Book Review Bonanza!

I am so behind in my book reviewing, guys. With the two books I finished yesterday, I’ve got eight sitting here, staring at me and waiting for me to write about them. So, I’m going to take them all down in one fell swoop.

Today, I’m reviewing:

• Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
• Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione
• Curse the Dawn by Karen Chance
• New Blood by Gail Dayton
• Storm Born by Richelle Mead
• Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
• Succubus Heat by Richelle Mead

Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs
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Description: This is the fourth book in the Mercy Thompson series. Mercy’s managed to miff the vampire queen. The problem with an old vampire is that they think in layers . . . and they don’t play nicely. (from patriciabriggs.com)

Bone Crossed immediately follows the events that happened in Iron Kissed, so if you haven’t read Iron Kissed, please skip this review! It will contain SPOILERS for Iron Kissed! I will avoid major spoilers for the events of Bone Crossed, but Iron Kissed spoilers are kind of unavoidable.

The Fangirl’s Review: I absolutely love the Mercy Thompson series. I think Briggs has created a fascinating and well-built urban fantasy in a delightfully new setting (how many urban fantasies have you read set in eastern Washington state?). But this book… it just didn’t grab me the way the first three did. The plot felt underdeveloped and strung along; when the climax finally happened, I was left scratching my head and wondering where the hell that came from. I’m still very pleased with all of the characters and their assorted characterizations; this book definitely cranked up the character development, but the plot itself just didn’t do much for me.

One thing I am pleased with is how Briggs dealt with the aftermath of Mercy’s rape in Iron Kissed. (On a side note, I was going to link to my review of book 3, but it appears I never wrote one here. Wha? I could’ve sworn I’d written one…) At the end of Iron Kissed, I was very worried that Briggs was going to gloss over Mercy’s reaction to the rape, as Mercy seemed to be pretty read to immediately put it behind her. I just didn’t find that realistic at all. Thankfully, Briggs does pick up on the post-traumatic stress that Mercy’s experiencing, particularly when it comes to getting closer to Adam. It worked for me, and it was handled sensitively.

The Fangirl’s Grade: B+

Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione
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Description: Pleasure is their ultimate weapon . . .

Runa Wagner never meant to fall in love with the sexy stranger who seemed to know her every deepest desire. But she couldn’t resist the unbelievable passion that burned between them, a passion that died when she discovered his betrayal and found herself forever changed. Now, determined to make Shade pay for the transformation that haunts her, Runa searches for him, only to be taken prisoner by his darkest enemy.

A Seminus Demon with a love-curse that threatens him with eternal torment, Shade hoped he’d seen the last of Runa and her irresistible charm. But when he wakes up in a dank dungeon chained next to an enraged and mysteriously powerful Runa, he realizes that her effect on him is more dangerous than ever.

As their captor casts a spell that bonds them as lifemates, Shade and Runa must fight for their lives and their hearts-or succumb to a madman’s evil plans. (from Amazon.com)

The Fangirl’s Review: This is the second book in Ione’s Demonica series, dealing with Shade, the brother of the main guy in Pleasure Unbound. I very much like that Shade and Runa, the two main characters, have a history, so the romance doesn’t hinge on a soulmates trope or love-at-first-sight. The plot is interesting, the character development is good, and the sex is kinky and hot. This book is quite a bit kinkier than Pleasure Unbound; Shade is into BDSM, and there are a couple of scenes that toe the line between sex and torture. It’s intense in parts, so if you don’t dig the heavier stuff, you might want to avoid this book. Otherwise, it’s a good story and a hot romance.

