The Witch Stone

Court of Ash and Stone #1

by Jasmine Hong

One of the unfortunate truths in life is that if someone dumps a war on your doorstep in the small hours of the morning, well, you’re kind of stuck with it. Especially if that war comes in the form of a mostly naked man and he just happens to be one of the most powerful beings in the city.

And your ex.

Another unfortunate truth: No matter how poorly things ended, you’re going to wind up scraping him up off the cement and dragging him in off your doorstep. And, of course, that’s when the real trouble begins.

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, M M Romance, Magic, Romance, LGBT

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 12, 2018

Reviews

[Heather K (dentist in my spare time) · Rating 2 out of 5]

What an odd little story.

I love urban fantasy/paranormal books, so I was interested in The Witch Stone by newbie author Jasmine Hong. However, this book wasn't quite what I was expecting.

First of all, I wouldn't call this a romance at all, so if you are expecting a romance you are reading the wrong book.

The Witch Stone reminded me of an underdeveloped, rushed version of an Ilona Andrews story. It had a similar magic family, magic world-vibe, but it was so sloppy and confusing that it lost much of the positives.

The writing had a frenetic pace that kept me reading but also left me scratching my head. I felt like I was missing a prequel story or something. There was too much going on and not enough information.

The actual language also felt messy at times, and I think it needed a few more rounds with an editor. There were sentences that I needed to read multiple times for meaning, and characters that seemed erratically conceptualized.

The good news is that there is a whole cast of queer people representing a chunk of the QUILTBAG spectrum with a strong showing from queer POC, which is sorely needed in literature. There were also some strong concepts that could have really been something special with more time and energy spent on developing the story. The book needed to be novel-length, with more world-building, more explaining of basics in order not to confuse readers.

I hope to see more from Jasmine Hong in the future, and I hope she really pushes herself because I could see her coming up with something special. Unfortunately, The Witch Stone wasn't it.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

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[* A Reader Obsessed * · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Debut Hearts!

I don’t really know what I just read, but I surely enjoyed what I got!

Extremely rich with imagination, this is a complex world of magic and hierarchy, full of court politics, different dimensions, and constant power struggles taking place.

From what I can glean, Cal is from a very powerful matriarchal and magical family. He’s not as valued because he’s male, but that all changes when his ex shows up on his doorstep with a stone of power indicating that the current court of the city is dead. Now, he’s been tasked by the stone itself to find the new lord that will help keep the city running and safe, but there's all sorts trying to prevent that from happening.

This was reminiscent of the complex urban fantasy that I used to read, and it constantly kept me on my toes! You’ve got demons, emissaries, clan feuds, and a goddess of mischief, all vying for their piece of the pie as the raw loose power tries to find a balance through Cal and company.

This was fast paced, with so much info thrown at you making you want to know more instead of throwing your hands up in frustration. There’s not a straightforward romance here - yet - but the promise of some delicious push pull has been set in motion. I’m definitely impressed and intrigued by what a mere 103 pages brought to the table and honestly, the next installment can’t come soon enough!

Thank you to the author/publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review

[Dev · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley

I definitely think this book could have benefited from being longer, but it was still a fun quick read and I'm hoping a lot of the questions I have will be answered in the sequel. Honestly I've been reading so many full-length high-fantasy books lately that it was nice to just relax with a really light short urban-fantasy read.

So, the things I liked: it had a very nice relaxed writing style, snarky main character, an interesting magic system although we didn't get into the details much, and a lot of diversity. There were several gay [or possibly bi] characters, a trans character, and I think like one white character in the whole thing so it was nice to see that. The thing I didn't like was basically that it felt very rushed overall. I have a lot of questions about the world this is set in that didn't get answered, but like I said before, I am hoping that get answered in the sequel.

Also I saw some complaints that this is not actually an lgbtia 'romance' book, and those people would be correct. The main character's ex-boyfriend is in this series with him but they aren't together anymore, and it looks like it will remain that way in the future. This didn't bother me since I generally like stories that aren't romance-focused, and I think it's important to have lgbtia books where the characters are explicitly stated as being queer but it doesn't necessarily take up the entire plot with just that one aspect of their personality. However, if you are specifically LOOKING for a romance book, you probably would want to give this book a skip.

[Krystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This time last year, I associated the genre of fantasy with boring white dudes acting far more heroic about standing up for marginalised groups than I have ever seen in real life! 🤔

Thankfully I relied on diverse fantasy reads from marginalised authors for escapism over the last year, so I recommend this winning debut, which I devoured in a matter of hours, as Jasmine Hong brings us matriarchal magical power, a queer Muslim protagonist, awkward romantic tension, Asian trans representation, an underworld filled with temptation, animal trickster deities, creepy persuasion abilities, and epic snarky humour alongside social and political consciousness I can respect! ❤

For readers of diverse fantasy, it gives off vibes of Binti by Nnedi Okorafor, Jade City by Fonda Lee, Starswept by Mary Fan, The Keeper series by Madhuri Pavamani, The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Lee, The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi, Strangers by David Alexander Robertson, Food of the Gods by Cassandra Khaw, and Not Your Villain by C.B. Lee! 📚

[anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

rep: gay Chinese mc, gay Malay side character, gay side characters, Filipino & Mexican side characters

ARC provided by the publisher. 

1.5 ☆

Okay, let’s talk about the good stuff first & then really get into it. So. Calvin, the main character & the narrator, explicitly states that he’s gay. Which is great seeing as it doesn’t always happen! Another big plus is that I’m pretty sure there’s like maybe one white character in the whole story? Calvin is Chinese, his ex-boyfriend is Malay, and there are Filipino and Mexican side characters. It’s definitely refreshing to read something diverse like that.

But, sadly, those are all the parts of this very short novella that I enjoyed.

This is an urban fantasy novella about the city of Longshore which is protected by the Court made up of the most powerful magicians from the magic families. I assume. I don’t know for sure because it was never properly explained. Just like nothing else, really. The whole story seems to be about how Bad things are since the Court got murdered but it’s never said what the Court actually does - apart from “holds things together” and “protects the city”. Please try to be more vague…

Another part of the problem™ is that the magic stone - the one from the title - got attached to Calvin? I think? Again, I’m not sure. I mean, they talk about this stone all the time and how it will show (?) new members of the Court (how are they chosen?) & how it has the power to stabilize the city for now (but still, they had to fetch some magic seals to help the city?) yet the stone itself doesn’t actually do anything but clings to Calvin and occasionally to his ex-boyfriend. They used it once in the beginning to fight a demon but never again (though, to be fair, demons didn’t show much later and, again, why?).

For every thing that gets explained, three more questions immediately spring into life that get totally ignored.

Like I said, this is an urban fantasy story & we have magical families but suddenly it turns out there’s a whole other magic dimension and there are gods there. We’re introduced to two gods (God of Mischief and Cat God, which only makes it more confusing because what are there & aren’t gods of?) but then at the very end of the story there’s a line saying there’s also a Fae Queen? Which may be the God of Mischief but frankly…. I’m not sure! But okay, you introduce new gods, cool. Tell us how are we supposed to react to them, though. Because they are described as scary before/when they first show up & then they just do random, sometimes downright silly things. So what’s the deal? Do I fear them or do I drink coffee with them?

When I say things aren’t explained properly… There’s a scene where they gather the magic seals I mentioned before (of course we have no idea what they are & no one bothers to tell us) and they have to place them in specific locations but that’s as far as the description goes. The scene literally cuts off there! We don’t even get some vague line about a magic ritual, nothing. There’s a build-up, there’s all this anticipation of “will they save the city or won’t they” and then it all dies a natural death. Nothing happens for us to see but we are told later on that the city is safer. (But then we weren’t even told why exactly & from what the city is in danger… Like, yes, the Court is dead but what does that actually mean!!)

This isn’t even the only time where we get all this escalation only to be left with absolutely nothing in the end. Another example would be the constant mentions of how bad Salim looks - and it’s made clear that he started looking worse at some point during this unfortunate adventure. Calvin comments and comments on it & we’re waiting to see what’s behind this, is Salim okay, is it a symptom of what’s happening in the city, will something even worse happen to him? And all that only for Calvin to never mention it again. He really goes from detailed descriptions of how thin & exhausted Salim looks to nothing at all for the rest of the story! What’s the point! Why did you waste your time and my time!

We know the worldbuilding basically failed but what about the characters, you ask? Well, like I said, Calvin is gay & ten years ago he dated Salim. That’s uhh… that’s as far as his characterization went. I suppose he’s a good person who helps people, since that’s the premise of the story. He was flirted with by two different men (I know we gays flock together but how are all four characters who got the most screentime gay & how are three of them apparently into Calvin to some degree or making it look as if they were?) and literally every time had a different reaction. It went from rumbling nonsense to just blushing to stammering to god knows what else. And those weren’t the only kinds of situations where this happened. I understand he could have been in a different mood at all those times but is that really an explanation? How does one gets flattered that someone flirts with them & then gets angry about the same thing just a few hours later? Basically what this feels like is as if the author made a list of ways people can react to stuff (more specifically: ways people react in books) and just tried to fit as many as possible into this novella. The question is, why was Calvin the one going through the personality changes every three pages? I mean, you have more than one character, you can take all those incredibly original actions and distribute them between all of said characters.

