Review: Tracey O'Hara - Death's Sweet Embrace - Book 2

Book Description

After centuries of secret conflict, humans and parahumans have reached an uneasy truce. But unspeakable evil now threatens the tenuous peace.

Teenaged shapeshifters are being slaughtered by a sadistic serial killer who rips their still-beating hearts from their paralyzed bodies. A task force forms to halt the madness, including the vampiric Aeternus Antoinette Petrescu, as well as Kitt Jordan and Raven Matokwe, members of enemy Animalian tribes . . . and forbidden lovers.

A centuries-old blood feud has divided their shapeshifting peoples, and if their passion is discovered it will doom them both. But past hostilities must be put aside, for the killer they seek is but the first sign of the all-consuming nightmare of The Dark Brethren.
  

Review 

I got this book as an ARC for review.

I must admit I was hesitant about this book when I found out that the protagonist had changed to Kitt, a friend of Oberon’s (a secondary character in Night’s Colds Kiss). I tend to treat a spin off book with the same distrust I would give a TV series spin off or a sequel of a classic Disney movie. However, when I read Death’s Sweet Embrace I really enjoyed it. Antionette and Christian were still featured as secondary characters so I could see what they were doing and experience some more fight scenes featuring Antionette, while I learnt about Kitt and grew to love her as well. In essence, demoting Antionette to a secondary character really worked.

Kitt is a snow leopard shifter with black and white hair which is distinctive to the race. She works as a lecturer of parahuman forensic pathology. Raven is the love interest and he was a werewolf. The crime aspect of the story reminded me of the early work by Laurell K Hamilton’s with Anita Blake. Tracey O’Hara displayed the same attention to detail when examining the body post-mortem.

The story was layered with Raven and Kitt’s history. At the beginning it could be a little confusing where a feeling was created where you knew you were missing something, but this added to the intrigue. Just like the first book in the series, death’s sweet embrace had a fascinating mystery involving a serial killer that kept you wondering.

The book was a little slow at the beginning possibly because of the, at times, frustratingly slow revelations of information concerning Kitt and Raven’s past. In addition, the romance wasn’t filled with as much chemistry as I would have expected with their history. In this way it felt more like a dark urban fantasy than a paranormal romance, more focused on the world and the storyline than the romance.

However, I still enjoyed the romance between Kitt and Raven. I loved the idea of these two characters being apart for twenty years but still loving each other, as well as the progressively revealed story about why they separated and the sacrifices they made in their lives. I also really felt for Kitt and while reading I was continually hoping she would get treated with more fairness, be given access to her children and be accepted back into her pack. I was completely surprised when I found out why she was exiled by her father.

On a side note, I was very curious as to how old Kitt was when I read that the shape shifters (Animalian) could live for several hundred years. This wasn’t answered in the book. Raven had to be at least 80 but there was no mention of Kitt’s age that I noticed except a few things mentioned that leads you to conclude that she has to be at least 40 or older. I also had some standout favourite scenes that I absolutely loved. First I loved how Antionette helped Kitt get rid of some unwanted suitors, including the fight afterwards; it was so funny (If you have read the book you’ll know what I mean). Second, the idea for the shadow combat game was great. A unique twist on the idea of using magic and paranormal abilities to compete i.e. baseball with vampire players in the Twilight series and Quidditch in Harry Potter. Finally, one of my favourite parts was when Christian jumps out and surprises Antionette and Kitt.

In summary, I’m looking forward to reading the next book. I’m especially looking forward to learning more about the Dark Brethren.

My rating out of 5:

4/5 

Afterlight - Elle Jasper

Book Description

Savannah's most unconventional tattoo artist, Riley Poe, lives on the edge. Now she's put over the edge when her younger brother is taken by a sinister cult led by vampires. Her only ally is the hot-tempered vampire Eli Dupre, attracted to Riley's beauty and rare blood type. To save her brother from certain un-death, Riley faces dangers she's never dreamed of, ruthless bloodthirsty enemies, and an evil of endless hunger that wants to devour it all...

Summary

Riley Poe, a tattoo artist and a former wild child, is a mortal with blood that irresistible to vampires. Riley’s brother begins to turn into a vampire after releasing two powerful and long entombed vampires. To save her brother Riley joins up with the Dupre vampire family to destroy the evil vampires before her brother finishes his transformation.

Review

I really enjoyed Afterlight. I was initially attracted to the cover but was unsure on how good the story would be. I soon realized that this was going to be a great series.

The characters are engaging, the storyline is interesting and the romance is full of sexual tension and denied chemistry. Each character has a distinct personality. For example, there is Giles, the head of the Dupre family. He is upfront and doesn't beat around the bush, but he is a loving father and husband. His wife, Elise, seems delicate and too caring to hurt anyone but can fight and defend her family with the best of them. Then there are the Dupre brothers, Seraphin, Jean-Luc and Eligius (also called Phin, Luc and Eli). Luc and Phin are two peas in a pod but Luc is a bit vain in an adorable way, while Phin is a lot more laid back. Eli, Riley's love interest, is really protective of Riley, has a good sense of humor and can be a bit of a badass. The youngest Dupre, Josephine (Josie) is a two hundred plus year old vampire trapped in the body of a fourteen-year-old. She acts like a modern teenager with a healthy dose of mischief and a carefree attitude. Victorian, one of the escaped vampires, becomes obsessed with Riley and shows that even characters cast in the villain role can be intriguing. Finally Riley is really caring and protective but also resilient, determined and tough. 

