1/2013 Card claims this is his favorite of all his books. In an interview he said that he was proud of the system of magic he developed for the story and of its progression in development. I don’t see what he sees in the story. It reminded me of the Greek system in college where Greek gods and stories are combined with Christian symbols and ideas making them all equally void of meaning. Card throws Shakespearean fairies in with God and the beast making a muddled mess. In the afterward he said he developed the black male heroes in the book because he was challenged to do so by a friend. He places them in an upper middle class neighborhood and has them speak an unrealistic ghetto type dialect. How could this have been the same author who wrote Ender’s Game, Speaker for the Dead, and Xenocide?

Great characters, interesting concept.

To be honest, this was one of my least favorite of OSC's books. Having said that, I still couldn't put it down because he is such an amazing writer. Rarely a word wasted. There was a an air is disingenuousness in his writing about a black upper middle class neighborhood. And, magic/religion/Christianity line was somewhat convoluted and unsettling to me. But that probably has more to do with who I am and who I understand OSC to be.

But the story itself was compelling. The characters were well developed. The ending was far from a given. There were some interesting twists. And it was a captivating read. Recommended as an almost 5 star novel.

I liked enchantment much more than this story.

I've come to expect a lot from Card, and he's my favorite author. This book was probably my least favorite of all of his books I've read so far, and that is a lot of them!

It was still entertaining, and I don't regret picking it up, but it failed to take me to another world like he normally does for me.

For anyone trying Card for the first time, don't judge whether or not you like him from this book. I'd recommend trying Planet Treason, and when it gets really weird and you think about putting it down, just keep going! You'll be glad you did!

There is a lot of gutter language in the book.

Even I can't defend this one.

Normally love Orson but not this one, long and drawn out with mediocre ending.

It hurts to give three stars, but I felt halfway through, the book lost its pace. It is obviously well-written and the characters are interesting with big back stories. I don’t love fantasy, and once we enter the realm between the houses I missed the neighborhood and all the characters I’d come to like before the story turned.

A really nice intermingling of classic Fae lore and modern-day LA. Told with humor and heart, I really enjoyed this book.

"What I learned from this book": Orson Scott Card should stick to science fiction, at which he does a consistently good job, and avoid the tricky genre of modern-day fantasy. This reads like a really, really bad Neil Gaiman wannabe, with inconsistent (not intentionally conflicted, just sloppily developed, IMHO) characters and a plot that tries unsuccessfully to be epic. I am all for myth/fairy tale retellings, but co-opting/subverting the cast of Midsummer Night's Dream and transplanting them to suburban L.A. came off as just bizarre, and not in a good, pushing-boundaries sort of way. Definitely don't read this as your introduction to Card, and even if you're a fan, probably don't read it anyway. Not worth it.

A story is a story and not all of them are great. I forced myself to finish it.