Review: Curiosity Killed Shaney by J.C. Wallace

Shaney's curiosity is always getting him into trouble, including stumbling into a ritualistic circle and being imbued with an energy that will eventually tear him apart. He soon finds that Hudson, a man he cares for deeply, might be responsible for his misfortune. Add in the betrayal of his best friend Todd and the desire of a demented occultist named Silas determined to control the energy inside of him and there seems to be no way out. Can Shaney find a way to rid his body of the nefarious energy before he dies a horrible death?

I instantly loved Shaney. Good thing, since it's told from his POV! He's quirky, fun and completely likeable. He's always getting himself into trouble, but it's always with the best of intentions. Truly, it is.

Shaney's love interest, Hudson, is equally likeable with his mildly stand-off-ish attitude and unexpected devotion to Shaney.  I say unexpected because we didn't really know Hudson's feelings until he decides that Shaney is his and he isn't going to let anyone eff with him. Me likes him, I do.

"Shaney had felt like the center of Hudson's universe, but he couldn't be. He wasn't anyone's everything. Pain in the arse, yes. Pain in the neck, definitely. Bane of existence, absolutely. But everything? Everything was a polished, sparkly ball of perfect, while Shaney was a defective, tarnished ball of flawed human being."

To say Shaney has a low self-image might be an understatement, so anyone who's able to make him see his own awesomeness is a winner for me.

I instantly fell for both our heroes and they instantly fell for each other. It didn't really happen until around the halfway point but it still felt insta to me. Maybe because there wasn't much flirting or knowledge of their mutual attraction until BAM! they were calling each other 'Baby'. Which I am a total sucker for, BTW, so I wasn't really all that bothered by it. It was cute, endearing and well, I liked it about them.

Okay. So.

Our heroes? They were great!

The paranormal, witchy, symbols, geometry, magical stuff? Not really.

It was too much. Once I got a grasp on the who and what and how, something or someone else was thrown in and I was forced to figure everything out again. If it were kept simpler I think it would have worked well. By simpler I mean taking a couple of the ideas and really fleshing them out. If I start to feel confused when reading because I feel like there's too much being shoved at me, I lose interest. And that's what happened here towards the end. I was really loving it and was totally feeling Shaney, but bit by bit my brain got all muddled and I was gone.

The first half was 4 solid hearts! Second half... about a 2. So, I ended up with 3. I'd definitely read on, especially if we were given Todd's story.

A copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.