Category Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Books

Feb 19 2015
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Book Review: Stolen by Kelley Armstrong

stolenTitle: Stolen

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Series: Women of the Otherworld #2

Genre: Urban fantasy

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Overview: It was in Bitten, Kelley Armstrong’s debut novel, that thirty-year-old Elena Michaels came to terms with her feral appetites and claimed the proud identity of a beautiful, successful woman and the only living female werewolf. In Stolen, on a mission for her own elite pack, she is lured into the net of ruthless Internet billionaire Tyrone Winsloe, who has funded a bogus scientific investigation of the “other races” and their supernatural powers. Kidnapped and studied in his underground lab deep in the Maine woods, these paranormals – witches, vampires, shamans, werewolves – are then released and hunted to the death in a real-world video game. But when Winsloe captures Elena, he finally meets his match.

The Review:

I absolutely devoured Bitten, the first book in the series (I’d been trying out different urban fantasies over the last several months and Bitten was easily one of my favorites). Then someone mentioned that it had been adapted for a show in Canada and, even better, that it was on Netflix. Flash forward two days (because I binge watched it) and I was completely hooked! I knew I loved the author’s writing, the characters, the story, and the show, so you’d better believe I scrambled to get ahold of the second book.

There was only one problem: the first book was meant as a standalone, so reading Stolen felt like reading another first book.

Normally, this would feel like a tragedy, as I love seeing the progression of a plot line over several books. In this case however, it kind of worked. Stolen was at least told from Elena’s perspective, and the writing was just as killer as ever. And the show “Bitten” did a fantastic job tweaking the story in a way that allowed them to end with a cliffhanger, which means the second season will at least give me that continuation I so desperately crave. Everybody wins… well, I do anyway.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of Stolen. Just as with the first book, I was completely absorbed, dragging it out whenever there was a spare moment to see what happened next. I read a lot, but I seldom feel addictively drawn back to a book, and Kelley Armstrong has managed to do that not once, but twice to me… needless to say, I will be continuing on. Although I admit I am a bit nervous about that. You see, she changes characters from here on out, and I’m so attached to Elena that I’m afraid I won’t enjoy it as much. At least I can be sure that whatever direction the story takes, the writing is going to be superb! And the craft – Armstrong has an incredible instinct for story, which makes me think I will love whatever tale she decides to weave together.

Overall, I wish I hadn’t waited so long to pick up this author. I can definitely see why she is considered a staple in the urban fantasy genre. I would highly recommend her to anyone who enjoyed authors like Patricia Briggs and Kim Harrison. I would doubly recommend the show to fans of True Blood – it was great for all the same reasons… in fact, I may have loved it even more.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Dec 4 2014
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Book Review: Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep

Spider's BiteTitle: Spider’s Bite

Author: Jennifer Estep

Series: Elemental Assassin #1

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: They call me the Spider. I’m the most feared assassin in the South — when I’m not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland. As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife. But I don’t use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride. Now that a ruthless Air elemental has double-crossed me and killed my handler, I’m out for revenge. And I’ll exterminate anyone who gets in my way — good or bad. I may look hot, but I’m still one of the bad guys. Which is why I’m in trouble, since irresistibly rugged Detective Donovan Caine has agreed to help me. The last thing this coldhearted killer needs when I’m battling a magic more powerful than my own is a sexy distraction…especially when Donovan wants me dead just as much as the enemy.

The Review:

I actually enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I was going to. I’ve been reading the likes of Briggs, Harrison, and Butcher lately, so I was understandably nervous that Spider’s Bite might fall short of such high standards. While it wasn’t quite as brilliant, it definitely holds its own within the urban fantasy genre.

I now more than ever appreciate Jennifer Estep for her great ideas. This urban fantasy world contains Elementals who, you guessed it, control the elements. On top of that, there’s the usual array of paranormal creatures, so the combination of magic and paranormal (of this specific variety) is within itself an interesting twist that I haven’t come across before. Considering how many urban fantasies I’ve read, that’s getting harder and harder to do. Top everything off with a kickass assassin with an interesting back story, and I’m sold! It had the same creative appeal as her Mythos Academy series (which I also enjoyed).

Even though the ideas and themes behind the book were my favorite elements, I also appreciated the characters. As I mentioned before, I really liked Gin and especially appreciated how she handled herself in deadly situations – she’s definitely one tough cookie! She was also an incredibly consistent character, by which I mean she didn’t turn into a pansy when something tragic happened, thereby maintaining her assassin persona. Although she was sad, her focus quickly shifted to getting even. I definitely don’t mind when characters get emotional within books, but a simpering heap of an assassin would have ruined her badass character profile. I also loved Caine as a potential love interest and enjoyed the dynamic he and Gin had right from the start.

