The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray

I really wanted to like this book more than I actually did. It has a fun creepy premise and the plot is suspenseful but the characters just had no depth and nothing to make them meaningful or relatable. The main characters are just not that interesting - they seem like they SHOULD be, but then we never see enough of their internal thoughts or anything to really make them unique. No one ever acts in a way other than exactly how we would expect based on their character, and every character could essentially be described in one sentence (and in the whole book we never go deeper than that).

The supernatural monsters are really really creepy and very well described - definitely the best part of the book. The human villains are...as flat and boring as the human heroes.

I read this book when I was maybe 11 or 12 and I remembered being really creeped out, but I didn't remember anything else about it so I picked it up again hoping for a fun Halloween read. It's definitely an easy read and the plot moves along quickly and engagingly but I would necessarily recommend it.

this really depends on what you want from the story. if you go into it wanting a really interesting plot, told from an objective point of view with little sentimentality, you'll really like this.

it has been pointed out that the characters are somewhat bland and the love story is boring and pointless. and that is true, but i find most love stories to be boring and pointless so it doesn't seem like a problem to me. and the blandness of the characters is offset by the richness of the language and descriptions of the city.

the author is telling you a scary story, and he manages to do so without tripping over his characters or getting bogged down in anything other than the point.