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REVIEW: Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong

Jia — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 09:00:52 +0000

Note: This review contains major spoilers for Waking the Witch, the previous book in the series.

Dear Ms. Armstrong,

I’ve been a fan of yours ever since Bitten was first published. In the years to follow, urban fantasy exploded as a subgenre which was great for you because your Women of the Otherworld series found a marketing angle. And while I think the peak of the urban fantasy trend is behind us, your adult urban fantasy books are ones I still pick up, even after I’ve long grown weary of the subgenre. There’s just something about your characters that I love.

In Waking the Witch, we were introduced an adult Savannah Levine. Savannah’s been a staple of the books, having been introduced at the tender age of 12. We’ve literally seen her grow up during the series. But even though we’ve seen her get into scrapes and dangerous situations, the one thing we’ve never seen is her be tested.

After the events of Waking the Witch, Savannah has lost her powers. And as the daughter of a powerful witch and sorceror, her powers were nothing to scoff at either. In fact, you could say Savannah’s grown accustomed to having them. Without her magic, she literally doesn’t know what to do.

So now Savannah has to find out why her powers disappeared and how to get them back. This on top of witch hunters who want to kill her, a task now made easier by the fact that Savannah has essentially become a normal human being. Throw in an underground group of supernaturals who want to reveal their existence to the entire world, and she’s got a lot to handle.

Looking back on it, I think I liked Waking the Witch in spite of the weak plot because of the characters. Your character portrayals have always popped off the page. That’s a quality I like in my books. Spell Bound has a much better plot but having read it, I realize these three final Otherworld books need to be treated as a trilogy. A traditional fantasy trilogy to be exact. I don’t know why I didn’t recognize that immediately. Traditional fantasy is my bread and butter, but I guess I wasn’t expecting to see the classic structure brought over into urban fantasy. What do I mean by the fantasy trilogy structure? This: the first book introduces the situation; the second book bridges the conflict and builds it up; and the third book (theoretically) fights the big battle.

Knowing that Spell Bound is the penultimate book in the Otherworld series, with the next Savannah book being the finale, made everything clear. I finished Waking the Witch feeling that the conflict resolved with little impact. I now realize that’s not true. The conflict of Waking the Witch didn’t resolve with that oomph you expect because it led directly into this book. The small case Savannah pursued leads her to something bigger, something that could change their world forever.

On the other hand, knowing what I do now, Spell Bound did read like a set-up for the climax book. It suffers from “middle book” syndrome. It bridges the introduction to the finale. With everything that was brought together, I hope the finale lives up to expectations. I did feel like there was a lot going on, so I don’t know how you intend to wrap everything up in the next book. Of course, I always feel that way about fantasy trilogies so that’s not unique to Spell Bound.

This book is definitely not a good entry point into the series. There are a lot of cameos of characters from previous books. For some of them, prior knowledge is unnecessary but for others, it absolutely was. I had to jog my memory a couple times to remember who some of them were and their significance to the world and other characters.

As for Savannah, I really enjoyed her internal conflict. It’s true. She’s never been tested. So when she loses her powers, she loses sight of who she is. She’s used to being known as the daughter of that bad witch and the Cabal sorceror, used to being the young woman with the strong powers. Take that away, and what does she have? Toss in the fact that she has unresolved abandonment issues, and it’s a mess waiting to happen. But it is a mess that needs to be faced and resolved in order for her to evolve. I definitely like it when characters are forced to grow and change. Savannah does that here in a very human way that I appreciate.

The Savannah and Adam angle is both sweet and frustrating. On one hand, I know that it has to progress slowly. She’s been in love with him since she was 12 so there’s the awkwardness of those feelings changing from those of an immature crush to something more mature and deeper. Then there’s the age difference between them. Does Adam still see her as a child? Will he only ever see her in a platonic light because of it? These are the doubts that eat Savannah and keep her paralyzed about acting on her feelings. But never fear, romance readers: there is progress. It’s subtle. No overt declarations for these two, but we’ve moving in the right direction. I suppose something has to be saved for the finale.

A part of me does wonder if I’m missing some context because I haven’t read the young adult novels set in this world. There were sections where I wondered if something I’d just read was a reference to those books or if I was simply projecting. I’d be interested in hearing from people who’ve read both series. If I was missing context, I don’t think it hurt my understanding or enjoyment of the novel. That said, I did get the sense that I was missing some connections and that sort of thing tends to bug me as a reader. (I unfortunately have completionist tendencies. Even if I swear off a series, I still look for spoilers to see what happens.)

While certainly not the place to start the series, Spell Bound was a great improvement over the previous installment. It doesn’t stand alone, but none of the Savannah books do. I’m looking forward to seeing how you plan to conclude this long-running series. There’s a lot of threads to bring together. Hopefully, it’ll be worth the wait. As for this book, it’s a B for me. Your characters are still magical for me, even after all these years.

My regards,

Jia

REVIEW: If His Kiss Is Wicked by Jo Goodman

Jane — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 20:00:51 +0000

Dear Ms. Goodman:

I’m never sure a) why I started reading you so late (only two years ago) and b) why not everyone has caught onto your genius by now. If His Kiss Is Wicked is another solid entry into your catalog of published books.

