Urban Fantasy Review: Affairs of the Dead

Affairs of the Dead
A.J. Locke

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Etopia Press

Date of Publication: April 19th, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-939194-91-6

ASIN: B00CF0OWAW

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Book Description:

Help ghosts, stop a thief, and try not to die…

Necromancer Selene Vanream helps ghosts settle their affairs so they can move on. But when breaking the rules gets her in trouble, she’s bumped down to tracking ghosts trying to avoid the afterlife. Ghosts like Ethan Lance, who claims he was kicked out of his body when someone else jumped in. Which might be plausible—if such a thing were possible. And if Micah, Selene’s partner, didn’t pull her into an investigation of brutal murders that lead directly back to Ethan.

But when the whole mess puts Selene’s life in danger, she suddenly has very personal reasons to get Ethan’s body back. Between her uncomfortable relationship with Micah, and problems with her boss, Selene learns just how much trouble it can be when you don’t follow the rules

My review: 

 
World - Affairs of the Dead has a more old-school paranormal feel than many other UF books. Most of the characters are necromancers or ghosts and the plot focuses on a supernatural murder mystery. This is a world where the general population are aware of these magical people, and the title of the book actually refers to the company where the MC works, helping ghosts take care of whatever unfinished business keeps them tied to the mortal world. Talk about a crazy job, and a lot of fun to read about.

Characters - Selene Vanream is a fantastic and complicated heroine with a distinct voice. She makes mistakes in her personal and professional life, manages to overcome the problems that are the result, yet she never dwells on her sometimes poor decisions or becomes overly apologetic about it. She's imperfect and it makes her refreshingly real, although her personal drama threatened to overtake the crime-solving plot at times. The other stand-out character for me was the spirit Ethan, who accidentally becomes attached to Selene's aura after getting bumped out of his living body. That situation is the core of the story's mystery, and is also extremely difficult and dangerous for both of them. It's a neat twist and made for a unique emotional journey for the characters.

Pros & Cons - There were so many things I loved - creative world-building, interesting characters (and always a plus to see several POC in leading roles), and a good balance of action, mystery and romance. To be honest, I would have liked to have less time spent on the developing romance between Selene and her co-worker and more on the unique relationship between Selene and the almost-ghost Ethan. But that's just me, I'm not the biggest romance fan, so it's just my preference (and there are some juicy scenes for those of you who are).

Fresh Factor - The author has invented a form of necromantic magic based on runes, which I haven't seen before and thought it was really cool. I also enjoyed the new spin on an "underground" New York City with a seedy magical side.

Overall - A very good read, especially for fans of straight paranormal stories with a bit of mystery. The novel portrayed a narrow slice of what is probably a fascinating larger world, so I hope more stories are forthcoming that will explore that further. Can I also mention how much I lurv that cover?! Bottom line, if you love a smart paranormal mystery with a hint of romance and a heroine with moxie, this one's for you. 

Short Excerpt:

I was in a strip club trying to help a ghost get laid, which was challenging, but not impossible. It was just extremely taxing on the necromancer extraordinaire (me) who had to channel energy into the ghost to make her corporeal enough to entice one of the stripper boys. Technically what I was doing was illegal, but it was my job to help ghosts settle their affairs so they could move on to eternally ever after, and Julia’s unfinished business was that she’d died a virgin. I’d made it as easy as I could for her by starting at a strip club; if she couldn’t get some here, I wasn’t sure how much lower I could scrape the barrel.

Julia’s prolonged virginity was an enigma to me, even though she told me that she’d been waiting for her soul mate. I just didn’t understand why that meant she couldn’t hit up a bar, get drunk, and have a fun, regret-filled weekend that included the walk of shame. At least she’d have been in better shape once soul mate came around.

 “What do you think about him?” I asked, pointing to one of the three oiled up men who were gyrating for the benefit of all the screaming women. He had blond hair and green eyes, and wasn’t overly muscular. Julia looked at him then quickly looked away. I took that as a sign of approval.

“I think this was a bad idea,” she stammered.

“This was a fantastic idea,” I said. “And it will work, don’t worry.”

“No, I mean, I don’t think I can do this. I waited my whole life for my soul mate and now you want me to just—” she stole another quick look at the stripper, “I don’t think I can do this with some random…stripper man. It’s so indecent.”

