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A Librarian’s Pick

What a treat it is when a new book arrives that genuinely earns a place on the display shelf. Half City, the latest from Kate Golden — author of the beloved Sacred Stones trilogy — is precisely that kind of discovery: the sort of novel you quietly press into a reader’s hands with a knowing smile and the words, “I think you’ll want to read this one.”

About the Book

Viv Abbot is twenty-one, juggling the mundane exhaustion of modern city life — overworked, underpaid, and quietly suffocating under the weight of an unsatisfying relationship and a mother whose approval feels perpetually out of reach. But Viv carries a far weightier burden beneath the surface: since her father’s murder, she has been hunting demons alone, in secret, becoming formidably skilled while growing increasingly isolated.

When a dangerously charming demon named Reid Graveheart introduces her to Harker Academy for Deviant Defense — a school for hunters like herself — Viv is offered something she hasn’t dared to hope for: belonging. Of course, as any seasoned reader will anticipate, nothing is ever quite so simple. Viv arrives on campus carrying secrets, strange occurrences begin to unfold, and trust becomes a rare and precious commodity. Add to this the complication of her combat professor being none other than Reid himself — a demon with ties to her father’s death — and freshman year becomes something far more perilous than coursework.

A Librarian’s Thoughts

Golden has always had a gift for writing characters who feel genuinely lived-in, and Viv is no exception. She is complicated in the best literary tradition: someone caught between who she has had to become and who she longs to be. Her desire for normalcy, set against the extraordinary circumstances that have shaped her, gives the novel a quietly poignant emotional core that elevates it beyond a straightforward genre read.

The academy setting will delight readers who love that particular brand of atmospheric world-building — there is something timelessly satisfying about a richly drawn school for those with extraordinary abilities, and Golden builds Harker with enough texture and mystery to keep the pages turning. Readers who have followed Golden from The Sacred Stones trilogy will recognize her talent for constructing worlds that feel both expansive and intimate, and Half City does not disappoint on that front.

The romance unfolds as what I would describe as a “fast slow burn” — the tension is there from nearly the first page, but Golden is patient with it, allowing the relationship to develop with real weight and consequence. Reid, for his part, is a wonderfully conceived love interest: imposing and morally complex on the surface, but with a softness underneath that readers will find entirely endearing. It is a balance not easily struck, and Golden manages it with skill.

A note of honest counsel, as any good librarian must offer: Viv’s internal monologue can occasionally veer toward the self-pitying, and a handful of supporting characters feel underdeveloped in ways that may frustrate attentive readers. The ending, too, will leave you reaching for the sequel immediately — so consider yourself forewarned about that cliffhanger.

What This Book Does Well

• Introduces a richly imagined world with real depth and intrigue
• The academy setting is atmospheric and absorbing
• Meaningful character growth that feels earned rather than rushed
• A male lead who is both formidable and unexpectedly warm-hearted

Points to Consider

• Viv’s voice can occasionally tip into complaint rather than reflection
• Some secondary characters feel more like placeholders than fully realized people
• The ending is a cliffhanger — delightful if you enjoy that, less so if you prefer resolution

 

The Librarian’s Verdict

Half City is a worthy addition to the romantasy canon — a book that does what the best of its genre does: it sweeps you into another world, gives you characters you genuinely care about, and leaves you hungry for what comes next. It is not yet a genre-defining work, but it carries the promise of becoming one as the series develops. I will absolutely be reserving space on the shelf for the sequel, and I suspect our readers will be requesting it before it even arrives.

Recommended for: fans of romantasy, academy settings, enemies-to-lovers dynamics, and readers who enjoy a heroine with real emotional complexity.

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