The list of what I read (and categorised as urban fantasy), with my impressions, in 2012, can be found here on Goodreads. I've read less urban fantasy in 2013, mostly because I started feeling a bit burned out on it and having trouble remembering the individual books mere days after I'd finished them. Still, I've read a few and plan to read more, so here's a round-up of what I read in the genre in the first six months of 2013 with mini-reviews/general impressions. I'm not going to summarise the content - the titles are links to each individual book's Goodreads page where you can find the blurb.
For some reason (which might have been simply tiredness on my part at the time) I found Nightwalker rather slow going, but in spite of that, I never felt like giving up - and I ended up really intrigued by this first book in the series.
I didn't get a good enough sense yet of the characters to decide whether I love them, but I did find them intriguing. I liked the plot; I really liked how it was very clear there is yet more plot to come. I liked the way the relationship with the (I assume) potential love interest is developing. I loved the no insta-love and no love triangle. I loved that the focus was not on romance, and that the book managed to have some sizzling hot scenes and UST without descending into erotica.
In short, a welcome surprise, and a series that definitely goes on my "read more of this" list. In fact, I've already bought the rest of the series on Kindle, so it's only a matter of time until I get to them.
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Three Days to Dead (Dreg City, #1)
Kelly Meding
***
More of a "I liked it" than "I really liked it" sort of book.
I really liked the premise - the heroine wakes up in a new body, after being killed, trying to solve her own murder. And there were definitely some interesting world-building and ideas, the pacing was decent; all the usual stuff. On the other hand, now, half a year later, I'm struggling with trying to remember more than the bare essentials of what happened or who the characters were, so it failed to leave a lasting impression.
I'm not ruling out reading more in this series, but with my ever-increasing to-be-read list, chances are it's not going to happen.
I really liked the premise - the heroine wakes up in a new body, after being killed, trying to solve her own murder. And there were definitely some interesting world-building and ideas, the pacing was decent; all the usual stuff. On the other hand, now, half a year later, I'm struggling with trying to remember more than the bare essentials of what happened or who the characters were, so it failed to leave a lasting impression.
I'm not ruling out reading more in this series, but with my ever-increasing to-be-read list, chances are it's not going to happen.
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Bitter Night & Crimson Wind (Horngate Witches, #1 & #2)
Diana Pharaoh Francis
**** & ***
I adored the first book in this dark urban fantasy series; the star rating is really more a 4.5. There was so much wonderful gore and bloodshed and fighting and darkness and it was all awesome shades of grey.
And no love triangles. Some acknowledged lust at first sight, but that I can deal with. And no romance focus - instead it was all wonderful world-building (without massive infodumps!) and fighting and hard choices and tough people and magic and toughness coming at a cost.
The second book ... well, it's still good. Not as fascinating, exciting or intriguing as the first book, and I found it a bit of a struggle to get into it, but it got better towards the end (either that or I finally got into the groove of things) and was definitely good enough that I'll want to read more about Max and Alexander.
I still liked Max, and I understood her inner struggles, but frankly by the second book I started to get tired of her love-hate relationship with Giselle. Is it Stockholm syndrome or what? Come on, decide, do you loathe her (as any normal person would) or not? Then again, Max is clearly a masochist, so perhaps she's come to love the pain and torture so much by now that she's addicted to it, or... something.
Writing-wise, there were a few things that started to annoy me in this book - I grew more more than tired of "witch-bitch" (it was a good phrase to use for Giselle the first two times in the first book, but by the second one, I'd think even the slowest readers have got that it's how Max thinks of her; we don't need it repeated 17976 times), and also, there was a sudden flood of "his Blade was rising" and "her Prime was rising" and all I could think of was ... where did that come from? it wasn't in the first book, was it? and also do we need those phrases repeated 4-5 times per paragraph?
Also, while I don't mind Max/Alexander, I just didn't feel the chemistry between them. We're told there's OH SO MUCH chemistry and UST there and ... yeah. We're told that. I didn't feel it. I felt more UST with Max/Scooter and Max/Tutresiel.
Anyway, all that said, still interested, especially with that cliffhanger-ish ending. I have the third book, so I expect to get to it, eventually. It's still intriguing, even if Crimson Wind lost some of that "oh WOW" shine that Bitter Night had for me.
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And no love triangles. Some acknowledged lust at first sight, but that I can deal with. And no romance focus - instead it was all wonderful world-building (without massive infodumps!) and fighting and hard choices and tough people and magic and toughness coming at a cost.