Really, there weren’t many things I didn’t like about the story. Sure, it lacked a little bit of complexity (as the story was pretty straightforward), but what was there was done really well. The only thing that bothered me a little is almost too stupid to mention (which means I’m going to talk about it for at least a paragraph): Estep had a reoccurring descriptive lead-in that fixated on the characters’ eyes. “I looked at him with my gray eyes,” “he peered at me with his golden eyes,” “her green eyes widened in surprise.”… You get the idea. It was actually a clever way to draw attention to a unique feature, but it happened so often (at least once a chapter) that it was almost funny. My hazel eyes are going to light up with delight if I catch more than a couple in the next book. :-)

Overall, I consider Spider’s Bite and entertaining read and definitely worth your time if you’re a fan of the urban fantasy genre. I will definitely be continuing on in the series.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Oct 6 2014
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Book Review: Shifting Shadows by Patricia Briggs

shifting shadowsTitle: Shifting Shadows

Author: Patricia Briggs

Series: Mercy Thompson (Short Stories)

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 5/5 stars!

The Overview: Mercy Thompson’s world just got a whole lot bigger… A collection of all-new and previously published short stories featuring Mercy Thompson, “one of the best heroines in the urban fantasy genre today” (Fiction Vixen Book Reviews), and the characters she calls friends…

Includes the new stories… “Silver” / “Roses in Winter” / “Redemption” / “Hollow”

…and reader favorites “Fairy Gifts” / “Gray” / “Alpha and Omega” / “Seeing Eye” / “The Star of David” / “In Red, with Pearls”

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The Review:

Patricia Briggs is one of my favorite urban fantasy writers, and the fact that she usually only comes out with one novel per year has me feeling perpetually impatient. I completely devour her books as soon as they come out and am always left craving more. While that speaks volumes of Briggs’ talents, I’ll admit it hurts my heart a bit every time I realize I have a full year to wait before finding out what happens next. So, the release of Shifting Shadows – a compilation of short stories set in Mercy Thompson’s world – felt like the ultimate treat to this uber fan!

Every single story did one of two things (and in some cases both): 1) allowed us to delve a little deeper into the lives of some of my favorite secondary characters (we essentially got treated to their fascinating backstories while viewing the world from their perspectives) and/or 2) expanded on the world-building within this already brilliantly-conceived universe. It was amazing, and I now want to go totally fangirl and start blabbing about Bran and Samuel and how cool it was to see their origins, or perhaps Warren (my favorite member of the pack) and the chills I got while learning about his strength of character, or even Kara and Asil, the stars of my favorite short story of the collection, and the wolves I’m now most eager to read more about. And that’s just to name a few!

Patricia Briggs is such an amazing writer. This is something I already knew, but Shifting Shadows made me appreciate her even more. She is just so great at characterization that you always feel like you’re reading about real people. It probably helps matters that Briggs considers the characters her imaginary friends, to the point where these fully-formed people in her head are mostly responsible for driving their own stories. She gives them a problem and then sits back and watches how they all deal with it. At least, that’s what she said during the Q&A of one of her book signings, and I’m inclined to believe her. 

It’s one thing to fall in love with characters and get to know them over the course of a multi-book series, it’s a whole other ballgame to get to know them within the confines of a short story. I’m seriously going to go back and study these stories for tips on how to make my own characters stronger – it was that good. Writing aside, there wasn’t a single point in this entire book that I wasn’t highly entertained, which is saying something because I don’t usually have the patience to pick up short stories (yes, I realize how ironic that sounds). As I said before (but it warrants repeating) every story either gave me insights to characters I’d been curious about or made Mercy’s world more vibrant… in fact, many of them did both.

All I have to say is, if you’re a fan of Mercy Thompson, these short stories will knock your socks off! If you’re not yet a fan, you’ll probably enjoy them because the writing is that good, but I think already having a deep connection with most of these characters is what took the book from great to amazing. Along those lines, if you haven’t read them, I highly recommend picking up the book that started it all, Moon Called.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Jun 10 2014
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Book Review: Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

bittenTitle: Bitten

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Series: Women of the Otherworld #1

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Overview: Elena Michaels seems like the typically strong and sexy modern woman, She lives with her architect boyfriend, writes for a popular newspaper, and works out at the gym. She’s also a werewolf. Elena has done all she can to assimilate to the human world, but the man whose bite changed her existence forever, and his legacy, continue to haunt her. Thrown into a desperate war for survival that tests her allegiance to a secret clan of werewolves, Elena must recon with who, and what, she is in this passionate, page-turning novel that begins the Women of the Otherworld series.

