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Gabriel's City: A Tale Of Fables And Fortunes (2014)

by Laylah Hunter(Favorite Author)

4 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

162649164X (ISBN13: 9781626491649)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Riptide Publishing

review 1: Gabriel's City, Laylah HunterReview from jeannie zelos book reviews This is a strange book to categorise. With the mention of Dragons I assumed Colin was going to be some kind of shifter, but was wrong. Then there’s the feel of it – its classed as NA and it has that definite air that it will appeal to that age group. Some NA transcend age groups and appeal to everyone, but this was one that’s very NA specific IMO. I enjoyed it but it’s not one I'd re read and not one I’d have been really sorry to miss. Colin has a real change of personality over the course of the book, which starts when he becomes embroiled with Gabriel, who promptly names him Drake. That works well because Colin and Drake really are two very different people. The Dragon reference was confusin... moreg at first, but made sense once I understood Gabriel more, and fitted the story telling ( both the book and the stories told within it) perfectly. Gabriel – oh how sad I was for him, and yet he wasn’t sad for himself but had known no other way of life, abandoned in the cemetery at a really young age. He’s looked after himself since then, with only Deidre for a sort of friend. He looked upon Drake coming in to his life as a great gift. Deidre was so good to him, helping where she could and trying her best to keep him alive. Its easy to get moral about the killings, but it’s a rough world where its often kill or be killed. I loved how the connection between Drake and Gabriel grew slowly, developing at its own pace, not an insta love type romance. Its a very different read to which I'm used to, a romance but also a story of how difficult life can be if you’re not born into the right class, and even if you are how easy it is to fall from favour. I loved that friendship and help was often found in unexpected places. Even the little details, the squalid room they lived in, the ratty blanket and worn clothes, catching pigeons ( and even rats) for food – it all gave that almost historical, underclass of people feel to the story, but the desolation that could have been in was lifted by Gabriel's way of looking at life and appreciating the small things, and his love for Drake. From someone who was so self contained he gave his whole heart over time, and was lost when he thought Drake would leave. Stars: Its a fun read, and like I said, very outside my comfort zone. Its a Riptide publication and I've read and enjoyed so many of those that I simply didn’t check carefully enough to see what this story was about. I’m sure for YA/NA its a five star read but from this O(der) A its a three. ARC supplied via Netgalley and Riptide.
review 2: ** I received a Review Copy of this book via NetGalley **Quite different, this one. It’s basically a kind of coming-of-age story wherein the main POV character -- wealthy ne’er-do-well Colin – grows up not into a worthy man by society’s standards, but into a street thug after falling in with Gabriel, a notorious young cut-throat and thief with an unspecified mental disorder.Based on that description alone, I would have loved to see these boys get up to no good (and get it up for each other!), but there’s something a little squicky about the whole thing. At the same time that Colin – who quickly comes to be known as Drake -- is learning all about How the Other Half Live, so to speak, he’s also taking sexual advantage. The author consciously attempts to frame Drake and Gabriel’s physical affair as fully consensual, and there’s no doubt that the two are mutual attracted to one another, but Gabriel is also painted as so sexually innocent and eager to please that it was hard to get past the idea that Drake is an abuser. These are both young men around 18 years old or so, but still: only one is altogether cognizant of the situation.Nevertheless, one does route for them to get a happy ending of sorts. One wants to see them free from jail and from undue hardship; together, without Drake leaving Gabriel and returning to his pampered life as Colin the merchant’s son. The titular city in and around which the story takes place is an interesting one, and just a little more world-building would have been welcome too.So overall, I’m left ambivalent. This novel has some fantastic ideas, but falls a little short in execution. less

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