Not as giddily awesome as the last book in the series, but a good installment.
This one takes a bit of a different track. It takes Emma out o3.5 stars
Not as giddily awesome as the last book in the series, but a good installment.
This one takes a bit of a different track. It takes Emma out of London and to the small village where she was born and where her parents were murdered. There is a series of murders that points to a Supe perpetrator. They are not supposed to be outside of London, but as we learned in the last book there are quite a few who live on the down-low outside of London.
There are a couple of reasons I didn't rate this higher: One the one hand, I loved learning about Emma's background and how she became a Phoenix. So that was a plus. But On the other hand, this book has one of those convenient tie-ins we where the past and present murders connect with the protagonists own personal long standing memory. On the other, other hand it was all by manipulative design. But I don't think the execution of the story bore that out.
Also the motives of the big bad were so, very meh. Kinda like in the first book when we learn the motives of Emma's murderer. This one was just as much of a 'That's it?'
And finally this is the second book in a row where Emma is saddled with an officious, blowhard superior who takes over her investigation and isn't as good as she is and gets in the way more than they help. Yeah it is only the second time, but it already felt old.
Emma has come in to the Supe squad, established trust, solved some high profile crimes and turned the office around. Yeah she is a newly minted detective but It is established that the Supe squad is an unpopular and dreaded posting. That being the case, and Emma doing a bang up job why not just let her keep doing it as the person in charge? Anyway, this part just feels like additional conflict for conflict's sake, when the murders and investigation and the Supe personality, culture, and politics themselves already offer an embarrassment of riches there.
Still I am enjoying this series quite a bit. ...more
This was fantastic. The best book of the series so far and an excellent deployment of the 'time loop' (aka Groundhog Day) trope.
In this one Emma gets This was fantastic. The best book of the series so far and an excellent deployment of the 'time loop' (aka Groundhog Day) trope.
In this one Emma gets the call of a suicidal vampire threatening to jump off the top of the London Eye. Quickly followed up with a bunch of werewolves who have taken a tour boat hostage, quickly followed by a bank robbery in a bank used by the Supes where there were casualties. And to top off a crazy day there is a horrific murder that hits close to home.
Demoralized and despondent and in shock after her long day from hell, Emma drinks a potion that has been given to her by the enigmatic Deveraux Webb -- the urbane outlaw who lords over a merry band of thieves -- as a thank you for the solid she did his niece in the last book.
Whereupon she finds herself in her car midday receiving a call about a suicidal vampire climbing up the London Eye.
It takes her more than a long moment to get over the shock and disbelief of what is actually happening. But she realizes what an opportunity she is given. She has the option of preventing multiples deaths because she knows what is going to happen.
After an exhausting and not as successful an outcome as she needed on this re-do, Emma tracks down Deveraux and learns that she get three resets until the timeline stops rewinding and goes forward as usual.
I loved how this played out. First I loved how many different things happened throughout the day, there was a kind of chaos of events. I loved that in trying to fix things, Emma causes other outcomes that she could not predict for and that in turn caused others problems. So while she prevents some tragedies she knew happened that first time, her interference just caused different ones. Each reset she learns a bit more. Until the final one -- the ones she knows matters the most -- she works smarter, not harder.
I enjoyed every moment. I enjoyed riding along with Emma as she figured out what she did wrong on the first and even second repeat, learning that it wasn't as important to try to stop every bad thing from happening (there were so many) but instead knowing where she had to be to subtly redirect things to win the day. I thought the writing of this was clever and fun.
I added this installment to my romance shelves because the romance kicks in between Emma and Lukas in a big way.
I think this is the conclusion? It certainly reads like the ending of a trilogy.
The first book remains my favorite. The second book I felt a bit of cuI think this is the conclusion? It certainly reads like the ending of a trilogy.
The first book remains my favorite. The second book I felt a bit of culture shock, because it took all the familiar bits and removed them and put our characters into a completely new place learning new things and divorced them physically from the familiar. But all the stuff they ran from was still looming and they needed to address it. It felt like it had been put in a drawer temporarily so they could do this other stuff. So in a sense the second book didn't carry through enough, imo, from the first book.