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The Review:

I don’t know what it was about this book, but I found myself glued to it constantly. I was seriously walking around my kitchen only half paying attention to the dinner I was making because I didn’t want to stop reading long enough to focus. Granted, I would probably do that with every book if they were all old paperbacks, but I have a tendency to collect hardcovers that I barely cracked the spine on. Paperbacks, however, are a whole new ballgame and I dragged this one everywhere with me. So, my total absorption could be partly due to how mobile the book was, but I’m sure most of it was because it was a great urban fantasy and I was in the perfect mood for precisely that.

While there is some excellent world building right up front, this is not one of those books that dives into the conflicts at the very beginning. The story progression often times alternated with big chunks of back story. I know to some this is a huge faux pas, but I don’t mind information dumps as long as I’m interested in what’s being presented. And I was – it was formatted in a way that revealed character and dug up old skeletons as the story went on, and I quite liked it. The best bits of the story, however, was when the action started.

I liked this book for the same reason that I enjoyed Stray by Rachel Vincent, in that there are a bunch of lovable male characters surrounding a single female. Watching the dynamics between each of them was a lot of fun to read about.

As with many urban fantasies, this one contained a great deal of, shall we say, steamy content. I have no shame in admitting that I enjoy a bit of steam in my books, and I’d say this one was about a 5/10 on the steam scale. The trouble is, the object of Elena’s lust was a character I didn’t particularly care for. He wasn’t a total asshat, but he wasn’t my type, either. In fact, there are two other men in this story who I actually liked a lot better. I’m hoping something develops with them in the future…

Anyway, Armstrong has long been considered a staple for the genre, and I’m glad to have finally picked up one of her books. I have to thank Chanzie over at Mean Who You Are for including this as an option for her Book-of-the-Month. I invited myself to read along, and I’m so glad I did (if you’d like to help her pick her next book, the voting is in the right-hand sidebar of her website… I’m pulling for either Cremer or Peeler). This is definitely not the last of Armstrong that I plan to read, and will most likely be picking up her Awakening YA trilogy next.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

May 27 2014
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Book Review: The Immortal Crown by Richelle Mead

Immortal crownTitle: The Immortal Crown

Author: Richelle Mead

Series: Age of X #2

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 5/5 stars!

Release Date: May 29, 2014

The Overview: “Gameboard of the Gods” introduced religious investigator Justin March and Mae Koskinen, the beautiful supersoldier assigned to protect him. Together they have been charged with investigating reports of the supernatural and the return of the gods, both inside the Republic of United North America and out. With this highly classified knowledge comes a shocking revelation: Not only are the gods vying for human control, but the elect—special humans marked by the divine—are turning against one another in bloody fashion. Their mission takes a new twist when they are assigned to a diplomatic delegation headed by Lucian Darling, Justin’s old friend and rival, going into Arcadia, the RUNA’s dangerous neighboring country. Here, in a society where women are commodities and religion is intertwined with government, Justin discovers powerful forces at work, even as he struggles to come to terms with his own reluctantly acquired deity.

Meanwhile, Mae—grudgingly posing as Justin’s concubine—has a secret mission of her own: finding the illegitimate niece her family smuggled away years ago. But with Justin and Mae resisting the resurgence of the gods in Arcadia, a reporter’s connection with someone close to Justin back home threatens to expose their mission—and with it the divine forces the government is determined to keep secret.

Immortal crown

The Review:

This book is further evidence why Richelle Mead is my favorite author. Having read (and loved) Gameboard of the Gods over a year ago, I was admittedly a little worried I wouldn’t remember enough of the details to get fully invested in Immortal Crown. This was so not the case! From the first page, I was drawn back into the world as if I’d never left. As much as I enjoyed the first book, I think I liked this one even better!

This is definitely one of the most complex series Mead has ever written. It takes place in a futuristic, urban fantasy setting with a mythological twist (which was one of the coolest aspects of the story). It had immersive world-building, superb character development, a heart-wrenching love story, interesting cultures, and fantastic overall conflicts. In short, this is one of the most unique books I’ve ever read, and has all the elements I look for in a great story!

