This book is being released tomorrow on May 10^th, which is also my birthday! I’ve already bought some books as my birthday to myself. But other than that, I don’t know what to do to celebrate. I want to throw a party!

Anyway, moving on to the subject at hand, The Vagrant was an ambitious book, original and thoughtful, though I wouldn’t say it totally triumphed. The Vagrant himself is sword wielding mute headed for the last safe haven for humans as demons continue to integrate and take over the population. Personally, I think that would be incredibly difficult to write a mute as a main character successfully. From a writer’s perspective, I commend Newman. I don’t think I could’ve done a better job of it at all. From a female reader’s perspective, however, it was difficult for me. I had a hard time connecting with the character because not only does he not speak, but the writing gives us little insight to his thoughts either.

Furthermore, Newman’s writing is not full of unnecessary embellishments. It was short and crispy. While most of the time I would consider this a strength in the writing, since our character is mute and conversation is sparse, the limited amount of details did not give me a good picture of what was going on and made way for unclear world building. It took me a while to understand what was going on and where the story was going.

Overall, I simply did not feel connected. It’s not that the writing or story were bad, but they didn’t move me in anyway. It didn’t sweep me up or make me feel as though I was there. I felt like the author may have bit off more than he could chew for a debut novel. The concepts however are original. I can see other readers loving this book. For instance, I would definitely recommend this book to my younger brother, who I think would like it immensely.

I also think Newman has a bright career ahead of him as an author. I enjoyed the writing style in general, and I would be interested in reading a different series or book of Newman’s in the future.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review

Tootle loo, darlings!