Book Review: Charming

Book: Charming (Pax Arcana book #1) by Elliot James

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Rating: 2 stars

Review:

This had started out so good but then it slowed down and unfortunately I lost interest in the story. There was a lot of stuff that cluttered up the story and it seemed to lose focus. It did have a lot of good action but the story around it started to drag.

I found the main character John Charming (yes, that's his name) to be interesting but sometimes he just seemed too perfect. He was trained to be a monster slayer Knight which means he can kill practically any and everything. He is also supposed to be in hiding because the knights that he once was a part of a century ago have been trying to find him because he is a monster (sort of). But as the reader you don't get that sense that he's really in any danger. He certainly wouldn't be working at a bar (although under an assumed name) if he truly was trying to hide. Instead the only thing he hides is himself. He hides behinds sarcasm and one-liners so you really don't get a feel for him other than what he tells the reader.

The other main character is Sig (a Valkyrie) and again she was just too perfect. Despite the fact that she's dating a jerky guy, she's the ultimate woman. She's tall and beautiful and powerful and can eat whatever she wants without worrying about gaining any weight. Her dull and angry personality stops her from becoming an interesting character. She has a little bit of a back story but it's still not that interesting.

The story centered on John, Sig and her ragtag group of monster hunters (which included Sig's boyfriend) stumbled upon the dangerous plans of a vampire. This was a fast moving story but the plot was slow moving, it was taking longer than it should have for them to find the vampire and deal with the threat.

I did like the world and premise that the author had created it just kind of got lost along the way. The insta-love that John had for Sig was a minor annoyance but it was still annoying. It didn't really make any sense to me other than they are the only two good looking people in the story and some how they must get together, which the story was working towards.

I really wish this had stayed as good as it had started.