Review: Grave Memory (Alex Craft #3) by Kalayna Price

Grave Memory by Kalayna Price
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The good, and it's mostly good: There's a lot going on, several layers of story all at once with the main mystery, Alex's issue with the Winter Queen and having to choose a fairie court plus the games the Queen is playing with Falin, Death and the other collectors and the questions about why they're keeping him away from her, the questions of Alex's humanity or fae nature and whatever is going on with her father and his long game, but it actually all works for me. I have a terrible memory but I didn't have any trouble remembering what was happening in the story, I never felt lost or overwhelmed or frustrated because I couldn't remember something from the last book. It all played out in a way that pulled it together and reminded me without being heavy-handed. It may be a bit messy, but life isn't neat either, things don't just unfold in nice easy steps, one-two-three. I liked the way the pieces of the puzzles fit together and interwove. It all fit and fascinated for me. And boy is her dad some piece of work, trying to figure out his game may be the most intriguing part of the series. 

The supporting characters add a lot of depth to the series. She has long-term and loving relationships with her girlfriends Holly, Tamara, and her partner Rianna. And Roy the ghost who wants so badly to be a partner as well. And Caleb the much put-upon fae landlord. And Mrs. B., can't forget her, doesn't everyone really want a brownie? There wasn't enough PC in this one, but we all know I'm a sucker for dogs. The barghest appeared several times at least, though there wasn't really enough of him either, but he's more of Rianna's supporting character than Alex's. Briar was a good new character. Annoying and a bit frightening, but good.

The bad: the only thing that I felt was a little weak again was the romance, and it wasn't terrible, just predictable. The angsty love triangle thing is so overdone. Falin is the typical tortured fae knight, nothing special about him. And Death is charming, but mostly absent. They're both hot, but I've seen it all before. Alex is constantly tortured about them, nothing is ever either of their faults, they're both perfect, and they're both mostly absent in the author's attempt to stretch the triangle out over the series. And I'm much more interested in the mystery, the other characters, the fae world and the layers of the magical worlds that were being revealed than the juvenile (all of their first real) romances between two old guys and the young woman. Everything else was creative but that was just too typical. 

Plus it really bugs me that  Alex never thinks about the other guy when she's with each guy, she never worries about being torn between the two of them or feels guilty about caring for both of them, or like she's betraying the other guy. Sure, there's certainly no commitment in any way between Alex and either of the men, but she should know that they'd be hurt anyway and it should cross her mind and she should at least think about how it's possible she could have such strong feelings for two different guys. If she's going to be in love with two guys then she should think about that, but it's just swept under the table and ignored, except for the occasional mention of their jealousy of each other. The whole romance aspect of the story was basically fine, but I wish urban fantasy publishers and authors would stop pushing love triangles, it makes the heroine look so fickle.

The only other bad thing is that it always bugs me a bit when the heroine is the only person in the world with the powers she has. I just get that irritated, "what makes you so special?" feeling. She isn't just a powerful grave witch, she's a planeweaver and who knows what else, it seems like a little much. There is some indication here that things are going on with the story with her dad that will explain things more, so I'm reigning in my irritation on that, but we'll see how it plays out. 

And seriously, Laurell Hamilton has ruined sex scenes for every author, no one should ever use the phrase, "I came screaming," ever again. Please. I just can't see it without cringing. 

So, in case it isn't obvious, overall I liked the book a lot and I think the author is getting even better at storytelling as she gets more books under her belt. I'm looking forward to seeing how things unfold as this series continues. 


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Review: Fever Moon by Karen Marie Moning

Fever Moon: The Fear Dorcha by Karen Marie Moning
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Al Rio's art really is great, it captures the darkness of what's happening in Dublin during the story without being too literally dark to enjoy, it sill has a lot of energy, movement and emotion. And when appropriate the frames are beautifully completed into real pieces of art capturing the city, the scene in a club, a church, even just the background while they're driving, but it's a completely detailed piece of art, not just sketched in background place holders. I'm not a big graphic novel fan, but obviously Al Rio was tremendously talented. He really captured the characters with a lot of emotional depth, every panel was just great. I'm sure his work will be really missed. Cliff Richards did a good job stepping in to finish the book.