I don’t want to give any of the plot away because what happens is quite a surprise and I wouldn’t want to ruin that for the readers. My summary, thus, is a bit vague. Emma Hathaway is a gentleman’s daughter who went to live with her uncle and her cousin, the beautiful Marisol, a few years ago upon the sudden and accidental deaths of her parents. Her cousin is flighty and tends to engage in flirts with men not her fiance. Emma agrees to pretend to be Marisol and put an end to the most recent flirtation. What happens at the meeting pushes Emma to seek out Restell, a man who solves problems.

Restell Gardner is known to be a bit poor, a bit disreputable, and a bit of a rake and over the course of the story, the reader finds out what is truth and what is fiction. He does, however, help Emma and does because he cannot help but admire her strength. Over the course of his “helping” Emma, he finds in her a woman who is not only admirable but desirable and falls in love with her. What is so interesting about this book, though, is that the happy ever after doesn’t begin at the point of falling in love or at the point of marriage or at the point of consummation. The HEA is an achievement that both Restell and Emma work hard at securing for themselves, both individually and together.

The one major complaint I had was that there were a number of individuals from previous books who had small screen time and I had a difficult time keeping track of people. I almost would have liked a “cast of characters” introduction. Many of the characters were interrelated which was probably a very accurate snapshot of the ton back in that period, but because I only visit with these characters for a few hours every 6 months or so, it’s hard for me to remember everyone’s name and place in relation to the main characters. The other complaint is that one of the villians seemed so obvious from the start and it was a bit jarring because everyone else was so nuanced.

What I appreciated was the subtle shadings of character, the dialogue, and the pictures that you painted with your words. I.e., I never once had to be told that someone was clever or witty or funny. I could discern that myself from their own actions. Many of the conversations, particularly the exchanges between Restell and Emma, were terribly amusing.

“Do you sulk?”
“I brood. It is the masculine form of the expression.”
“I did not realize.” She speared a small stack of carrots. “What of fussing? Do men fuss?”
“They stew.”
“Yes, I can see how they might. It sounds even masculine. Very meaty.”
Restell was having difficulty maintaining a tone as dry as hers. “Men are not harried either. We are plagued.”
“I see. It must be a great trial to you, being a man. I am sure I would not have the stamina for it.”

I’ve often thought that the endings of your books have been the weakest part but not in this one. The story had wonderful movement, much more so than a traditional romance. There were more ups and downs and it all built toward this climactic ending. Jayne mentioned yesterday that she was so engaged in Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade that she “cursed when it was the last second [she] could leave for work and not be late.” Me? I took the book to work with me and read it during breaks that I manufactured and finally finished it over a long lunch. I hope that in six months you ruin another work day for me. A-.

Best regards

Jane

This book can be purchased at Amazon or at Fictionwise in ebook form.

REVIEW: True Blood by Patricia Waddell

Jane — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 09:00:10 +0000

Dear Ms. Waddell:

I was talking to a sci fi aficionado the other day and bemoaning the fact that there are so few true sci fi / futuristic romances these days. When Tara Marie mentioned that she liked it, I paid attention and picked it up.

Cullon Gavriel and Danna MacFadyen are part of an intergalactic investigation team set to ascertain the cause of an explosion onboard the craft, Llyndar, that resulted in the death of 46 people. Danna is part of the diplomatic corp but is chosen in great part because of her psychometric ability. Danna can read the emotions of a person by touching an object that was imprinted with that emotion. I guess if Danna could read my old laptop that I ruined by spilling chicken noodle soup on it, she would find frustration, disgust, and then a little joy at having to buy a new one.

Cullon Gavriel is a commander in the Korcian Empire. He is part of the investigation team because one of the members on the crew was an heir to the Korcian Empire and a True Blood. A True Blood Korcian is one who descends from the original eight kings of the Korcian Empire. There are rumblings in the Empire against True Bloods and their social, political dominance. Three True Bloods have been murdered of late and Cullon is determined to find the connection and suppress any rebellion.

From the beginning, I found Cullon to be condescending. He seemed to always be in a position of power over Danna. Just hours after meeting her in a business setting, he is touching her in a manner far too intimate for business associates. He did not treat with the respect he afforded males. Of coure, this is excused because he is hot for her and after meeting her just once decides that he has an itch that only she can scratch. He decides that their relationship would begin when ÃƒÆ’Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ-"hisÃƒÆ’Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€š? patience wore out. Over the course of the book, Danna did start asserting herself but I never lost that sense that Danna was the weaker of the two characters both physically and emotionally.

The world building is a fresh take and I definitely see more room within the romance genre for futuristic types of stories. The mystery was interesting and I enjoyed the way in which it unfolded. The ZERO GRAVITY SEX as Tara Marie described it was fun and innovative. The flaws were the un developed world building. There really wasnÃƒÆ’Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t any explanation as to why Danna had her skill and whether that was common amongst Earthlings. I didnÃƒÆ’Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t see anything in Cullon that made him from a different planet. He seemed an all too familiar character from the Alpha male section in the romance writers’ store. The ending was a bit sappy with the intergalactic difficulties that could have impeded the HEA too easily resolved. I’ll read the next one but I am not running to the UBS for the backlist just yet. B-

Best regards,

Jane