Heart to Heart (Angelica Brown #2) by Ifè Oshun

Angel’s music career is taking off. Their group has a television gig, their music is becoming popular, and they have a growing passionate fandom. Success is definitely striking and, as Angel moves to LA, she and her friends quickly have to navigate the often shark-filled shoals of show business and the music industry

And she has to do it without the support she previously had. Her mother has fallen to the Long Sleep, like any immortal she spends time in deep slumber during which Angel’s father has to tend to her and protect her. Angel is adrift –and it’s not just in the music business; she’s a new Shimshana, her hunger for blood is still raging almost out of control and her magic has unfortunate effects on the mortals around her

Including her magical boyfriend Sawyer and her band mates and best friend, Lala and Jules. It may not even be safe for them to be around Angel at all – as she becomes ever more isolated even as the crowds of fans grow.

This is one of those books I have difficulty reviewing because I feel the need to be more objective. A lot of the story involves Angel’s music career and it’s really well written. There’s glitz and glamour and a lot of excitement about the success – but it also excellently portrays the manoeuvring they have to go through. There’s a lot of forced socialisation, a lot of false hangers on and required entourages, a lot of mingling and being seen whether they want to or not, a lot of contacts, a lot of necessary parties and a lot of traps and pitfalls- even for a human, let alone a Shimshana. I like how all of the glitz and glamour isn’t fully glamourised, the underside is seen, the risks are seen, they get into trouble and have difficult situations – even little things like none of them being willing to eat Angel’s dad’s fattening food because they’re afraid of putting on weight for the cameras.

It’s really well written and an excellently involved story – my disconnect is it’s just not a subject that appeals; subjectively it didn’t draw me in, objectively it was an excellent piece of storytelling with a very good balance.

Review: Blood to Blood by Ifè Oshun

 Angelika is a teenager with a dream – she wants to be a singer and she definitely has the talent to make it work. But her parents are less than thrilled with this choice of career and wish she’d do something more conservative, more academic. It isn’t just typical parental worry, though – Angelika is a Shimshana, descendent of fallen angels and a vampire, the vampires from which all other vampires spring. She is immortal, she has powers beyond imagining – and she’s just maturing into all of that.

Just when her big break arrives. Which means getting a recording contract just when she starts craving the blood of her friends and co-workers. Which means getting a recording contract when her voice becomes a weapon that could kill everyone who hears it. And that’s before considering her rocky relationship with Sawyer, the producer.

More, because of the scope of her powers she also has to master them quickly – because her Maha approaches, a ceremony in which she will be presented to the rest of the immortal community – and it will be decided whether she’s too dangerous to be allowed to live.

This is one of those books that would be extremely good as an introduction to a series and is a little flat as a stand alone novel. The main reason for this is there isn’t a lot of plot or story – there’s a huge amount of world building, a lot of character development and a lot of character establishment. In this book we learn who everyone is and why, we learn what’s happening, we learn what everyone is and the history and implications behind that.

It’s a credit to the writing in this book and the imagination of the creation, that I really enjoyed it. Usually I’m put off by books that focus more on character development than actual events – I need a reason to care about people before hearing all about their lives. But with this I was drawn in – Angelika and her world is interesting and extremely unique. The vampires, their origins, the different kinds of magic, the world, the angels – they all bring a very original perspective to some classic Urban Fantasy tropes and creatures

Her struggles aren’t especially deep, nor do they contain a lot of conflict that isn’t relatively easily resolved. Her family disapproving of her career path, the worry about containing her abilities as a Shimshana is handled well – there are dramas but they are dealt with and moved on. The tension and ramifications of her Maha ceremony are set up well with plenty of concern about the massive impact they could have – and resolved without undue difficulty. Again, this isn’t a story about epic conflict – but, really surprisingly for me, nor does it need to me. Angelika doesn’t have to endure the epic doom for her to be a fascinating character. She doesn’t have to fight tooth and nail against a rabidly oppressive family for her excitement about the band or its success to be any less true or emotionally conveyed. She didn’t have to spend months and months facing disasters and grief from her powers for the achievement of her actually controlling them to be any less of an achievement. Perhaps all of the issues being resolved relatively simply is a bit much, but it didn’t break my enjoyment of them.