The only disappointing character for me was Rowena. I can't remember clearly how she was described in the books, but as a former fighter and as the leader of the sidhe seers I always pictured her as the whip-thin tough-as-nails bitter granny type, not the fluffy granny type. Double chins didn't fit my image of her. The highly disapproving sneer worked though. I also didn't imagine Jayne as such a hunk, was that a comic book addition? I know he's been working out and all, trying to catch the bad guys and save the city, but the super chiseled eye candy look seemed a little much.

Barron's big B belt buckle just cracked me up. I can't decide if it suited his arrogance or was silly, but it was funny.

Luckily I owned the ebook for Shadowfever so I could re-read the whole end, I didn't remember any of the key points at all, I guess it didn't make such a big impression on me after all. This actually seems to take place before book five, but I was a little thrown to realize that the whole book had pretty much disappeared from my memory.

As for this book, the ending was super weak. There was no reason given for why Mac's strategy worked or why the words were an issue, a lot of things just didn't hold together with what was up to that point a cool/creepy bad guy. But in general, if you're a fan of the series you should enjoy the book. She and Barrons fight about cars, you get to see him looming over her all big and sexy (if you happen to like that kind of thing), there's a tiny bit of Dreamy-Eyed Guy, overall it's a good portrayal of the world. It's just a petty shallow story. The art deserves four stars, but I just can't give the story that many.

FYI: I've seen a couple of people complaining about Mac's big bosom hanging out in a lot of the book, but frankly that's a comic book thing, it's something that happens in almost every graphic novel adaptation. And it's actually pretty consistent with her character too, she likes tight, girly clothes that show off her figure, so I didn't have any problems with it in this book. And the guy eye candy was just as prominent, with lots of naked Velvet.

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Review: Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues (White Trash Zombie, #2) by Diana Rowland

Even White Trash Zombies Get the Blues by Diana Rowland

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm not a big fan of zombie books in general, it's not generally my thing. But I am a big fan of Diana Rowland. She's consistently written books with terrific characters and very real situations, despite the fantasy set-ups of the zombies or demons or whatever she's chosen to use to create drama and excitement in their lives. And she sure didn't fail me with this one!

Angel really got put through the emotional and physical wringer in this book. She was finally setting into a job that she enjoyed and feeling that she was getting her life back on track. And BAM, it all fell apart. Suddenly the trust she thought she'd earned from so many people was gone, even her boyfriend didn't believe anything she was saying, and she was in deadly danger and all on her own again. But our tough girl just moved forward, did what she had to do to protect herself, and saved the day. But what worked so well was that it was all in believable ways, it wasn't in some crazy superhero way. She used her wit, her intelligence and her experience to prevail. And her zombie strength, speed and healing occasional, I'll give her that. But she didn't give up and she didn't give in, she fought back.

I could see so much emotional growth in this book, that was really the best part of the story. She trusted herself. There were some doubts, but mostly she was starting to understand her own worth. She refused to let Marcus or anyone else brush her off, make decisions for her, or belittle her ideas. She was upset when people kept asking her about where she went to school, it did make her feel bad, but it got her thinking about her future too. Seeing her dad and what he was going through with trying to quit drinking really emphasized for Angel what an opportunity she'd been given by being forced to start over by being turned in to a zombie. She knows that so much of her progress is because her "rehab" was forced on her, alcohol and drugs just don't work on her anymore and they make her rot faster and need brains more often, so she just doesn't use them. (Luckily she gets to eat whatever she wants when she'd depressed at least, a girl has to have some outlet!) But she's really trying to make the most of this second chance she's been given, even when it's hard. It's a very believable struggle and I just can't help but root for this chick.

The other thing that's so great about this book, and about Rowland's work in general, is the depth of the world that she creates. Every piece of the puzzle is in place, so the reader never feels for a second like she isn't reading about a completely real place. Because Rowland has been a beat cop, detective, morgue assistant and held many other jobs as well, she makes every detail of her stories come to life. Every supporting character is perfectly in place, every scene is set, but none of it is heavy-handed or wordy, it's just a perfectly painted background so you don't even realize you're absorbing it most of the time. When Angel tore up that floor and crawled into those tunnels, I felt like I was there with her. When she was sitting on the curb holding Marcus at the terribly sad crime scene, I felt like I was there. The details are just so well done. It's like Dan Dos Santos' gorgeous cover, everything pops and comes to life.

And then there's the mystery. There was a lot going on here in the zombie world, a lot that unfolded and added depth to the story beyond what was happening to our beloved heroine. I'm excited to see what happens next. And how Angel gets sucked into it and kicks butt dealing with it.



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