Dark and sweet

Magic made homey and extravagant at the same time ! Great work, great characters. Cant wait for the next one

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Endearing and captivating

A fun read, couldn't put it down and went straight into the sequel. The characters are strong and realistically dysfunctional in this believable departure from the real world.

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Boring

I really didn’t care for this book so much. The story did get better towards the end, however, I felt the narrator did nothing for the story. He has a nice voice but there was no excitement in it.

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New read

I’ve never heard of the book or the author so it was a new read for me. Glad I did, it was a well written and enjoyable book.

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3 stars

Adam Binder is estranged from his mother and older brother. He lives with his father's aunt and is using his magical sight and mechanics talents to do odd jobs and try to get enough money to survive another month. Adam is also on the hunt for an evil warlock that he suspects might be his father who abandoned them when Adam was a child. Things quickly get out of control when Adam receives a call from Robert, his brother who he hadn't spoken to in years, to ask for Adam's help because Robert's wife seems to be possessed.

The world-building is really interesting, there are different planes superposed on top of each other, and Adam can see the spirit plane thanks to his sight, but Adam can also shadow-walk, meaning that in his sleep he can enter the spirit plane and with the help of elves of other powerful creatures he can even travel to other planes while his physical body remains in his bed. That being said, the emphasis put on the descriptions and world-building made it hard sometimes to keep a good flow of action and a good pace. It's a good thing I also had the book on Audible so I could listen to it in the car and push through the longer parts because sometimes it just felt like not much happened.

Adam is a sweet and easy-to-like main character. He's had a tough life with an abusive father, a family that turned their back on him, a slightly homophobic entourage, no high school degree, and no steady job, he is trying his best, but his best is not enough for him to truly feel happy. It angered me to see how badly his family (except for his aunt) was treating him, and how little self-esteem he had because of everything that happened to him. He is also afraid to fall in love again after being abandoned with no explanation at all by the one he gave his heart to, and it hurt my heart to see how he felt like a freak and a recluse even though he was so sweet and kind. One aspect of Adam's powers that I really loved is how he can see colors associated with emotions. That part was so interesting, and I would have loved to see more of it throughout the book. I feel that it could be an awesome power to develop and a great tool for Adam, but he's not using this ability to its best potential.

Robert was a well-done character in the sense that I immediately disliked him for what he did to Adam, and also for the way he behaved. Robert is the one responsible for Adam being locked up when he was a teenager, and while Robert claimed that he only wanted to do what was best for Adam, we can see from the very beginning of the book that Robert cares about appearances and others' opinion more than he does about genuine feelings and fostering healthy relationships with others. Everything revolves around what others will think of him, the image he projects, and his social status in life. So because of all that I was really annoyed by Robert, but it's good because that's how we're supposed to feel about him, and it also means that there is room for a kind of redemption arc in the next books for him if he wants to salvage his relationship with Adam. I also like that Robert still had layers, he was not just this superficial doctor, he was a mix of guilt, protectiveness, exasperation, and love when it came to Adam, and we can see that he's starting to realize how badly he hurt Adam in the past.

The relationship developing between Adam and Vic was cute and endearing, and I would love to see how it will continue to evolve in the next book, but I am not sure yet if I will give the second book a try or not. While their relationship was super sweet, it also felt a little unsatisfying. It's clear that it is heading toward romantic feelings, and I am really hoping for it, but overall, there was almost no romance in this book so just don't go in there expecting a hate-to-love romance between Adam and his elf ex-lover like I did, because this is not what this book is about.

Overall, it was a good story, with a very interesting world-building and it felt different from the other paranormal books I've read lately, but somehow I struggled to really get involved in the plot and to fully understand the "villain's" motive... I understand the reason they gave for what they did, but it feels weak to me, to be honest... I was expecting something bigger or more shocking. I think the identity of the mastermind is supposed to be a shock and even feel like a betrayal, but it just felt anticlimactic to me. The information was just dropped there, and I didn't care about the character or their connexion to Adam enough to feel anything about their "betrayal".

