So this time, it’s been four months since I’ve participated in this post. It’s a new record everyone! 😭💀
Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books languishing on our bookshelves created and hosted by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies. It’s a whole lotta fun, so if you’re interested in participating yourself, click the backlink above.
This week I’m gonna highlight is one I bought because I bought the first book, and I wanted to have the sequel cued up for when I was done with it. It’s Hexed by Kevin Hearne, the second book in the Iron Druid Chronicles.
In the second novel in the New York Times bestselling Iron Druid Chronicles, two thousand-year-old Druid Atticus O’Sullivan faces off against witches, Bacchants, and a ravenous fallen angel.
Atticus O’Sullivan has had cause to mistrust witches in his storied past, but he’s willing to live and let live with the Sisters of the Three Auroras, a legendary local coven, even going so far as to sign a non-aggression treaty with them. But that treaty is tested immediately when a deadly new coven sweeps into town seeking to take over, along with some Bacchants from Las Vegas and a fallen angel who’s decided to snack on high school students like they were trail mix.
It’s more than Atticus can handle alone and he must enlist the trickster Coyote, the headhopping abilities of the witch Laksha Kulesekaran, and his neighbor’s illegal arsenal if he wants to keep the city safe from diabolical takeover. He must also exchange favors with his vampire attorney, Leif Helgarson, in a deal that might prove to be the worst of his long life–for Leif doesn’t want to be paid by the hour.
To defeat the mortal hexes of this new coven and keep his apprentice–and his city–safe, Atticus must think fast, make promises, keep his sword handy, and hope he’ll survive to fight another day.
Why It Languishes on My Bookshelf
WHEN I GOT IT: October 2023
WHY I WANTED TO READ IT: I bought it preemptively when I bought Hounded, the first book in this series. I wanted to have the sequel ready to go in case I (hopefully) liked it. In fact, I actually kind of expected to like it.
WHY I HAVEN’T READ IT YET: I didn’t like the first book, so I haven’t had any interest in continuing with the series.
WILL I EVER READ IT?: No. I didn’t like the first book, and I really don’t have any interest in reading any of the other Iron Druid Chronicles.
But yeah, thank you for reading and have an awesome day/night!
Last week was crazy. I read a lot, and I got a bunch of stuff done around the house. So, lots of different kinds of progress.
I can’t believe that Halloween is tomorrow. These past four weeks have gone by so fast. Soon enough I’ll be posting October’s monthly wrap-up!
But that’s for another time. Let’s get into this part week’s wrap-up.
Tuesday 10/24: Tasteful Tuesday
Last Tuesday I brought back Majestic Mondays – but now under a new name! I’ve also moved the day of the week that I do the post – hence why I’m now calling it Tasteful Tuesday!
Tasteful Tuesday, if you aren’t aware, is when I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it.
For my Friday post, I did something a little different. I wasn’t feeling a First Line Friday or anything like that, but I was having a time of figuring out what to do.
I eventually decided to give the blog a reading update. As of Friday of last week, I’d read 52 books within 43 weeks. I’ve never done that before (and I’ve read even more now!). I’m not gonna gush about it here, cuz I’ve already done so in the actual post.
Yesterday I posted another book review – the second of two last week. It was a book (and series) that I was actually excited to read, but was ultimately disappointed by, unfortunately.
Hounded was simply not for me. I don’t think it was necessarily poorly written or anything – I just think it just wasn’t my type of book. I ended up giving it ★★✯☆☆.
I know I’ve been talking a lot during this section of the post lately, but I’m going to cut it a little short this time. I’m tired and I haven’t been feeling well since last night.
This coming week I’m definitely going to post my review for The Graveyard Book. I’ve actually been saving it for tomorrow, since it’s Halloween and all – I wanted to do a spooky book review!
Aside from that, I’m gonna post my monthly reading wrap-up for October, and probably Spell the Month in Books. But I’m not sure about anything else.
But yeah, I don’t really have anything else to say. So this is the end… of this post.
As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope that you have a great day/night!
The first novel in the New York Times bestselling Iron Druid Chronicles–the hilarious, action-packed tales of a two-thousand-year-old Druid pursued by ancient gods in the modern world
Atticus O’Sullivan is the last of the ancient druids. He has been on the run for more than two thousand years and he’s tired of it. The Irish gods who want to kill him are after an enchanted sword he stole in a first-century battle, and when they find him managing an occult bookshop in Tempe, Arizona, Atticus doesn’t want to uproot his life again. He just wants everything to end one way or another, but preferably the way in which he can continue to enjoy fish and chips.
He does have some small hope of survival: The Morrigan, the Irish Chooser of the Slain, is on his side, and so is Brighid, First Among the Fae. His lawyer is literally a bloodsucking vampire, and he has a loyal Irish wolfhound with opinions about poodles.