This third book was immediately promising because the second ended with that metaphorical drawer being blasted open. So now this one starts with Sophie and Cameron have to deal with what they left behind. This what I wanted to see and had been waiting all of the second book for.
But not so fast... the first part of the book dragged. It kinda waded into some more magic teaching minutia and things seemed to grind to a halt storywise. I wanted action!!
Finally at about the 40% mark we started getting the action we needed. The Queen was forcing Sophie and Cameron to come home by holding their family hostage. They needed to get back but they wanted to go back, rescue their family and deal with the Queen on their terms. So they begin planning and this is when the book finally starts to work for me.
I really enjoyed that second half of the book. Decisive action, fun new magic, Sophie and Cameron on the same page, and justice being done.
Merged review:
I think this is the conclusion? It certainly reads like the ending of a trilogy.
The first book remains my favorite. The second book I felt a bit of culture shock, because it took all the familiar bits and removed them and put our characters into a completely new place learning new things and divorced them physically from the familiar. But all the stuff they ran from was still looming and they needed to address it. It felt like it had been put in a drawer temporarily so they could do this other stuff. So in a sense the second book didn't carry through enough, imo, from the first book.
This third book was immediately promising because the second ended with that metaphorical drawer being blasted open. So now this one starts with Sophie and Cameron have to deal with what they left behind. This what I wanted to see and had been waiting all of the second book for.
But not so fast... the first part of the book dragged. It kinda waded into some more magic teaching minutia and things seemed to grind to a halt storywise. I wanted action!!
Finally at about the 40% mark we started getting the action we needed. The Queen was forcing Sophie and Cameron to come home by holding their family hostage. They needed to get back but they wanted to go back, rescue their family and deal with the Queen on their terms. So they begin planning and this is when the book finally starts to work for me.
I really enjoyed that second half of the book. Decisive action, fun new magic, Sophie and Cameron on the same page, and justice being done....more
I read all four books in about the space of two days -- on audio. The narrator was great and the storyline is really interesting. The 4 books is one eI read all four books in about the space of two days -- on audio. The narrator was great and the storyline is really interesting. The 4 books is one entire storyline and even though I had issues with the story overall, the pacing and some characters, it was interesting enough and had enough high points to keep me invested... and yet I'd overall rate this a very low three stars.
The series is set in our present world but with a few differences. There are supernatural beings (Sidhe, warlocks, pixies..). Basically since it is set in Scotland a lot of Scottish supernatural lore is used. There is also some long ago past event that resulted in a race of demons known as the Famori to come to the Highlands and war with the Sidhe and who are now in sole possession of the lowlands and the only thing that separates them is a magical veil.
In this one, our main character is Integrity Taylor (Adair). She is of the Sidhe race who in this book are the top of the magical pyramid. They are rich, they have clans and a lot of magic. But before Integrity is an outcast because her father, apparently, massacred his entire clan. It was an act so verboten that the Adair lands were salted and her family's name is reviled and there are those who are attempting to slowly being excise it Tigana style from memory.
When Integrity was a child she was put into the guardianship of a Sidhe family who ignored her at best (they never even gave her a name) and abused her at worst. At ten she finally ran away and ended up the ward of a master thief with a gambling problem.
It is that gambling problem of her adoptive father that puts Integrity back onto the radar of the powerful Sidhe clans who've been content to let her go her own way. But the magic in the land is failing and it requires all the chieftains of the existing Sidhe clans to go and exercise a specific ritual to cleanse it. Since she is the last living Adair, she is the chieftain of the Adairs.
From there over the next series of books, Integrity learns that all in the milk ain't white when it comes to what happened with her clan. What is this prophecy everyone talks about that involves her specifically. What does it mean for the Demons? Who is trying to kill her? Integrity becomes determined to learn about her family, get back her lands and restore her legacy, thwart her swron enemy and maybe find love.
What I liked: I actually liked Integrity she was irreverent, fun and a pretty good thief and sometimes grifter.
The found family aspect. Integrity , Taylor (her adoptive father), and their merry band of thieves that consisted of a pixie, a merman, and a warlock.
Related to the found family, Integrity had a way of simply collecting people who gravitated toward her so for someone who began so outcast, by the time the last book came around she had a veritable army of ride or dies behind her.