It’s just so fake! Come on! Arching eyebrows and blushing isn’t actually a characterization! Especially when it’s not even consistent.

A quote from Calvin, because it’s not enough he doesn’t really have a personality, he also can’t talk like a regular human being: “Don’t talk to me like that. I won’t tolerate any disrespect from you. I’ve done nothing but help you. I don’t deserve your derision”. Now, it would be cool if he talked like this all the time, I mean we all have our quirks, right? But this is the only moment he did it! You can’t just randomly make your characters use difficult words for no reason at all & with no explanation! Who does that!

This was a reply to Salim & Calvin talks a lot about how Salim treated him badly when they were still dating & how he’s generally a shitty person. I’m pretty sure like 10% of the novella is just him complaining about it but at the same time we get Salim making sure at every turn that Calvin is okay and not hurt. To be fair we also see him jealous of Calvin (ten years later!), sulking for no reason at all (that doesn’t get explained at any point), trying to save the city despite being the one to witness the massacre of the Court, ready to fight every person who speaks to him… Is too much characterisation a thing or is it just another facet of the lack of it?

Anyway, thanks a lot for this portrayal of gay man as toxic! Especially when there is not a single one healthy gay relationship (or at least, a promise of one) here. Like, nothing major happened, I don’t need to tw this for some gross stuff but at the same time? Nothing good happens either? You call this a good gay rep? There's even talk of cheating on someone you were in a long term relationship with & painting it as okay because “you knew we were already in a bad place!”. I mean, sure, gay people can also be shitty, we are just people after all, but trying so hard to fit that into such a short story? Like it was really just a single line that didn't change anything since we were already told that Salim was a bad boyfriend. So why bother at all?

And yes, I bolded “told” in that sentence because that's exactly how this novella works. We are never showed anything, only ever told things. And the worst part? The author tells us one thing about the characters & then they go and do something that's the polar opposite of that. You could argue that this is all because the story is told from Calvin's perspective & he's just a bad judge of character but no, this applies to him as well. It's simply that the author doesn't have a clear idea of the characters so they are really all over the place & just do random stuff to move the plot forward. Without us knowing what's actually happening and why is it happening…

The writing itself isn't that great either so I can't even use that as an excuse. Frankly it's hard to say the author has a style, it's more like just a word after a word after a word… And every third is actually a repetition! I realise this is an ARC but has no one really edit this at all? The one line I still remember is: “given all the givens”. I mean! Why are you making me read this if it's so clearly not finished! Because the whole thing really feels like the very first draft. A clumsy one at that. I could forgive the single word repetitions (though I’ve been taught all my life by every teacher I had to avoid them but okay) but they weren’t the only kind! A lot of the time there would be a line about something and then a paragraph or two later - a line describing the same exact thing only in different words. Sometimes you get authors who very much want their readers to understand everything so they would do this - that’s not the case here. In every instance of this kind of Repetition™ it was clear that the author simply doesn’t remember the explanation is already here. It was like Jasmine Hong was writing parts of it on different days, with no memory of the lines already written. Which, obviously, no one expects an author to write a book in one day but maybe read over at least the last page of your manuscript before you add to it? Or edit the thing at the end.

God, this really needs to be rewritten from the ground up and maybe even more than once. So many mistakes could have been dealt with thanks to a proper revision, the biggest of them being the plot. As it is written now, it makes no sense at all; it’s just a few events connected by the characters and some things Calvin tells us about. And all of it is just plain boring.

[Katie.dorny · Rating 3 out of 5]

*arc received in exchange for a fair review*.

I feel like there has to be a sequel with the ending.
The only thing I didn't enjoy was the fact we were thrown into the world with no backstory. I quite like backstory.
But we have majority minority characters and everyone is gay and happily gay and we have trans rep and it makes me really like this book.
I'm looking forward to the sequel. As there has to be. And for the flirting between Calvin and every cute guy to continue.

[Sammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

One-Line Summary:

With the court brutally murdered and his ex-boyfriend the only survivor, Cal has to somehow deliver the lodestone to the new Lord while managing to survive his so-called “helpers.”

Summary:

When Cal opens his door to find his ex-boyfriend bloodied, bruised, and naked on his doorstep, he knows it’s not going to be a good time. On his heels is a demon and in his possession is the lodestone, which belongs to the Lord of the city to help him keep the magic in balance so it doesn’t destroy the city. Only, the Lord and her council are dead, and for some reason, the lodestone didn’t make its way to the new Lord.