But he’s facing down some mighty enemies: Aenghus Óg, a vengeful Irish god, plus a coven of witches and even the local police. On top of all that, Aenghus has a direct line to the firepower of hell. Atticus will need all the luck of the Irish and more if he’s going to stay alive.
My Review
So, I really, really love the Dresden Files. Or, at least, the ones that I’ve read so far. And I was in the mood for another kick-ass and sassy urban fantasy series. So when I heard about the Iron Druid Chronicles, I was like: This seems right up my alley!
But, uh, it really wasn’t. Unfortunately.
I really wanted to like Hounded. I wanted to like it so much. But I didn’t, and I couldn’t. This book just wasn’t for me. It wasn’t right up my alley.
Let’s just get into it…
Pros
I’d have to ask Oberon to leave him a present on his front doorstep. He’d do it camouflaged too, so that even if Mr. Semerdjian was watching – and he probably would be – it would appear to be undeniable, physical evidence that, sometimes, shit just happens.
• The dog ▼
I really enjoyed Atticus’s (the main character) dog, Oberon. He’s just so funny and loyal. I really like dogs as a rule, however, so this isn’t a surprise at all to me. I do wish his dialogue wasn’t quite as… intelligent I guess, for lack of a better word. Like, he used some words from the English language that I’ve rarely seen in most books – and he’s a dog! Not even a magic dog! Manchee from Chaos Walking is how to write dog dialogue in my opinion.
• The way the different gods and magic interact ▼
This is a bit of a long way to word this point, I know, but I couldn’t think of another way to do it without getting the point I wanted across. I like how Hounded incorporates different religions and pantheons and magic, and then blends it together seamlessly. It really all feels very natural, like all of these different religions and magic are just coexisting somehow, all on planet Earth.
Like, it just works. Even though this novel focuses primarily on Irish gods and druidic magic and witches, other gods and supernatural beings appear too. For example, Jesus and Mary from Catholism are just casually band dropped, like yeah they’re here too. And vampires and werewolves also make several (moderately important) appearances throughout the book.
• (Some of) the narration ▼
Admittedly, though I had a bunch of issues with Atticus as a character, I really did enjoy some of his narration. It’s a little bit witty, and I also found it somewhat funny to read. I’ve definitely read better, but the way the book was written wasn’t the worst in the first person narrative department. This was at least sometimes entertaining.
Cons
• (Almost all of) the characters ▼
I didn’t like any of the characters in Hounded. Like, at all. (Save one.) It was hard to find any of them to be likeable, especially when we don’t really get to know too many of them.
Atticus O’Sullivan is our main character, and I didn’t much care for him. He’s too overpowered for my tastes and not in a good way. Because there is a way to write a likeable OP character – Atticus just isn’t done right. He’s also not a very interesting character to me, for whatever reason. Probably because he isn’t very interested in the stuff happening around him for a good portion of the book, even though it’s threatening his existence.
I also found it kind of annoying that he has sex with several goddesses throughout the novel. Like, I didn’t really understand why they were all so horny. Atticus my look 21, but he’s over two millenia old. He’s therefore had plenty of time to master his libido. And the goddesses weren’t really interesting either – they were basically non-characters, which was probably what annoyed me the most about the sex thing. Oh, and none of the other characters were really compelling or interesting either.
When he said to give him the sword, I don’t think he meant for you to stick it in his guts.
• The storytelling ▼
This was probably my biggest gripe. The storyline, and the flow of the novel in general, really sucked. To me, at least. This book started off kind of slow, and the pacing never got any better. Atticus himself didn’t even seem to be interested in the book’s story until at least a third of the way through either, and that’s not a good thing.
Not to mention the constant interruptions to the flow of the plot. It seemed like every time a new character was introduced, Atticus or the character themselves had to regale us with their entire background. I hated it. I hated it, hated it, hated it so much. It was extremely irritating. I didn’t care about these characters enough yet! At least let me get to know them first, before you dump their history all over my eyes in the worst expository way possible! (I have very strong feelings about this if you couldn’t tell, lol.)
Final Thoughts
I believe that this first book – and series thereafter – have a ton of potential. In fact, if I would somehow, someday decide to continue the Iron Druid Chronicles in the future, I might enjoy future installments more.
But I don’t think that this series is for me, and I’m honestly not at all interested in continuing beyond book one. So this is probably where Atticus O’Sullivan’s adventures are gonna end for me.
I think that some of the people that enjoy the Dresden Files and other popular urban fantasy books might enjoy Hounded. But since I didn’t even care for it myself, I can’t really say anything else.
Have you read any of the Iron Druid books? What did you think of them? Did you enjoy them more than I did?
Thanks so much for reading, and have a wonderful day/night!
