(Mostly) Human Resources

(Mostly) Human Resources was not what I expected but I still loved it! Going into the book I thought it was going to be fun, flirty and cozy with only theoretically high stakes. Think of Emily Wilde or Startup Hell. That was where I thought this was going. But oh, how wrong I was. Though there are some light and fun moments, (Mostly) Human Resources is pretty dark and at times really scary — at least for a book that is not classified as horror. I sometimes had to stop reading it and pick up something lighter instead. The characters are really going through a lot and there is actual danger for them. And by the end of the book you can tell that the events really impacted them. I really enjoyed that the romance part was such a slow burn. I had expected everything to progress pretty quickly but the pacing makes so much sense and leaves room for the rest of the story. From the acknowledgements I got the impression that the romance hadn't even been part of the story initially. Not just the pacing of the romance was good but of the entire book — except maybe for the big dramatic scene near the end. I feel like that could have maybe been a little longer. Aside from that I was really pleasantly surprised that things didn't feel rushed and also didn't drag. I also liked that the characters weren't perfect. I don't mean that they are clumsy or something minor like that. They are what I would define as morally grey (but not the kind of morally grey characters that go on killing sprees and are only nice to one person). They lie by omission for different reasons, they give the lifes of different people unequal value, and they knowingly break rules. But they reflect on their actions and thoughts. They're not just sociopaths that don't feel guilt, they are regular people in very difficult situations that they handle to their best abilities, and sometimes their best doesn't align with what society tells us is right. The ending surprised me because I didn't go into the book with the knowledge that it was going to be book 1 of a trilogy. I had expected a standalone. But I'm really glad there will be two more books to explore the Appalachians and its cryptids. There are also a lot of unfinished storylines which again was a clever idea of the author. There is no huge cliffhanger but enough questions are unanswered that I definitely want to know what will happen next. For a debut this is a really well-written and well-crafted book. I would have immediately believed if I had been told that it was the fourth or fifth book by the author. I'm excited to see where she takes things and if she can get even better as a writer.