The Midnight Gardener (R.G. Thomas)
3.5 stars
I admit, I saw the words “garden gnome” and immediately requested for the arc. What can I say, I enjoy urban fantasy and I really like having different supernatural beings as front and center. So I couldn’t pass the chance to read about garden gnomes, could I?
What I liked the most about this story – which is the beginning of a series called “The Town of Superstition” – was how atmospheric it was. I enjoyed how R.G. Thomas described those nights when Thaddeus first discovered, observed, and later being introduced to the world of magic and supernatural beings by way of Teofil, the garden gnome. I felt like being there with Thaddeus as his eyes were open to this new experience, that the world he was living was not at all ordinary.
I also enjoyed reading about Thaddeus’ relationship with his father, Nathan. Since Thaddeus’ mother was not in the picture – there would be an explanation for that in addition to quite a surprising moment that just made my jaw dropped – the father-son relationship was pretty strongly displayed. Although there were moments in which I thought Nathan should be more opened about their family background towards Thaddeus, especially after the ‘secret was out’.
This was only the beginning of Thaddeus’ quest and the story ended with ‘soft-of’ a cliffhanger. I said ‘sort-of’ because the threat for Thaddeus and Nathan, at the moment, was being taken care of but there were still questions left to be answered. Well, I definitely look forward to the next story because I want to see how Thaddeus evolve – I haven’t seen him doing magic yet *smile*
I admit, I saw the words “garden gnome” and immediately requested for the arc. What can I say, I enjoy urban fantasy and I really like having different supernatural beings as front and center. So I couldn’t pass the chance to read about garden gnomes, could I?
What I liked the most about this story – which is the beginning of a series called “The Town of Superstition” – was how atmospheric it was. I enjoyed how R.G. Thomas described those nights when Thaddeus first discovered, observed, and later being introduced to the world of magic and supernatural beings by way of Teofil, the garden gnome. I felt like being there with Thaddeus as his eyes were open to this new experience, that the world he was living was not at all ordinary.
I also enjoyed reading about Thaddeus’ relationship with his father, Nathan. Since Thaddeus’ mother was not in the picture – there would be an explanation for that in addition to quite a surprising moment that just made my jaw dropped – the father-son relationship was pretty strongly displayed. Although there were moments in which I thought Nathan should be more opened about their family background towards Thaddeus, especially after the ‘secret was out’.
This was only the beginning of Thaddeus’ quest and the story ended with ‘soft-of’ a cliffhanger. I said ‘sort-of’ because the threat for Thaddeus and Nathan, at the moment, was being taken care of but there were still questions left to be answered. Well, I definitely look forward to the next story because I want to see how Thaddeus evolve – I haven’t seen him doing magic yet *smile*
The ARC is provided by the publisher for an exchange of fair and honest review. No high rating is required for any ARC received.
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