Original Sin by Allison Brennan
Original Sin is a hot mess, and I’m not quite sure where to start.
Allison Brennan may not have known where to start, either. The early chapters jump around in time to a head-spinning degree. There are so many flashbacks to years ago, and references to events of weeks ago, that Original Sin gives the impression of beginning in the wrong place. If the monastery murders and fire are so important, why not put them in the novel?
February 26th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 1 | Allison Brennan | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
I never thought I’d be nostalgic for Micah. Back then, it seemed a little much to charge mass market paperback price for a novella. Enter Flirt: a novella in hardback. This is one case where the format of the book affects the star rating. Flirt would be much more palatable in an anthology, or even as a mass market paperback. At hardback price, I can’t recommend it.
The early chapters are a mix of the interesting and the tedious.
February 25th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 2 | Laurell K. Hamilton | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels
Former rich girl Pepper Martin, reduced to dire financial straits, takes a job as a cemetery tour guide. When she falls and hits her head on late mobster Gus Scarpetti’s mausoleum, she gains the (rather inconvenient) ability to see Gus’s ghost. Gus enlists Pepper to solve the decades-old mystery of his murder. While trying to get to the bottom of the case, Pepper learns that a ghostly “boss” can be hazardous to a girl’s love life and job prospects, and maybe even her life itself.
February 21st, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Casey Daniels | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The ancient Greeks held up Alcestis as a model of wifely devotion. Her husband, Admetus, was spared from death on the condition that someone else die in his place. When Admetus’ relatives and friends refused, Alcestis volunteered herself and made the journey to the underworld, but was later rescued by Heracles. In her debut novel, a poignant literary fantasy, Katharine Beutner fleshes out the figure of Alcestis, and gives her a backstory that helps explain her willingness to sacrifice herself.
Beutner’s Alcestis has always lived in the shadow of death,
February 12th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 5 | Katharine Beutner | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass
In Shadow Blade, Seressia Glass creates a compelling urban-fantasy heroine, Kira Solomon, and kicks off what promises to be a distinctive kick-butt series.
For me, Shadow Blade got off to a bumpy start. There’s a lot of “telling” and exposition as Glass familiarizes the reader with her world and with Kira’s backstory. We learn that Kira can drain an ordinary human of vitality by touching them, which means she has to keep people at literal arm’s length.
February 12th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Seressia Glass | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Rogue Angel: Destiny by Alex Archer
I have a soft spot for archaeological/historical mysteries and thrillers. The subgenre is extremely glutted with dreck, though, as a result of the huge popularity of The Da Vinci Code. I’m not much of a Da Vinci Code fan, but I’ve liked some of the novels that followed in its wake, so I’m often willing to give this type of book a chance even though I’m seldom satisfied. I ordered Destiny in the hopes that it would be one of the good ones.
February 9th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 0.1 | Alex Archer, Mel Odom | SFF Reviews | no comments |
My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent
My Soul to Save begins at a pop concert. The opening act is Addison Page, an up-and-coming singer who dated Kaylee’s reaper friend, Tod, back when he was alive in the normal sense. After her set, superstar Eden takes the stage. When Eden collapses mid-concert, Kaylee doesn’t feel the urge to scream, so she’s sure the pop star will be fine. But Eden dies, and when Kaylee sees the sludgy substance that wafts from the body, she learns that Eden didn’t have a soul.
February 6th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3 | Rachel Vincent | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
It’s just a routine rain spell. Jessie and her teacher and lover, Cooper, head to the city park to call up a storm and make a few bucks. But something goes horribly wrong. By the end of the night, Cooper has been sucked away into a Hell realm, and Jessie has suffered devastating injuries.
Then, things get worse. Benedict Jordan, the leader of the city’s magicians, gives Jessie a choice: either she agrees not to rescue Cooper, or else she becomes anathema.
February 5th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Lucy A. Snyder | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Shroud of Shadow by Gael Baudino
Natil is the last of the Elven race, and in this novel she takes a runaway nun, Omelda, under her wing during the time of the Inquisition. Natil’s powers are mostly gone, except for her miraculous harp playing, which is the only thing that saves Omelda from suicide. Natil herself is suicidal, and wants nothing more than to crawl under a rock and cease to exist. Obsessed with this goal, she doesn’t do much for Omelda except get the two of them indentured to a selfish rich man,
February 4th, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 1.5 | Gael Baudino | SFF Reviews | no comments |
“And where does that leave us?” Jabari demanded.
To my surprise, a half smile tweaked one corner of her mouth as she looked from me to Jabari. “On hold.”
This bit of dialogue, taken from one of the final chapters of Dawnbreaker, sums up my experience with the Dark Days series a little too well.
There’s nothing wrong with Dawnbreaker. It’s a perfectly fine book.
February 3rd, 2010. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 3.5 | Jocelynn Drake | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.