I rolled my eyes. “Julia, you’re a ghost; you no longer have the option of being discerning. And if you don’t wrap up what’s keeping you around, you run the risk of turning into a monster. Then it’s an even bigger pain in the ass to get rid of you. So let’s call our efforts here at Bump and Moan choice A, and murderous monster choice B. Which choice would you like to make?”

“A,” Julia said, but she didn’t sound happy about it. I smiled, and grabbed a couple drinks off the tray of a passing waitress. I set them down in front of Julia.

“Drink,” I said. “This will help.”

“I’m a ghost,” she said. “I thought I was unable to eat or drink.”

 “You can feel the effects of the alcohol since you’ll be working off my energy, so drink up. I’ve pegged you as a light weight so I think two drinks will be enough.”

“But how is this supposed to help?” she asked, frowning.

“Because its job is to help,” I said.

About the Author:

A.J. Locke is an author and artist, originally from Trinidad, now residing in New York City. Affairs of the Dead is her debut novel, and other than writing she enjoys reading, drawing, painting, graphic design, and watching too much television.

Blog: http://iqurae.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/AJ-Locke/522250584507699

Twitter: @maqueripe

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17226279-affairs-of-the-dead

Book Review of Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

"Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.”

At first I was excited  to be reading this book because the writing style was attempting something different and unique.  But, it became a tapestry of broken images   study in futility with it’s strikethroughs, repetition of words and sentences, an over abundance of metaphors and similes.  I wanted to like this book because of the poetic prose, but when the metaphors, some of which had no correlation to the story, popped up on every page, with every feeling or sense felt it became too much of a good thing.  The author does have a flair for poetic imagery, but it took over the story.  And for me, characters and the story rule.

While reading the book, my questions weren’t about what was going to happen next, but when was the story going to begin.  It is written in the POV of the heroine, Juliette with a very tight first person, so much so that it had a claustrophobic feeling to it with no breathing space. 

Also, I found the story and the characters to be predictable which could have used the writers imaginative writing style to lend it some uniqueness.  I did think I was reading something I had read or seen before with characters that are similar to the X-Men. 

So, did I hate it?  No, but I didn’t like it either.  It’s more along the lines of disappointment that the writer didn’t temper the style of writing to allow the story to emerge.  Although frustrated with this book, I think the writer shows promise.  I will look for future books from this writer but will not read the rest of this series.

Worldbuilding:

There is a bare minimum of worldbuilding.  Because most of the descriptions are tied to metaphors, which are abstract in nature, I had to imagine for myself what the settings looked like.  I think it’s good to allow the reader to create to some extent the surroundings, but if done too much it all becomes a dream and nothing is concrete.  Also, the whys and the hows of the way things work in this society is missing. 

Characters:

Overall Juliette Ferrars, whose head we are in through out the story shows spunk and holds on to her humanity in a world that has none. I think, if a reader loves to be in the head of the main character and is only interested in being in the stream of consciousness of a character’s thoughts and feelings, then this is the character and book for them. 

Adam Kent the love interest, is too perfect to be real.  Enough said.

Note: The romance storyline didn’t have any hiccups along the way.  It was a pretty smooth ride for these young lovers which rang untrue to me.  Even, Cinderella lost the prince after the ball.

Pros and Cons:

I think I’ve covered those issues already.

Overall:

As I said earlier, I was disappointed in the follow through of this story.  I wouldn’t recommend this book unless a reader was looking for something different in writing style.  

Till next time,

Elizabeth

Urban Fantasy Review: Bitter Night (Horngate Witches)

About: By Diana Pharaoh Francis, Urban Fantasy, 1st in a series

SOMETIMES YOU CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES. AND SOMETIMES, THEY CHOOSE YOU...

Once, Max dreamed of a career, a home, a loving family. Now all she wants is freedom...and revenge. A witch named Giselle transformed Max into a warrior with extraordinary strength, speed, and endurance. Bound by spellcraft, Max has no choice but to fight as Giselle's personal magic weapon -- a Shadowblade -- and she's lethally good at it. But her skills are about to be put to the test as they never have before....

The ancient Guardians of the earth are preparing to unleash widespread destruction on the mortal world, and they want the witches to help them. If the witches refuse, their covens will be destroyed, including Horngate, the place Max has grudgingly come to think of as home. Max thinks she can find a way to help Horngate stand against the Guardians, but doing so will mean forging dangerous alliances -- including one with a rival witch's Shadowblade, who is as drawn to Max as she is to him -- and standing with the witch she despises. Max will have to choose between the old life she still dreams of and the warrior she has become, and take her place on the side of right -- if she survives long enough to figure out which side that is....

