  | Book Details Title: Diamond City: A Novel (City of Steel and Diamond) |
Book DescriptionReview “Full of action sequences that will compel readers to keep turning pages, this book is ideal for those who enjoy fast-paced stories … Give to fans of dystopian stories similar to Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games trilogy or James Dashner’s Maze Runner series.” – School Library Journal “A thrilling adventure, through a vibrant city as alive as any character, about a girl willing to do anything to better her circumstances. ” – Emily A. Duncan, New York Times bestselling author of Wicked Saints “Just like the metropolis for which it’s named, Diamond City is full of shadows, secrets, and heart-stopping surprises. An absolutely electric debut!” – Crystal Smith, author of Bloodleaf”Diamond City is a fast-paced book about a heroine I constantly found myself root for. THIS BOOK IS AMAZING.” – June Hur, author of Silence of Bones”Diamond City is epic and enthralling, truly a spectacular, unique, fresh YA fantasy that you cannot miss.” – Katie Zhao, author of The Dragon Warrior”This is a book with a protagonist you will 100% root for, a plot that doesn’t let you go, a world that chokes you with its grit and grime and smoke, and a story that will open your eyes and stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page. ” – Amélie Wen Zhao, author of Blood Heir Read more About the Author Francesca Flores is a writer, traveler and linguist. Raised in Pittsburgh, she read every fantasy book she could get her hands on and started writing her own stories at a young age. She began writing Diamond City while working as a corporate travel manager. When she’s not writing or reading, Francesca enjoys traveling, dancing ballet and jazz, practicing trapeze and contortion, and visiting parks and trails around San Francisco, where she currently resides. Read more Customers Review: I received a free copy of this title to read and review for Wicked Reads3 StarsSpoiler-Free ReviewYoung Adult age rating: 14+ due to on-scene graphic violence.The premise hooked me straight away. Aina’s story of being an orphan on the streets, forced to do anything to survive, fostered by the head of a gang who had ulterior motives. The Blade, Aina was an assassin, doing the gang’s wet work for hire, fearing what would happen if she didn’t do it, while also so desperately needing the validation, needing to make him proud.On the side, Aina was the go-between in diamond smuggling, between its point of origin and the fence where it was fashioned into something else at the jeweler. In the world building, I was slightly shocked over how many diamonds go missing on a daily basis for a teenage girl to be in on the game.The setting is during an industrial revolution, in an area where there is a diamond mine, the industry similar to the turn of the twentieth century. However, I couldn’t place the time nor the location, especially with the paranormal magical elements added in. The setting and world building were fascinating to me, steampunk meets illegal magic/religion, but how it was presented wasn’t to my taste.There was excitement, action-packed scenes of pure violence, spying and slinking around, and many bodies on the floor, so many bodies I was confused as to how the city wasn’t losing its population with how Aina wasn’t the only assassin running around. In such a short span of time, we’re talking hundreds of people dying and left to lie in where they fell, by gangs worth of assassins.As for the emotions, loyal friendships were important to Aina, but it was her need for validation from the man who groomed her that hit the hardest.Aina was a solid heroine. Loyal, willing to do anything to survive, but also fiercely protective of those who she called friend. I’m all for not having a guilt-stricken heroine who hems and haws over what needs to be done, but I find it hard to believe that on several occasions Aina murders most of the guards and staff in the same house… like how did they get replacements so quickly? An entire household emptied of occupants. Twice? Thrice? By the end of the book, Aina had single-handedly executed an upwards of a hundred souls.For someone obsessed with how her parents died and left her an orphan, Aina has no issue of creating dozens upon dozens of innocent orphans, if their parents merely get in her way. Like charging in the front door, slitting the necks of innocent maids and guards, who no doubt had children at home. All those new orphans have more of a reason to loathe Aina than Aina had to loathe the government for executing her parents, who were practicing acts that were widely known to hold a death sentence. Aina’s parents were criminals (no matter if the law was ridiculous or not) but these random innocent maids and such did no one any harm.An assassin by trade should be able to sneak around and only inflict death upon the one they were hired to kill. It would be bad for business to take out entire households, several times over.As I said, I don’t want a guilt-stricken heroine, but I find it hard to swallow that she’s killing so indiscriminately, as if all those people are worthless, meaningless, because she needs some coin for a “single” target. People who are also from the lower classes, who are just working to eat. Was she really good at her job if she takes out so many innocents while doing it? It’s like using a nuke instead of a flyswatter for a single fly.Where I struggled the most with the novel was the writing style. There was just something about the way the perspective was written that kept me from being able to fall into the story. My interest waned during monologues from the past, where dialogue and action from the past weren’t italicized to show that it wasn’t happening in the present time, the lack of transition confusing me and tearing me from the story itself. The flashbacks weren’t denoted, and there were many flashbacks to be had, filled with info-dumps and meandering inner monologues that slowed the pacing.As an avid reader, especially of all the elements within Diamond City, I struggled to read, taking me well over a week what should have taken an afternoon. I was curious to what the outcome would be, but the writing style, the way the perspective was written, and the execution made it difficult for me to be entertained.Curious to see where this goes, I’m willing to give the next another try. If not, I’ll have to pass on the author, due to the writing style not being my cup of tea. | |
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