It pains me to give a Rivers of London book less than four stars, but this one just didn't turn my crank the same way. Part of it maybe the setting (Wisconsin rather than London), part may be the main character, Kimberley Reynolds (as opposed to Peter Grant). Peter may have his flaws, but he feels real to me. Kimberley felt strained. I was put off by her religiosity and the lack of desire to learn magic. If she can feel vestigia, magic should be within her grasp. Is her religious persuasion holding her back? Is it the lack of a teacher? Kimberley gives us no clue about that, but we know altogether too much about her mama, a judgmental, right-wing Born Again.
My opinion of this novel might have been improved if I'd had access to a proper paper version. Unfortunately my library chose to acquire it as an audiobook. The narrator, Penelope Rawlins, drove me crazy with her pronunciations of some words. She seemed to omit the first R in library more often than not (and that's a sore point for this former library worker). Then the missing R would reappear on the end of the word parka. Those two words stand out in my memory because they were used so often, but there were others. Rawlins was born in the UK, but grew up in the US, so she should have been ideal for this book.
Although the main character is female, Rawlins ends up having to voice quite a number of male characters. She does a decent job of it, although they all ended up sounding pretty much the same. But by context I was always sure which guy was speaking.
Nevertheless, there's a good plot with a magically plausible problem. Kimberley is brave and protective of those around her. She does some risky things, but comes out okay. Thank goodness for Bill, who backs her up to the best of his ability. His tendency to concentrate on meteorology and other sciences reminded me of Peter's obsession with architecture. I am glad I read this to keep up my Peter Grant knowledge, but I don't feel the need to purchase my own copy.
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