Between Jobs by W.R. Gingell – A Book Review

Posted April 26, 2021 by Booksandblurbs in Reviews, Urban Fantasy / 0 Comments

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Between Jobs

(A City Between Novel – Book 1)

by W.R. Gingell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Urban Fantasy
Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

Down & Dirty

An incredibly unique Urban Fantasy that presents a completely new world and focuses on its humor. Free on Kindle Unlimited.

What is it about?

(Blurb from GoodReads)

When you get up in the morning, the last thing you expect is to see a murdered guy hanging outside your window. Things like that tend to draw the attention of the local police, and when you’re squatting in your parents’ old house until you can afford to buy it, another thing you can’t afford is the attention of the cops.

Oh yeah. Hi. My name is Pet.

It’s not my real name, but it’s the only one you’re getting. Things like names are important these days.

And it’s not so much that I’m Pet.

I’m a pet.

A human pet: I belong to the two Behindkind fae and the pouty vampire who just moved into my house. It’s not weird, I promise—well, it’s weird, yeah. But it’s not weird weird, you know?

My Thoughts on Between Jobs

I am writing this review looking backward from the viewpoint of Book 6, along with a couple of Novellas. Now, another book has come out and an 8th is set to drop sometime in May 2021. All that has led me to one piece of advice for this introductory work – stick it out. Book 1 hits the ground with a slap of confusion and just keeps going. We are introduced to the Between and The Behind, as well as a wealth of political machinations and organizations that are casually thrown about with little explanation.

In other words, it’s an entertaining mess that boggles the mind – even though it tickles as much as it puzzles. Pet is hilarious, steadfast, and surprisingly apathetic to the events that happen around her, and TO her. The Fae and Vampire that have come to occupy her house are introduced here, but they are not made truly solid and compelling until later installments – books you WANT to get to. There is something about this series, these characters, and this narrative that seduces the reader slowly, pulling you into a world that somehow makes sense, even when it doesn’t. Nothing is as it seems and people have deeper secrets that anyone knows.

Perspective:

First Person, Single POV

Ending Type:

Episodic

Rating:

PG-13

Heat Level:

None – very clean, including language and a mild romance that grows in later books.

Romantic Dynamic:

Here? None

Character Age Range:

17+

My Final Verdict on Between Jobs

This is one of those book series that gets better as the books move along, but you still have to start somewhere. A foundational work for the series and the world, Between Jobs is often confusing, though it is always entertaining. Filled with Aussie Snark and Slang, it might cause readers outside that country to pause and look things up – though the meaning is often pretty clear in the context. Perfect for Urban Fantasy readers looking for something special in an over-saturated genre.