My favorite elements in this book (and in fact, my favorite elements in all of Mead’s books) were the characters. The story contained three POV’s: Justin, Mae, and Tessa and, although they were very different from one another, they were all incredibly relatable. Mead has this way of infusing her characters with flaws and vices that make them more endearing because it makes them more human. It adds a level of complexity to the characters that gets me invested in them every time. What’s more, you can see how proximity to one another changes their behaviors over the course of the series, and that play off of one another is probably the element of her characters I love the most.

This awesome dynamic leads to some of the best love stories I’ve ever read. I very much appreciate Justin and Mae’s relationship in this series, and am most eager to see where their journey takes them next. They have this electric chemistry that’s just plain addicting to read about. Mead builds relationships so well that wherever their story leads, I know it’s going to be epic. I’d like to point out that I’ve found not only one, but two book boyfriends from Mead’s works in the past (Dimitri and Seth, I’m talking to you) so as much as I love Justin, I’m grudgingly okay letting Mae have him to herself this time… I don’t want to be too greedy.

Another thing that I love this author for is the brilliant momentum she creates within her books. As book 2 in the series, The Immortal Crown is where things start to get tougher for the characters and that culminating energy gets set into motion. I always try to savor Mead’s books but, as with all of her novels, that careening snowball kicked in at about the halfway and I couldn’t put it down – it was fantastic! If the third one was out, I guarantee I be already finished with it and eager for the next one!

Overall, this is a strong sequel to a series that I’m absolutely loving so far. It’s such a cool mix of mythology and urban fantasy – it really feels like a new genre on its own. If you haven’t read Richelle Mead yet, this series is an excellent place to start!

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Feb 8 2014
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Guest Blogger Book Review: Undead Pool by Kim Harrison

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Brought to you by Charlotte over at Apathy and Rhetoric

February 25, 2014

February 25, 2014

Title: Undead Pool

Author: Kim Harrison

Series: Rachel Morgan (Hollows) #12

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Release Date: February 25, 2014

The Overview: Witch and day-walking demon Rachel Morgan has managed to save the demonic ever after from shrinking, but at a high cost. Now strange magic is attacking Cincinnati and the Hollows, causing spells to backfire or go horribly wrong, and the truce between the races, between Inderlander and human, is shattering. this Rachel must stop the occurrences before the undead vampire masters who keep the rest of the undead under control are lost and it becomes all-out supernatural war. However, the only way to do so is through the ancient elven wild magic, which carries its own perils.

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Charlotte’s Review:

I love this series, but at the same time always feel a little bored when I read it. Unfortunately, I can’t pinpoint why. The books have excellent plots, wonderful characters, and great writing. They just never seem to move as fast as I want them to. Perhaps I’m too impatient.

In any case, The Undead Pool is of the same caliber of quality as all of the eleven previous books, which means all you super fans out there should be very excited. While maybe not my favorite of the series, I definitely think Undead Pool is one of the better ones. The sad news is there is reportedly only going to be one more Hollows book after this one, which surprised me because I felt this one ended with enough new intrigue to keep the series going for awhile. :(

One of my favorite things about this book was the character interaction. A key part to this series has been the trio (Rachel, Ivy, and Jenks) working together and helping each other. Each character had a unique skill and role to play. I’ve felt as though that element had disappeared in recent books, but am happy to say it makes a comeback. This of course means we see more of Ivy again, who seemed to have disappeared in the last couple of books. I missed her. The way she interacts with (and intimidates) people is always fun to read. Now, if only we can get back Glenn…

I also liked the development of Trent’s storyline, but I won’t give any details on that because of spoilers. I’m just happy that certain actions finally take place.

The second thing I really loved was the elven magic and the direction Harrison took with it. It opened up whole new realms of possibilities. I’ve always liked that in this series the magic has a clear method about it and seems almost scientific. Elven magic, on the other hand, breaks that mold. It follows completely different rules (which is probably why it gets called wild magic), and that excites me. I don’t know how to say more without giving away spoilers. Let’s just say the next book should be interesting.

There were a lot of key things that happened in this book (some subtle, some major) to progress the overall arc of the series. I was happy to see some of the loose ends that I felt were dragging the series down finally get resolved in this book. There was also a lot of new avenues opened, which left me (and will probably leave you, too) eagerly anticipating the next and final book. Let’s hope it comes quickly.

 Nik’s Notes:

I was thrilled to have Charlotte do a guest post on my blog – she is one of my favorite readers, writers, and bloggers and I look forward to reading more awesome posts from her in the future!