Bob the Genie. Probably the best character in the whole book!
The climactic scene. For all that I had some major issues with parts of the characterizations and writing, the climatic showdown was well done. Honestly it was the best part of this final book.
What I didn't like:
The tonal inconsistency. At first I thought this was going to be a lighthearted romp, there was a very high humor quotient and Bob the Genie had some great lines. But as the story went on, and the themes got more serious and the stakes go higher, the corny jokes and the lightheartedness felt rather belabored.
The writing for Integrity. As much as I did like her, I realized she is not they type of heroine I'd want to have very often, especially given her set of circumstances. Integrity is an avowed pacifist and, I gotta hand it to the author, she stuck to her guns with that. The problem is, Integrity was always in so much peril and people were always trying to kill her. She obviously had hero plot armor so of course her pacifist stance works and actually is an advantage in the story and turns out to be pivotal in the resolution. But as I was reading I had a hard time seeing Integrity willing to lend the people who hate her or who abuse her understanding. And outside of that, she would go haring off to dangerous places all by herself. It is only her hero plot armor that saves her and that makes for unsatisfactory reading tbh. And while I like a funny, snarky, heroine with a bent sense of humor (See Ivy from this author's Slouch Witch series). I'd much rather have one who will cut a bitch too.
Integrity's first person POV. I think this is a lot of my issue. So much of what we know we learn as Integrity learns, but she seems to learn at the last minute when she necessarily needs to know stuff. I would have liked to know about the Demons. How they got there? What exactly is the use of the veil since it seems like Integrity can go into the lowlands where the Demons are and cross the veil like she is simply parting a curtain.
Byron. Again, I think he was a casualty of the first person POV. Everything coming through Integrity. As such we are in her head a lot as she moons over him, but he is really rather underwritten. At times he is downright awful other times he is just meh.
The romance. See: Byron above.
The pacing. The first and second book were good. The first book was a good intro and laid foundation. the Second book had a great central plot of the Sidhe games. But the third book felt like filler and the first 60% of the final book was a slog. Too much navel gazing and honestly Integrity being hyper focused on the wrong thing.
The villain. A mustache twirler.
The ending. Too Abrupt. All of that. Seriously world changing stuff and it just ends. No epilogue, not aftermath, just 'bye."
So yeah, It was an ok listen and it passed the time. But the author did not stick the landing. And it hovers over the whole series.
But it was an easy, engaging listen and the narrator of he audiobooks was excellent...more
With the exception of one big revelation in the middle and a set action piece at the very end, this felt somewhat fillerish. Review of entire series iWith the exception of one big revelation in the middle and a set action piece at the very end, this felt somewhat fillerish. Review of entire series in final book....more
I read all four books in this series, one after the other, like popcorn. The rating is for the whole series because books were better than others. ThiI read all four books in this series, one after the other, like popcorn. The rating is for the whole series because books were better than others. This one was one of the stronger ones. It did a great job of establishing the characters, introducing us to the world, had a high humor quotient and showed our main character, Integrity, to best advantage -- she was smart, resourceful and funny. And the story moved at a clipping pace.
I'll do a more comprehensie review for the series on the final book....more
It takes place is a society that is dominated by Male Dragons. There is a distinct heirarchy with the Alphas being the big dogs,This was pretty good.
It takes place is a society that is dominated by Male Dragons. There is a distinct heirarchy with the Alphas being the big dogs, and then you have Beta Males and Omega females.
All the men have the potential to turn into dragons, but some don't have enough magic to do so. It is an incredibly patriarchal society where the men choose the women and can basically pick them out like they are choosing socks and they don't have a lot of personal autonomy. They are pretty much wives and any power they wield is as an auxiliary to their husband.
Not only that women's lives are also pretty precarious because it can be dangerous to give birth to a male dragon child. Women often die in childbirth.
Each Territory has an Alpha. In this one the big dog is Alpha Cadogan and he has to choose a woman to finally try to get pregnant with an heir. He has dragged his feet because he has seen his own father go through women like tissue and his mother and those of his half siblings all died in childbirth. He is well on his way to pick the reigning Queen Bee of society during the Annual picking of the socks, er, I mean women. But something happens and he decides to pick Mairwen.
