Rogue Descendant (Nikki Glass #3) by Jenna Black

Nikki wanted to stay out of any further conflict with the Olympians. Konstantin had stepped down, she could now avoid any more fighting. But Anderson wants vengeance – and Nikki to hunt it down for him

She adamantly won’t do that, but when someone starts targeting her life and her family, she feels like she has no choice, especially when innocents begin dying. Of course, the question is who is actually targeting her – and whether they can be stopped without violating the treaty that prevents the more numerous Olympians going to war with Anderson’s Liberi.

I think this book is, in part, meant to give us chance to catch our breath and recover from the big, dramatic game changers that took place in Deadly Descendant and it definitely does that but I’m not sure it’s needed since there already was the novella Pros and Cons in between to help break up the action.

I’m also not entirely sure if the book was supposed to be a slow lead in to more action or if it just came across as a slow lead in and wasn’t really meant to be.

This ambiguity kind of follows me throughout the book. Nikki is being targeted by cruel and terrible unknown forces (well, the Olympians) who are burning down her parents’ home and her own flat! How terribly traumatising and upsetting…. I guess. I mean, I think it would be terribly upsetting and it certainly is for her sister and parents but Nikki? I don’t know, she doesn’t seem all that upset. Is this supposed to be her emotional disconnect to things, or how she’s moved on from these places? I don’t know – it’s kind of left out on a limb and I’m extrapolating her emotional distress more than it actually being portrayed.

Similarly, when she flips from being willing to risk her life and Anderson’s wrath to not be a murderer to accepting the need to hunt down Konstantin. I can see the reasoning, I can follow the reasoning, I agree with the reasoning – but I don’t FEEL the emotional change I would expect

The same applies to Nikki’s growing affection for Jamaal, it just isn’t really sold to me. Surprisingly, his affection for her is really clear and blatantly obvious even when Nikki doesn’t realise it.

I don’t know – is this “show don’t tell” being taken just a little too far? We can infer Nikki’s emotions based on the vague cues and our knowledge of how we’d feel in her shoes but it feels stand-offish for the protagonist.

Hunted (Iron Druid Chronicles #6) by Kevin Hearne

Following the dramatic events of the last book, Atticus, Granuaile and Oberon are on the run. Granuaile is a full druid now, but them disposing of Bacchus has infuriated the Olympians – both the Greeks and the Romans. With Faunus and Pan preventing them from reaching the Irish planes, they need to race across Europe – from Romania to Britain – chased by Diana and Artemis, goddesses of the Hunt. They’re only assured that some safety can be found in England – but it’s a long way to go on a road scattered with vampires, the machinations of the Olympians and who knows what other monsters

And none of this stops the brewing Ragnarok, or Loki rampaging around, hunting Atticus and causing general chaos. Atticus needs to prepare to help the Norse against Loki and Hel – but how can he do that with the Olympians hunting him across the continent?

I am very tired as I write this review. I am tired because I picked this book up to read yesterday evening and started reading. At 6:00am I could finally stop reading. I may or may not have killed anyone who tried to interrupt me during that time. I believe I would have been perfectly justified in doing so.

Not that I didn’t put it down in all that time. This book was an incredibly powerful, amazingly well written emotional rollercoaster. Within 5% of the book I yelled “no!” aloud in denial of what had just happened.

At another point in the book I put it down and walked away in some kind of denial – that maybe if I didn’t keep reading then I could pretend that it didn’t happen and could live in blissful ignorance.

There was a time when I considered booking a flight to Arizona, appearing outside of Kevin Hearne’s door, falling to my knees and wailing “WHYYYYYYYYYYYY?!” It would have been quite quite undignified.

It’s a testament to how strong a story is and how powerful the characters are that you can be this emotionally invested in them.

That same investment and emotional impact means it would be absolutely criminal to spoil this book, so I’m going to have to be really careful in this review.

I just loved so much of it. I love Atticus’s tone. I love his humour, I loves his unabashed joy in the world. I love his depth of knowledge that mean I believe Atticus’s 2000 year history far more than most ancient characters in the genre – even with his pop culture references and deep love of modern culture. I love how he can joke between modern internet references and still quite Shakespeare – and how he can do them both at once flawlessly and without the slightest jar. I love that, even with all that is at stake, he’s ultimately a mischievous trickster character every bit as much as Coyote. But there’s depth to him as well – his depression over what he has done, his fears for Granuaile and Oberon and the future of the world and the people who are hurt because of him all come through starkly. He manages to balance the ancient with the modern, the weighty with the light, the cheerful with the seriously awareness of what rests on his shoulders. Managing to fit all this in one character is difficult but really well done.

And Granuaile – for the first time we see in her head and it’s such a different headspace. She’s more passionate, more fiery and, oddly, more formal and poetic. She still takes things much more seriously than Atticus or, perhaps, hasn’t reached the point of being able to integrate her constant awe and respect for her role with the light heartedness that so characterises Atticus.  Her wording is almost purple at time – if the whole book was written like it I’d be seriously put off, but because it’s only occasional it strikes a strong contrast between her and Atticus’s mental tones. Granuaile is awed and overcome by what it means to be a druid, with it all so new to her – and she waxes poetic with it.

The story itself is excellently paced. It’s a roaring chase to escape the two hunter goddesses, hoping to delay them while making a hurried dash to safety, facing off against various forces along the way and with Odin spectating and taking bets with the Einherjar with Loki throwing a regular spanner in the works. It’s exciting, it’s funny, it’s often serious, it makes your blood fizz. There’s a real sense of consequences, we’ve already seen throughout the series that gods can and will die (except the Olympians which is why facing them is such a bother, they keep on coming and coming). It’s even poignant at times – powerfully, deeply, incredibly sad in ways I can’t talk about without spoiling – and that would be criminal. But it is an incredible emotional rollercoaster. It can mix the pougnance of heart rending loss, with the sheer joy of bribing Odin with girl scout cookies.

Oberon is still hilariously funny, immense fun – but even he brings a deeply, agonisingly sad moment.

Review: Dances with the Devil, by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Book 3 of the Dark Hunter Series.

Zarek is a Dark hunter – who has been alone for 2,000 years. And as a human before that  he only wished he was alone rather than ciosntantly abused and tortured as a slave of cruel Roman masters. Living in Alaska for the last 600 years has been hard and lonely and only further hardened  him and made him crueller

Until, in the last book, he went to New Orleans and apparently screwed up. One time too many for Artemis who is tired of him as a liability (and she’s looking for an excuse) who dispatches Thanatos to have him annihilated once and for all. Except Acheron, the Dark Hunter leader, believes Zarek is redeemable, that there is still hope for him. Striking a deal with Artemis, Astrid, daughter of Themis and immortal judge who has never found a man innocent is sent to decide whether Zarek is guilty or innocent.

Unfortunately, when Atremis calls Thanatos back, he doesn’t want to heel. Instead he returns to his people, the daimons as their chosen one, the Day Slayer. And what does he want to slay? Why, the Dark Hunters of course. And being a nearly invincible killing machine, that’s somewhat of a problem
Even more of a problem is the fact that Acheron, who is most definitely an invincible killing machine, is currently stuck in Artemis’ temple and unable to return to Earth and swat Thanatos down like the petty annoyance he is.

What should be a simple judging ends up being a desperate fight for survival  against a force that has raised armies and killed cities before

I think the Dark Hunters are badly in need of some therapists. I get that they’ve had tragic pasts (all of them) but after 2,000 years? Time to move on guys. And yes, that “all of them” is relevant. Because of the way Artemis works (approaching people who have been horrendously betrayed to induct them into service in return for a last act of revenge) the Dark Hunters are almost guaranteed to have a horrendous, traumatic past. And, as I’ve mentioned before, the sheer prevalence of traumatic pasts in the genre – and the series – makes it really hard for me to appropriately engage their hurt and pain because it’s so over done.

I also think the beginning interactions between Zarek and Astrid didn’t feel very real. Yes, Zarek has had a terrible past, but his utter inability to even attempt anything resembling civil conduct is ridiculous to the point of caricature. He is found wounded and unconscious in the snow by Astrid who takes him in to help heal him – I can’t imagine that in 2,000 years Zarek hasn’t learned to be at least borderline stand-offish in this situation rather than outright rude.

Similarly, since Astrid is aware of the Dark Hunters, their pasts etc her shock and horror that Zarek had a terribad upbringing and her failure to recognise basic defence mechanisms. She’s supposed to have judged thousands and she can’t recognise this?

Oh, and yes, they did meet each other for 5 seconds  and lo there is throbbing engorged wetness and zomg this serial killer I’m judging is so hawwwwwt and this complete stranger I’ve met while desperately running for my life is so hawwwt. Oh the hawwwwt.

I also question the wisdom of judging a dangerous supernatural murdering criminal by putting them in isolation with a woman who apparently lacks any real defensive capabilities. She repeatedly expresses her fear of him.