Category Archives: books/book review

Hemovore

Book Review of Hemovore, by Jordan Castillo Price

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HemovoreI bought a copy of Hemovore, by Jordan Castillo Price.

Description from Goodreads:
Ten years ago, the Human Hemovore Virus blazed through the world, and left the few victims who survived unable to eat, allergic to sunlight and craving the taste of blood.

Mark Jensen used to think V-positives were incredibly sexy with their pale, flawless skin and taut, lean bodies. Not anymore. Not since he’s been stuck procuring under-the-counter feline blood for his control-freak boss, Jonathan Varga. Why cat blood? Mark has never dared to ask.

It’s not as if he’s usually at a loss for words. He can dish an insult and follow it with a snap as quick as you can say “Miss Thang”. But one look at Jonathan’s black-as-sin gypsy eyes, and Mark’s objections drain away.

So he endures their strange, endless routine: Jonathan hiding in his studio, painting solid black canvases. Mark hurling insults as he buffs the office to a shine with antiviral wipes and maps out the mysterious “routes” he’s required to drive.

Then a blurb in Art in America unleashes a chain of events neither of them saw coming. As secrets of Jonathan’s past come to light, it becomes clear all his precautions weren’t nearly enough.

Review:
This is an excellent new (or at least different) take on the vampire story. There is just so much to appreciate in this novel. It’s fast paced, though more so in the last half than the first and there is a little bit of a lull toward the middle. It’s tightly plotted with an interesting shift in emphasis between the beginning and the end.

The characters are engaging, though I never quite felt I knew Jonathan as well as Mark, the primary POV. Plus, Jonathan seemed to have a little character drift between him in the beginning and him at the end. But I very much liked them both. I also very much appreciated the sexual tension, but the fact that there is very little actual sex.

The idea of vampirism as a disease isn’t a new one, but I don’t know that I’ve ever read a book in which it is so clinically addressed. I liked it. However, for a disease with an 85% mortality rate it seemed an odd forgone conclusion that the character in question would survive. I felt very little angst around this.

All in all, I really quite enjoyed this. But I’ve yet to read a JCP that I didn’t, so no big surprise there.

In the Middle of Somewhere

Book Review of In the Middle of Somewhere, by Roan Parrish

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In the Middle of SomewhereI bought a copy of In the Middle of Somewhere, by Roan Parrish.

Description from Goodreads:
Daniel Mulligan is tough, snarky, and tattooed, hiding his self-consciousness behind sarcasm. Daniel has never fit in—not at home in Philadelphia with his auto mechanic father and brothers, and not at school where his Ivy League classmates looked down on him. Now, Daniel’s relieved to have a job at a small college in Holiday, Northern Michigan, but he’s a city boy through and through, and it’s clear that this small town is one more place he won’t fit in.

Rex Vale clings to routine to keep loneliness at bay: honing his muscular body, perfecting his recipes, and making custom furniture. Rex has lived in Holiday for years, but his shyness and imposing size have kept him from connecting with people.

When the two men meet, their chemistry is explosive, but Rex fears Daniel will be another in a long line of people to leave him, and Daniel has learned that letting anyone in can be a fatal weakness. Just as they begin to break down the walls keeping them apart, Daniel is called home to Philadelphia, where he discovers a secret that changes the way he understands everything.

Review:
This was one of those novels in which I adored some of it and was annoyed by other bits. And some of both features are personal and subjective. I love the whole gentle giant trope and that definitely defines Rex. But I hate when characters start throwing around “baby” this and “sweetheart” that as soon as they have sex. I liked that the characters had such visceral reactions to one another, but couldn’t really get down with the insta-lust.

Contradictorily, I love that the book was a good solid, long read but it felt a little overly long at times. I like a hot sex scene and there are some smoldering ones here, but I thought there were more than I needed. I liked that both characters had issues and problems, but I also sensed that some of the past traumas felt like throw-aways, tossed out for an interesting emotional punch but serving very little real purpose in the plot. It was like the author tried to get too much in.

I loved the language and writing here, but the repetition of stock phrases really got on my nerves. I liked and could relate to a lot of Daniel’s grad school/university experiences but also thought it read like a lecture on working for a university at times.

So, as you can see, I’m torn about how I feel about In the Middle of Somewhere, but when it comes right down to it I liked Rex and Daniel, as well as the side characters, and I’d be interested in reading the sequel(s).

Book Review of Lady Lazarus, by Michele Lang

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Lady LazarusI borrowed Lady Lazarus, by Michelle Lang, from my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
Descended from the legendary witch of Ein Dor, she alone holds the power to summon the angel Raziel and stop Hitler and his supernatural minions from unleashing total war in Europe. The Nazis have fighters more fearsome than soldiers, weapons more terrifying than missiles, and allies that even they are afraid of SS werewolves; the demon Asmodel who possesses a willing Adolf Hitler, and other supernatural creatures all are literally hell-bent on preventing Magda from possessing the Book of Raziel, a magical text with the power to turn the tide against Hitler’s vast war machine.

Magda, young and rebellious, grew up in the cosmopolitan city of Budapest, unaware of her family’s heritage. When her mother dies, Magda–ready or not–is the Lazarus, who must face the evil that holds Europe in an iron grip. Unready to assume the mantle of her ancient birthright, but knowing that she must fight, she sets out across Europe searching for the Book. Magda is desperate enough to endanger her soul by summoning the avenging angel Raziel.  When she sees him in the glory of his celestial presence, her heart is utterly, completely lost..

Review:
There was so much to like about this book, the Jewish heroine, the platonic love between Magda and her angel (at least in the period of the book), the difficulty of the angels’ task, the best friend who I decided was her lover, the cyclone-like battles between good and evil that feel like the centre of the world only until you remember the big bad is still lurking out there waiting to pounce (reminding the reader about the importance of perspective), some of the writing (all is pretty good, but some passages really wow), and Magda’s genuine and undeniable growth as a character. There is a lot to appreciate. But there was just as much that bothered me personally.

I got tired of Magda being clueless of everything. Why, oh why, are heroines always ignorant of themselves, their power, their ability, their strengths? I am just tire, TIRED of this being the kernel at the centre of just about every book I read that has a female lead. Why?

I thought the book dragged in places. The reader spends a lot of time in Magda’s head or traveling. After being clueless and not knowing what to do Magda always seemed to defeat her enemy with ease and I was never entirely sure how she managed it. This feeling of ho-hum another one done is only exasperated by the fact that the book ends on the eve of Hitler’s attack on Poland, so the whole thing kind of wraps up where I thought it was going to begin. And lastly, I thought there were an uncomfortable number of characters that showed up when needed and then just disappeared again.

So, I’m about balanced between those things I really liked and those things that annoyed me.