Fall of Light by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Synopsis:
Opal LaZelle is a makeup artist, specializing in transforming actors into fantastical and grotesque creatures. Unknown to the cast and crews of the films she works on, Opal comes from a family gifted in the art of magic--and she applies more than makeup when altering an actor's features.

On location in the backwoods of Lapis, Oregon, Opal uses her talent to turn Corvus Weather into the Dark God of Forest of the Night, enabling him to vanish into the role. But when Corvus's performance becomes too convincing--on set and off--Opal realizes he's not acting. Something has taken possession of Corvus. Something sinister tied to the town's past and capable of absorbing the very essence of life. Something Opal doesn't have enough power to confront, much less drive from the man she has fallen in love with.

My Rating: 4/10

My Thoughts:
I could not for the life of me get interested in this book. I loved the first one, A Fistful of Sky, and was so excited for this one to come out. But this one was almost painful to continue reading. Nina Kiriki Hoffman's stories are often unusual, bordering on weird, and this one was the same way. But unlike her other books, which I found unique and entertaining, Fall of Light was weird and boring. It starts off alright, but all the build up for a big final confrontation and resolution simply becomes a non-isssue.

Now I will admit that in A Fistful of Sky Opal was the least interesting character to me. She seemed vain and shallow, and this worried me when I found out she was the main character in this book. However when you read from her perspective you get a sense of where she is coming from, and what she experienced growing up and I began to like her a little more. However, I wish there had been more family members featured. To me that was the best part of the first book, the interaction between the siblings. Maybe the next book will make me happy and feature Jasper.

Hoffman seems to me to have a unique world view on the interactions between people, and this is reflected in her characters and how they always seem to take strange and disturbing news in stride. No one ever freaks out when they discover that they had been possessed by a forest god all day long, even though they previously never believed in magic or spiritual beings. Everyone's reaction is simply: oh, ok that explains it. In this book that fact annoyed me hugely. Reacting that way seemed unnatural and kind of detracted from the story.

Overall it was the fact that it was a quick and easy read that allowed me to finish, but this book has not scared me away from Hoffman forever. I just hope the next book steps it back up to the old standards.