The Fangirl’s Grade: B+

Curse the Dawn by Karen Chance
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Description: Cassie Palmer may be the world’s chief clairvoyant, but that doesn’t mean people have stopped trying to kill her. And now, the self-styled god Apollo, the source of Cassie’s power, is on the warpath—leaving her no choice but to face down her creator once and for all. (from Amazon.com)

The Fangirl’s Review: I like this series. I really do. But I really, really wish that the plots in each separate book would have a better, more polished structure. The plot in this book, much like the other three in the series, rushes headlong from the first page until the last with very little in the way of downtime. You’ve got to give your reader breaks! They need to relax for a minute and assimilate everything that you’ve thrown at them. This book was pretty exciting, but at the same time, I needed more tension breakers. Chance leaps from fight scene to fight scene, to the point where I was wondering how the hell Cassie hadn’t collapsed of exhaustion. There are references to her being wiped out and hungry, which is a good acknowledgment of the overly-fast pace, but still. Every book is like this. The plot needs to be paced out better.

I’m also getting frustrated with Cassie’s complete and utter lack of common sense or self-preservation. I know, I know, the plot wouldn’t do anywhere if she didn’t do stupid shit all the time, but for heaven’s sake. I’d like for her to show a little bit more intelligence than she does. She leaps right into stupid situations so often that I want to slap her.

And this book needed more Mircea. I keep hanging on for more of him, but he always seems to make brief appearances and then skitter off into the background. More Mircea! And a better plot structure!

The Fangirl’s Grade: B-

New Blood by Gail Dayton
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Description: In 1636, the last blood sorceress was burned at the stake. More than two hundred years later, her blood servant Jax has found her successor. Amanusa at first turns down the opportunity to learn what she perceives as an evil art. But she craves justice, and innocent blood cries out for justice.

When Amanusa looses magic on those who’ve harmed her, she must flee for her life across a devastated Europe with Jax, who is inescapably bound to her by blood and magic. Their journey takes them through zones where everything—including magic—has died, zones populated with strange creatures cobbled together of things left behind by the dead.

Needing each other for their very survival, Amanusa and Jax grow ever closer on their journey to discover answers – about magic, blood sorcery, the dead zones, and even love. (from Amazon.com)

The Fangirl’s Review: I really, really liked this book, but it felt unfinished. I was absolutely entranced by the first half of the book; I loved both of the main characters and thought their interactions were fascinating. And then they got to Paris and I started to lose interest. Their interaction outside of society was so much more interesting than when they were trying to fit in, and while I really enjoyed this book, I feel like it kind of fell flat toward the end. The end itself just felt… unfinished, as if there should have been about fifty more pages to resolve the dead zone plotline. I’m guessing that there will be a sequel at some point in the future, and I will definitely read it, but I wish this one had either finished things up a bit more or left off with a better cliffhanger.

As I said, the characters are fascinating and very likable, but once they move out of a kill-or-be-killed situation back into civilization, they lost some of the spark that interested me so much at the beginning. I think my favorite thing about this book, though, is the worldbuilding. Dayton has created an alternate Victorian age infused with magic; I loved the interplay between the various magical guilds, and her explanation of how magic works is extremely cool.

The Fangirl’s Grade: A-

Storm Born by Richelle Mead

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Description: Just typical. No love life to speak of for months, then all at once, every horny creature in the Otherworld wants to get in your pants…

Eugenie Markham is a powerful shaman who does a brisk trade banishing spirits and fey who cross into the mortal world. Mercenary, yes, but a girl’s got to eat. Her most recent case, however, is enough to ruin her appetite. Hired to find a teenager who has been taken to the Otherworld, Eugenie comes face to face with a startling prophecy–one that uncovers dark secrets about her past and claims that Eugenie’s first-born will threaten the future of the world as she knows it.

Now Eugenie is a hot target for every ambitious demon and Otherworldy ne’er-do-well, and the ones who don’t want to knock her up want her dead. Eugenie handles a Glock as smoothly as she wields a wand, but she needs some formidable allies for a job like this. She finds them in Dorian, a seductive fairy king with a taste for bondage, and Kiyo, a gorgeous shape-shifter who redefines animal attraction. But with enemies growing bolder and time running out, Eugenie realizes that the greatest danger is yet to come, and it lies in the dark powers that are stirring to life within her…

The Fangirl’s Review: Holy cow. I can’t believe I let this sit on my bookshelf for a couple of months. This is absolutely amazing! I absolutely adore the characters, and this book definitely tweaks my love of faery stories. Eugenie is a very well-developed, likable protagonist, and the supporting characters are not flat at all, but all have distinct personalities of their own. I freaking love that.