Mairwen is the walliest of wallflowers. She disappears into the shadows, everyone calls her Mouse a name jeeringly given to her by the Queen Bee, even her parents. But naturally she is not all that she appears. And when she becomes the Alpha's wife, Mairwen truly comes into her own.
This was a fun book,. Ronson was a pretty cool guy who became sprung on Mairwen pretty quickly. I liked the way their relationship progressed, how protective and posssessive he was of her. And how he made it his mission to help her grown her confidence.
But the real star was Mairwen. It was great to see her journey. She was definitely the character you wanted to root for and it was nice to see her come into her own in a fantastic way.
Much like the Psynet, I am divided on how I feel about this book.
I'll start with the darkmind first (the negative)-
The pacing - all over the place. SlMuch like the Psynet, I am divided on how I feel about this book.
I'll start with the darkmind first (the negative)-
The pacing - all over the place. Slow to start and hard to get into. But does get better. And then the ending felt a bit rushed
The romance - this ties in with the pacing issue. Remy and Auden meet right at the beginning and she immediately intrigues him because she is a Psychometric and can get emotions/thoughts from touching objects. She touches an object important to him and tells him the emotions of the person who gave it to him. This is a great start but Remy kinda falls all in right away. The romance seems to drag then run. It just felt like Remy and Auden were all in without the building blocks of trust I've been used to with this series.
The impending death/doom - there is always this sword of Damocles hanging over one of the main characters. They always have something that they know will kill them it is inevitable. And we get an 11th hour save where the thing is usually either miraculously averted or is actually something that grants a new power. At this point this feels like a de fact plot element in this series since it has been present in every book, so I probably shouldn't even complain. But I am going to anyway. At this point it does not add any suspense because by this (the 23rd book in the series) we know the drill.
Auden's affliction - As a reader we know what is happening right from the jump what is going on with Auden. Especially if you read the last book. So there is no suspense there. I actually wish we hadn't known because I think it would have added some suspense to the story. I loved that the author played Shoshanna as her wild-card as the architect. In restrospect it should have been obvious but Singh had done such a good job of making it seem like she was completely off the board. I wish she had played Shoshanna's last gambit even more close to her chest. I think if we had found out when Auden did it would have created a an 'OMG!' reaction rather than a 'Well, Finally, girl!" reaction.
Continuity - Most of the times I am super impressed with the continuity of this series. I feel like Singh has been masterful at setting little throw away things in early books and letting them payoff in spectacular ways much later. So given all that, I find it odd that Auden has come out of the woodwork. According to Auden, he was supposedly a very hands on parent. Given how much time we'd had Henry's headspace you'd think there would have been at leasr a fleeting thought of her.
But here comes the Netmind (the good stuff)
The characters - The individual characterization of Remy and Auden were great. I liked them both and I loved their backstory. I also think Singh excels when she dives into pack dynamics. As much as I think the Psy are the most fascinating part of this whole series, the Changelings really are just the best overall. And getting closer to Remy's pack was great. I do wish there was more time with them. Auden's background and her family was also really interesting in a dysfunctional.
The baby.
Older Characters - Not enough of them, imo, but I loved seeing the Arrows and being reminded of their specific relationship with Remy's pack. And there are eleventy-million characters in this universe and not all of them can make an appearance in every book, so I am always interested in which characters do make the cut in various books and why. Because of the breaking down of the Psynet which is the forefront external conflict in all the Trinity books, we of course will get the Kaleb /Aiden/Vasic Trinity. But we got Jaya (for a good reason) and Kit!
Momentum - Although the pacing was a bit dodgy, I will say that about the back half of the book did bpick up steam abd built some great momentum and had a lot of forward action that the first part was sorely lacking.
And then there is the Psynet subplot -- I am middling on this in this book. On the one hand we get some incremental progress. Logically I know the problem is huge and shouldn't get some magic bullet. And as an overarching problem that runs through the series it is effective. But perception wise it feels like this is hanging on too long. And, honestly, there have been too many books where a last minute miracle power has been discovered in one of our protagonists that is just enough to stave off disaster but not enough to really turn the tide. Also everything feels siloed. Ivan was only tangentially mentioned in this book, where honestly I think he should have been featured heavily in this one given his role in the Net and his connection to the Scotts. At some point I wonder when/how all of this (Ivan, Memory, Pax/Theo, and now Libby) are all gonna come together to save things? I hope the payoff is good.
