book post!
I didn't read Charlain Haris' novella in Must Love Hellhounds simply because I have no interest. Might edit later to add more impressions.
Angels' Judgment by Nalini Singh, a Guild Hunters Novella, found in Must Love Hellhounds anthology.
My interest in the author is piqued. It features the typical urban fantasy leading lady; snarky and kick-ass. Which I have a weakness for. XD Deacon, the leading man was rather handsome too. I kept thinking of him as Amon from Witch Hunter Robin, lol. General premise: there's a traitor in the guild, which sends Sara, soon to be Guild Director, on a quest to find the traitor along with Deacon, the Slayer. Definitely checking out more by the author.
Blind Spot by Meljean Brooks, also in Must Love Hellhounds
The writing is clunky. It has its good parts, but then there's a chunk/line where it just doesn't work, be it grammatically or stylistically. The premise was decent enough though; a vampire family's butler has to work with her employer's blind, but handsome, nephew to find the nephew's sister.
Magic Mourns by Ilona Andrews, a Kate Daniels novella, also in Must Love Hellhounds
Ok, so straight up, this is why I checked out the book. It's Ilona Andrews, that's all I need to know. Also, it's tiding me over until the next Kate Daniels book comes out. It features Andrea as the narrator and fill-in for Kate, while Kate's recovering from the Games in the last chapter. Andrea's also a snarky kick-ass heroine in an urban fantasy book/novella, and I was worried she'd sound too much like Kate's voice. While similar, though, they are different in feel. One of the best lines is on the first page where Andrea says her guns still love her. XD Raphael is dashing as ever, and after finishing this, boy do I ship Andrea/Raphael, particularly because of the bouda dynamic in relationships has woman>man. The change in POV at the end through me for a loop for a bit, but it had me laughing hard. Seeing both Andrea and What's His Name's POV on Kate is awesome. Also interesting to learn that Curran's magic is pretty ancient, and implied to be as potent as Kate's. Premise in this is that Andrea gets a call about a big dog chasing a were; turns out the were is Raphael, and the dog's a hellhound.
The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop, a Black Jewels novel
Despite the fact that weepingcock mocks the series, I'm still in love with it. This novel takes place after Dreams Made Flesh, it might also be after Tangled Webs, but I didn't read that one. As much as it annoyed me at times, it was a breath of fresh air to have a male lead, Theran, who's, well, an ass-hole with just enough redeeming qualities. Although enormous amounts of WAFF at Gray's coming of age/healing/romance. And also, Daemon teaching Gray how to kiss. *nosebleed* Cassidy was also a breath of air; she's not the powerful, headstrong, strong in general women that dominate the Black Jewels verse. As mentioned in Tempting Persephone, it's nowhere near as violent as the main trilogy of the series is; we're in a period of growing peace, and we're not fighting for the world, we're fighting on a domestic front. However, it's been awhile since I've read something in the series, so some of the background and history I've forgotten. Especially who/what the Shalador are. I liked it though, and I'll be checking out the next book, Shalador's Lady.
Fledgling by Octavia Butler
So after hearing about Octavia Butler in my Amer Lit II class, I decided to check her out. She has lots of sci-fi stuff, but not being a fan, I figured I could work with vampires. Ok, fine, so I also read it because I read it because I heard about all the squicky stuff. Regarding that stuff, get through chapter 3 and you'll be good. I'm not wowed by the book, but it was a'ight enough for me to go check out her more well-known stuff. The issues of racism seemed rather tacked on too. Also, strangely enough, this felt like a faster read than The Shadow Queen, despite me liking Shadow more, and Fledgling having smaller print.
Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore
Came to my attention via Tempting Persephone. Also via racebending or deadbrowalking because of the cover controversy. I'm too lazy to look for the original articles about the cover, but here's one. I don't think the main girl's black; I thought she was Indian, myself. Was she white? Most definitely not. Magic was definitely a lighter read than Fledgling. I like it enough to be on the look out for the author's next novel. I found the cover flap's summary uninteresting; luckily the book exceeds the lousy summary. Although, they didn't lie about the Charlotte Bronte bit. XD Eriss' character was pretty popping, despite him being an automaton.
