Tag Archives: urban fantasy

Shadow Sight

Book Review of Shadow Sight (Ivy Granger #1), by E. J. Stevens

Leave a reply

I downloaded a copy of Shadow Sight, by E. J. Stevens, from Instafreebie.

Description from Goodreads:
Welcome to Harborsmouth, where monsters walk the streets unseen by humans…except those with second sight, like Ivy Granger.

Some things are best left unseen…

Ivy Granger’s second sight is finally giving her life purpose. Ivy and her best friend Jinx may not be raking in the dough, but their psychic detective agency pays the bills—most of the time. Their only worry is the boredom of a slow day and the occasional crazy client—until a demon walks through their door.

Demons are never a good sign…

A demon attorney representing the water fae? Stranger things have happened. And things are about to get very, very strange as a bloodthirsty nightmare hunts the city of Harborsmouth.

There’s blood in the water…

Kelpies have a reputation for eating humans. Unfortunately, Kelpies are the clients. When an Unseelie faerie this evil stalks the waterways of your city, you have to make hard choices.

The lesser of two evils…

Review:
Gotta say, it wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t impressed. Here’s the thing, if you read an Urban Fantasy, you expect the main character to be central to the action. Ivy was not. She was hired to do a job and then went around and recruited the people who performed the action. She herself did nothing. In fact, it didn’t even make sense that it was here that was hired, instead of, say, the hunters or any magical creature more able to repel an attack.

The enemy is a shadow throughout the whole book. She’s told about them and then just sort of goes about life. At around 75%, they finally show up, but they’re still not fleshed out. It’s a faceless army. There’s no actual individual enemy. And they’re defeated with ease.

Then at about 90% in the author throws a romance at the reader. It seriously comes out of nowhere and is based on nothing. And the romantic partner somehow knows all about Ivy when no one else did, least of all her. (This is all just tacked on at the end and not even incorporated into the story.)

The book is just basically Ivy marching around explaining things and it was painfully unexciting. The writing is fine, if on the silly side, but the book just barely held my interest. Well, the writing was fine once you managed to wade through all the info-dumps. Omg, they were endless.

Lastly, as an aside, I have to address that cover. Look at that sexy broad in her sexy thigh-high boots, yeah? Here’s a quote from Ivy concerning herself and shoes (but really more her personality type): “Me? I have one pair of black Doc Martens boots and an old pair of trainers.” This is the sort of character she is. She also spends most of the book in a baseball cap and avoids all amorous or sexual contact. So…um…who the hell is that supposed to be on the cover? Because I know it’s not Ivy.

Dog with a Bone

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

Leave a reply

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.

Destiny Blues

Book Review of Destiny Blues (Hand of Fate #1), by Sharon Joss

Leave a reply

I grabbed a copy of Sharon Joss‘ Destiny Blues when it was free on Amazon. It was still free at the time of posting.

Description from Goodreads:
Some people attract stray cats. With Mattie Blackman, it’s demons.

At work, in her car, even at the foot of her bed. And with the FBI on the hunt for a rogue demon master, she’s desperate to get rid of them. Thwarted at every turn to solve her problem through legitimate channels, she turns to Shore Haven’s sexy mage for the answer: a fate she refuses to accept.

But as the serial killer’s victims pile up, Mattie realizes there’s only one way to stop a demon master. To save her friends and the people she loves, Mattie must choose between her life and her destiny.

Review:
An amusing but ultimately insubstantial read. The book had an interesting magic system and I liked the main character well enough (despite her cliched clumsiness and cutesy job), but the story felt flimsy and the story contradicted itself in numerous small ways. For example, the fact that it was set in a small town where everyone knew one another was emphasized. However, the main character, her mother and her brother all lived there their whole lives but never happened to be recognized by the family they supposedly look just like. Or people who summoned demons were treated as terrorists, but demons never seemed to be summoned. Instead they were caught, like virus. Similarly thin was the character development. No one felt very well developed, some characters devastatingly one-dimensional (the brother and best friends, for example). All in all, I enjoyed the read but didn’t feel it would hold up to much scrutiny.