ARC Review: The Sight by Chloe Neill

Saucy Readers! It's Chloe Neill time again. Tomorrow is the release of Wench Fave Ms. Neill's second book of the year, this one the second in her Devil's Isle series. We adored the first installment in this series last year, which we told you about here, and have been eagerly anticipating the follow up. I got my hungry little paws on The Sight three full months ago, so it's been rattling around my brain for a while. Zee also read it, so her thoughts are going to be intertwined with mine in this review. 

Click through to see what we thought of the second chapter in Claire's tale. Spoiler-free of course.





I had to take a moment to think about this upon finishing it, because it's such a departure from what we usually get from Chloe Neil. But that's a really good thing. I was knee-deep in ChiVamps when The Sight hit my doorstep, and that was pretty jarring because ChiVamps is sooooooooo much lighter than Devil's Isle. That's a lesson learned for me; I wasn't expecting it to be as light and joyful as Merit's adventures, but it's difficult to switch your mind from that to the darkness and desperation in Claire's Quarter. 

It's not sunshine and  rainbows in Devil's Isle. 

We get Chloe Neill's trademark snark, just in smaller doses (Claire's query about people who "sports" was a particular favorite), there are still wonderful side characters (hello, Malachai), the world is incredibly rich (it's NOLA, after all), and it's still full of action. But Devil's Isle is much darker than what I'm used to from this author. More death, less optimism. More despair, less opulence. And, truth be told, I love that. I love when an author tries something different, steps out of what made her successful and takes a risk on something new. The risk pays off in the depth of Devil's Isle. 

Another thing that we love about this world is that we're already in the middle of the action, we haven't been slowly introduced to it, we've kind of just been thrust in, and it's amazing! Post war NOLA, Claire finding out something new every day, the very real threat of the Veil. It's all action packed all the time, and as a reader it's exhilarating! 

I'm still awed by the social commentary in this series, the fictional problems very starkly mirroring problems in our own world. War, segregation, fear of "others", the need to keep one's true nature secret, all are prominent undertones in post-war New Orleans, which adds to the richness of the world. It's fascinating how deftly Chloe Neill weaves important social themes into the story of magic in a post-apocalyptic world.

"Sooner or later," I said, "they'll have to. That's just history. Kingdoms don't last forever. People change, attitudes change. Maybe we can speed that process along."

No good shall come of this, I know it!

At the end of The Veil, the two main characters were getting to know each other and figuring out what their relationship would be. In The Sight, Claire and Liam's sexual tension was more told than shown, and always with an undercurrent of dread. I felt something awful coming for our heroes every time Claire thought about or discussed her feelings for Liam. In typical male fashion, Liam has decided that, regardless of their very mutual feelings, he can't get involved with Claire. Everyone who knows them can see and feel their attraction, telling them constantly that they should just do the dirty already. And every time that happened I got a sinking feeling. I wonder if I'm the only one who felt that, or if it's intentional by CN and everyone sees it. 

In perfect second-book fashion everything goes to hell at the end of the book, which I really dig. So much angst, so much potential for drama. And yet, that signature Chloe Neill humor we love so much! I cannot wait until the next book comes out and we can see how Chloe Neill puts everything back together again. In true Devil's Isle fashion I'm sure it will be a little crooked, a little bent, covered in soot, but still standing. 

"Don't be such a stranger," Moses said, when we said our good-byes. He looked up at me with those gleaming green eyes. "But also don't be killed by xenophobic idiots."

Wench Rating: