Highborn (by Yvonne Navarro) Fail
Today on my Twitter feed, a lady I follow highly recommended a book, Highborn by Yvonne Navarro. I seriously considered unfollowing her over that one.
So there are things I love/like about this book. While it is a Did Not Finish as well as a fail, it is not a total fail by any means. I absolutely love the concept of this book. There's this angel/fallen angel/demon/human wanting redemption, so she's on Earth trying to do good things and prove that "Hey, look, I screwed up. I'm ready to make it right. Take me back?" I love that in some ways, the character of Brynna is well-developed. I found it believable enough that first she was a supernatural entity and because her form changed but her mind didn't when she poofed into existance on Earth, there were a lot of things she had to learn/unlearn to blend in with the rest of the humans. I like that Brynna isn't snarky, snarky, snarky, and...you guessed it, snarky. She isn't your traditional urban fantasy female lead. And I have to give the writer props for this one, because her overall writing style is more mature than what you usually find in the urban fantasy genre.
In spite of all its good points, it was a did not finish for me. Two main reasons that go hand in hand, in fact.
The Brynna character is the narrator as well as a major player (yes, this book was written in the dreaded first person) and while she's fine as a narrator, she is a horrible character. Personally speaking, of course, but I found her way too...empowered...even as she tried to blend in with humans. There are scenes where she gets into fights with people, and she ends up beating them to bloody pulps. Okay, so we see she's a physically strong woman/demon. Two issues with that. First of all, here is a character who wants everyone to see her as one of them. Beating people to bloody pulps is possible, of course, but there was never any description that suggests Brynna could do it. She's described on many occasions as tall (over six feet) but never strong. It almost contradicts the idea of blending in. Second of all, the way she handles problems is "Kill it!" At first you can cheer for her because she doesn't need help, she can solve her own problems, she is a genuinely strong female lead. Then it gets to the point where maybe she comes on a little too strong. Granted, Brynna is still a demon and is trying/failing to kick those demonic habits, but she just becomes unlikable the more you read about her. I couldn't take it anymore, and after a good hundred (give or take) pages I just said "Ah, screw it!"
The thing that bothers me most about this book is the company that published it. Even with an unlikable lead, it got published by Pocket Books. Pocket Books doesn't seem to like that type of character, unless maybe they've changed their acceptance requirements. They've had posts on their website essentially saying "Strong characters welcome, violent characters, keep out." Hmmmmm, Mr. Publishing Company, are you going back on your own guidelines? Because it would seem like, if you could publish this book, you're opening yourself up to a lot more. It's sad that quite possibly, this could be the best of the new bunch.