The plot is fantastic. While deceptively simple on the surface (rescue a kidnapped teenage girl from the Otherworld), underneath it’s an intricately woven story threaded through with Mead’s signature humor. Much like with her Georgina Kincaid series, I found myself laughing throughout this book.

Seriously, I can’t recommend this book enough. It’s one of the best urban fantasies I’ve ever read. Go! Buy it now!

The Fangirl’s Grade: A+

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

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Description: One cruel night, Meggie’s father, Mo, reads aloud from INKHEART, and an evil ruler named Capricorn escapes the boundaries of fiction, landing instead in their living room. Suddenly, Meggie’s in the middle of the kind of adventure she thought only took place in fairy tales. Somehow she must master the magic that has conjured up this nightmare. Can she change the course of the story that has changed her life forever?

The Fangirl’s Review: I wanted so badly to love this book. I mean, it’s about people who can read things out of books! But I found myself bored through the first 2/3 of the book. It was an endless stream of running, being kidnapped, escaping, hiding, running, being kidnapped, trying to escape, hiding, etc, etc, etc. The last third of the book was much more engaging and exciting, but I found myself wishing that an editor would have suggested that Funke cut out about 200 pages. The story would have flowed much better then.

I had trouble relating to the main characters, too. Mo was interesting, but he just didn’t feel round enough, like the reading gimmick was practically all there was to him. Most of his characterization is revealed through Meggie’s thoughts; we’re told about how cool he is instead of being shown. Meggie herself was a bit odd. She’s supposed to be 12 years old, but half of the time, I felt like she was written much younger. Dustfinger, Farid, and Elinor were much more interesting to me.

I really wish I had liked this better, because it comes very highly recommended from several friends of mine. But… I was bored. :( Tell me that Inkspell is better.

The Fangirl’s Grade: C+

Succubus Heat by Richelle Mead

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Description: Georgina Kincaid has been a bad, bad succubus…which should be a good thing. But lately, thanks to her foul mood over breaking up with bestselling writer Seth Mortensen, she’s been so wicked that Seattle’s uber-demon Jerome, decides to ‘outsource’ Georgina to a rival – and have her spy for him in the process. Being exiled to the frozen north – okay, Vancouver – and leaving Seth in the cosy clutches of his new girlfriend is unpleasant enough. Then Jerome is kidnapped, and all immortals under his control mysteriously lose their powers. One bright spot: with her life-sucking ability gone, there’s nothing to keep Georgina from getting down and dirty with Seth – nothing apart from his girlfriend that is. Now, as the supernatural population starts turning on itself, a newly mortal Georgina must rescue her boss and figure out who’s been playing them – or all hell will break loose. (from fantasticfiction.co.uk)

The Fangirl’s Review: Ah, more delicious Richelle Mead writing. I freaking love this series. We pick up a few months after the end of Succubus Dreams, with Georgina still pretty damn pissed off and depressed about Seth’s asshole behavior (for full bitchery about this, see my review). But luckily (or unluckily), she gets embroiled in a hellish political showdown between her boss, Jerome (or He-Who-Looks-Strangely-Like-John-Cusack), and the archdemon of Vancouver. When Jerome goes missing–and when Georgina and her fellow Seattlite supernatural beings find themselves depowered–Georgie realizes that she’s the only one who really wants to find the boss man.

The mystery here is fantastic. I was guessing up until the end, and I actually gasped aloud at the big reveal. Fabulous. And once more, Mead wrings every drop of character development out of poor Georgie. I won’t spoil anything about Seth, but I was kind of irritated to find myself empathizing with him. Gah! That’s a sign of good writing, that I can start to feel for a character who so thoroughly pissed me off in the last book.

This is another great entry in the succubus series, and if you’re a fan already, definitely pick this one up. If you haven’t started reading this series yet… why the hell not?

The Fangirl’s Grade: A+