Tag Archives: Fae

Dog with a Bone

Book Review of Dog with a Bone (Black Dog, #1), by Hailey Edwards

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I picked up a copy of Dog With a Bone, by Hailey Edwards, through Instafreebie.

Description from Goodreads
Half-bloods with Thierry’s skill set are given two options. They can join the conclave’s marshal program, or they can pack their bags. Turn down the job offer, and you’ve just shredded your residency pass for the mortal realm and booked yourself a one-way ticket to Faerie.

Texas is the only home Thierry has ever known, and she’s not going anywhere. Even if it means following in her notorious father’s footsteps as a peacekeeper. But pinning on the badge opens her eyes to the fact sometimes fae need protection too, and that sometimes humans are the real monsters.

Review:
Another reviewer started their review this was: “Dog with a Bone introduces a young Thierry Thackaray who has just become a marshal – a fae cop. ” I read that and thought, Um, no it really doesn’t. The book doesn’t introduce anyone or anything. It just drops you right in the middle a story and leaves you there to flounder.

I started this book and then checked again and again to be sure it REALLY is book one, because I had no idea who or what anyone was. I could figure out what was happening fairly easily. But the characters, their species specifications? Nope, that was a loss, especially when there was supposed to be a meaningful relationship between two of them and we’re given nothing about it. I felt no connection with these characters. I wasn’t given the opportunity to develop one.

This literally feels like the latter half of a book. LITERALLY. Like I said, I kept looking for a prequel or SOMETHING to add to it. Alas, nothing seems to exist. There are several series set in this world. Maybe this is a spin off of one of them and the beginning of Thierry and Shaw’s story is in one of them. But it sure isn’t here.

I technically read Dog With a Bone book in the Black Dog Series Bundle, books 1-3. But I won’t be bothering with the next. The writing, what there is of it, is engaging. I liked what I did see of the characters and world. But I LITERALLY felt like this book was missing half its content.

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.