Even Though I Knew the End

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But this is also a book about sacrifice and love and hope and how those three things can take so many different shapes, yet sometimes they look the very same. I highly recommend this one and pray it will be the first book in a series. Fantastic Noir: The story is about a PI with magic powers investigating a serial killer using their victim's blood for Blood Magic. But even as the moment I had dreamed of turned into a nightmare, the gears in my skull kept turning. Teddy wasn’t in this alley by chance. They’d been watching the scene all along. Not cops. Not robbers. High magicians, and that was worse. Angels are also capable of possessing people as well, though they usually use Willing Channelers instead, living with their host and only taking control when their hosts allows it. The angel Zashiel however deliberately possesses women that are too weak to handle channeling an angel to commit the murders necessary for their ritual. Marlowe had been right after all. This was one hell of a job, and I didn’t have time to take it past this consultation. I wished I could have, even though the whole thing screamed peril! Danger! Mortal threat! Awful as it was, it woke my sense of curiosity right up.

JadePhoenix13 on Reading The Wheel of Time: Taim Tells Lies and Rand Shares His Plan in Winter’s Heart (Part 3) 4 hours ago Pixieltd on Reading The Wheel of Time: Taim Tells Lies and Rand Shares His Plan in Winter’s Heart (Part 3) 3 hours ago Helen would love to keep the two people she loves most—her estranged younger brother, Ted, and her lover, Edith—out of harm’s way, especially when her case is so very dangerous. But Ted is a member of a magical brotherhood, the same one that expelled Helen when she made her demonic deal, and he’s working the very same case. Edith, despite her dislike of violence, has reasons she can’t stay away from the work, as well. Those connections are another departure from the traditional noir narrative, where the lonely PI ends the story alone and unchanged; here, Helen’s relationships set the stakes of the story, showing us what’s at risk if she fails. And Polk sets up those relationships to hook readers with both the fear that we know how things will turn out, and the hope that we don’t, and that maybe, maybe there’s a happy ending out there for the characters.What does detract a bit, however, is that Helen’s lover, Edith, is simply too good to be true and that entire love story had a bit of an artificial feel to it. And the possibility of a conflict with her brother Ted is resolved a bit too swiftly and too easily — and Ted was not a well-developed character even in the necessarily short novella setting. Plus, overall noir is not very much my jam, although I tried to get past that. The bittersweet ending fit the overall mood of the story though, so that was well done. and, oh god, what a tragically doomed romance they share. the book is short, but helen's adoration for edith shines brightly, is never questioned. i love reading about a couple who is effortlessly comfortable with one another, yet loves each other with such consistent passion. their whole love story is painfully bittersweet. Fans of John Constantine, the occult PI of DC comic books and film fame, will find a lot to like in Polk’s fantastically rendered depiction of a celestial war. With corrupt motivations on both sides, it’s often unclear which is more dangerous. Mortals aren’t defenseless, especially if they can wield magic (enchanted bullets make more than one appearance), but there’s still a constant sense of danger, and humans often end up as collateral damage.

Blood Magic: The reason why the White City Vampire is called such is because all of their murders have painted the nearby walls in blood to perform a magic ritual to steal the victim's soul. Lastly, if you’re an audiobook person, I highly recommend it. Narrator January LaVoy was a delight. She hit every voice, every accent, every kernel of subtext perfectly. Usually I listen to audiobooks while doing other activities, but she made it hard to concentrate on anything else.

Many thanks to Tor Publishing and Raincoast Books for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review! I read this by accident. Or rather, I fully intended to read it, had a little speak at the first chapter and then it was a handful of hours later, I was crying, and I’d finished it. First and foremost, we must talk about the setting. Taking place in 1940s Chicago, the environment becomes a character all its own. There is no shortage of books, movies, and television shows set during this period of time, especially in this part of the country, but Even Though I Knew the End managed to keep it fresh. Please note: This review may not be reproduced or quoted, in whole or in part, without explicit consent from the author.

C.L. Polk is a fantasy writer from Calgary. Their other books include Witchmark , Stormsong and The Midnight Bargain . Witchmark, their debut novel, won the 2019 World Fantasy Award for best novel. It was also nominated for a Nebula Award, Locus Award, Aurora Award and a Lambda Literary Award. The Midnight Bargain will be defended by Olympian and broadcaster Rosey Edeh on Canada Reads 2021. In a moment that gives away nothing about the story itself, Polk takes a beat to heighten the sense of hope that infuses the whole novella. There’s only one end to this story you’re reading, Polk seems to say to readers. But hope anyway. Hope, even though you know the end.C.L. Polk's fantasy novel The Midnight Bargain explores love and magic — and now it's on Canada Reads Heather Andrews Self Love Elevated: 19 Women share their powerful and vulnerable collection of self-love stories including 60 + lessons learned and mindset tips I never realized how much I was a body until I didn’t have one, how deeply I was my conscious thought until it disappeared, and I was nothing and nowhere and not. And then I was, and that was when I became afraid.”