Cal isn’t exactly using his brain when he decides to help his ex, Salim, but it’s not like he expected to be chased through town by a demon, nearly killed, and finally arrested. With the help of the emissary of Stonewood, Barney, whose day job is as a police officer, they manage to get off with a slap on the wrist and one more person to join their mission, which seems doomed to fail.

What they really need most is help from Cal’s family, the Changs. Only, the matriarch, his grandmother, would prefer he were dead … and that’s the least of his worries. What he gets stuck with, instead, is the Changs’ arrogant and stone-cold lawyer, Tony. It’s not exactly the band of “heroes” Cal was hoping for, nor is he particularly qualified himself, but they’re the only hope Longshore has of restoring the balance before the unrestrained magic destroys the city. In short, they’re screwed.

The Positives:

- The magic system is actually really interesting and varied. It maybe wasn’t explored in the depth that it could have been (should have been?), but it was definitely well thought out and varied. Each family is known for different things, and even members in the family have different specialties. Cal, for instance, absorbs power, while his cousin is a master scryer. The families are basically clans, and there are hierarchies and alliances between them, and different clans hold different amounts of sway and power, which made it very interesting having to negotiate between them.

- I was laughing so hard at some scenes, I had to put the darn thing down. A lot of the humor is tongue-in-cheek or just stretched and sometimes situational, which is amusing but not always funny. What I thought this book really excelled at was banter and dialogue. The way the characters interacted with each other was great in a lot of places, and I warmed up to the characters quickly because of this. Cal himself is also just funny in his narrative, which I really enjoyed.

- This was pretty much non-stop action right from the get-go. Never a dull moment, as the saying goes. Some might hate that, but being so short, it really pulled the story along and didn’t let up, which I felt worked fine. At no point did I ever want to set it down, and in fact, I just couldn’t get enough. The mystery was just enough to keep me interested, although I had pretty much solved it and guessed where the ending would go from very early on, so no surprises there. Still, I was invested enough in the characters where that didn’t bother me.

- OMG, these characters … I just can’t even. If someone can find a way to make Tony real so I can marry him, I will owe you a debt of gratitude and possibly our first born? I feel like that’d be a worthy trade. I’m also pretty sure he’s gay, but we’ll just overlook that for a minute and leave me to my fantasies, okay? These characters were all great. Even Salim, who was very whiny through most of the book (I mean, to be fair, he had a pretty good reason for it). They each had their own separate personalities, their own backstories and strengths. Grandmother Chang is easily one of my favorites, even though we don’t see her much. Just from the way the other characters talk about her, it’s obvious that she’s both a force to be reckoned with and not easy to get along with, which means I am SO LOOKING FORWARD to seeing more of her, hopefully, in the next books.

- The ending was so not what I expected, but I approve. Well, sort of. Okay, I’m torn. For reasons I can’t get into because of spoilers. It’s a bit of a cliffhanger, but not in a way that irked me or anything. There’s obviously meant to be more books, and it does end a bit abruptly, but not in a way that made me want to throw my Kindle out of exasperation. Which is good because, you know, it’s expensive.

The Negatives:

- It was short. Like, really short. At only about 100 pages, that doesn’t leave a lot to work with, especially when you’re constructing a whole world and magic system, and it showed. A lot of things felt not fully developed or explored, which really took away from the overall story, in my opinion. It just felt rushed in some aspects.

- The backstory is slipped in in often random and sometimes confusing ways. Sometimes this worked out fine, and others I wondered why we were pausing from the plot at that particular moment to learn this bit of information. A lot of really pertinent information is slipped in this way, I feel, or things are alluded to or mentioned in passing and not expanded upon, so I felt like I didn’t always get a clear picture of the backstory or was confused by it. There was just a lot of things that were crammed into a really short book and it shows.

- The plot wasn’t entirely coherent. There was a lot of jumping and skimming, which, again, is probably a byproduct of it being so short. A quarter of the book is spent building up to this important moment that might save the city, even temporarily, and then when it comes down to it, the actual scene is skipped over. Doesn’t even mention whether everything went the way it was supposed to (but I assume it worked). Since there was so much build-up to it, I felt cheated and annoyed that it was glossed over so easily. As for the overall plot, without getting into any spoilers, I’ll just say that I’m still not clear how everything went down or even why. The “villain” didn’t seem to really have a strong motive, nor is there any mention of how they were able to pull off something of that scale.

