Posted by 
I had thought this was going to be a comedy, just based on the book and chapter titles, but this was more of an X-Files kind of thing. However, this book has a more paranormal focus rather than a sci-fi, alien-oriented approach. It started off pretty interesting. We’ve got this kid who was found stuck in a weird plant, and he has no face. Like, there’s nothing there; he hasn’t been attacked in the normal sense, nothing tore his face off, it’s just a blank space where a face should be. The first POV we’re introduced to is Argana, and she’s from the “Astral University of Tibet” and is a paranormal investigator who’s interested in this case.
Argana is down on her luck at the beginning of the book. Her flat burned down, and she’s couch surfing (kind of, she’s in a tent on the floor) of a stage magician who thinks her belief in the paranormal is cute. Argana believes in all of it: ghosts, ghouls, demons (although they’re rare), banshees, fae, and so on. However, clearly, this is not a universal truth for everyone in this world.
There are multiple POVs, one of which is a constable named Fred, who is kind of like a counterpoint to Argana’s job as a paranormal investigator. I don’t know if Constable Fred is a nod to Discworld or not, but I’m just making it my personal head cannon that it is, since there’s also a frying pan used as a weapon in a book that features the Lords and Ladies.
To make things even stranger, the locals are noticing a lack of normal fae activity in the area. The farmers leave out milk for the Lords and Ladies, the Woods folk, the small people… whatever they’re called, and they’re doing it to bribe the fae into leaving them alone. Here’s some milk, and in exchange, please don’t fuck with me. This strategy has succeeded for centuries, but now, about a week ago, the offerings are being abandoned, and the fae may have left…or maybe they’ve been offended… or maybe something else is going on. Fred and Argana are trying to put the pieces together to see if this lack of fae activity is related to the boy with no face.
I would say this is a steady medium-paced book from beginning to end, a nice steady flow of mystery without big lulls or overpacked action that seems too rushed to care about. I felt like the characters were pretty well fleshed out, and although it took me a little bit to care about them, I did become engaged with their stories and felt compelled to read to the end. The writing was fluid and quick, which kept the pages turning. This was actually longer than I thought it was, with Amazon citing
I like this one and finished it! So, once again, this book is safe for now!