Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
Published 2011, Del Ray (US version)
Stars: ★★★★★

This one was a little slower paced than book one -- if you don't count the character/world introductions from the first one -- at least at the beginning.

Honestly, I didn't think that this one, with all the focus on jazz music, would appeal to me very much. I was wrong.  By the end of it, I loved it.  The book, not jazz.  Still not a jazz person.  I don't dislike it.  I just don't go out of my way to listen to it.

The world is growing in this book.  More characters, more good guys, more villains, more creatures, more kinds of magic.  I like that.  Growth is good.  And some events at the end, while sad (and almost a little trope-ish in the male UF world), didn't feel unnecessary to me.  In fact, I felt like what happened HAD to happen.  It's going to make Peter Grant a different, more rounded character, who has a deeper respect for what he is dealing with, the consequences, and the lives involved.  It's going to make him better.

If I didn't have, oh, a bajillion ARCs and library books and challenge books to read, I'd be picking up book three immediately.  Instead, I'll have to wait a few weeks -- but it will be in the queue as soon as possible, especially considering that little twist of the last few pages.