World: The Horngate world is unique because the majority of the characters are a type of being invented by the author called Shadowblades (must avoid sunlight) and Sunspears (must avoid darkness). Both are created by witches to serve them, and all of their special abilities are basically 'programmed' into them. It was refreshing to see something new in the genre without relying on any old standbys like vampires or shapeshifters (at least they haven't shown up so far). The mundane world is apparently unaware that they exist, and the entire story was very contained (in that I can't recall a single character who was not involved with the witches' world). It might be nice in future books to see more interaction with the outside world.

Characters: The story is told from two POV's - Max, the female Shadowblade Prime of a witch named Giselle; and Alexander, the Shadowblade Prime of a rival witch called Selange. I enjoyed both characters and appreciate the fact that while there was a definite spark of a romance beginning between them, it wasn't a major influence on the story and wasn't something either were constantly mooning over. The relationship between Max and Giselle was also deep and twisty, since Max feels she was tricked into becoming the witch's servant but also can't help that she's grown to love the other members of the coven and won't abandon them.

Positive & Negative: I don't see many books written in alternating male/female POV's that aren't romance, so it was a new experience and very enjoyable. Max was definitely my favorite part of the book; I love a smart, kick-ass heroine who isn't annoyingly snarky, mean or arrogant, The only thing that pulled the story down a little was the occasional repetitiveness between action scenes - those Shadowblades spend a lot of time eating and healing LOL. 

Fresh Factor: The fact that the book revolves around an entirely invented type of supernatural creature earns it tons of bonus points for presenting something new in the genre. Even the more familiar beings, like witches and angels, have a singular feel to them, which is fantastic. 

Overall: This book lays out the series endgame from the jump: apocalypse is coming. Ms. Francis manages to introduce plenty of intriguing characters and gives the lot a clear direction to play out in the long run. It has to be the smoothest introduction to a series I've read in a while, and I'm totally hooked by the author's effortless style. I give it a solid four and a half stars, and I'll definitely check out more Horngate titles soon.

Bitter Night is available in both print and ebook versions. FYI, last time I checked, it was on sale at Amazon for only $1.99! 

Hope you guys check this one out and enjoy it as much as I did. Cheers!

Ella

Passion Play Book Review

Book:Passion Play

Author:Beth Bernobich

Series:Erythandra Series #1

Edition:Hardback

ISBN:978-0-7653-2217-3

Source:In a giveaway by Tor during their Twitter Chat for March.

Summary:

Therez looks forward to traveling to Duenne in the spring. Yet for her trip to happen,her father must secure contracts for the family business and status. After a business party at her home,she learns her father has agreed to marry her to a man she fears more than her father. She runs away from home when she realized her mother and brother agree with the marriage. She changes her name to Ilse to avoid her father’s agents.

She misplaced her trust in a man named Alarik Brandt who ruined her as they traveled to Duenne. She runs away from Brandt and finds herself at Lord Raul Kosenmark’s pleasure house. As she weaves her way into the life of the Lord Kosenmark,she realizes there is more at stake than her life.

Review

Structure of the Book

Overall the book is a decent read. The beginning is very brutal and will make some readers uneasy with Ilse being raped. Ilse does not use the word rape,but I cannot call it anything else. I needed to step away from the book,after reading her ordeals with the caravan and Brandt. The main problem is the long middle with no action. It drags on for page after page. With the introduction of magic and past lives,I expected more of this during this section. But none of it happened until the latter half of the book. Only the political intrigue kept me interested. Towards the end it picked up again. At the same time,it rushed through to fit everything in. The magic,mention of past lives,and her knife training all happen late in the book. There wasn’t time to fully enjoy any of it

Characters

In the beginning,Ilse goal was clearly stated but then it was lost during the middle part of the book. At the end,she regained a goal but not one I’m convinced of. Also I expected passion from her based on the title,but I was left cold from her actions and thoughts. She remained a victim throughout the story.

Raul did not strike me as a romantic interest at all. He is everything Ilse wanted to run away from. He controlled those around him for his own needs. The romantic connection between the two of them happened toward the end of the book. Then his courtship of Ilse was rushed and left me unconvinced.

Final Thoughts

Novel felt uncompleted because the middle ended too late. The characters did not grow because of it,and the ending rushed to fit everything in. The only part worked out was the political aspect. I will pick up the second book for this series because I want to know how Raul and Ilse will prevent a war in the kingdom.

Rating

2 out of 5 stars.