Sam is adapting slowly to having Lillith, to being a
Cambion, but it isn’t easy. Her new powers of attraction are alienating her
friends and a considerable number of her school peers and Caleb’s draw on her
is growing to almost ridiculous degrees. Her own draw is attracting a lot of
unwanted attention from men – one man in particular.
Malik, he never had time for her before, but now he’s paying far more attention to her. Far too much and he’s not taking no for an answer. With her new Cambion powers, Sam has an answer to that – but that just opens up a whole new secret she never imagined – and a secret that is tied heavily to Nadine’s – and Lillith’s – past.
Sam is now torn between what she wants and what Lillith
wants and fighting to protect both the man she loves and the life she has, as
the Cambions encroach more and more.
This is the second book in the series and has continued
the pattern of taking us right to the edge of a trope and then completely
subverting it. I see the trope approaching, I’m poised to skewer it and then –
last second – we pull back from it and expose it as ridiculous as it is.
This time I thought we were going to have a love
triangle. It had all the hallmarks. Here is the evil hot guy to counteract
Caleb’s nicer-guyness. Evil Hot Love Interest is physically much sexier than
Caleb, Evil Hot Love Interest embraces his evil predatory nature while Caleb
fights it, Evil Hot Love Interest is more powerful – it’s a classic YA love
triangle we’ve seen repeated over and over (usually with fangs and lots of
moping and, as the author wonderfully skewers, with the CW logo in the corner).
So I braced myself, I gritted my teeth aaand…
Subversion! I am debating needing a spoiler warning here,
but it’s not really a spoiler – or is only a spoiler because this whole book
genre has convinced us that super-powerful hot guys who kill people and stalk
you are zomg so sexy! Sam appreciates that Tobias is a very attractive man, and
there it ends. She doesn’t consensually work with him, he pushed and
manipulates and it’s not a sign of twu luv and devotion, it’s a sign of
predatory behaviour and Sam treats him (almost) accordingly.
Does that mean I’m generally happy with Sam this book?
Not so much.
In the last book I liked Sam’s common sense, I liked her strong
determination to do what she needed to do. I liked that she could look past
emotion and woo-woo and see the truth. I liked her practicality, her
intelligence and general avoidance of so many of the tropes that have become
staple in the genre. This time she did things that individually probably wouldn’t
have bothered me – but collectively reduce the character.
She is being stalked by EHLI and instead of actually
telling people with the power/insight to do something about it she tries to
make deals with him instead. She makes deals that involve her cutting off Caleb
when she knows he’s dependent on her – which sends him on the rampage. She guards
her house against him then lets him in. She wanders off with him on occasion
despite his behaviour suggesting she should be screaming and dialling 911. It
just doesn’t work for me – she treats him like the villain he is some of the
time and then extends considerable unworthy trust to him the others.
I also don’t like how much she’s letting slide. One thing
Sam had going for her was her sense of priorities - focusing on her own goals
and school work and not letting romance drop them. But this book her grades
drop, she spends no time with her friends (both of whom now seriously dislike
her and I’m not entirely sure why) and less time with Caleb… so what is she
actually doing? Is it just down to stress of the whole situation? If so that
needed more overtly labelling, because she seemed to be spending less time with
Caleb, less time at school, less time socialising and, because of her mother’s
deeply creepy GPS, less time away from home – so what is she spending time on?
Speaking of that GPS – I hate how that was pretty unchallenged. Her mother was always paranoid – and it was played both for some pretty good comedy and important messages of the dangers women face – but has now gone way over the top. She is forcing Sam to wear a GPS and tracks her movements – she deviates from that and she gets panicked phone calls. That’s pretty outrageous and makes me think less of her mother – and of Sam for not speaking up. Similarly, knowing what’s going on in Sam’s life, just sitting silently while Sam’s father chews her out was ridiculously passive. And just dismissing Sam’s very legitimate concerns about a man who knows about Cambions and showing suspicious interest? What happened to the strong, careful woman in the first book?
It sounds like I have a lot of complaints, but it’s only
collectively that they’re a problem – there’s still a whole lot of good here.
Sam is still very smart, very funny with an excellent voice and a brilliant
brain – her methods of fending Tobias off are clever and crafty and made me
want to applaud. But she’s still got a hold on the rest of her life as well and
still isn’t tripping down the happy dappy path with Caleb. She loves him – but
won’t let that consume her. She has no intention of having sex before she’s
ready. She is absolutely adamant that she doesn’t want to bond with him for
just convenience sake. She is careful to check out the consequences of bonding
first and rejects Caleb’s brothers trying to hurry her. She fights against any
magical compulsion being laid on her and is very determined to lead her own
life as she intended. Even her attraction to Caleb driving her to call or text
him repeatedly is something she fights because, even with her mind in
loveydovey mode, she can recognise her own silliness.
She is still an excellent character that really makes this book. She’s just not quite as shiny as she was. Which is part of a general reduction in the quality of female characters in this book. Nadine is dead, Mia pretty much absent and both Sam and her mother are not as good as they were. Sam’s still pretty awesome but not quite as awesome. I also don’t like that all the girls at school hate her now because of her supernatural Cambion sexiness. Caleb used to get unwanted sexual advances from women, but I don’t remember men ganging up to bully him for being so sexy.
We still do have a large variety of POC and issues that
Sam faces both as a POC and as a mixed race person. Again, like in the last
book, the issues are well integrated into the book, becoming part of Samara’s
narrative without info dumps or feeling like a lecture has been shoe-horned
into the text. It was really well done and a rarity in the genre.
We still don’t have any GBLT characters – and the whole
nature of the Cambions is very heterosexist and gender essentialist.
I did like that we got to see more of the world this book
– we had a lot more explanation of the nature and origins of Cambions, how they
exist and why. And it was well integrated with the story so didn’t do anything
to disrupt the well maintained pacing or the overall plot of the book. This was
something I missed from the last book and I like how it’s slowly being revealed
to us – it makes me more intrigued to see where it’s all going
In all I liked this book for many of the reasons I liked
the first book. A good story, well paced with well maintained themes and an
interesting, unique world. But I loved it most for a truly excellent
protagonist – and a WOC as well – with an excellent voice and amazing strength;
as well as the courage to do away with all of the tropes we have seen so often
before. It’s a relief, a breath of fresh air and a brilliant addition to anyone’s
library.