So overall a good story with some flaws.
Angela Dawe narrated the audio and did her usual great job....more
I think it is an unpopular opinion to like the Bears. I actually love the Stonewater clan and the whole idea thatI liked this but I did not LOVE this.
I think it is an unpopular opinion to like the Bears. I actually love the Stonewater clan and the whole idea that the bears are this boisterous, rough, unruly bunch who are more fun loving than intense like the wolves/cats.
So I have no problem with them as the changelings we are following a lot more lately.
But I did have a problem with feeling like I did not really get to know Yakov outside of his prophetic visions. I honestly can't tell you much about him even now. Theo was much better realized. I think we got a much better sense of who she is and her personality. Unfortunately, I think the lack of depth in Yakov translated to the romance overall. It didn't suck me in. It felt like it was de facto and so not enough energy was spent on that and more of it was on the mystery of Theo's past and the stalker.
I kinda wish we had gotten Pavel and Arwen as the primary couple and Yakov and Theo as the secondary. I was much more invested in P&A because I felt like we could see them falling in love.
Beyond the romance, I did like the overarching story. One thing it accomplished is to make the Marshalls a lot more interesting than they were. When we first met Pax, I thought he was a rather mundane villain. And then that changed to me thinking he was being set up as a watered-down derivative of Kaleb. But over the next few books, my opinion of him began to alter and a lot of that was due to how the author set up his relationship with his sister.
I am still not a big fan of the Scarab syndrome thread running through this section of the series, but I am wondering if it is leading to some hopeful conclusion that will probably involve Pax. If so I would not be mad at it. I actually came away from his book hoping he will survive.
One thing I do find fascinating is how Singh continues to pepper in the concept of twinning throughout the series. Between the Net itself, Ashara and Amaya, Pavel and Yakov, Pax and Theo etc. we are seeing a variety of twin iterations and how they link and either work in opposition or in harmony with each other.
So in the last two books, we get left with intriguing ideas. First with a new character on the board and now with Pax ostensibly being psychically lured to fill the shoes of someone who has been taken off the board. These are pins being set up. Very interested to see how they'll be struck down....more
I should be over it by now, but I am always a bit surprised about how good I feel when I close a book by T. Kingfisher. By rights, they should be darkI should be over it by now, but I am always a bit surprised about how good I feel when I close a book by T. Kingfisher. By rights, they should be dark and a little grim given some of the plot and storytelling. This one is no different.
However in execution, the end result is always one where I am smiling quite a bit. There are great characters with a lot of heart, some surprises and as always a fair bit of humor.
This one starts out very dark. Tonally the first couple of chapters are more horror-esque than fantasy, but once over that the story lightens to more typical quest fantasy.
Marra needs to kill a prince who by all accounts can't be killed. He is too protected both by (and against) magic and of course all those guards with shiny swords.
In tried and true fantasy/fairytale fashion Marra is sent to a Dust Witch ( a witch who can speak to and for the dead) a quest to complete three impossible tasks after which -- if she completes them (doubtful) -- she'll be given the information she needs to defeat the prince. Well nobody is more surprised than the Dust Witch that Marra manages the tasks.
But Marra is a princess who has spent most of her life in a convent and even having completed her tasks she still isn't quite up to the task of killing an evil prince all by herself. So she gets a merry -- ok mismatched -- band of companions to help her out. The Dust Witch, her demon possessed chicken, a dog made of bones, a dispossessed knight, and a hapless fairy god mother.
What can go wrong?
This is a really good, fun, story about a princess and the group of people* helping her seek justice.
The story is fast paced, and straightforward. I liked that the story was quirky and the characters were all different and interesting and it didn't hit any predictable beats.
So yeah by the time it was over I was smiling a lot.
