Review: Halflings by Heather Burch

Posted by Carrie

I got this ARC to review courtesy of Netgalley. I’m not counting this book in my challenges since I didn’t finish it!

The main character in this story, Nikki, is supposedly a kick-ass girl who has a black belt in karate and rides a motorcycle. She is leading a “normal” until until suddenly, everywhere she turns, she is being attacked by evil creatures and she doesn’t know why.

Luckily she has 3 half-human, half-angel protectors to watch over her. Mace, Raven, and Vine exist in a halfway between Earth and Heaven, and are outcasts in them both. Mace in particular feels inexplicably drawn to Nikki. But the 3 guardians are not supposed to get involved in the human’s life.

That is all I know, because I only got 50 pages and four chapters into the story before I had to stop reading it. First of all, I didn’t really buy Nikki as a realistic character. She is a 17 year old whose parents let her ride all around creation on a motorcycle, for cripes’ sake? And she has a black belt in karate…she’s also beautiful, but awkward around guys. SIGH. No, the beautiful-chick-who-is-awkward-around-guys motif has been overdone, and it’s just so far from reality it’s not even funny.

Second of all, I HATE HATE HATE instant LOVE in a novel. Mace came into contact with Nikki all of two times, during both she was unconscious…and he is all of a sudden in love with her. OOOK. Whatever.

Third, the language was way too sappy and cliche. Bad metaphors abound. For example, “His face was so very alive. Like moonbeams captured in flesh.” Or, “I’m scared of myself. What I can do. What I can’t do. Why I don’t know who I am.” Yeah. I just couldn’t go on.

Don’t even get me started on the guys’ names. Mace, Raven, and Vine? Are they angelic protectors or pro wrestlers?

It’s very rare I cannot finish a book, and I hate giving bad reviews, but I have to be honest. Halflings was not for me.

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