Book – City of Dreams
Author – Sydney Blackburn
Star rating - ★★★☆☆
No. of Pages – 59
Cover – Okay
POV – 3rd, multi-character
Would I read it again – Probably not.
Genre – LGBT, Magic, Fantasy, Art


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **



So, this was an odd one for me. I like the overall storyline and concept, but the execution left something to be desired.

First off, there was a serious problem with transphobia and gender stereotypes here. Marcus is constantly referred to, compared to and teased about looking like a girl, called boy/girl by his mentor, the love interest, Sebastian, in teasing. Only, it's really not funny and kind of put me off. There was also a feeling of the pervy lesbian getting far too involved in gay men's love lives and the whole gender-issue of stereotypes. Such as, Marcus being repulsed by women's and Kitty being repulsed by men's. They can be gay without being disgusted by the opposite sex, but that wasn't really addressed here. And Sebastian couldn't provide that, because he was the indiscriminate bisexual who was sampling anything and everything within his reach.

There's an issue with the way the story was told, primarily in the fact that there is NO timeline, whatsoever. We are not told, in any way shape or form, when these events are taking place, so let me just warn anyone about to read it that it works like this -
The first scene of Chapter 1 is PRESENT time.
After the very first break (*~*~*) in the story, it immediately jumps to some time earlier (though how long exactly is up for debate, because it's NEVER clarified)
Everything from that first scene break to Chapter 8 is following the same timeline. Then Chapter 8 begins to take us right back to the PRESENT, where we left off.

Now, if only there had been some indication that the story was about to go back in time, perhaps labeling the first scene as the Prologue instead of Chapter 1, then I wouldn't have spent the first 8 chapters (62% of the story!) wondering how the heck the first scene fitting into the story. I had to figure it out myself and, honestly, someone who couldn't be bothered with that wouldn't have even finished reading Chapter 1. I almost didn't, but I was convinced that I had to finish the book because it was specifically for a review. Someone else might have just given up and DNF'd it by that point, because it was so ridiculously confusing and a sign of bad plotting/writing/editing; I'm not sure which, but it shows that there is a seriously un-noticed issue with the book and that there could be more.

Which, there were. There were editing issues throughout; mostly small and in terms of missing words that didn't affect the reading, but they were there. Thanks to the lack of timeline, there was also an issue of scenes/chapters not flowing well from one to the other. Often they felt disconnected in time and place, so that it was confusing or I was forced to re-read parts, to try to reorientate myself.

Now, the magical element of the story didn't really come into it until halfway or after. It had been mentioned, but never really made use of, which seemed a pity and until it became a huge plot point of the ending I really forgot that it was in the story at all, at times. The story felt almost historical in essence, due to the 'fantasy' element of the story and the way the characters behaved and the sort of morals they had, yet they spoke in a very contemporary way.

The POV is also inconsistent. The story is primarily told in Marcus' POV, then becomes a dual POV with Sebastian, at Chapter 3. Then, in Chapter 9, Kitty suddenly gets her POV. I'm not really sure it was all necessary, since some of the main points of Kitty requiring her POV could have easily been changed into something a little less icky. For example, Kitty gets her POV because she does an experiment on Sebastian. However, the way it ends is kind of skeazy, almost-rapey and definitely made me feel uncomfortable, yet it could have been resolved by Kitty having Marcus hide in his rooms, while she wore the slippers in front of Sebastian, to prove her point. Then the big reveal could happen. Instead, we got a creepy stalker-ish scene at the end that felt very orchestrated and underhanded, kind of rapey, as I said, and left me feeling less 'swoon' and more 'umm...is it over, yet?'.

When it comes to characters, I did like Marcus. He was a little naive and blushed way too much, but he was sweet and innocent, yet with a hidden flirty nature that Sebastian brought out in him. I loved the way that he became focused on his work and that he really was all about love and art. Seabstian was a douche for about 50% of the story, but the other 50% gave me some hope that Marcus would find a good, if bruised and battered, man underneath. Kitty, for me, was a little pervy. She was a stereotypical lesbian character, who took far too much interest in Marcus' love life and apparently got something out of the final deal, though that was never explained and hinted at her having less than innocent reasons for befriending Marcus, in the beginning.

