Friday, September 25, 2015

Blog Tour Review | Sucking in San Francisco by Jessica McBrayer

Sucking in San Francisco by Jessica McBrayer
Published September 8th 2012 by Mess of Geckos

Author's Website | Goodreads | Buy the Book on Amazon

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Working at a Suicide Prevention Center in San Francisco, Lily Goodwill thinks she’s heard it all—then she gets a call from a man about to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. Something about the caller, maybe his yummy British accent or Lily’s ability to understand his crushing ennui, makes her break all the rules and rush to meet him. After all, she is a vampire and if she can’t talk him down she can glamour him.

But things don’t go according to plan. Her caller glows with blue fire and turns out to be a vampire-hating Djinn. Suddenly, for the first time in centuries he’s found something intriguing. Is Lily really a vampire with a conscience and an obsessive-compulsive disorder, involving Handi-wipes and Lysol, or is she just another bloodsucker? 

Add in another vampire, with a history of female lovers stretching over three centuries, who swears he’s reformed and declares his undying love for Lily. Stir in a mean pair of witches and a vicious warlock, who are staking vampires around the city and you have a recipe for riotous adventure of supernatural proportions. 

Lily Goodwill is a quick thinking, smart-talking vampire who’s still figuring out how she feels about dining al fresco in the City by the Bay


What I Thought:

I am going to keep this short, because unfortunately I wasn't a fan of the book. It had great potential with some of the themes that are present, but overall it just wasn't realistic. 

Lily Goodwill is probably one of the softest vampire characters I've ever met. She is compassionate, down to earth, and a bit naive. Aidan on the other hand, is a much darker, sarcastic character. When he phones in to a suicide prevention call center, Aidan doesn't count on a vampire being the volunteer. Just to goad Lily, Aidan makes an outrageous claim that if Lily doesn't meet him at the Golden Gate Bridge, he's jumping. Here is where I first had a bad taste of the novel. Nothing about this scene is realistic. Granted, Aidan isn't serious about committing suicide, because as a djinn, he can't die the way a real human being could. Putting that aside, it still messes with the mood of the scene,which in my opinion was the beginning of the decline of the entire novel. 

Next, we are introduced to Sebastian, Julian, and Helena, vague friends of Lily's. We see through the novel that Sebastian has romantic feelings towards Lily, but she's more or less stuck in a love triangle that never really goes anywhere. Also, I felt like half the novel was taken up by the two witches, Iris and Indigo. Don't get me wrong, Iris and Indigo and their clan was a very interesting topic, however, I didn't think so much of them belonged in here. Again, the overload of characters and separate experiences overrides the intended main theme. 

Overall, it just wasn't for me. I felt like there was too much going on to get a clear picture of feeling from this novel. Sometimes, less is more. 

Victoria ♥ 

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