Also, I listened to this on audio and the voice narration was excellent. The narrator made each character very distinctive and you could hear their personality in the voices she gave them. From the resolute but sometimes anxious Marra, to the dry, acerbic Dust Witch to the trippy, happy Agnes (the fairy godmother) all were perfect....more
I didn't love,love this one as much as the first book, but that is mainly because 'on the road' stories are really not my jam. And I really enjoy the I didn't love,love this one as much as the first book, but that is mainly because 'on the road' stories are really not my jam. And I really enjoy the court politics the first book centered on.
But this was still a fun and funny read. Istvhan and Clara's romance is lovely. I liked how the author took the time to show that how the two are tall, big people who have to navigate around in a world that isn't exactly built for them. Also just Istvhan's appreciation of Clara's person, her size and especially her nice rack.
Even as I wasn't a fan of their travels that took up most of the first part of the story, I did like the various companions they had over the course of the story, especially Doc Mason this universe' version of the traveling medicine show snake oil salesman.
There are two parallel stories happening: Clara, a nun with a secret, is out to find her kidnapped sister nuns, and Isthvan is on the trail of the ''Smooth Faced' men -- those creatures from the previous book who were going around and decapitating people. Their trail intersects and they find themselves bound for the same place. I wasn't as invested in Isthvan's plot because I also am not a fan of that sort of macabre horror the 'Smooth Faced' men represent. But I loved Clara's plot and was anxious to see how it would all pan out.
Once they get to their destination that is when some of the pace really picks up and the comedy/fantasy/horror blend of the book is in high gear and everything just comes together fantastically. There is so much that happens in the last act and it is a blast.
the romance was a very slow burn romance because... reasons. But I will say I loved the running gag of Clara and Isthvan being continuously cock-blocked when they were on the brink of getting their swerve on. Some of the interruptions were quite funny.
So good book with an excellent audio narrator. My biggest complaint it that I really wanted an epilogue. It ended too abruptly from the high of the action in the last act....more
Great addition to the Kinsman Universe. Tight little story that was exciting with an interesting world-build behind it. I have said it before, but IloGreat addition to the Kinsman Universe. Tight little story that was exciting with an interesting world-build behind it. I have said it before, but Ilona Andrews writes to my happy place -- smart, badass, grown-ass adult protagonists, a good plot with danger and action, and a nice dose of humor both bright and dark.
I had this book since it came out but had been curiously reluctant to read it. As a matter of fact, I did read the first few chapters back when I firsI had this book since it came out but had been curiously reluctant to read it. As a matter of fact, I did read the first few chapters back when I first got it and for a world that was one of my favorites and had very felt very familiar and immersive to me going back the many years I've read the Kate Daniels series, this book made that world feel alien all over again.
I actually put it aside, unsure if I wanted to continue it.
Fast forward to last week and some judicious kindle organizing and this popped back up on my first screen. I decided to give it a whirl again.
I am glad I did, I ultimately enjoyed this quite a bit and post-shift Atlanta, although still a bit off to me, started to feel a little more familiar. I admit OG Julie was never a great favorite of mine, but I am liking her new persona Aurelia quite a bit.
Like the original recipe series, Julie's big bad is a god. Unlike Kate who was seriously over-matched with Roland and had no prayer of defeating him and had the added bonus of a complex relationship with him being her dad -- there is none of that here. Julie is a fully formed bad ass. You get the sense that she is very much up to the task of defeating the God Moloch. And there is no familial relationship to muck up the proceedings with emotions. The big mystery is how is it going to happen and what will the collateral damage be?
The basic plot is a simple whodunnit. Julie/Aurelia needs to defeat this Moloch God-guy and for some reason the murder of a beloved pastor in Atlanta is important to his success at defeating her. So Julie as Aurelia (with a new face and a different scent... all explained how all this occurred) rides into town and can not let any of her old family friends know it is her. For reasons. She finesses her way to becoming a Knight Protector and assigned the case to look into the murder of the Pastor by the head of the Atlanta Order Nick Feldman (...sidebar... I love how everybody is all 'we are family' now. Kate's old frenemy Nick is apparently now referred to as 'Uncle Nick' by Julie/Aurelia and Hugh D'Ambray is 'Uncle Hugh').
The case itself is a simple breadcrumb mystery but it is all the stuff around it that gives the story it's action. Lots of people are interested in this murder so there are fights and arguments and confrontations and killings.