- A couple of characters were obviously throwaways, even though they seemed to be important. They were basically deus ex machina. They showed up to serve the brief purpose they had and then totally disappeared again without much consequence or thought. Either that or they appear only when they’re needed, provided a teensy bit of backstory, and serve their purpose. Which is a shame, as they seemed like they could be interesting characters.

Overall:

I WANT THE NEXT BOOK NOW. Why don’t I have it yet? ARGH. While there were certainly aspects of this book that I found disappointing, it was a really fun book. Though the world wasn’t fully fleshed out, I did love the magic system and the glimpses of the world we did get. It was fun and funny and had fantastic characters that I could both relate to and swoon over. I don’t know what more I could ask for other than just, you know, more actual book?

Disclaimer: I received a free eARC copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Rambling Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

You're relaxing on your couch in your favorite ugly t-shirt. All of a sudden, a bang sounds at your front door and you open it to find your ex-boyfriend looking like the reject from a horror film.

Most sane people would call the cops, an ambulance, and possibly their mother. Now add in a slathering, bloodthirsty demon and you have the worst surprise Calvin Chang's ever gotten. 

When Cal's jerk of an ex-boyfriend falls onto his doorstep covered in other people's blood, he not only brings Salim into his home but prepares to fight the demon trying to make Salim his snack. 

Jasmine Hong's The Witch Stone introduces Calvin Chang, a male from a long line of magically-powerful and totally intimidating women. He's from one of the four powerful families, but he's far from a family favorite. Due to some messy history with Chang men, Cal's gender and magical power make him a bit of an undesirable. 

In fact, he spent most of his early childhood and teen years on the run from his grandmother, a woman who'd sooner kill him than do anything remotely grandmotherly. Now, with Salim's grand and bloody re-entrance into his life, Cal's being pushed into a spotlight, into a magical fray that he's never wanted to join in the first place. Instead, he typically works with architecture and has used his designs to help build a base of magic and safety into the city (Longshore). It's only at the insistence of his grandmother, in exchange for his continued survival, that he has anything to do with magical & family business.

Hong's novel starts off with a literal bang- straight into action. The novel continues at this breakneck speed, sometimes at the cost of plot development. The action both starts and wraps up so quickly, that it almost seems TOO easy.

I also wish there was more time to learn about the power dynamics of the city. Readers learn that there's a Court and a Lord of the City who have to do with protecting it and channeling the lines of magical power that exist around and in their territory. Given the ending of the novel, it's pretty clear that Hong is setting up for at least a second book, so I'm hoping that the world-building will get a lot more fleshed out then.

I like Cal; I think he has an adorable naivete, and he seems like he's got the core of a good person, a kind person. As far as other supporting characters go, there are a few who look like they'll be making a future appearance- Chuck, Cal's favorite cousin, Tony, the family's lawyer (and a potential romantic interest), and Nina- a child who will be very important moving forward.

One of the things that I really liked about Hong's novel, and a reason that I'll definitely check out a sequel, is her diverse characters. I think it's hard to find male leads in the urban fantasy genre, let alone a gay male lead. This is quite casually done, and I think that she has done a good job of making Cal a regular guy, instead of turning him into some kind of stereotype for the sake of diversity. We also learn that Cal's cousin, Chuck, is transgender and had transitioned in the last few years. Right now, we haven't gotten to learn much about Chuck's experience, but I think Hong has a huge opportunity to create a real backstory for someone who represents a group that I feel is largely under-represented in UF lit.

I think it's really important to see characters of different gender identities, sexual orientations, and races represented in any genre, and I think it's really cool that Hong has attempted to do that.

The Witch Stone may not be the most impressive book I've read this year, but I think that it's worth the time to read, and I see potential for a great second installment.

[Sofia (Dauntless) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Witch Stone could have been so much more. It is incredibly diverse, while not making a huge deal out of it, or making it into a stereotype. The main character is an American-Chinese gay man, his ex a Malay Muslim, his cousin a trans woman, and a friend of a friend a dragon, and no one bats an eyelid. That part I love. The rest – plot, world building, language – sadly, not so much.

Starting the first chapter of this book felt like jumping into the third book of a series that you haven’t read. I actually had to look it up to see if I’d requested a sequel by mistake (which I hadn’t). There were new characters showing up like you should know them, the complicated magical system of the world was introduced by it just being there, and the main character was slowly and haphazardly introduced throughout the whole book. I still don’t know how old he is, or what he actually did for a living, only that it made his study covered in maps and that it had something to do with city planning and telluric currents, aka a magical grid similar to ley-lines.

