Review: The Veil by Chloe Neill
The Veil (Devil's Isle #1)
by: Chloe Neill
Publication Date: Aug. 4, 2015
Publisher: NAL Trade
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal
Age Group: Adult
Source: e-ARC received via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count: 336 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N
My Rating: 4/5 stars
Seven years ago, the Veil that separates humanity from what lies beyond was torn apart, and New Orleans was engulfed in a supernatural war. Now, those with paranormal powers have been confined in a walled community that humans call the District. Those who live there call it Devil's Isle.
Claire Connolly is a good girl with a dangerous secret: she’s a Sensitive, a human endowed with magic that seeped through the Veil. Claire knows that revealing her skills would mean being confined to Devil’s Isle. Unfortunately, hiding her power has left her untrained and unfocused.
Liam Quinn knows from experience that magic makes monsters of the weak, and he has no time for a Sensitive with no control of her own strength. But when he sees Claire using her powers to save a human under attack—in full view of the French Quarter—Liam decides to bring her to Devil’s Isle and the teacher she needs, even though getting her out of his way isn’t the same as keeping her out of his head.
But when the Veil threatens to shatter completely, Claire and Liam must work together to stop it, or else New Orleans will burn…
Claire Connolly is a good girl with a dangerous secret: she’s a Sensitive, a human endowed with magic that seeped through the Veil. Claire knows that revealing her skills would mean being confined to Devil’s Isle. Unfortunately, hiding her power has left her untrained and unfocused.
Liam Quinn knows from experience that magic makes monsters of the weak, and he has no time for a Sensitive with no control of her own strength. But when he sees Claire using her powers to save a human under attack—in full view of the French Quarter—Liam decides to bring her to Devil’s Isle and the teacher she needs, even though getting her out of his way isn’t the same as keeping her out of his head.
But when the Veil threatens to shatter completely, Claire and Liam must work together to stop it, or else New Orleans will burn…
When I saw Chloe Neill was coming out with a new UF series, I was quite excited! I really liked what I've read of the Chicagoland Vampires series and I am looking forward to continuing soon. I really enjoyed the first installment in her Devil's Isle series, The Veil. There was quite a bit of information given in order to set up the world, but I didn't feel it was dumped upon us. It was necessary to truly get to a point of understanding what New Orleans was like post-war and post-Veil opening. It is truly a devastated place, but I love how the residents that live in the Zone still manage to find happiness despite it all.
Our main character Claire, is a Sensitive, but she has to keep her magic a secret, else she be sent to Devil's Isle along with all the other paranormals and magic users. Their prison is one Claire will do anything to stay away from. I really liked Claire's character. She's not a pushover and she doesn't run away scared. She sees a girl in trouble and she knows she can't just leave her there to die at the wraiths' hands. Unfortunately, Claire has to use magic, thus sending Liam Quinn into her life.
Liam is a bounty hunter who hunts wraiths and brings them to Devil's Isle. Sensitives become wraiths when they cannot regulate their magic, so it's a tricky situation with Claire. He wants to help her because he doesn't want to be the one to bring her to Devil's Isle- especially not after starting to have feelings for her. This definitely ups the tension between these two, because Liam doesn't feel like he can have Claire, what with him being the one who would have to take her, should she become a wraith. Overall, I thought he was a good character though. He cares for her, but there's not all this drama and angst between them either. He also treats her as an equal, even though she is clearly inexperienced in the field. She proves her worth and I really loved seeing that.
I really enjoyed our secondary characters Tadji, Gunnar, Gavin, and Burke to name a few. Neill has done a good job of introducing us to her characters, the world, and giving us resolution for this book. Obviously, there are some revelations that will play a larger role in upcoming books, as well as Claire and Liam's impending relationship.
Overall, this was a good start to this new series. I did get a little bit of information overload, but again, it was all necessary to the plot and understanding the world. I can't wait for The Sight later this year!
11 comments
I really enjoyed this one as well and really loved the dynamics between Claire and Liam. The secondary characters were my favorite! I'm excited to read the sequel too. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed this, Jess!
I'm glad you did too Nick! Claire and Liam were SO great! And I loved Gunnar too!
DeleteI've never read Chloe Neill before but I've heard great things. SO glad you enjoyed this.
ReplyDeleteThanks Quinn! It was a great start to a new series!
DeleteAwesome review! I'm really glad you liked this :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Sam! It was definitely a good one!
DeleteThis sounds like the kind of series I'm going to need once I'm finally finished with all of Frosts books (which I'm almost done with). I love me some UF and this sounds good. Great review!
ReplyDeleteYes! I think if you liked Night Huntress, you'll like her Chicagoland Vampire series as well as this one! This book reminded me how much I love paranormal and how much I need it back in my life.
DeleteI haven't read this one yet, but it's on my list. I hope I like it too.
ReplyDeleteMajanka @ I Heart Reading
I hope you do too Majanka! :)
DeleteI agree with you, a bit of info overload here and there but overall done a great job to pace action and world building! I really like Liam, so I cannot wait to get to the next book!
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
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