Tag Archives: Fae

Wrong Side of Hell

Book Review of Wrong Side of Hell (The DeathSpeaker Codex #1), by Sonya Bateman

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Wrong Side of HellI requested a copy of Sonya Bateman‘s Wrong Side of Hell from Netgalley, but it turned out I actually already had a copy I’d picked up at Amazon. Oops.

Description from Goodreads:
Hauling dead people around Manhattan is all in a day’s work for body mover Gideon Black. He lives in his van, talks to corpses, and occasionally helps the police solve murders. His life may not be normal, but it’s simple enough.

Until the corpses start talking back.

When Gideon accidentally rescues a werewolf in Central Park, he’s drawn into the secret world of the Others. Fae, were-shifters, dark magic users and more, all playing a deadly cat-and-mouse game with Milus Dei, a massive and powerful cult dedicated to hunting down and eradicating them all.

Then a dead man speaks to him, saying that Milus Dei wants him more than any Other. They’ll stop at nothing to capture him and control the abilities he never knew he had.

He is the DeathSpeaker. He is the key. And he’s not as human as he thought…

Life was a whole lot easier when the dead stayed dead.

Review:
I really quite enjoyed this. I found it a fun, action-packed romp through NYC’s paranormal population. Now, I also found it unrealistic, in that a group of seven took on an almost limitless enemy organization but, well, that’s part of the fun isn’t it? Who doesn’t love rooting for the underdog?

I though Gideon an interesting character and I liked his narrative voice quite a lot. Similarly, I liked the side characters, though I thought some of them could have been a little more fleshed out and the villainous cult they pitted themselves against could have done with a bit more depth. They felt evil for the sake of evil, instead of dedicated to a cause. All in all, however, I will happily read more of Bateman’s books.

Blood Faerie

Book Review of Blood Faerie (Caledonia Fae, #1) by India Drummond

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Blood FairieI’m three days away from having owned India Drummond‘s Blood Faerie for four years. It took me that long to get around to reading it. It’s a perma-freebie on Amazon.

Description from Goodreads:
Sentenced to death, Eilidh ran—away from faerie lands, to the streets of Perth, Scotland. Just as she has grown accustomed to exile, local police discover a mutilated body outside the abandoned church where she lives. Recognising the murder as the work of one of her own kind, Eilidh must choose: flee, or learn to tap into the forbidden magic that cost her everything.

Review:
This ok as a quick evening read, but it wasn’t amazing. It had an interesting story idea and the writing was pretty good, but nothing felt particularly developed and I thought the evil was defeated far too easily, allowing for a pat happy ending. Essentially, I thought it started out well and grew progressively weaker as the story progressed.

More specifically, I didn’t think the characters were particularly well developed, the men especially. I thought Munro’s sudden love and dedication felt unfounded and out of nowhere (or magically manipulated). Saor was a bitter cardboard cutout that was conveniently disposed of by the author when he was no longer needed, and the bad guy (I’m not even gonna try with his elvish name) was bad just because he was bad, no depth greyscale to him at all. I did like Eilidh a lot, but thought that after 25 years in the human world her innocence and lack of knowledge about modern amenities and human customs was unbelievable and obviously played for laughs and weak sexual tension.

But like I said, as a quick read it’s entertaining enough, even with these detractions. I’d read more of Drummond’s writing.

Trailer Park Fae

Book Review Trailer Park Fae (Gallow and Ragged #1), by Lilith Saintcrow

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Trailer Park FaeI borrowed Trailer Park Fae (by Lilith Saintcrow) from my library, mostly just because of the cover is so pretty.

Description from Goodreads:
Jeremy Gallow is just another construction worker, and that’s the way he likes it. He’s left his past behind, but some things cannot be erased. Like the tattoos on his arms that transform into a weapon, or that he was once closer to the Queen of Summer than any half-human should be. Now the half-sidhe all in Summer once feared is dragged back into the world of enchantment, danger, and fickle fae—by a woman who looks uncannily like his dead wife. Her name is Robin, and her secrets are more than enough to get them both killed. A plague has come, the fullborn-fae are dying, and the dark answer to Summer’s Court is breaking loose.

Review:
So, this was not what I expected. I was expecting a light urban fantasy. It was, instead, a fairly dark read, which to be fair is kind of the more traditional Sidhe kind of story.

I’d still have been cool with a dark tale, though. I like gritty things. But this was just so darned slow. I mean, things happened. People died. There was a whole coup even. But it was all narrated in such a plodding, overly verbose, flowery, ho-hum kind of way that it felt dull. Plus, I wasn’t really feeling the lack of pay-off in the end. I liked the characters and it’s an interesting plot, so I can’t say I didn’t like the book. But I’n not sad to be finished with it either.