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Genre:
Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Romance
Summary on Goodreads:
Twelve. Twelve of the deadliest beasts ever forged in the fires of hell have escaped onto our plane, and they want nothing more than to rip out the jugular of Charley Davidson and serve her lifeless, mangled body to Satan for dinner. So there’s that. But Charley has more on her plate than a mob of testy hellhounds. For one thing, her father has disappeared, and the more she retraces his last steps, the more she learns he was conducting an investigation of his own, one that has Charley questioning everything she’s ever known about him. Add to that an ex-BFF who is haunting her night and day, a rash of suicides that has authorities baffled, and a drop-dead sexy fiancé who has attracted the attentions of a local celebrity, and Charley is not having the best week of her life.
A tad north of hell, a hop, skip, and a jump past the realm of eternity, is a little place called Earth, and Charley Davidson, grim reaper extraordinaire, is determined to do everything in her power to protect it.
We’re doomed.
RATING:
***MY REVIEW***
“Charley Davidson, Private Investigator, Because No One Is Better At Investigating Your Privates.”
I had high hopes for the 7th installment in Charley Davidson series, especially after that glorious ending of the previous book and I was super-excited when I won the audio book on Hot Listens Blog.
My expectations about this book:
~ More, in-depth building of the paranormal/ fantasy world and revelations about the background of the Mcs and other secondary characters and less of Charley's side PI cases.
~ Charley being more mature and taking life/death situations more seriously.
~ Reyes and Charley to stop keeping secrets from each other. It's really high time for that to finally happen considering the next book is the final in the series. (Even if it had been high time the moment they had decided that they are going to be together.)
What I got:
~ Charley's side PI cases still taking a lot of space of the plot and btw. I still don't see the appeal in them, especially now when the focus of the story should be on other, more relevant things (like the apocalypse and the invading demons.) And don't let me start about the harem of Reyes' fans and "the bad guy" in the last case and its connection to Reyes. Insert gigantic *eye-roll*.
There was more world-building of the fantasy world, but was it unique and original? I'm not sure. I expected much, much more.
~ Charley being reckless and immature, maybe even more than ever considering "her condition". As I said in my previous reviews- her goofy behavior was endearing in the first four books, but now, to be honest, it is getting more and more frustrating, especially in more serious situations. I expected more character growth to be exact. Reyes Farrow definitely has hands full when it comes to her.
~ And yes, Charley and Reyes are still keeping secrets from each other whenever the opportunity rises. Less than before, but enough to frustrate.
“Damn it, I needed The Idiot's Guide to Grim Reaperism.”
The story was in spite this yet again fun, emotional, action-packed and steamy. If anyone knows to write fun, hilarious situations- it's Darynda Jones, but after reading the epic, new installations of Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning, Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews, Guild Hunter Series by Nalini Singh I couldn't not notice how the world-building here wasn't on the same level. That's why 3 solid stars.
“I knew it!” she said, glaring at me. “You’re in league with the devil.” “Duh. I’m affianced to him. Or, well, his son. I guess that makes me ‘in league’ with him, but you can’t judge people by their in-laws. In-laws are all crazy. Everyone knows that.”
Lorelei King was a great narrator. It took some time for me to get used to (and not giggle) a woman imitating voices of male characters, but I think she did a pretty good job. On the other hand my first experience with audio book was quite hilarious, like f.e. me falling asleep and waking up 6 chapters later etc.
The positive things about audio books, I would say, are:
~ You can do a lot of things while listening (f.e. clean, paint your nails, drive a bike/car etc.)
~ In my opinion, the listening heightens the experience- the voice of the narrator draws you slowly in the plot of the book and you feel like you're part of the story yourself (btw. which was quite scary when there were demons involved.)
All in all, audio books have their appeal, but while I'm glad I tried it, at the same time I'm not sure they are the right choice for me. I missed my kindle tremendously. It took me about 5 days to finish the book which never happens when reading and that's why I think I'll stick to books for now.
XOXO
I am so sad that you didn't like this one better. I haven't started it yet but I plan too soon. I do agree with you though that I would think the books would start focusing more on what Charley and Reyes need to get done than her PI cases. Did it talk more about Mr. Wong? I know there is more to his story and I am hoping we get more.
ReplyDeleteNothing important about Mr. Wong except repeating what we already had found about him in the previous book, but they did talk more about the prophecy and I have my suspicions about what role he'll play in it.
DeleteHope you'll like it better. It was okay for me, but considering the next one is the final I had bigger expectations.
Awe, I love Charley and sure she is impulsive but what appeals to me is that she cares and acts to help others.
ReplyDeleteYes, I like that too about her, but that makes her also reckless sometimes and then her behavior can become quite frustrating. I expected more character growth in this one.
DeleteHold up, the next book is the last? I hope you're lying to me. lol. But, darn, I LOVED this. I love the PI cases and how they're incorporated into each story. There always seems to be a reason for them.
ReplyDeleteI loved her PI cases too in the previous books, but now I expected the story to be focused more on the upcoming apocalypse. Yes, I think the next one is the last one.
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