The book drops lots of familiar names and we get little catch up glimpses of everyone. I especially liked hearing about how the younger generation (Conlan, Chris & Barabbas' daughter, George and Eduardo's kids, Jim and Dali's kids) are all getting into trouble. Ascanio is trying to make moves. We get a bit about Erra and Roland. Also Hugh makes a brief, albeit amusing appearance. As does Luther. And then there is Derek.
If Aurelia is massively different ifrom the Julie we remember, then Derek is like he from another planet. Honestly, I am more intrigued about what the heck happened with Derek in the past 10 years (the time jump between the last KD book and this one) than almost anything else.
Works as a good entry point to a new mystery series....more
I was so hoping the story would live up to that glorious cover. And it does. It really does.
This was a lovely friends to lovers romance. NormalReview:
I was so hoping the story would live up to that glorious cover. And it does. It really does.
This was a lovely friends to lovers romance. Normally I do not like lots of flashbacks. In most cases, I find them annoying breaks in the forward momentum of the present story. But in this case they necessary to really understand the deep and long standing relationship Illium and Aodhan have had over the centuries. We meet them when they first meet each other when they were basically babies. We get to hang out with them when they experience important milestones. How they diverge in their interests and aptitudes.
Throughout the series we've heard about their friendship. But this we get to experience it and understand how important they are to each other right now and see the change from platonic friendship to romantic relationship develop.
I also liked finally knowing what happened to Aodhan to shatter him so. On the one hand, I was reading that chapter feeling horrified but on the other, I was all 'Hell's Yeah' because people fucked around and found out that Raphael and his crew Do. Not. Play. when you mess with one of theirs.
If I have one big complaint, I have to admit I have Lijuan fatigue. I get it is realistic given the big as war and the Cascade and that you can;t just waive away the after effects of such a major event. And it was nice to 'meet' other Angels and Vampires as Aodhan and Illium are dispactched to China to help the new Archangel, Suyin settle in. But I wish the story would pivot to something else even just for one book.
But Overall I am really happy with Adi & Blue and look forward to seeing them develop even more.
Original Reax:
HOLY SHIT!!! This cover is everything. Also Aodhan and Illium. OMG!!...more
The first book ended on such a high note that I expected this book to keep up the momentum.
But the first 60%I was looking forward to this book major.
The first book ended on such a high note that I expected this book to keep up the momentum.
But the first 60% of the book is really slow. There one moment of decisive action, there is one moment where a presumed dead friend shows up very much alive and a little problematic but those are little spikes of action is what is really a lot of .... domestic minutia.. almost.
This book centers on Maya and Gray. Maya is one of Nina's crew from the previous book. She is the one who has the eidetic memory -- but on steroids. She doesn't just remember words, she remembers smells, intonations, and has super enhanced situational awareness because of how her memory works. She can recall the impression of the space and size of a room, remember the distinct sound of a shoe walking across the floor, how far away it is, the pressure of the foot in the shoe based on sound and memory alone. And her mind keeps and categorizes it all.
Because of her abilities and training she was the petted, cosseted human diary of a very high up member of the Tech Corp --a shady corporation that controls everything. But we know, through epigraphs that start each chapter, that her boss was a closet rebel who had been discovered and killed. And Maya herself had been tortured for information her mind held. Somehow she held out and faked her death and is now underground, living in a new identity.
She has never th0ught of herself as a 'Super' like all the of the crew. They are all super enhanced super soldiers. But Gray, a super soldier sniper, convinces her she is not using all of her potential and that her memory and spatial awareness can translate into something pretty lethal and a huge advantage if necessary.
The book gets a little more fun when they start to train. And it is a blatant Checkov's gun because we know her training is going to come in handy later.
For Gray, he is rejecting his super soldier medial implant and he knows it is a death sentence because no one has ever been able to fix that.
So that is the emotional conflict for them. He is dying and they are on borrowed time.
The book is peppered with all of the people we met and became fond of in the first book with the tw crews girls+ guys all living together like happy puppies, having family dinners and being all ride or die for each other and Ava continues to make her cool Ninja-like appearances. But we meet a LOT more new people.
