Jessica
In 3 words: absolutely loved it.
Ivy is delightful; Harper did a wonderful making her likable despite laziness and slovenliness being generally condemned by society. She's astute, I love the way she thinks, and I love the way she kicks butt and gets the job done.
The mystery had plenty of twists and turns to keep me occupied, Rafe is nothing to sneeze at, and Brutus is a grumpy gem. Will definitely pick up the second book!
This was a long one. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it because the beginning was filled with much fretting and anxiety and not many Romantic Interests (read: tall, dark, and handsome men with big swords). And I'm coming from the Kate Daniels world so I'm used to the MC being all take-charge, all-knowing, and badass. Rose is not Kate. But she's great; I love her, I love her family, and I love her story here. Would highly recommend.
Absolutely delightful. Haven't read a novel for a while now; Bewicched was a delightful reintroduction to this form of media.
It was nice being in Arwyn's head, even when she was being churlish. She comes off as a bit compassionless and mean sometimes, but there are very compelling and self-preserving reasons for that. I won't get into the details, but it was gripping to see her world expand, her prickliness smooth out, and the intent behind her actions change as her resolution to keep her bubble undisturbed diminished.
I could go on about how the way the story unfolded kept me on the edge of my seat as well as how excited I was when certain characters showed up; their meeting was wonderfully done. 10/10. I can't wait to see them more! And of course, I haven't forgotten the hints at future characters and their cool gifts to be more thoroughly revealed (hopefully!).
The only complaint I had was regarding the mystery around...well, one of the antagonists. The MC's first impression of the mastermind is usually a big flag. Not to mention, the mastermind was spewing some blatantly flowery bullshit for the whole novel...so maybe it actually wasn't much of a mystery. Then there was the hint from one of the victims that...no one wanted to dive into for some reason. But there were signs that this whole evil plot is bigger than anyone thinks so I have no doubt that more startling reveals are on their way.
I absolutely loved Seana Kelly's way of writing in her Sam Quinn series and thoroughly appreciated how it was her writing style that welcomed me back into this pocket of fiction. Definitely a series I'd recommend!
I absolutely loved this. You know of books which you were on the verge of loving that came with downright shameful key scenes. The Favor was not one of those for me. Every part of it did it for me.
I could only wish to be as amazing as Vienna. She doesn't take shit (without good reason...), she doesn't ask anything of others but she's still a goddamn icon, and she's been through so much and came out of it all a queen. She's fantastic. And Dane...my man who is not mine whom I wouldn't want to tear away from the very beautiful thing he's got with Vienna anyway...
Dane was scrumptious and fabulous once he got his head out of his ass. After finishing this once, I had to go back to reread all his “acting” parts...truly the gift that keeps on giving, this book.
And let's not forget SUZANNE WRIGHT for being absolutely amazing at her job and somehow getting these two stubborn kids together while a bunch of madness and sabotage lurked in the background.
Yes, keep me guessing about which evil gremlin is the evil gremlin. Let it be known now that I am absolutely here for that.
This was an honest treat. Thank you so much.
Loved it. A lot of authors describe their heroines as “badass” but Havana takes the cake. She slaps bitches down faster than one swaps a fly. She's proficient at leading straight-up interrogations. And she knows when to walk away from a relationship that does her no good, even if she doesn't want to. Mad respect for her. A lot of what I just said applies to her friends too so I really hope they get own stories. These are bouts of insanity and hilarity that we, the fandom, endorse.
This was...kind of perfect. Such a refreshing change from Suzanne Wright's Dark in You and Deep in Your Veins series. There wasn't really an insta-love (insta-possessive?) thing here like there are in many of Wright's other books (cough, Jared...cough, Knox); Bree and Alex had known each other since Bree wasn't legal. And even after Alex started becoming sexually attracted to Bree (and she became legal...), Alex doesn't feel the need to act on that until much later. Additionally, Alex wasn't some CEO, next high prince, or an official uber-scary and prestigious(? for lack of a better word) enforcer. He was just a guy with animal magnetism (see what I did there?) who's got a wolverine sharing headspace with him. I also particularly liked the juice from Bree's plan to move to greener pastures without telling anyone except her best friend and her Prime. That deliciousness will stay with me for days. And I simply adore how many domestic and silly moments there were here that don't really appear in Wright's other stories that I also love. Usually it's all about, “Who's trying to kill me? There's like 10 possibilities,” and, “We need to have sex now because the tension is ripping the reader into shreds.” That's in this story, too (and might I say, I thought they were done especially well here), but I love me some loving downtimes.
Well, I'd totally hold in my farts for you.
Love of the highest order with a healthy dash of realism to give it that extra oomph. 10/10
Loved it. Loved how they're so different yet fit so wonderfully. Loved how they can be so goddamn awkward (because that's just relatable af). Loved how things were never easy and they got through things together as a couple and together with their lovely ever-present friends. Loved how they challenged everything and went back and forth and apologized and moved on. Loved it all. Just wish there was more.
Wasn't really feeling this one. I still enjoyed the mystery that crops up in all of Suzanne Wright's books. Potential duplicity from every corner...and it ended up coming from every corner except the shunned bimbo. How vaguely refreshing.
But some things didn't really make sense to me. For instance, the descendants, apparently, would have been shunned by the other demon breeds for needing to drink blood occasionally. But...there are vampires in this universe and it doesn't seem like there's lots of strife between the two species, given that Knox-Sam-Jared crossover from way back when.
Additionally, the significance behind Raini's oh-so-dangerous-and-secret power was dropped in a weird place. Yes, it is nontrivial and yes, there was a very big and important reason why she should hide it and avoid drawing attention to herself. But continually saying it's secret and powerful in the first half of the book really ain't ramming it home for me. They felt like empty words and caused more frustration than eager curiosity.
As for the MCs, I didn't hate them. But Raini was so understated (since she had to avoid drawing attention...maybe) and Maddox...Wright described his eyes as “vacant” a few times in the beginning. And I've got to say, having a man with no spark in him whatsoever does nothing for me. He only seemed to light up around Raini past...at least 20% of the book. The first part, yay. I'm all for that. But the moment that clicks is usually a lot earlier in the story. So the first part of the book was very “gray”, as Wright wrote, with Raini and Maddox dancing around each other. It didn't feel like there was much tension so I wasn't really invested in their relationship. I just didn't sense the same passion that usually permeates Suzanne Wright's stories.
I like Suzanne Wright. And I finished this book within a day, as usual. And these were some difficult characters to write and make interesting when there's reasons for their “blah”. So now I'll revive myself by rereading another one of her books.
Yet another pearl clutcher to add to the pile. Jeaniene Frost has the weird ability of making me angrily pace at 3am while shrieking, “DON'T YOU DARE DO IT, YOU IMPATIENT NUGGET,” while keeping me furiously flipping through the pages for more. More of what? Well, let's just say a literal train wreck would hurt our cherished MCs less.
The flow was sometimes questionable and there were some things that went unresolved with regard to the investigation (e.g., why didn't anyone think to check to see whether Nathaniel's saliva matched the saliva on the bite marks on Ms. Flowers?), but this was pretty solid. It kept me on the edge of my seat (finished in one sitting). It stirred intense emotions within me (Yumi, you're a nugget but Dimitri deserves to retire early and live in a golden penthouse). And it was fun going through a teen's life whose IQ is greater than my own. (The new vocabulary I learned was rewarding enough.) I'd recommend people give this a try and look forward to the rest of the Lovelace series.