In general, there are a lot of similarities to the Twilight series but it is still a unique story. Elle created a world that was vivid and detailed with character history and context creation. The romance was a little predictable but still really enjoyable.

My rating out of 5

4/5 

Review: Linger by Maggie Stiefvator

Book description

This is the story of a boy who used to be a wolf and a girl who was becoming one.

Just a few months ago, it was Sam who was the mythical creature. His was the disease we couldn't cure. His was the good-bye that meant the most. He had the body that was a mystery, too strange and wonderful and terrifying to comprehend.

But now it is spring. With the heat, the remaining wolves will soon be falling out of their wolf pelts and back into their human bodies. Sam stays Sam, and Cole stays Cole, and it's only me who's not firmly in my own skin.

Review

Linger was just as beautifully written as Shiver (see review). The love between Sam and Grace was really beautiful. I could really feel their love through Maggie’s writing; the emotions were so clear. In fact the emotions of all the characters were strong and compelling.

In linger, Maggie uses two more points of view (POV): Isabelle and Cole. Both of these characters were complex with hidden torments and motivations. All the characters were completely human. No character was perfect. All were realistic in that that had times where they could be selfish or considerate. Isabelle and Cole were not always kind or sensitive but this did not make them unlovable. They had too much character and enough redeeming qualities to move them away from bad or unfeeling to complex and relatable. In fact Isabelle was my favourite character. Their story of improving themselves, self-forgiveness and healing was touching and confronting. I also adored how honest and upfront Isabelle was. 

However, once again, I found Linger slow to read. Not really a lot happened for the first half of the story. While the characters explored their relationships with each other, their own feelings and reminisced a lot for the purpose of character introduction, when I got to half way and thought about what had happened it was interesting to realize that I couldn't really identify much of a plot-line. As a result of this I enjoyed the second half of the book far more than the first half. While I liked the introduction of Isabelle and Cole the four different POV’s contributed to slowing down the plot progression. In essence, the story had emotional development with little plot development. The exception to this was the cliff-hanger ending. The ending was well thought out and interesting leading to a (potentially) really good book with Forever. 

While I enjoyed Linger I can’t say I think it is as good as the hype lead me to believe (sorry to those who loved it). In fact there were times when I was a little bored and went off to do other things even though there was nothing else I particularly needed or wanted to do. While Maggie’s lyrical writing makes wonderful quotable material, I don’t think the story was particularly memorable. 

My rating out of 5:

3/5

Review: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvator

Book description

For  years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

Summary

Shiver explores the relationship between Grace and Sam. When Grace was young she was attacked by wolves. One of the Wolves saves her and Grace develops a fascination with them and in particular the wolf that saved her (Sam). In time, Grace discovers Sam shivering on her back porch, then witnesses his transformation to wolf. The world falls into place for Grace with this discovery but it might all be taken away because Sam might not be able to turn into a human again. Instead, Sam may be stuck as a wolf forever.

Review

I think the key feature of Linger was the beautifully written prose. There was a lot of descriptive language including metaphors, similes and poetic writing but it was also just really well written. To me the word beautiful can sum up the whole book. When, in the future, I think back to Maggie’s book that is what I will best remember.

The love story between Grace and Sam felt like a real, once in a life time, true love relationship. I think this feeling was, in part, largely created by the beautifully written prose, in contrast to gaining this impression from the story line or what the characters think or say. In spite of this it was still believable. In fact, I think it was more believable than if Maggie had explicitly stated how much they loved each other.

The character creation was also very well done. Both characters had a lot of depth and dimensions. Maggie created a complete view of the characters instead of a basic outline of a person. I felt that I really understood them as people and could understand their reactions to events and possibly even predict their reactions to future situations. Maggie achieved this though a detailed personality analysis, a clear character history and descriptions about their current environmental situation.

There were a few things that reduced my enjoyment of the book. First of all, Grace’s initial obsession with the wolves was a little weird. I thought it was sweet that there was such a connection between her and Sam after he saved her as a girl but it was a bit strong and a little unhealthy. After Grace’s attack looking for ‘her’ wolf and the wolves in general, were what her life seemed to revolve around. In addition, when she said her relationship had changed with the wolf lately (i.e. since she got older) and she couldn’t talk about it as easily with her friends, in combination with her previously made mention to not finding the right boy yet to have a boy friend, I couldn’t help but think ….. ‘beastiality’. I knew he was a werewolf, but she didn’t (at that point). 

Second, there wasn’t a lot of falling in love. They almost started out as ‘in love’ from the first meeting and at most the relationship developed over the first few nights after Sam had turned into a human. If you’re a fan of love at first sight this might be a good romance for you but for me it left the story a little lacking.

Finally, the story line was also a little lacking. The story seemed very slow. Not much happened in terms of a main plotline except descriptions by Grace and Sam to with their relationship and the problems involved with it, such as the possibility of Sam turning back into a wolf forever, at any time. The sub-plots were not explored to any great degree and they were in general far too predictable. In fact the whole story was a little too predictable. There was also a noticeable absence of tension between the characters. This made me a little bored with their relationship despite the obvious connection between them.

Of note for parents, there is a reference within the book to making love with the use of protection. However, the scene was discrete. It did not have detailed descriptions instead there was only a vague outline of the act.

My rating out of 5

3/5