At about the 60% mark a major plot development happens that affects them all and the action kicks up into high gear and does not look back. The book becomes a great ride and ends, again, on a very high note with a ominous portent for the next book....more
I am, always, so fascinated (and gr(CW/TW rape, lack of consent )
4.5 "we will, we will rock you!" stars.
Revisiting Anna and Charles is always a treat.
I am, always, so fascinated (and gratified) at how an author can create two series that share the same world and in many cases the same characters and some of the same background and often reference each other and yet make them so incredibly distinct from each other in tone, pacing and voice.
The Alpha and Omega books always feel to me like they are more leisurely paced, telling stories with a deep sense of lore and are deeply character based whereas the Mercy books are faster paced, more action oriented and while they don't stint on character they often feel more plot propelled.
In this Anna and Charles book, once again Bran is not able to look into something so he sends his trusty second in command(s). I love that Anna, the lovely Omega that we met six 1/2 books ago, who was so damaged is now thought of as a power in her own right even by people outside of the pack. In one case we learn (rather hilariously) that the FBI have a rather... inflated opinion of her role in the hierarchy of the USA werewolves.
In this one a colony of people who made a community and squatted on land that belongs to Leah have gone missing. Just poof! like the lost colony of Roanoke.
So Anna, Charles and a berserker wolf named Tag head off into the mountains of Northern California to see what is what. What = witches (god I hate the witches in this series), a mysterious being who uses music and a person's own memories as a weapon and who has a nefarious end game goal, and a lot of backstory on Leah and how she and Bran became mates.
Normally this would have been a five star book. The story was fantastic, the big bad was appropriately bad, the mystery of it all was well revealed and I loved how we got even more story and somewhat redemption for Leah. Mercy's POV on Leah had always painted her in a very bad light. Even Samuel and Charles weren't very complimentary about Leah. But as we learn for long lived werewolves you don't always know enough about a person to really understand their demons. And in this case Leah had some real reasons for how she was. So much so that even Charles had to admit that Leah was not who he had thought she was. The book also answers questions about Leah and Bran's relationship. But this book was also a very fraught story with some dark themes. I actually read this with a fair amount of anxiety because it seemed like Anna, who we know had been a victim of bullying, imprisonment and rape-- was on the path to being re-victimized again. I was fairly sure the author would not go there again with Anna, but there are couple of very fraught moments where we skated close. So I was kinda tense while reading and couldn't let out my breath really until we got to the final confrontation and Anna was able to let go!
Speaking of the climactic scene, it was everything you'd want or need for a fight with a big, scary, unknown ...thing that used magic and could mind fuck you really easily. But we got the pack hunting song, Queen (yes the group), Fae swords, Coyote (yes, that Coyote)and sheer badassery by Charles, Anna, Tag, Bran and especially Leah.
And then this author did what she is great at, she gave us a great ending. Not since the ending of Fair Game where Beauclaire dramatically gave humanking the middle finger and basically said "fuck all of y'all" in such a way it changed the trajectory of the Fae in both this series and the Mercy series, has an ending had the potential to do that again. When this ended I was both sad (for reasons...) and exhilarated (... can't wait to see what happens next)....more
This is a book 1 in a series but read like a book 2. I found out there is a prequel novella. No matter, there is enough back story included that I gotThis is a book 1 in a series but read like a book 2. I found out there is a prequel novella. No matter, there is enough back story included that I got enough background of what happened in the novella. Took a bit to orient myself in the world though as there are several kingdoms introduced really early so you have to sort friend/kingdom from foe/kingdom. And honestly I like that the couple are already together and in love when this starts.
I liked the magic concept in this. The heroine is a spellcaster who casts her spells through embroidery and knitting. She embroiders protections, suggestions and compulsions into clothing or through knitting. They can make the wearer better in battle, do things they wouldn't normally do etc. And she can even se suggestions into a person's skin if she is sewing up a cut. Also girlfriend is kinda badass in that at one dire moment, she manages to actually sew while her hands are tied. So yeah.
This is a novel where people are at war. I love that the hero's army is referred to as The Rising Wave. So there is lots of war/battle talk but it is well balanced with the different personalities and relationships of all the characters. Lots of really good supporting characters that surround our intrepid couple. Interesting world.
Good ending. Really interested to see what happens next....more
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