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Book Review: Chasing the Darkness, by Cassie Sanchez

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I’m participating in Pump Up You Books‘ tour for Cassie Sanchez‘s Chasing the Darkness and accepted a copy for review. The book was also promoed with an Author Interview over on Sadie’s Spotlight.
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Pain is inescapable. Suffering is a choice.

Azrael, the Angel of Death, knows pain. The deaths of his mother and sister, as well as his harsh experiences in the Watch Guard at age twelve, have brutally shaped him into the most feared assassin in all of Pandaren. Azrael’s role as a Hunter requires him to search for those with magic, called Spectrals, which he is happy to do. Hunting allows him to pursue his true goal—exacting revenge on the Fire Spectral who altered the course of his life.

Azrael’s obsession with revenge and power leads him to undergo an experimental procedure that gives him magic, but when this procedure has unexpected and dangerous side effects, he becomes a liability to the Hunters and the Watch Guard. Rescued by the people he has sworn to eliminate, Azrael finds himself questioning everything he once believed as years of secrets and lies are exposed. His very nature is challenged as he battles unfamiliar emotions and navigates relationships that contradict the heart of a killer.

Can the Angel of Death have a conscience? Can Azrael?

Chasing the Darkness has several positive traits—the morals and/or themes of not being defined by your past, it’s never too late to change for the better, the strength of love and loyalty, etc. Plus, the mantra of “Pain is inescapable. Suffering is a choice.” is a great tagline.

However, I found the storytelling inelegant on several fronts. The villain is a caricature, there are several inconsistencies in behavior that Sanchez glosses over, the “assassins” are really just an elite unit of soldiers who function as soldiers (no actual assassinations occur), the love is practically instant, and it is brought up so often it clutters the narrative.

Despite all that, it is a compelling story that I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading. If I regularly used ratings here on the blog, I’d give it 3 stars.

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Other Reviews:

Ashley’s Bookshelf: Chasing Darkness

 

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Book Review: Spin the Shadows, by Cate Corvin

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I borrowed an audio copy of Cate Corvin‘s Spin the Shadows through Hoopla. It was narrated by Amy Melissa Bentley.

Spin the Shadows

I ate six seeds. Now I owe six months of debt to a dangerously sexy Fae hitman.

I’d had everything a dryad could want- a job, an apartment, and a scandalous human boyfriend-
Until I stole the wrong fruit from the wrong Fae.
Dragged into the Seelie underworld of deception and lies, I do anything he commands: steal, spy, even fight as we hunt down a notorious Fae fugitive.
Not exactly the fun I was looking for, despite the intense attraction between us.
But when the mission ends, I may not want to leave.

Dark and Wicked Fae is a Hades and Persephone-inspired Fae reverse harem romance, with high steam and a harem that builds over time. For mature readers only.

my review

This was a big bucket of Meh for me. I wouldn’t call the writing or the narration bad. It’s just that nothing about the book—not the characters, not the world, not the supposed romance, hell, not even the one sex scene—lit me up. I felt pretty flat about the whole thing, the whole way through.

I said “supposed romance” because, despite being a slow-burn reverse harem, there is no romance here. The main character has sex with one man, kisses another, and is obviously open to a third who hasn’t made a move yet. But there is no romance going on, not even before the sex scene. So, meh.

But worst of all, for me, was that the entire method to her investigation is to dress like a whore and walk into arenas where men disrespect, disparage and abuse women. And while I understood that punishing such men was part of her motivation, it meant I had to sit through  the disrespect, disparagement, and abuse of women. I don’t enjoy that. At. All. What’s more, I’ve read such plots so many times that I’ve come to consider them the lazy, low-hanging fruit of the plotting world. So, meh.

All in all, Cate Corvin may be a fine writer. I might try another of her series. But I have no desire to continue this one.

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Other Reviews:

Tracy’s Book Reviews: Spin the Shadows

 

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Book Review: Before Again, by Claire S. Duffy

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I accepted a review copy of Claire S. Duffy‘s Before Again from R&R Book Tours.

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He’s been killing for hundreds of years.
But he reckoned without her.

Kirsty has always been alone.

It’s fine. It’s what she’s chosen. People, as a general rule, are more trouble than they’re worth. It’s why God invented batteries.

But when she comes across the man being burned alive on the banks of the Clyde, she can’t just let him die. Without a second thought she batters in to save his life…

And accidentally tears the fabric of time.

Now an ancient serial killer is on the loose and only Kirsty can make him regret he was ever born.

Even if it means killing the only person who ever loved her.

Sometimes she can bloody well see all these magic destiny shenanigans far enough.

my review

I enjoyed the heck out of this. It was fun, snarky, and kept me interested.

I did struggle with some of the Glasgow slang. Most of it I could guess from context, but some I just had to shrug at. But I also accept that not every book is written for the American market/reader, so I don’t consider this a big deal. I just mention it as an FYI.

What was a big deal was the super over-abundance of the word wee. I realize that culturally some people use this word more than others. But I also think there is a limit to how many times a reader should have to encounter a word in a single manuscript and this book has far, far, far exceeded it. We’re talking more than one per page sometimes, from multiple characters. I kept wondering if this was actually going to be revealed as an authorial joke at some point. It. Was. Not.

All in all, I really liked the author’s humor, that the main character is a little older than you’d expect, the obvious love for the city of Glasgow, and Frej. How I could adore a character who didn’t talk for half the book so much, I don’t know. But I did.

I didn’t realize when I picked this book up that it is part of a series. So, I wasn’t expecting the cliffhanger ending. But I’ll be looking for book two. before again photo