Book and Audio Review: Part-Time Gods by Rachel Aaron

Part-Time Gods
Author: Rachel Aaron
Narrator: Emily Woo Zeller
Series: DFZ Book 2
Publication: Aaron/Bach (June 9, 2019); Audible Studios (June 9, 2019)
Length: 336 p.; 11 hours and 8 minutes

Description: Life in the magical mess of the Detroit Free Zone is never easy. When you’re laboring under the curse of a certain prideful, overbearing dragon, it can be down right impossible.

My name is Opal Yong-ae, and I’m a Cleaner. At least, I used to be. Thanks to the supernatural bad luck that turns everything I do against me, these days I’m more of a walking disaster. Getting rid of this curse is the only way to get my life back. Unfortunately, dragon magic is every bit as sneaky and deadly the monsters behind it, and just as hard to beat.

But I’ve never been one to take her doom at face value. Cornered doesn’t mean defeated, and in an awakened city that rules herself, dragons are no longer the biggest powers around.

My Thoughts: This is the middle book of a trilogy and, therefore, doesn't really have a beginning or an ending. Opal Yong-ae works as a Cleaner in the Detroit Free Zone. She is desperate to earn money to pay her debt to her father - who happens to be an old and powerful dragon, but he has cursed her with bad luck because he doesn't want her to get free of him.

Opal has always felt like a failure in her family because, despite being genetically engineered to be an exceptional mage, she has never been able to get magic to work for her. Her spells are usually failures  which backfire on her. 

She has teamed up with another Cleaner named Nik who is a product of the DFZ and has the scars and cyber-enhancements to prove it. They try to get around the curse by having Nik do the buying and selling but it isn't working. When Opal's dad calls in her debt, she has to find another way to make money fast. When she and Nik go to a more dangerous than normal part of the DFZ they are attacked and Opal has to use her magic to save him. 

Opal manages to save Nik but she manages to detach her soul in the process. She's been given the name of a shaman who might be able to help her get a handle on her magic. Opal has a low opinion of shamanistic magic because she's been trained in a different school. But the shaman makes sense and also turns out to be one of the priests of the spirit of the DFZ who offers Opal a job. 

Opal doesn't want to be a priest of the DFZ. She is trying to be free of all ownership. She is almost pathological about being independent. But when her dad needs her, she realizes that while she's angry with her dad, she doesn't want him deal. So Opal takes the DFZ's deal...

And we have to wait to read book three - NIGHT SHIFT DRAGONS - to find out how things work out.

I enjoyed Emily Woo Zeller's narration of this story. She made each character distinctive. 

Favorite Quote:

"Wait, you're not planning to eat that potato in your bag, are you? 'Cause we just sold your microwave and your convection oven."

"It's not for eating!" I cried. "That's my magic potato!"

I knew how bad that sounded as soon as it came out of my mouth. Unfortunately, everything I could have said to explain it made even less sense.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.