Disclaimer: I received an electronic version of this short story in exchange for an honest review.

It’s hard to get invested in a story that opens with too many characters who are hard to differentiate and even harder to identify with. Though the basic world-building is accomplished with well-written descriptions, no major conflict is introduced to get me hooked.

Even more problematic than the multitude of characters is the presentation of the female characters, who are defined almost solely by their sexualized attributes and appear to only exist as sex objects for the male characters. The time period of the story does not excuse this treatment, nor the overall lack of diversity.

Though I was looking forward to seeing how the story embodied the major arcana of the tarot deck, the plot seemed to revolve more around glorifying drug use and dull teenage rebellion.

Multiple point of view errors severely decreased the readability of this story, which therefore never grabbed me. The treatment of women turned me off completely, and I will not be interested in continuing with this series.

Rating: 1 (out of 5) stars. Cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads.

Currently reading: Short Fuse by Brent D. Seth