Author: Vanessa Nelson
Series: The Grey Gates Series Book #1
Category: Fantasy Romance
Rating: ⭐⭐
Spice: 0
"Calling in the Marshals meant acknowledging that whatever the police were dealing with wasn't human. And most city residents, the police included, didn't like the think too much about that."
Being between books and without the desire to work through your actual TBR pile can lead to desperate decision-making. Things like trying to fit this square peg of a book into the round hole that is enjoying what you are reading. I should have called it quits way before the end but I held on, even if I disliked the main character of 'The Outcast' so very much.
Max is so freaking surly, her character would have better been off described as a middle-aged balding overweight cop with a bad attitude. I am no stranger to the badass female bounty hunter persona from every urban fantasy that ever was written, but man I hated this girl. She was so bland and judgmental I couldn't help but root for everyone else around her. For someone who doesn’t have her own life together, she is quick to list others' faults if only inside her head.
Outside of the lack of connection with the main character, the world was hard to understand and the writing style of third person was choppy and disjointed. I finished this solely because I was a tiny bit curious as to Max's past and what really happened at the grey gate and I wanted to put out an honest book review.
Can't say I would recommend this one my bookish friends.
Tropes and Themes: Urban Fantasy, Magic, Mystery, Demons, Paranormal, Dystopia, Slow Burn.
Blurb
If no one knows that you saved the world, does it really count?
Eight years ago the world almost ended and Max lost everything, accused of betrayal and failure.
Now working as a Marshal, keeping the city and its people safe from supernatural dangers, Max thinks she's broken all ties to her past. She's just trying to do her job and live her life.
Asked to help local law enforcement with a series of vicious murders, Max is willing to assist but soon realises that she might be next. Can she keep her secret while finding the killer?