Brook, Meljean - Demon Marked
Nicholas St. Croix is trying to track down the demon who killed then impersonated his mother; royally screwed up his psyche; and killed Rachel, the woman who loved him. Ash doesn't know who she is, although Nicholas tells her she looks exactly Rachel. All she knows is that she has absolutely no memory from before three years ago, that sometimes her eyes glow eerily, that she frightens all the nurses, and that she doesn't need to sleep.
I like Ash, especially when she's trying to figure out how to survive with human beings and their strange emotions. I was much less fond of Nicholas, who lives for revenge and doesn't trust anyone. That said, Meljean Brook was trying to break the mold a bit; several times in the book, she mentions that thankfully Nicholas isn't a misogynist due to his evil mother-who-was-a-demon-in-disguise. I also like that there is no illusion about Nicholas being a nice guy. He's a jerk a fair amount of the time, and that's actually what Ash likes about him. Er. That sounds off-putting, but I feel it makes much more sense when your heroine is part demon.
The other thing I really like about the Guardian series so far is how prominent the women are. The first few books definitely feel like "Now meet the hot heroes of books #2-8!" But I was glad to see that several female characters from previous books continue to play a large role in the plot. I think it's more in the last three Guardian books, due to spoilery events, and the final Guardian book is focused on the biggest baddest Guardian guy (of course), but I will take what I can get in this genre. More details under the cut.
Spoilers for previous books
We don't see that much Irena here, but she's clearly a force to be reckoned with, now that she's heading the Guardians. Taylor gets a lot of page time both here and in the previous book. Lilith continues to be awesome, which makes me SO HAPPY. And there are more hints of Rosalia's plots. Obviously this is all due to Michael being stuck in the frozen field, but that is one of my favorite plot twists in the series. And of course he is the hero of the last book, but given how many kickass heroines Meljean Brook has had in the series so far, and given how much page time has already been given to Taylor, I am really hoping Michael doesn't end up overshadowing everyone in the last book.
My main issue with the book is that the plot resolution and the romance resolution aren't paired up, so after the main plot is resolved, you still have to wait around a bit for the romance, which makes it feel anticlimactic. And then there's a bit more plot thrown in to set up the next book, which also feels a bit anticlimactic when it really shouldn't.
Other than that, I am glad Brook seems to have more interest in awesome heroines who may not like each other but work together. I always want more, but I figure it's a nice departure for the paranormals I've been reading of late.
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I like Ash, especially when she's trying to figure out how to survive with human beings and their strange emotions. I was much less fond of Nicholas, who lives for revenge and doesn't trust anyone. That said, Meljean Brook was trying to break the mold a bit; several times in the book, she mentions that thankfully Nicholas isn't a misogynist due to his evil mother-who-was-a-demon-in-disguise. I also like that there is no illusion about Nicholas being a nice guy. He's a jerk a fair amount of the time, and that's actually what Ash likes about him. Er. That sounds off-putting, but I feel it makes much more sense when your heroine is part demon.
The other thing I really like about the Guardian series so far is how prominent the women are. The first few books definitely feel like "Now meet the hot heroes of books #2-8!" But I was glad to see that several female characters from previous books continue to play a large role in the plot. I think it's more in the last three Guardian books, due to spoilery events, and the final Guardian book is focused on the biggest baddest Guardian guy (of course), but I will take what I can get in this genre. More details under the cut.
Spoilers for previous books
We don't see that much Irena here, but she's clearly a force to be reckoned with, now that she's heading the Guardians. Taylor gets a lot of page time both here and in the previous book. Lilith continues to be awesome, which makes me SO HAPPY. And there are more hints of Rosalia's plots. Obviously this is all due to Michael being stuck in the frozen field, but that is one of my favorite plot twists in the series. And of course he is the hero of the last book, but given how many kickass heroines Meljean Brook has had in the series so far, and given how much page time has already been given to Taylor, I am really hoping Michael doesn't end up overshadowing everyone in the last book.
My main issue with the book is that the plot resolution and the romance resolution aren't paired up, so after the main plot is resolved, you still have to wait around a bit for the romance, which makes it feel anticlimactic. And then there's a bit more plot thrown in to set up the next book, which also feels a bit anticlimactic when it really shouldn't.
Other than that, I am glad Brook seems to have more interest in awesome heroines who may not like each other but work together. I always want more, but I figure it's a nice departure for the paranormals I've been reading of late.
Comment | Read Comments (
) | Link