Fool Moon: The Dresden Files, Book Two

I love the premise of the books... a wizard in the modern world, and people seemingly oblivious to supernatural. But man, Dresden irritates me when he always thinks everything his fault. And his toxic relationship with Murphy is by far the most irritating plot of the novels. She hires him, yet doesn't listen to him, she slaps him around, he takes it and somehow convinces himself that he deserves it, and she always wants to arrest him for some crime only she thinks he committed, yet not supported by the evidence (and his long-standing relationship with her), only her 'lack of trust' in him. I honestly hope this will not become a standard theme throughout the books, because seriously, I'll then give up. And I really, really want to love the series. (and try to understand his very unhealthy obsession with his duster....)

Another well done Dresden novel. Harry is definitely Jim Butcher's best invention, and Harry's universe is one I always enjoy visiting. Jim Butcher obviously knows how to research and build worlds that are fantastical but yet down to earth enough to be absorbing, if they were less gritty and human they wouldn't be nearly so compelling.

3.5 stars I struggled to really connect with this second of the Harry Dresden novels. Whether this was because I was struggling with my concentration in general or because of the storytelling I cannot be sure. It just didn't grip me the way the first novel did. There is still the same snark present and an overall character development for everyone, but especially Harry, that should have made this a truly enjoyable read. I suspect that it was actually the mythology behind the different ways that one could become a werewolf and the struggles to figure out what type it was that was committing these murders. It just all felt a little bit off somehow, kind of hinky and cobbled together without too much thought. It is an Urban Fantasy Novel so you don't expect versimilitude but you do expect the author to have thoroughly thought through the more fantastical aspects of the tale and it just doesn't feel that way - to this reader at least. Plenty of guts and gore, if thats your thing - personally, I'm not bothered by it in the slightest but it is starting to feel a little overdone and (dare I say it) boring. Certainly the best bits for me are poor old Harry's attempts to get along in a society that he is not really a part of - this goes for the Magical Community from which he has all but been ex-communicated and also Human Society because he isn't fully Human as far as they are concerned. I love his clumsy social maladroitness. Definitely not giving up on this series just yet as there is something that does speak to me about it all. This review has been a long time coming. I actually read this book between the 10th and 16th June 2020 so my memory is a bit foggy about all the plot lines. Fortunately, I have a notebook where I jot some initial thoughts on the book and an overall ranking so between the book blurb and that I did have a reasonable handle on what I thought at the time of reading.