Through Rain and Missing Mantaurs is a darkly written NA (?) fantasy by Jeanne Marcella. Originally published in 2013, this reformat and re-release with new cover art is 457 pages and available in ebook format. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is a difficult book to categorize and review. It's not erotica, though there's sexual content. It's not precisely NA (and definitely not YA) because of the raw, explicit, potentially triggering content. It is full of drama, abuse (including humiliation, sexual and physical abuse). It's fantasy and there is a significant bestiality/non human sexual plot element.
Much of the writing is meandering and unclear. The entire book reads like fanfic where the audience is already familiar with the main players, their motivations, the world, and its interactions. I was lost (and annoyed) for most of the read. There are courtesans (apparently highly paid ones) but no real thorough explanation of whom they service or why. There is a significant amount of wordage used on the wide ranging viciously cutthroat mail delivery but no clear explanation of why they're so competitive or what they're delivering or why there are so many competing groups (and why people trust them with their precious/valuable cargo when they're so badly compensated that apparently missing one day's work is enough to have the main protagonist picking through garbage to keep from starving to death).
Scattered, unclear, stream-of-consciousness, inconsistent, distressingly explicit (but not titillating) and often annoying. There were glimmers of interesting world building, but they were fleeting and elusive and not enough to keep me invested in the story or the characters.
Two and a half stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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