The second book ... well, it's still good. Not as fascinating, exciting or intriguing as the first book, and I found it a bit of a struggle to get into it, but it got better towards the end (either that or I finally got into the groove of things) and was definitely good enough that I'll want to read more about Max and Alexander.
I still liked Max, and I understood her inner struggles, but frankly by the second book I started to get tired of her love-hate relationship with Giselle. Is it Stockholm syndrome or what? Come on, decide, do you loathe her (as any normal person would) or not? Then again, Max is clearly a masochist, so perhaps she's come to love the pain and torture so much by now that she's addicted to it, or... something.
Writing-wise, there were a few things that started to annoy me in this book - I grew more more than tired of "witch-bitch" (it was a good phrase to use for Giselle the first two times in the first book, but by the second one, I'd think even the slowest readers have got that it's how Max thinks of her; we don't need it repeated 17976 times), and also, there was a sudden flood of "his Blade was rising" and "her Prime was rising" and all I could think of was ... where did that come from? it wasn't in the first book, was it? and also do we need those phrases repeated 4-5 times per paragraph?
Also, while I don't mind Max/Alexander, I just didn't feel the chemistry between them. We're told there's OH SO MUCH chemistry and UST there and ... yeah. We're told that. I didn't feel it. I felt more UST with Max/Scooter and Max/Tutresiel.
Anyway, all that said, still interested, especially with that cliffhanger-ish ending. I have the third book, so I expect to get to it, eventually. It's still intriguing, even if Crimson Wind lost some of that "oh WOW" shine that Bitter Night had for me.
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This was a hard one to rate. I loved the premise. I loved the world-building.
It flowed well enough, and I wanted to know what was happening. I loved
how both the "good guys" and the "bad guys" weren't black and white,
but came in shades of grey. And I didn't mind Justine much as the main
character.
On the other hand, I just couldn't deal with the constant, and I mean constant, lusting by Justine for what seemed to be nearly every man in this series. Urgh. That and the sex scenes rather turned me off the whole thing. It's just not my cup of tea.
On the other hand, I just couldn't deal with the constant, and I mean constant, lusting by Justine for what seemed to be nearly every man in this series. Urgh. That and the sex scenes rather turned me off the whole thing. It's just not my cup of tea.
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Sins & Shadows (Shadows Inquiries, #1)
Lyn Benedict
**
Objectively, I don't think there was anything wrong with this book. Maybe I just read it at a bad time. It's a perfectly serviceable urban fantasy, really.
I wanted to like it, I really did, because it had some really nice and potentially interesting elements, but it simply didn't work for me. The plot was... well, it should have been exciting, but it didn't engage me. I didn't care much for Sylvie (although I also didn't feel any strong dislike for her). I didn't get involved in Kevin & Bran's tragic love life at all - they both felt like cardboard characters to me, and I just couldn't persuade myself to care.
I wanted to like it, I really did, because it had some really nice and potentially interesting elements, but it simply didn't work for me. The plot was... well, it should have been exciting, but it didn't engage me. I didn't care much for Sylvie (although I also didn't feel any strong dislike for her). I didn't get involved in Kevin & Bran's tragic love life at all - they both felt like cardboard characters to me, and I just couldn't persuade myself to care.
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House Rules (Chicagoland Vampires, #7)
Chloe Neill
****
House Rules is the seventh book in the Chicagoland Vampires series. This, in itself, should tell you that this is a series that for - whatever reason - appeals to me.
After
the sixth book in this series turned out to be something of a
disappointment (still readable, but the spark wasn't there), I admit I was a bit
apprehensive about House Rules. And it did take a bit of time to get going properly.
However, I ended up enjoying it more than I anticipated. The plot/mystery wasn't incredibly strong, and I'd figured out the culprit way before any of the characters had, but it was good enough to keep me reading. The secondary arcs to do with Merit's involvement in the Red Guards and the politics regarding Cadogan's standing with the GP were interesting enough as well.
I'm still not at all keen on Ethan (I don't expect that to change - he's just so dull, and so unappealing in every possible way), so I could have done without Ethan and the romantic bits and the angsting, but it was all expected and by now I really only have myself to blame for reading on, knowing that Ethan's there to stay.
However, I ended up enjoying it more than I anticipated. The plot/mystery wasn't incredibly strong, and I'd figured out the culprit way before any of the characters had, but it was good enough to keep me reading. The secondary arcs to do with Merit's involvement in the Red Guards and the politics regarding Cadogan's standing with the GP were interesting enough as well.
