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Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse, #10)
Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse, #10)
Charlaine Harris | 2010 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.5 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
The title could just as well have been Much Ado About Nothing (I'm sure that nobody will ever confuse Harris' work with that of the Bard).

As the GoodReads synopsis suggests, there are plenty of subplots that should keep a long-time reader busy, but I found most of them boring.

Jason has settled down with a decent-seeming woman - that's good. And he actually seems to be willing to stand by his sister when she needs him, which is even better--without being asked, without so much as a reminder! Will wonders ever cease? (That one example says so much about why I prefer the books to the televised version.)

Otherwise, though, Eric's maker has shown up with a "brother" for Eric - one who is utterly dysfunctional. If this maker were as powerful and decisive as we are told he is, why hasn't he already taken care of business and put the "brother" down? Why bring him to Eric, as if he needs Eric's help to do the deed? That's completely backwards for this (or any other) vampire mythos. If a younger vampire couldn't handle one of his offspring, he might bring that one to his sire for help or judgment. Now, knowing Eric, and how very proud he is - his sire <b>must</b> know him very deeply, and must know that asking Eric for help will lose Eric's respect completely. How could he possibly lower himself to do that?

I'm more willing to believe that Sookie is having problems with her experiences during the Faerie "war" - why doesn't anybody else ever have PTSD in paranormal romance or urban fantasy books? Her "cure" comes WAY too easily, but it is a fantasy.

Some of a faerie relative's "explanation" for his behavior simply doesn't jive with what we've been told in prior books. Maybe the person in charge of continuity lost his or her job. Maybe Harris is tired of the series. Who knows?

Some of the little details left me befuddled. Bill dated who and now reveals he's her what? Why do crosses hurt vampires, but Bibles don't?

Maybe this book should be left for the diehard Sookie fans. I don't think I count as one.
  
Neverwhere
Neverwhere
Neil Gaiman | 2003 | Fiction & Poetry
9
8.8 (25 Ratings)
Book Rating
Setting (4 more)
Plot
Characters
World building
Gaiman's writing.
Richard Mayhew (0 more)
wonderland-esque and oh so good.
This was my first real venture in to the Urban Fantasy genre and I was so surprised I'd never really read anything from it before.

Neverwhere was an amazing book that had my imagination going on a rampage just trying to visualize London below, Gaiman did a wonderful job with combining a wonderland-esque world with modern London and living up to the old saying "No good deed goes unpunished."

The characters from London Below were all so detailed and took on a life of their own even as well as the magic of London Below it all just came off as being so real. My favorite characters hands down was Marquis De Carabas he was just so crafty and I really did not know if he was to be trusted or not, and Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar were some of the best villains I've seen in awhile.

The only thing I had a problem with and the reason even though I loved this book couldn't give it a full five star rating was I just didn't care for Richard Mayhew at all through out the whole book I made no attachment to him in the least bit, I know he was supposed to be this average every man type of person that got thrown into this crazy world but he either really annoyed me or was just kind of forgettable and fell into the background...I honestly forgot he was suppose to be the Protagonist.
  
What could have been interesting, wasn't. What could have been unique, failed. What showed promise, wasn't there. Too bad.

Seeing as this is classified as paranormal romance (instead of what I originally thought was urban fantasy), it might be nice if the main two characters were at least a little likable. Nope, sorry to say, this ain't the case. Ayla is boring, unsympathetic, uninteresting, vapid, gullible, weak-willed, slow on the uptake, need I go on? Malachi is also boring, uninteresting, and slow, but he has the addition of sounding like a robot. Sounds like a winning match, eh? Clearly, these two wooden creatures are made for each other. The secondary characters served their purpose: Mabb, your typical baddie; Garret, Mabb's brother and hopeful usurper, he was almost interesting, but he suffered from the same thing his sister did, cliche; and Keller, who was the only character (or anything really) in the whole book that showed a spark of life.

The pace of the book was plodding. I lost interest every other page if I was lucky. The descriptions are seriously lacking and almost everything is boring, boring, boring. I never quite saw what the purpose of vampires and werewolves served in the book. Maybe they play a bigger role in the next two books, otherwise they're pointless and don't make sense in this world. Speaking of the universe, what the author created, while not altogether original, could have been awesome instead of vague and confusing. A real missed opportunity.

My advice: skip it. Read at your own risk of falling asleep.
  
Burn (Nava Katz, #6)
Burn (Nava Katz, #6)
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I've put this book ON HOLD.

My Kindle Unlimited membership runs out in a few days and I've been struggling to get into this, which is strange considering I read the fifth book not long ago and love these characters.

I'll try again in a few months, start from the beginning again and see if I can get into it then (I really hope so!)

14th April

So, I'm trying again--not from the beginning--and hopefully after a few other good urban fantasy stories, I can get into this...

And I did, sort of.

2.5 stars.

I think this book has way too much going on. We skip a lot of little extra bits that would have been explained fully in earlier books, but just get a short paragraph that paraphrases into the basic facts.

The rest of the series has been long, and let it be known I'm not a fan of books longer than 350 pages, but this one seemed to go on forever. It seemed to take an age for 1% to pass and considering we get bombarded by stuff happening, I expected it to go quicker but in my opinion it went slower.

I lost interest in parts and skipped paragraphs just wanting the major fights to play out so when that had ended at about 88% (I think) and the story carried on...well, I started to lose interest once again. The main thing I was waiting for in those last few chapters was Drio to pull his finger out and tell Leo how he felt.
  
Cade (The Society #1)
Cade (The Society #1)
Mason Sabre | 2015 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
83 of 250
Kindle
Cade ( The Society book 1)
By Mason Sabre

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

The first heart-pounding instalment in Mason Sabre's Paranormal and Urban Fantasy, Society Series. What seems like an innocent run in the woods, might just end Cade MacDonald's life...

Cade MacDonald is a man who has always had a sense of right and wrong. He fights for justice and does not back down in the face of danger. As a member of Others, a supernatural race of powerful, fierce shifters, who do not accept or sympathise with any Humans, or any race other than their own, he now finds himself in a battle with the Other Society’s leaders as they oppose his attempt to save the life of a young half-breed.

Fighting to do the right thing, Cade is simultaneously faced with the unexpected attraction he feels for his best friend’s sister. Having grown up with Gemma, he is confused and torn at the strong pull of his wolf towards this beautiful tiger.

Willing to accept any repercussions of his rebellious actions, will he go as far as to lose the love of his life in the process?


While on the whole I did enjoy this and it was better written than most shifters books I’ve read in the past I found it lacking something. The characters felt really stiff and sometimes forced. I do think it shows promise and like I said I did enjoy it overall.