Ex-boyfriend? ✓ Demons? ✓ Scary-Powerful and Potentially Homicidal Grandmother? ✓

You're relaxing on your couch in your favorite ugly t-shirt. All of a sudden, a bang sounds at your front door and you open it to find your ex-boyfriend looking like the reject from a horror film.

Most sane people would call the cops, an ambulance, and possibly their mother. Now add in a slathering, bloodthirsty demon and you have the worst surprise Calvin Chang's ever gotten.

When Cal's jerk of an ex-boyfriend falls onto his doorstep covered in other people's blood, he not only brings Salim into his home but prepares to fight the demon trying to make Salim his snack.

Jasmine Hong's The Witch Stone introduces Calvin Chang, a male from a long line of magically-powerful and totally intimidating women. He's from one of the four powerful families, but he's far from a family favorite. Due to some messy history with Chang men, Cal's gender and magical power make him a bit of an undesirable.

In fact, he spent most of his early childhood and teen years on the run from his grandmother, a woman who'd sooner kill him than do anything remotely grandmotherly. Now, with Salim's grand and bloody re-entrance into his life, Cal's being pushed into a spotlight, into a magical fray that he's never wanted to join in the first place. Instead, he typically works with architecture and has used his designs to help build a base of magic and safety into the city (Longshore). It's only at the insistence of his grandmother, in exchange for his continued survival, that he has anything to do with magical & family business.

Hong's novel starts off with a literal bang- straight into action. The novel continues at this breakneck speed, sometimes at the cost of plot development. The action both starts and wraps up so quickly, that it almost seems TOO easy.

I also wish there was more time to learn about the power dynamics of the city. Readers learn that there's a Court and a Lord of the City who have to do with protecting it and channeling the lines of magical power that exist around and in their territory. Given the ending of the novel, it's pretty clear that Hong is setting up for at least a second book, so I'm hoping that the world-building will get a lot more fleshed out then.

Who's Who

I like Cal; I think he has an adorable naivete, and he seems like he's got the core of a good person, a kind person. As far as other supporting characters go, there are a few who look like they'll be making a future appearance- Chuck, Cal's transgender cousin, Tony, the family's lawyer (and a potential romantic interest), and Nina- a child who will be very important moving forward.

One of the things that I really liked about Hong's novel, and a reason that I'll definitely check out a sequel, is her diverse characters. I think it's hard to find male leads in the urban fantasy genre, let alone a gay male lead. This is quite casually done, and I think that she has done a good job of making Cal a regular guy, instead of turning him into some kind of stereotype for the sake of diversity. We also learn that Cal's cousin, Chuck, is transgender and had transitioned into becoming a woman in the last few years. Right now, we haven't gotten to learn much about Chuck's experience, but I think Hong has a huge opportunity to create a real backstory for someone who represents a group that I feel is largely under-represented in UF lit.

I think it's really important to see characters of different gender identities, sexual orientations, and races represented in any genre, and I think it's really cool that Hong has attempted to do that.

Overall...

The Witch Stone may not be the most impressive book I've read this year, but I think that it's worth the time to read, and I see potential for a great second installment.