The Darkling Thrush

The Darkling Thrush (2012) Josh Lanyon

I’ve read a lot of Josh Lanyon books in the past year, and I adored most of them.

This is a fantasy M/M romance and… I didn’t much care for it.

Colin Bliss is in London for an exchange program to get work experience as a librivenator. But all they are having him do is work as librireddo, so he takes some time off to take a private commission to search for a magical book that was supposed to have been destroyed several hundred years ago.

So, the story.

Almost all the other books I’ve read by Josh Lanyon were mysteries, so it might come as a surprise that the world building wasn’t the big problem here.

I jumped to my feet. “I don’t agree that there are books too dangerous to exist. It’s against everything we believe in the Societas Magicke. It defies reason.”

That was pretty decent, although I’m still not sure whether this is an alternative history or supposed to be set in a “modern” time with magic.

No, the problem was the romance.

First, it felt like Colin’s earlier romance with his boss was tagged on–Antony has little personality and I didn’t get any idea as to why Colin was interested in him.

But it gets worse–the big problem was the lack of chemistry between Colin and his eventual love interest.

“You didn’t like me from the moment you first laid eyes on me.” In the amber light, his face looked stern and golden — like a funerary mask. It seemed a long time ago, that first meeting. Almost irrelevant.

He spoiled the image by smiling. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him smile before — not a genuine, friendly smile. “That’s not true.” (He) sounded amused. “It’s quite the opposite. I like you too much.”

Colin has given no one any reason to much care for him; the words spoken between the two are the only sign of any feelings at all between the two.

I can buy the boinking the first time, but declarations of caring and love?

Not at all.

If there had been no boinking and no declaration of caring and interest between the two, this actually would have been a strong story, but the declaration of feelings came from out of nowhere, and I simply didn’t believe it.

Publisher: Just Joshin
Rating: 5/10

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