Angels' Judgment by Nalini Singh, a Guild Hunters Novella, found in Must Love Hellhounds anthology.
My interest in the author is piqued. It features the typical urban fantasy leading lady; snarky and kick-ass. Which I have a weakness for. XD Deacon, the leading man was rather handsome too. I kept thinking of him as Amon from Witch Hunter Robin, lol. General premise: there's a traitor in the guild, which sends Sara, soon to be Guild Director, on a quest to find the traitor along with Deacon, the Slayer. Definitely checking out more by the author.
Blind Spot by Meljean Brooks, also in Must Love Hellhounds
The writing is clunky. It has its good parts, but then there's a chunk/line where it just doesn't work, be it grammatically or stylistically. The premise was decent enough though; a vampire family's butler has to work with her employer's blind, but handsome, nephew to find the nephew's sister.
Magic Mourns by Ilona Andrews, a Kate Daniels novella, also in Must Love Hellhounds
Ok, so straight up, this is why I checked out the book. It's Ilona Andrews, that's all I need to know. Also, it's tiding me over until the next Kate Daniels book comes out. It features Andrea as the narrator and fill-in for Kate, while Kate's recovering from the Games in the last chapter. Andrea's also a snarky kick-ass heroine in an urban fantasy book/novella, and I was worried she'd sound too much like Kate's voice. While similar, though, they are different in feel. One of the best lines is on the first page where Andrea says her guns still love her. XD Raphael is dashing as ever, and after finishing this, boy do I ship Andrea/Raphael, particularly because of the bouda dynamic in relationships has woman>man. The change in POV at the end through me for a loop for a bit, but it had me laughing hard. Seeing both Andrea and What's His Name's POV on Kate is awesome. Also interesting to learn that Curran's magic is pretty ancient, and implied to be as potent as Kate's. Premise in this is that Andrea gets a call about a big dog chasing a were; turns out the were is Raphael, and the dog's a hellhound.
The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop, a Black Jewels novel
Despite the fact that weepingcock mocks the series, I'm still in love with it. This novel takes place after Dreams Made Flesh, it might also be after Tangled Webs, but I didn't read that one. As much as it annoyed me at times, it was a breath of fresh air to have a male lead, Theran, who's, well, an ass-hole with just enough redeeming qualities. Although enormous amounts of WAFF at Gray's coming of age/healing/romance. And also, Daemon teaching Gray how to kiss. *nosebleed* Cassidy was also a breath of air; she's not the powerful, headstrong, strong in general women that dominate the Black Jewels verse. As mentioned in Tempting Persephone, it's nowhere near as violent as the main trilogy of the series is; we're in a period of growing peace, and we're not fighting for the world, we're fighting on a domestic front. However, it's been awhile since I've read something in the series, so some of the background and history I've forgotten. Especially who/what the Shalador are. I liked it though, and I'll be checking out the next book, Shalador's Lady.
Fledgling by Octavia Butler
So after hearing about Octavia Butler in my Amer Lit II class, I decided to check her out. She has lots of sci-fi stuff, but not being a fan, I figured I could work with vampires. Ok, fine, so I also read it because I read it because I heard about all the squicky stuff. Regarding that stuff, get through chapter 3 and you'll be good. I'm not wowed by the book, but it was a'ight enough for me to go check out her more well-known stuff. The issues of racism seemed rather tacked on too. Also, strangely enough, this felt like a faster read than The Shadow Queen, despite me liking Shadow more, and Fledgling having smaller print.
Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore
Came to my attention via Tempting Persephone. Also via racebending or deadbrowalking because of the cover controversy. I'm too lazy to look for the original articles about the cover, but here's one. I don't think the main girl's black; I thought she was Indian, myself. Was she white? Most definitely not. Magic was definitely a lighter read than Fledgling. I like it enough to be on the look out for the author's next novel. I found the cover flap's summary uninteresting; luckily the book exceeds the lousy summary. Although, they didn't lie about the Charlotte Bronte bit. XD Eriss' character was pretty popping, despite him being an automaton.