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Book Review: Suddenly Summoned, by Beatrix Hollow

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I have a signed copy of Beatrix Hollow‘s Suddenly Summoned. However, I cannot remember if I got it in a subscription book box or bought it during an online author-signing event.suddenly summoned cover

Luckily, it doesn’t take much social confidence to plot a massacre. All you need is an ancient ancestral grimoire, a shameful obsession with demons, and the proper motivation. Check, check, and check.

Yep, I’ve raised a demon from Hell. The first person that dared to summon in three hundred years. I gave him my eternal soul and in exchange he gave me a vicious bloodbath.

The world knows me as Beauty, the coven massacre slayer, and I’m stuck living out my pathetic life at the supernatural prison, Dreary Isle.

Now I have a savage demon magically chained to me–petting my hair and rasping in my ear how he wants to kill me. I’ve also got Max, my frustratingly platonic best friend who I’m responsible for getting locked up. Then there’s my broody leprechaun with mischievous eyes, who makes a lot of flirty promises–including escape.

Lastly, there’s the warden. He’s insane and has a grudge against my ancestors. A devil owns my soul but the warden is what frightens me. He’s something more heinous than a violent demon…

He’s a psychotic god.

my review

I thought this was an OK read. I liked the main characters and where the story seemed to be going. But it was also far too slow a burn for me. I don’t just mean for my preference, either. The slow-slow burn made the book feel like it dragged, not hitting the expected plot points when expected. (There is no sex, for example, because no relationship has progressed far enough.) And while that isn’t necessarily bad, there wasn’t really enough other stuff to fill the void. So, it felt a little mid.

All in all, however, I liked it enough to try and buy the next one in the series. Unfortunately, there isn’t one, and isn’t likely to be one. The author appears to have pulled it from publication and has it listed on her website as something she intends to re-edit and re-publish, but she has no ETA for when that might happen. (And obviously, there is also no apparent work on the rest of the series.) So, I suppose here ends my Faustian adventure.

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Book Review: System Collapse, by Martha Wells

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I purchased a signed copy of Martha Wells‘ System Collapse through The Broken Binding.

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Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.

But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast.

Yeah, this plan is… not going to work.

my review

Oh man, I missed SecUnit and crew. I really did. Unfortunately, it had been a hot minute since I read the last book, and this one picks up right where Network Effect ended. So, I was a little hazy on the remembered details. So, it might be worth a reread before you jump into System Collapse if it’s been a little while for you, too.

This book is predominantly internal to SecUnit’s thoughts and banter between SecUnit and ART, and I was 100% there for it. I love them both to pieces. We also get to see a lot of growth in SecUnit as they come to recognize and accept their own past trauma, try to do the right thing in difficult situations, and keep their humans alive (preferably all the humans, but definitely their humans).

All in all, I will be on pins and needles, hoping there is another book in this series at some point.

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Book Review: Ghostly Touches, by Salem Cross

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I picked up a copy of Salem’s Cross‘ Ghostly Touches as a freebie last year.

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They came to me in the dead of night.

I should be used to ghosts, I’m a necromancer after all. But the three men who show up at my house aren’t the spiritual beings I’m used to. These Ghosts are part of a brotherhood so secret that they were thought to be a myth.

When they ask for my help, I leap at the opportunity to aid these warriors.

But none of us expected my help to come with a price tag. Now our souls are bound to one another and unfortunately, being this close to each other secrets are starting to slip out. I can’t afford to have anyone know who, or what, I really am, but with a curse hanging over our heads and with someone suddenly after us we’ll have to stick close if we want to survive. With the Ghosts looking out for me, I should be safe… right?

my review

Despite a notable lack of worldbuilding, this was an ok read. I liked Willow a lot and liked that she was the initiator in the sexual scenes, and there was no shaming for that. The plot was interesting enough that I wasn’t bored, and the writing was readable. I would probably read the next one in the series if I could find it free or get it at the library, except for one very big problem. I only liked one of the four men in the harem. A second I could tolerate. I disliked the other two from beginning to end. Yes, I know authors have to leave room for characters to grow. But they didn’t grow enough in this book for me to be in a rush to pick up the next one so I could spend more time with them. I finished this book legitimately more interested in the Reaper Willow never actually spoke to in the book than any of the love interests.

Side note: One doesn’t narrow their pupils when they glare at someone.

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