My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Content: Pretty clean, but I think there was some language.
Making a living is
hard. In a lawless city where gods are real, dragons are traffic
hazards, and buildings move around on their own, it can feel downright
impossible.
Good thing freelance mage Opal Yong-ae has never let
little things like impossibility stop her. She’s found a way to put her
overpriced magical art history degree to use as a Cleaner: a contract
municipal employee who empties out abandoned apartments and resells the
unusual treasures she finds inside for a profit. It’s not a pretty job,
or a safe one--there’s a reason she wears bite-proof gloves--but when
you’re neck-deep in debt to a very magical, very nasty individual, you
can’t be picky about where the money comes from.
But even Opal’s
low standards are put to the test when the only thing of value in her
latest apartment is the body of the previous tenant. Dealing with the
dead isn’t technically part of her job, but this mage died hiding a
secret that could be worth a lot of money, and Opal’s the only one who
knows. With debts she can’t pay due at the end of the week, this could
be the big break she’s been waiting for, but in a city of runaway magic
where getting in over your head generally means losing it, the cost of
chasing this opportunity might be more than Opal can survive.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
This
is the first in a new series set in the same universe as my
Heartstrikers books, but you don’t need to have read those stories to
enjoy this one. MINIMUM WAGE MAGIC was written to stand by itself, so if
you haven’t read the others, don’t worry! I wrote this book with you in
mind. Thank you so much for reading!
It's safe to say that Rachel Aaron is one of my favorite authors. I've enjoyed everything I've read by her, The Legend of Eli Monpress, The Paradox trilogy (written under the name Rachel Bach), and of course Heartstrikers. This author's books are just so relatable, and so very readable. After reading the Heartstrikers series and loving it, I was really excited to read about the DFZ, and it didn't disappoint. Most of us ended up reading the whole trilogy in the two months we had between book club meetings. This review will be for all three books in the trilogy.
When I read Heartstrikers I loved it, but I also felt like it went on for too many books, so I was happy that this sequel series, set in the same world, was only three books. Lengthwise, it felt just right to me. I loved the way the DFZ was depicted as a moving city and how the other gods were portrayed. And it was nice getting the cameo appearances from Julian, Bob, and others from Heartstrikers.
I enjoyed all the characters in this series, even though Opal made some questionable decisions at times. I did think that her decisions were understandable to a point because of the nature of her relationship with her father. I enjoyed the way this series showed Opal and her father and how they each saw things differently and the reasons behind the way they both felt. I liked the third book a little bit less than the first two, I think mainly because Nik was in it less, but I appreciated the time spent with Opal's father in that book and the way things ended up.
I listened to the audio and I have to say that I was disappointed it wasn't the same narrator as the one from Heartstrikers. Vikas Adam is such an amazing narrator, and I missed listening to his voice, especially during the Bob cameos. That being said, this narrator was good, just not the same.
I highly recommend this series if you like urban fantasy, and dragons, but I would start with Heartstrikers and then read DFZ. I also feel like this is a series that both adults and teens alike can read and enjoy.
In honor of the books we had pancakes and Asian noodles at book club.
And Risa brought a cockatrice egg cheese ball.
Here are my ratings for the other two books in the trilogy:
My name is Opal Yong-ae, and I’m a Cleaner. At least, I used to be. Thanks to the supernatural bad luck that turns everything I do against me, these days I’m more of a walking disaster. Getting rid of this curse is the only way to get my life back. Unfortunately, dragon magic is every bit as sneaky and deadly the monsters behind it, and just as hard to beat.
But I’ve never been one to take her doom at face value. Cornered doesn’t mean defeated, and in an awakened city that rules herself, dragons are no longer the biggest powers around.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Content: I think there was some strong language
They say family always
sticks together, but when you’re your dad’s only lifeline and the whole
world—humans, dragons, and gods—wants you dead, “family bonding” takes
on a whole new meaning.
My name is Opal Yong-ae, and I’m in way
over my head. I thought getting rid of my dad’s bad luck curse would put
things back to normal. Instead, I’m stuck playing caretaker to the
Great Dragon of Korea. That wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t such a jerk,
or if every dragon on the planet wasn’t out to kill him, or if he was
my only problem.
Turns out, things can always get worse in the
DFZ. When a rival spirit attacks my god/boss with the aim of turning the
famously safety-optional city into a literal death arena with Nik as
his bloody champion, I’m thrust onto the front lines and way out of my
comfort zone. When gods fight, mortals don’t usually survive, but I’m
not alone this time. Even proud old dragons can learn new tricks, and
with everything I love falling to pieces, the father I’ve always run
from might just be the only force in the universe stubborn enough to
pull us back together.
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