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really good narration

Good story, interesting gay and bi characters, really good narration made for a quick read of this urban fantasy series.

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Unexpected

I did not expect a lot going into this read, but found this to be a good story with an interesting urban take on fantasy. It admittedly had its stops and starts with a smattering of predictability, but, there are pleasant twists and the characters weren't two dimensional. The gay male protagonist is always a bonus for a fujoshi like me, and its not some syrupy lemon triangle. Narrator has a sexy voice. Thumbs up, looking forward to the next.

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Absolute Hidden Gem

I was in a rush before a long drive and started White Trash Warlock without knowing what it was about. I'm so glad I did! I listened to all 3 books in a week. The characters and world are fully fleshed out and dynamic. The story is layered with the perfect mix of simple and complex.

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A wonderful Urban Fantasy!

White Trash Warlock introduces us to Adam Binder, a low-grade magic user from the small town of Guthrie. He’s spent years chasing after a dark, twisted sort of magic that tastes too familiar. When his older brother, Bobby, calls him after years of not speaking together — years of silence caused by his brother committing him to a psych ward for hearing voices — Adam has to put aside any misgivings to help his sister-in-law, Annie.

Because Annie’s been possessed by a murderous spirit. But when Adam gets to Denver, he realizes that there’s more at play than he ever could have imagined. In order to survive, Adam is forced to do the one thing he’s never wanted to do; he’ll have to bargain with powers he’d rather avoid.

Our main character, Adam Binder, is the very definition of an endearing underdog. Everything about him made me love him, from his cynical outlook on life to the way he is so unflinchingly good. I wanted him to win more than anything!

Beyond having an amazing main character, White Trash Warlock — and further, the Adam Binder series — has an AMAZING magic system. Rife with a sense of realism, Slayton created a magic system that drew me in. There’s something about magic as colours that intrigues me endlessly, and I absolutely adored the way Slayton built magic into this universe.

I also absolutely adored the way that Adam wasn’t all powerful. And, even more than that, it was his LACK of great magic that made him so invaluable. Adam didn’t rely on big feats of magic; rather, he carefully approached the different challenges he was faced with, always trying to analyze what he knew and didn’t know as he listened to his instincts.

On a heavier note, the story deals heavily with parental trauma, specifically trauma surrounding alcoholism. While this is something that usually hits a little too close to him, I found that Slayton handled it with exceptional care. Beyond that, it was almost TOO well done, and the ever-tremulous relationship between Adam and Bobby hit hard.

White Trash Warlock is a dual-POV novel, and we get to see both Adam’s and Bobby’s point of view. This made the story SO much better than it would have been if we’d only seen Adam’s POV, and every time we got to dip into Bobby’s mind, I understood him more and more.

By the end, I wanted nothing more than for the two of them to go to family counselling and work through their generational trauma because I loved them with all that I had.

As much as I loved the familial relationship between Adam and Bobby, I equally loved the romantic relationship between Adam and Vic. I mean, magical soul-bonds? Accidental magical marriage?? These two were thrown together, sure, but they built something so genuine together that made my heart MELT.

As previously mentioned, Adam is definitely cynical, and his hesitantly with Vic was realistic, understandable, and still kinda heartbreaking. Because of that, every single time Vic was earnest and honest with his affection for Adam made my heart MELT!

White Trash Warlock by David R. Slayton is an AMAZING introduction to the Adam Binder trilogy that perfectly introduces us to a vibrant magic system and wonderfully flushed out characters. It’s well written with an easy-to-digest pace that keeps the story going AND keeps you wanting to read.

This was an easy four-star read, made even easier by the absolutely wonderful performance by Michael David Axtell who made this book even more enjoyable. With a clear tone, subtle-but-distinguishable accents, the audiobook kept me engaged from start to finish and added another element of mystique to an already amazing book.

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1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Not a bad book !

I thought it was a good performance by the author, although at times it seems like it dragged out on one thing a little too much and I really do enjoy books like this, so bring them on!!!🤗

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