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If it weren't for those meddling kids
May. 21st, 2022 12:54 pmI’m trying to get through some of the books people have lent me before I move so, after reading the Pride book, I figured it was time to read the other book Talya lent me, a YA fantasy called The Black Veins. I’ve been a little off YA lately–I don’t know how much is that I’m aging out of it, how much is that I’ve read so much of it in my life that it’s gotten stale, and how much is that it’s become such a huge market that things are being rushed to print noticeably under-edited–but this one sounded fun so I figured I’d give it a shot.
And it was indeed fun! Our protagonist, Blythe, is a Guardian, which in theory means she is an extra-powerful magician, except that she’s never actually had her powers manifest or know what to do with them or anything. Her family is kidnapped as part of some political machinations between two magical countries, neither of which Blythe’s family is allied with; Blythe, who actually likes her family, then sets out to gather the other six Guardians and make them help her rescue them. Various high-octane shenanigans ensue on the course of this quest, the violence is very much action-movie violence, most of the Guardians start off hating each other but eventually develop into a found family, at least half the Guardians are queer but we are spared any Obligatory Romantic Subplots. Overall it’s a good time.
As for the under-editing: this one has an excuse in that it is self-published, but all the same, I did end up stopping to check (more than once) that I wasn’t reading an ARC/uncorrected proof and only realized it was self-pub when I couldn’t find a publishing house name upon scouring the front matter. I know it’s expensive to hire multiple rounds of good editors and it’s extremely hard to edit your own work, but this really needed to go through at least one more round of edits by someone familiar with the word “faze.”
Professional grumpiness aside, I did enjoy reading this one a lot more than I expected, given how tired I am with YA these days.
And it was indeed fun! Our protagonist, Blythe, is a Guardian, which in theory means she is an extra-powerful magician, except that she’s never actually had her powers manifest or know what to do with them or anything. Her family is kidnapped as part of some political machinations between two magical countries, neither of which Blythe’s family is allied with; Blythe, who actually likes her family, then sets out to gather the other six Guardians and make them help her rescue them. Various high-octane shenanigans ensue on the course of this quest, the violence is very much action-movie violence, most of the Guardians start off hating each other but eventually develop into a found family, at least half the Guardians are queer but we are spared any Obligatory Romantic Subplots. Overall it’s a good time.
As for the under-editing: this one has an excuse in that it is self-published, but all the same, I did end up stopping to check (more than once) that I wasn’t reading an ARC/uncorrected proof and only realized it was self-pub when I couldn’t find a publishing house name upon scouring the front matter. I know it’s expensive to hire multiple rounds of good editors and it’s extremely hard to edit your own work, but this really needed to go through at least one more round of edits by someone familiar with the word “faze.”
Professional grumpiness aside, I did enjoy reading this one a lot more than I expected, given how tired I am with YA these days.