Overall, it was a story with great potential, but the execution meant that good characters were hidden behind stereotypes, biased and offensive material. A good plot was ruined by the lack of a timeline and I found myself being confused for a good 50-60% of the story, unable to help but wonder when things were going to start to make sense. Although the MC's had great chemistry and a really cute story, the bad execution meant that it couldn't be properly enjoyed. If it had been written with a clear timeline, the lack of stereotypes and gender issues, this would be a re-read for me and maybe even a 4-5 star rating. Instead, I gave it a 3 because of the potential, but if I was basing this on the curve of execution, it would be a 2 star. However, I do feel that the story within the pages is great; it just needs some more work.

~

Favourite Quote

“Back in his rooms, Sebastian covered the sketch with a protective charm and framed it. The perspective was, he'd have said, wrong for a portrait, but the artfully careless fingers on the rim of the cup said loudly that this was a pose. Yes, the figure – himself, he reminded – was portrayed in lazy arrogance, almost cruel, but it was just a pose. In some ways, he'd never felt so naked, and he wondered if Marcus had realized what he'd drawn.”

I was really enjoying watching the arrogant Bastian fall in love despite himself. Then the sorceress got involved and I felt like we all got manipulated. I wanted the guys to work it out for themselves, not due to a spell that promised deception. This was a HEA but in the end I was left strangely dissatisfied.

I also had a couple of lesser issues that I could have lived with if the ending had been stronger for me:
some editing issues; extra/missing words, an occasional word order that didn't seem right.
the world-building could have been stronger.
an issue with magic and art not mixing that made a mockery of the resolution. Would either artist blessed with 'the eye' risk losing it by using a magical item. Neither even considers it as a possible side effect, and neither does the author.

Overall this story had the ability to be more than it was. The writing was fine, it was the resolution that bothered me.

Marcus Allegro travels to the City of Dreams to study art under Sebastian Moreaux; a master painter and well known to bed any willing student he comes across, shunning any sort of commitment. When he sets his sights on Marcus, Sebastian is baffled when the young man absolutely refuses to add his name to Sebastian's long list of forgotten conquests. This makes Sebastian want him even more but Marcus is looking for true love, which Sebastian takes great pains to avoid.

I feel if given more space to grow, this story would have more of an impact. I would have had a better understanding of how magic fits in this world, how artists have The Eye, how Sebastian came to be so guarded, how Marcus came to be such a romantic, and gotten to know them both more; I would be more invested in their romance and in their world. Coming in at a scant 59 pages as it is, this story is more like a sweet breeze; enjoyable but gone too fast. 3 out of 5.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review. Enjoyed the book. Sebastian has vowed to never fall in love again because it hurts too much and he keeps Marcus from getting close.. Marcus loves Sebastian but he is tired of being ignored or belittled. Magic shows Marcus that Sebastian does love him but can not commit. It is a HEA story that is a good read.

NB: I have toned down this review for Netgalley because it's more Professional than Goodreads. To see the original uncensored version in all it's glory, please click the link provided.

This book made me angry so this review is also going to be angry, even in it's censored version.

Right.

Sebastian was insufferable, Marcus was annoying, there was a really uncomfortable thread of transphobia running throughout ("Are you sure you're a boy? I'm just going to run my hands over your chest to find out" STOP IT FOR GOD'S SAKE it's the year of our lord 2017 and transphobia needs to get out, especially casual transphobia in a m-m romance book for christ's sake. It's lgb**T**q. And yeah, it probably wasn't supposed to be transphobic, author probably wasn't thinking of trans people at all, but that doesn't excuse it, especially when you're writing queer fiction. .

Oh, and my least favourite trope of all time made an appearance: love enchantments. I mean really, using those things is akin to sexual assault. Sebastian liked Marcus so it didn't matter in the context of the narrative, but what if Sebastian HADN'T liked him? I just hate the concept of them in general.

I'm surprised LT3 press published this because there were so many unsavoury elements about this and they have guidelines on their website, but whatever.

In short: absolutely hated it. Seriously if it was a paper copy I'd probably throw it in the bin. I am now going become a scientist and create a memory-erasing machine specifically because of this book.

*eye twitches*