The language was in desperate need of another edit, since there were a lot of sentences that didn’t make any sense, or at least were jumbled enough to make me re-read them several times. As for the characters, while diverse, were not logical in their behavior, especially not the protagonist. That being said, I could glimpse a glimmer of hope for this story, if given (much) more work and care. It could be good, one day, but as it is now I would only recommend it as a very light, entertaining read on a rainy afternoon.

This book felt more like a quickly written story posted on Wattpad than a published book, and even though I genuinely wish that I could have liked it, I cannot give it more than two out of five stars. (Sorry.)

Read the review, and more, on the Aurora Diaries Blog: https://theauroradiariesblog.wordpres...

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

3.5 stars

To be honest, I really enjoyed WHAT Hong is doing with the story more than HOW much of it gets executed. Take Cal, for example. I love how we are introduced to him—he’s just a guy sitting at a desk when all hell breaks loose because his slightly magical boyfriend is on the lam from a murderous demon. The narration is first person, so we get to enjoy the action from the driver’s seat, to so speak. Cal is genuine, as we learn the more he interacts with his long-time ex-boyfriend and an amorous Barney (and Cal’s family lawyer, who drops a few hints along with flippant rejections), and a bit less naive than he once was. The way he interacts with his home magic helps me as a reader understand what his “normal” is, too. I always looked to how the wards around his home reacted for clues about whether I should like Salim or if something serious was going to happen.

Then, there’s the fact that Cal’s Chinese America. Beyond his name, though, that didn’t signify anything for the plot. Nevertheless, I did like how Hong fits that representation in there in a by-the-way kind of manner. This happens with Salim, also, but it felt a little more on-the-nose to me. It wasn’t until maybe 2/3 of the way through the book that Cal has reason to list why his grandmother hates Salim: he’s Muslim, he’s Malay, and he’s a boy. The first two have zero impact on the story and I discuss the romance aspect of the story below. Clearly, I think it’s important to Hong to have a story that doesn’t feature white people in all the main roles—but I think there would have been better opportunities to disclose these qualities about Salim.

Read Camille’s review in its entirety here.

[Elle❤ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

*Thank you to the author and NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Books like these have a particular audience, and I'm afraid that it's not me. Sort of comedic/paranormal books have never appealed to me - maybe if it was produced well then I would enjoy them... so far that hasn't happened.

Now, this book is not bad, but it was lacking in certain, very important, areas, and there were a few aspects of the story that I really didn't like and it left me unable to sustain any interest in carrying on.

This includes there being no character development and no world building. Two of the most vital aspects of assembling a book, and they were nonexistent. Also, the characters were really immature - which is a funny statement coming from me, but seriously, about 90% of the book consisted of the main character, Calvin, her ex Salim and her family lawyer Tony being extremely petty and jealous and arguing with one another about whos flirting with who and why. It was beyond annoying.

The cliffhanger at the end though... how could I NOT be intrigued to see what happens next?

[Ben Mcpeake · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was okay. Not good, not bad just okay. I love the genre and Calvin was a decent character and the magic was cool. those are all of the positives for me. This books main fault is lack of detail. we know basically nothing about the characters or the stone or why this whole situation is happening or how the magic actually works in this world or much of anything else really.

This book was a fast and okay read and i am interested in where this goes from here but overall unimpressive. 4/10

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely recommended for anyone looking for a fast-paced urban fantasy with diverse characters and cool magic!

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm so conflicted about this book.

On one hand I like the plot and the characters, and there's definitely a lot of potential.

On the other hand it feels like a sequel or companion although as far as I'm aware it's the first book in this world. There's very little worldbuilding, little to no explanation of the magic system, no meaninful character background, and its just so short.

Overall it reads like it was written for someone already aware of all the little important details of this world. I was just so confused the entire time even as the story propelled me through.

[Elaine White · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book – The Witch Stone
Series – Court of Ash and Thorn, Book 1
Author – Jasmine Hong
Star rating - ★★☆☆☆
No. of Pages – 103
Cover – Gorgeous!
POV – 1st person, one character
Would I read it again – No
Genre – LGBT, Paranormal, Contemporary, Magic


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **



DNF'd at 18%

I'm sorry to say that, however intriguing it was to make me want to read it, I just haven't got the patience to keep going with it. And I know that if I pushed it, I'd only end up angry and frustrated, which is no good to me or the author.

