Not every book I read and review will be positive, I’ll try to pick out the good parts but sometimes it’ll be hard. That’s kind of why I put off this review for as long as I could. First, the cover draws you in. This publishing company has such amazing designs to craft beautiful covers. Once you’re lured into the cover, you look at the blurb. Of course, it’s an exciting synopsis, so it definitely got me excited to read.
Stormy Spooner is at her wits' end. Careening towards bitter after a nasty divorce, she sometimes wonders what her life is becoming.
After unearthing a cryptic set of lines from a dusty album cover, Stormy tries the impossible: to resurrect Phillip Deville, enigmatic former frontman of the Bloomer Demons. Stormy's love for her favorite dead rockstar knows no bounds...but it was all supposed to be a joke.
When she answers a knock on her door the next day and finds herself face to face with the dark-haired rock god of her every teenage fantasy, her entire world is turned upside down.
Turns out, she’s awakened more than just Philip, and Stormy will have to do battle against a cast of strange characters to keep herself and her new undead boyfriend safe.
Thank you to The Parliament House Press who sent an eARC for review. In no way does this influence my opinion. You can check out their other wonderful books here: https://www.parliamenthousepress.com/
Once you read the blurb, you’re like…’oh this is going to be different and interesting’ which it was, I liked the idea of a dead celebrity and having attachments to them, while at the same time dealing with the consequences because they’re back. However, as the story went on, events felt forced, or maybe there were too many plot twists that were melodramatic and unnecessary. This made me lose interest in the book because it began to drag. Whenever Stormy and Phillip ran into a problem, things oh-so conveniently worked out for them. They didn’t actually suffer as characters because they always succeeded in the end. It made things a bit too farfetched, even if this book is urban fantasy.
I guess what would’ve made this story work and be more convincing is if the characters were younger? I don’t know… I just couldn’t imagine Stormy and Sloan. Their personalities reminded me of two teenage girls, not adults in their thirties? The author might’ve tried too hard in making their characters relatable but ended up making them annoying, overconfident and selfish. Although, if Lawson was going in the direction of displaying a toxic female friendship, then she nailed it. I’ve never read about such two immature and selfish friends before! Yet it was tiresome listening to Stormy either complain or rant about her best friend Sloan, ex-husband, or Phillip. Stormy was a vegan necromancer but somehow brought back the dead? It felt unnecessary to add that she would’ve worked as a character without it.
[Book Review: A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe] From the start I didn’t trust Phillip. He isn’t the bad guy, but bringing someone back from the dead and they have secrets? Stormy let her fangirl instincts kick in all the time she was around him, which blinded her sometimes to see what’s going on. As a character, Phillip was much more enjoyable to read about than Stormy. Other than having to adapt to a tech-modern world, he was so careful, considerate, and caring toward Stormy.
The author approached rather vaguely to the magic element of all of this. It’s revealed more in the second half of the book but in a way where it’s info dumping and not much storytelling. I felt that bit was rushed and if executed better, could’ve added a more excitement to the story. Stormy just had to be the answer, pulled out of nowhere. She’s somehow connected to Phillip’s goal but part of a bigger piece that he didn’t even know about. That was farfetched.
Sadly, this book wasn’t my cup of tea. However, if you look at Goodreads, there are positive reviews as to why you should read this book. Don’t judge it off my opinion. Maybe Urban Fantasy isn’t for everyone...
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