YMMV / Esther Diamond

• Arc Fatigue: Lopez being an Agent Scully who fails to notice clues that he himself has paranormal abilities is a decent plot line, but few fans feel that it needed to be drawn out through seven books and counting.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Esther's agent Thack starts out as just a minor character who's required to set up her next job, but becomes pretty popular due to his humorous expanded role in Vamparazzi and the reveal that he's a Friendly Neighborhood Vampire.
  • Most of Esther's fellow amateur sleuths from the first book are fondly remembered, but would-be society magician Barclay Preston-Cole strikes a particular note of likability and interesting humor.
  • Charming voodoo shop owner Puma and her sword-wielding, amateur zombie hunter brother Biko are highlights of Unsympathetic Magic, and fans have expressed hopes of seeing them reappear.
  • Esther's male co-stars in Vamparazzi are particularly popular guest characters. The Prima Donna and self-proclaimed vampire Damon Ravel is hysterically funny, and Leischnuedel's Like Brother and Sister dynamics with Esther are pretty well-received.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The Big Bad of the first book brags about his plan to become as powerful and influential as Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg. In 2005, that comment merely meant that the evil sorcerer's ultimate goal was to be like a pair of real estate tycoons. In the 2010s and 2020s, after both Trump and Bloomberg have run for president (the former successfully), this makes him sound even more ambitious and megalomaniacal.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Most of the supporting characters in the first book get a good Ragtag Bunch of Misfits /True Companions vibe with Max and Esther but then hardly any are ever mentioned again. Yes, with the plot line involving their kidnapped coworkers and loved ones resolved they wouldn't have had as much if any reason to become involved in further investigations but it would still be nice to see some of them show up now and then.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: The description of Mr. Livingston from the third book as a generous philanthropist but one who was just had regrettably poor control when it came to sexual harassment boundaries doesn't really feel that convincing, especially in the Me Too movement era.
• The Woobie: Detective Quinn in Abracadaver. The description of his two failed marriages and the way a demon has spent a year Gaslighting him, giving him cramps, and making him a Walking Techbane really makes him pitiful.