Half City

By: Kate Golden

Narrated by: Taylor Harvey, Teddy Hamilton

Welcome to Harker Academy for Deviant Defense. Keep your daggers sharp, and your wits even sharper.

Viv Abbot is an average twenty-one-year-old girl. She lives in an expensive city where the rent is too high, works long hours at a thankless job, and is dating a guy she doesn’t even like in the hopes of winning her prickly mother’s approval.

She also happens to be a demon hunter.

Ever since her father's murder, she's been forced to hunt deviants alone, meaning everyone, including her family, sees her as an outsider . . . until the day she crosses paths with a dangerously alluring demon, Reid Graveheart. The reformed deviant tells her of a school for people just like her: Harker Academy for Deviant Defense. If she enrolls, she'll learn to hone her craft, work with other hunters, and never be alone again.

But Viv has a deadly secret. One that not even her new friends at Harker can know about, not if the school might hold the answers to untangling the mystery surrounding Viv's father’s death. When strange occurrences begin to plague the students, Viv will have to figure out who she can trust, all while trying to ace her classes, avoid falling for a demon, and make it through her first year at Harker in one piece. How hard could that be?

Buffy vibes

Being honest, only got this book because of Buffy vibes! The world building of the city they live in was minimal, and the campus had only a little bit more. That said being in an urban or campus setting it was easy to see the characters there. There was criticism of the fast friends, but in real life that is definitly a thing too so I didnt see that as a downside. The ending of the book, are you kidding me?!!!? *sighs* Give it to me now, pls and ty. The story is no different really than maybe an inital Buffy movie/story setup. The powers and characters were enjoyable and the plot was not usual. Many books setup this way tend to end this way or carry through this way so it was an enjoyable read for me. The spice was barely there, but that is good because it leaves room for more action and actual story! Will defintely be reading the next book just to see where they go with this ending!

Kept me guessing

if you like a slow burn and a strong female lead this is definitely the book for you. There is a school setting but this isn’t your normal school. The book was a bit slow in the beginning but definitely picked up. The author did an amazing job of letting us know what the main character was going through. The world build was a good balance as well. I’m normally really good at guessing who the villain is but this book definitely had me changing my answer several times. The book does end on a cliffhanger. Can’t wait for the second book.

The passion to fight for the good and underdogs.

I loved the academic story. Character development was amazing. I can't wait for the next book.

The audio really made the story come alive!

Viv is a hunter whose father was killed by demons. But no one knows this. Not her mother, her friends or the society she’s a part of. Until now she has felt completely alone with her secret and spent her time secretly hunting down demons in an attempt to avenge her father‘s death. She is obsessed with seeking justice for the normal people that don’t realize that they share a world with deviants.

Then she is offered a position at Harker a school for hunters that she had no idea existed. Once there she is forced to engage with an instructor that is a demon, that very thing that she hates. There is just one problem, he is hot.

This book will appeal to those of use that love a good story of good verses evil but then good gets tempted by evil. They might or might hate each other but not also want each other and of course it is forbidden. When attraction looks like what you have hunted your whole live and sworn to hate what is a girl to do.

This was such a fun read and will appeal to all of us that have secret wished to hunt demons and then of course fall for a really hot one! Although this book ends with a lot of questions and theories for what will happen next. I will be reading Cursed City when it releases!

The narration for this book was perfect and really made the story come alive!

Why

*spoilers*


Whoever chose to do the narration that way, only one single male character has his own narrator, basically screamed to the entire world the mmc will change in the next book. I realize at this point a lot of fantasy books are pretty predictable but you don’t have to make it quite so obvious we’re right. For that reason alone I wish I’d read it without the audio.