I'm still not at all keen on Ethan (I don't expect that to change - he's just so dull, and so unappealing in every possible way), so I could have done without Ethan and the romantic bits and the angsting, but it was all expected and by now I really only have myself to blame for reading on, knowing that Ethan's there to stay.
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Magic Bites & Magic Burns (Kate Daniels, #1 & #2)
Ilona Andrews
*** & ***
I actually read the first of these two already in 2012, but it makes more sense to add my impressions on Magic Bites into this post as well, I think.
It took me a good half the book to get into Magic Bites,
but I did warm to it eventually. Not in a "wow, this is awesome!" way,
but well enough to give this series another go at some point in the
future, as I know a lot of people really love it.
My biggest issue/worry regarding the series is the alpha male thing - there's a reason why I'm usually not at all keen on books featuring werewolves or other shapeshifters heavily, especially as potential love interests, and that reason has everything to do with me pretty much loathing the whole growling alpha male concept. Still, I more or less liked Kate, and the world-building was interesting.
My biggest issue/worry regarding the series is the alpha male thing - there's a reason why I'm usually not at all keen on books featuring werewolves or other shapeshifters heavily, especially as potential love interests, and that reason has everything to do with me pretty much loathing the whole growling alpha male concept. Still, I more or less liked Kate, and the world-building was interesting.
Magic Burns - the second in the series - might
even have been worth four stars in my rating system ... if not for Curran. If there is anything that
really turns me off, it's weres and animal shapeshifters and alphas and
blond hair and bulging muscles, and Curran is every single one of those
things - and the constant desire for all those supposedly hot males in
general. It was just so deadly dull.
Decent plot & writing though and I still liked Kate (whenever she was not dripping with desire for those incredibly blegh males), and I'm intrigued by what she is, so now... I really don't know whether to continue or not. If there's more Curran ahead, and I fear there will be, then there really isn't much point, I suppose, which is a pity as I like the other aspects of these books.
Decent plot & writing though and I still liked Kate (whenever she was not dripping with desire for those incredibly blegh males), and I'm intrigued by what she is, so now... I really don't know whether to continue or not. If there's more Curran ahead, and I fear there will be, then there really isn't much point, I suppose, which is a pity as I like the other aspects of these books.
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Discount Armageddon & Midnight Blue-Light Special (InCryptid, #1 & #2)
Seanan McGuire
**** & ****
"Cheating", once again - I read Discount Armageddon in 2012, when it was released, and liked it so much that I pre-ordered Midnight Blue-Light Special as soon as it could be done.
Discount Armageddon was one of my favourite reads of 2012, being very close to a five star rating. In the end, it was an almost five, but for a couple of niggling little things, mainly the infodumps in the beginning. That was the bad bit. I could see
why infodumps came in handy with this particular universe, but I'm just
moderately allergic to them when they come in large quantities and all
at once in the beginning.
Other than that, it was awesome - great fun, wildly imaginative, the romance happened a bit too fast but at least it was insta-hormones, not insta-love, and I can deal with insta-hormones, the male love interest actually (a) had something to do with the plot and (b) had character growth, and then, well, there was William. I adored William. Oh yes.
Midnight Blue-Light Special had a lot to live up to. And ... it didn't quite manage it, for me.
That is not to say it was bad, but I find it hard to actually have anything in particular to say about this book. Still fun, pacing was still good, Aeslin mice were still fun, but ... something was missing. It was enjoyable, sure, but after the second book, I had to admit to myself that I wasn't truly emotionally connecting with the characters. I doubt this series will ever make it anywhere near my top favourites list, but it's still an auto-buy.
Other than that, it was awesome - great fun, wildly imaginative, the romance happened a bit too fast but at least it was insta-hormones, not insta-love, and I can deal with insta-hormones, the male love interest actually (a) had something to do with the plot and (b) had character growth, and then, well, there was William. I adored William. Oh yes.
Midnight Blue-Light Special had a lot to live up to. And ... it didn't quite manage it, for me.
That is not to say it was bad, but I find it hard to actually have anything in particular to say about this book. Still fun, pacing was still good, Aeslin mice were still fun, but ... something was missing. It was enjoyable, sure, but after the second book, I had to admit to myself that I wasn't truly emotionally connecting with the characters. I doubt this series will ever make it anywhere near my top favourites list, but it's still an auto-buy.
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And this is pretty much it for the adult urban fantasy I've been reading this year - considerably less than last year, but I might still pick up a few later on in 2013.
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