Author: calmingfire

Genre: Mystery/thriller

What I liked about this book:

There's a nice idea here with the magic artifact that takes over Iris. I can tell the author really wants to write a deep, sociologically introspective piece here.

What I did NOT like about this book:

There is nothing here for me to latch onto. The descriptions are far too wordy, and apart from that Iris is really unlikeable so far. She sees herself as so much better than all these people at the auction to the point where she has no remorse, it seems, for killing some of them. Her complaints come off as whiny, and she's already turned me off.

Apart from that the purple prose and distant narrative made it almost impossible to get inside her head. I could see a lot of the author telling me how things should be felt about without any actual reaction from Iris. How does it feel inside her head? Does it relate to previous experiences she had? What does the room smell/sound/taste like? I didn't get any of those details apart from it being an auction with fancy-ass food. I need more.

In all the prose was way too bulky with main characters I can't get a read on. There were only three chapters posted and I won't be picking up any additional ones.

Overall:

Unenjoyable and forgettable read.

Rating:

3/10. Pare down your prose and work on reeling in your point of view so I can have some kind of emotional reaction to your character.