The simple matter is that I don't like the writing style. The actual writing ability isn't the problem, it's the execution of the storytelling. The story is littered with massive info dumps, explanations of related incidents that don't add anything to the story, and lots of history stories told just when things are getting even vaguely interesting. The writing itself is a little flowery and flashy, all about descriptive telling instead of showing.
The 1st person narrative doesn't help either, as the author fell into the trap that makes it my least favourite POV: not providing context. In 1st person, it's almost impossible to know anything about the MC unless they spell it out or someone else mentions it. In this case, it took until Chapter 3 (10% of the story) before we found out that our MC was a male, called Calvin. Until that point, there was no indicator of gender, or a first name other than “Cal” (which could be anything from Callie to Callum). Just because it's an MM book doesn't automatically mean that the POV is from a male and I found that it was hard to get a feel for either of the characters, due to the lack of characterisation and attention to detail.
I was just starting to get used to the idea of going further when Barney appeared, only for his introduction to be followed by two pages of info dump about Cal's mother.

Overall, I didn't gel well with the writing style, I thought it needed a few beta-readers to point out what was missing, and I couldn't feel any sort of attachment to the characters or their journey.

[Helen Kord · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book left me with complicated emotions. I'm rating it this high mostly for the promise and potential than what the book is in itself at the moment. There's also not much romance in this book besides some flirting, but I can't wait to see how the hints we got in this one progress in the next book(s?)

I feel like the book would've worked much better if it was longer. The pace moved at breakneck speed and there was absolutely no breathing space. The characters and the plot moved from one place to another without anything in between. The worldbuilding was fascinating and really well done. The story is intriguing and given how this is apparently the first book in a series, I'll forgive dangling threads or plot holes. Well, some of them. I can't believe nobody even thought to properly wonder 'who killed the Court' right up until the villain announced it themselves? It was so weird. Nobody was curious about who wiped out the ruling class of the city? And there were several times something important, plot related was discussed and I kept confusedly going 'wait did I miss something or was this not explained?'. It kept me frustrated.

Thankfully Cal, the protagonist, was wonderful. A brave, sweet, helpful man who didn't deserve any of the bullshit around him. He was great. Tony the lawyer charmed me immediately and I can't wait to see more of the mysteries behind his smooth facade. I'm not exactly thrilled that Salim, the one muslim and the only non-asian poc in the story (as far as I can remember) was described as angry, constantly snarling, rude and emotionally manipulative, abusive and toxic person to not just Cal, but everyone else. I tend do be sensitive to portrayal of arabs in media so this caught my attention, and not in the good way.
I loved Cal's cousin Chuck, and was delighted to know that the author actually did ask themselves the question of "if the society I'm writing is so binary about gender and gender roles, then where do the trans people fit in?, which usually gets overlooked. Chuck was a great, funny character and I hope to see more of her.

[Jess Crafts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very quick and enjoyable read. I loved the main character's magic which uses wards. His house is covered in them but I was sad we didn't see more of it, they were really important at the start but then weren't used again for the rest of the novella. I assume they become more important and we'll get more in later novellas as this is the first in a series but it would have been nice to have them affect the story more.
Calvin is an unimportant nobody from a very powerful magical family, one of a handful that live in his city, they answer only to the court. But when his ex shows up at his door telling Calvin the court is dead. The two men have to work together to save the city.
I found the hierarchy and magic very confusing to start with, we're thrown in the deep end and I glossed over it a bit rather than stop to try to figure it out but even not understanding it fully didn't stop me from enjoying it as we're filled in with more info as we go along. Unlike other novellas the book isn't short on plot, we have magic, demons, court politics, old warring families, old gods and cheating boyfriends but some of the tasks felt a bit like non events at times, Cal got through them a bit too easily. They could have been expanded and made more difficult and it would have made for a great novel length story with plenty of time to get across the world building and family politics and to expand on the characters more. It was a very diverse story with plenty of queer and POC characters but I can't speak to how good the rep is as they aren't all very good people.
There is trans rep in this as Calvin's younger cousin is trans, she was my favourite character but I do wish there was more of her in the novella.
Overall, an interesting story, that was an exciting and quick read with lots of potential for the rest of the series.

[Susan Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of The Witch Stone by Jasmine Hong via IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for an honest review. Reading fairy tales as a child led to reading Tolkien in grade school, so witches and fairies are fascinating to me. I was completely engaged by the author’s combination of fantasy and snark. Calvin, the hero of the book, is an anomaly in his family, a male witch with real power. He gets dragged into court intrigue thanks to his ex and winds up on a quest to find the new Lord of his city. It was fun to view this world through his eyes, as he is a mix of cynicism and naivete despite all he has been through. It was especially refreshing to read a story where not everyone is a white cis male and women hold real positions of power. While the book has a satisfying ending, the hook for book two makes me impatient for it to be published!

[Chinelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book.
This book is the start of the series  The court of Ash and Snow. The first page starts with action, its like hey you see your ex and then all of a sudden its KABOOM in your apartment. Calvin tries to save the city and at the same time solve the mystery of the whereabouts of the Lord of the city. There's betrayal an annoying as fuck ex and cute flirting with a smexy classy lawyer.

The Calvin Chung the main character is a cutie, i loved how he matured from his past relationship with Salim( the blasted ex). I loved that there was a transgender character (Chuck), i haven't read a book with one before and she was cool.

The cliffhanger is blue-balls inducing however, i am expecting great things in the next book and maybe my OTP( one true pairing of Calvin and Tony the smexy lawyer) would finally happen. I loved the writing it was easy to understand, its like you can ''see'' each scene. Its fast paced action, the romance is one that is budding and i think the author intends to build it up instead of just boom throwing it in your face.

I loved the magic and the mystery that the book provided, i would continue this series to see how it plays out. I still have a lot of questions and i think the next book would answer them.

[CJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has potential but falls a bit short of the mark. It really needed to be a bit longer to expand on the magic system and the world building. The characters jumping from crisis to crisis meant the slow reveal of this world was a bit rushed and sometimes didn't make a lot of sense. While I did like most of the characters, some of them really served no purpose except to tell the hero they were an idiot for not realising something basic and then give them a magical item so they can continue on their quest.

Am not sure what age group this is for. It is short and has a lot of inst-love/lust so could be middle school or YA.

I'm curious enough to pick up the next one if I see it. Hopefully it has more crow.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, I am not a fan of LGBTQ kind of books. But I am willing to try it as long as the story and plot are interesting enough to caught my attention. Sadly, this book lacks the excitement and did not throw me off. The world building, the pace of the story seems messed up for me. I feel like I am reading the wrong sequel of the book. So much is going on, and the author did not give enough information to let the readers understand the story.

Overall, I feel like the book could have been good if it was edited properly. The language and the flow of the story seems out of order. Writing style could have saved this book from bad impression.

[Tessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this story had really interesting worldbuilding.
However, the story was 33k words long, and could have used another 30k to flesh it out and maybe also make better transitions between the scenes? At one point I actually went to look up the file on my laptop, because I thought my ereader must have eaten some pages. There was a big buildup to a magicky thing, and then suddenly it was after and it was all done. I'm still not sure if some scenes somehow got lost. Then again, since I checked both the epub and mobi files, both directly from the publishers website, it seems like it was just a style choice of some sort?

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't give a lot of 5 star reviews but this book deserves one. It's well written, fast paced, with well-drawn engaging characters, and one hell of a story. It's a quick, exciting read and I wish it had been longer but this is a complete story and there's a lot of room for more and I can't wait for it.

[Gemma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, hoping there's a sequel really soon so I can find out what happens next, what a cliffhanger!

[Bradley Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast paced plot which made for a quick read. Look forward to the next book in the series.

[Drianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pacing was all over the place, and I couldn't figure out who was supposed to be the couple I was rooting for, so meh.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review was made possible by #netgalley.

Sigh. I really wanted to like this book. I really, really did. The description ticked all of my boxes - urban fantasy, magic, witches, and unsolved murder. However, the best description in the world can't help a poorly written story, which is what #TheWitchStone is.

The first chapter was decent - there were a few unexplained things (like how wards work) but you expect a few of those. However, as I read on it quickly became apparent that the author expected you to already be familiar with the book's universe (but...this is the first book....right?) and to already be familiar with the main character. Case in point: I spent the first half of the book thinking that the main character was female. Turns out he's male (which is fine) but it was really confusing! I had no idea who half of the other characters were - and no exposition is given to at least ease the readers way into the book.

Honestly, I really wanted to stop reading about a quarter of the way through, but I persevered thinking maybe it would get better. It didn't.

The story here, and the characters, are pretty decent. But the construction of the story is absolutely awful. I will /not/ read any other books by this author.

[Matt Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tasty morsel. An appetizer for more if you will. The book has me hooked, looking to see where the journey goes.

[J.A. Ironside · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

 

This didn’t entirely work for me and I think unfortunately it was mostly the writing. It felt like it needed another round of edits – tautologies, grammatical errors etc  I expect a few in any book but this just kept jolting me out of the story. It’s fast paced – almost frantic – and those who like to be dropped in in media reas in the second paragraph may well enjoy it more than I did. It is compulsive but it’s a bit like popcorn – not a meal in and of itself. Shout out for the diversity though – that was done really well and never made exploitative or used as a USP. Ultimately I liked it but it was missing something for me.

[Annarella · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, quick read book that could have been great it if were a bit longer.
I liked it but there are some part of the plot that are left open and could answered in a next instalment.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher