean up. This is the first novel in the City of Magic series and what a series, the second instalment can’t come quickly enough. The city of Manchester once again shines brightly, at times blue but it come out shining once again. Charley was a typical amazing character that Helen Harper has such a talent to bring to life, we got to meet her very briefly in the final Fractured Faery novel Skulk of Foxes (you definitely don’t have to have read it to get this story). Watching the story unfold was sublime, you really get sucked in and the added bonus of Monroe who just made my heart melt, I can only hope we get to see more of him, hopefully with some romance thrown in for good measure.
Really loved Helen Harper’s world building. I could see the places she described and imagined what it would be like if magick did exist in Manchester’s streets. Loved this!
What a great story. I first fell in love with Helen Harper’s books when I read Gifted Thief, the first book in the Highland Magic series. She has a fantastic mind for creating mystical and magical stories, with characters that you can’t help but love. Shrill Dusk is no different.
I first met Charley and Monroe while reading the third book of the Fractured Faery series, Skulk of Foxes. I was so fascinated by that series and meeting these two characters was great. I remember when I wrote my review for SOF, I said that I hoped she would consider writing another book, because I really wanted to find out what happened between Charley and Monroe. I could just tell from their first meeting that their story would be epic. I’m happy to report that it is indeed epic.
This story is a spinoff of the Fractured Faery series. The first few chapters coincide with Skulk of Foxes. The author shows you what Charley experiences while Madrona and the other magical beings are fighting to save Manchester. Eventually, it picks up after the last book ended, showing you the aftermath of what the faeries did. Charley has one heck of a journey with lots of shocks along the way. Thankfully, she has friends, old and new, acquaintances and a surly werewolf to help her out.
The story didn’t end exactly how I wanted it to, and it does have a heck of a cliff hanger. However, I know, from past reading experience, that the author loves her doozy cliff hangers and, boy, did she deliver one here. I’m hooked on this series and can not wait to read book 2, Brittle Midnight. Well done to the author!
Great book. I enjoyed it!
Give it a go!
I reviewed as an Advance Reader Copy, I read it and I chose to review it.