New friends, new hope, and no romance
5 stars
Imogen Grey lives in a fairly dark world setting, where extremely predatory creeps are a dime a dozen. Between the prequel and this book I seriously lost track of the number of times she encountered guys who acted like she was already their property, and just didn't realize it yet. So if that would seriously bug you, even though they do always get smacked down in one way or another, I'd steer clear.
That said, this book also had me laughing, and admiring the number of assumptions the author re-examined when creating this character. For example, why exactly would a millenia-old person know that you currently needed to be 16 in order to drive? Cars have only existed for a century or so, and 12-year-olds regularly drove carts before that.
I loved her creativity in ending fights that weren't in her favor, especially when she doesn't want to kill the …
Imogen Grey lives in a fairly dark world setting, where extremely predatory creeps are a dime a dozen. Between the prequel and this book I seriously lost track of the number of times she encountered guys who acted like she was already their property, and just didn't realize it yet. So if that would seriously bug you, even though they do always get smacked down in one way or another, I'd steer clear.
That said, this book also had me laughing, and admiring the number of assumptions the author re-examined when creating this character. For example, why exactly would a millenia-old person know that you currently needed to be 16 in order to drive? Cars have only existed for a century or so, and 12-year-olds regularly drove carts before that.
I loved her creativity in ending fights that weren't in her favor, especially when she doesn't want to kill the opponent. I loved her slowly changing attitude towards the abused, street-wise boy who attached himself to her. I enjoyed her awkward trust of the descendent of a witch who'd helped her decades earlier. I even ended up liking the crotchety old priest who recruits her to help with "exorcisms". And I was delighted by her completely non-romantic, non-sexual relationship with a powerful vampire.
Seriously, the sharp veer away from the usual "instant compelling attraction to the first (and maybe 2nd & 3rd) sexy powerful man" trope that's so common in urban fantasy with female main characters was a breath of fresh air.
And finally, I loved that the book ended on a truly hopeful, potentially life-changing note.