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Book: “Half City” by Kate Golden
Publishing Info: Ace, February 2026
Where Did I Get this Book: copy from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: Viv Abbot is an average twenty-one-year-old girl. She lives in an expensive city where the rent is too high, works long hours at a thankless job, and is dating a guy she doesn’t even like in the hopes of winning her prickly mother’s approval.
She just also happens to be a demon hunter.
Ever since her father’s murder, she’s been forced to hunt deviants alone, meaning everyone, including her family, sees her as an outsider. . . . Until the day she crosses paths with a dangerously alluring demon, Reid Graveheart. The reformed deviant tells her of a school for people just like her: Harker Academy for Deviant Defense. If she enrolls, she’ll learn to hone her craft, work with other hunters, and never be alone again.
But Viv has a deadly secret. One that not even her new friends at Harker can know about. Not when the school might hold the answers to untangling the mystery surrounding Viv’s father’s death. When strange occurrences begin to plague the students, Viv will have to figure out who she can trust, and fast. All while trying to ace her classes, not fall for a demon, and make it through her first year at Harker in one piece. How hard could that be?
Review: So, part of the problem with my experience of this book was the disconnect between what I expected based on the cover art and what the book was. It’s hard to even put my finger on exactly what that disconnect was. Perhaps something to do with its atmosphere and overall tone? The cover looks dark, grim, slightly Victorian, perhaps, and promising a strong female lead and romantic interest. But instead, this book leaned hard into urban fantasy conventions in the worst way, with an overly quippy “pick me” main character and a deluge of unnecessary scenes and events.
For the pros, I think readers who enjoy urban fantasy first and foremost are most likely to enjoy this one. While I do enjoy this subgenre at times, it’s not necessarily a go-to for me. I often seem to bounce off the sorts of main characters that dominate this genre, finding them abrasive more than sympathetic more often than not.
I also thought the general idea of the book was interesting—not hugely original, perhaps, but interesting nonetheless. Unfortunately, the author didn’t seem to have a good handle on what made up the actual story itself. Far too often, I would find myself mired in scenes that, after finishing them, felt pointless and repetitive. These scenes dragged down the pacing of the story and, too often, left me disliking the main character more and more.
As I said above, she had strong “pick me” energy from the very start, and this was only worsened once she reached the school, where we were then treated to an endless recitation of her numerous judgments passed freely on those around her. She’s meant to come across as a badass character, but instead I found her whiny and unlikable much of the time.
As for the romantic interest, at least he didn’t actively frustrate me the same way that Viv did. But, on the other hand, he read the same as every other demon romantic lead you’ve ever read, falling prey to the same insta-lust tendencies that we’ve seen before and that have become increasingly tired.
Overall, this was a pretty disappointing read. Quality-wise, it’s not badly written, and I do think it will connect with readers who are looking for an urban fantasy romance novel. But I was held back by the slow pacing and my dislike for the main character.
Rating 7: Meh in pretty much every sense of the word, unfortunately.
Reader’s Advisory:
“Half City” can be found on these Goodreads lists: 2026 Fantasy Romance/Romantasy books to look forward to and All the New Fantasy Books Arriving in February 2026.
The Library Ladies 