Review - Black Lament (Madeline Black, Book 4) by Christina Henry (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 288 pages
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: October 30, 2012
ISBN: 978-0425256572
Stand Alone or Series: 4th book in the Madeline Black series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the fourth book in the Madeline Black series. It was a solid installment in this series, if not the best one in the series. The fifth book in the series, Black City, is scheduled for a Feb 2013 release.

Madeline Black finds out from Lucifer that she is pregnant with Gabriel's baby. Now she not only has to evade numerous assassination attempts from the Faerie court, she also has to hunt down her father to revenge Gabriel, and keep her unborn child out of Lucifer's hands. All of this while she continues to grieve for Gabriel.

This story was fast-paced and has a lot going on. Definitely more of an urban fantasy than PNR. These are always interesting books because, while they don’t always have a clear story or objective, there is always a lot happening and it’s engaging.

Maddie has embraced her power and isn’t afraid to destroy everything in her path to get to a goal. This book is interesting because she is forced to temper her behavior slightly to allow for her pregnancy. I do enjoy how powerful she has become and how she is always kicking someone’s butt.

My favorite character in this series continues to be Beezle the gargoyle; he just adds so much witty banter and humor to the story. Simon and JB are also running support for Maddie and it was great to have them be part of the story as well.

The other character that features in the story that I was surprised to enjoy is Nathaniel. He is in the story a lot because he is assigned by Lucifer to guard Maddie. He is becoming a more complex character and you couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for him at times.

We delve a lot deeper into the faerie realms in this book and I really enjoyed all the crazy faerie creatures that try to hunt Maddie down. There are some seriously creepy faerie creatures in this book and I loved reading about them.

I do like that they were some big revelations with Maddie’s character; I think this book paved the way for her to really grow and change in future books. She is finally embracing her godlike heritage.

My only complaint is that Maddie is a bit too lucky and powerful and is continually getting out of situations she shouldn't be able to get out of. She tends to blast her way through situations that she could probably talk her way out of. While I enjoy the action scenes; I do feel like Maddie’s overzealousness and crazy luck is a bit over the top.

Overall I really enjoyed this story. Fans of the this series should be happy with this installment. We meet some new and interesting fairy creatures. We also get to see Maddie go through some big changes. Maddie’s continual ability to escape impossible situations unscathed does get a bit old, but I do enjoy the fast pace of the story and all of the interesting characters. I recommend this series to fans of urban fantasy. There are better urban fantasy series out there, but this is still a solid one that I enjoy reading.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Early Review - Knight's Curse by Karen Duvall (3/5 stars)

Reading level: Adult

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size:  320 pages

Publisher: Luna
Release Date: August 23, 2011
ISBN:  978-0373803408
Stand Alone or Series: 1st in the Knight's Curse series
Source: ARC from NetGalley.com
Rating: 3/5 stars

I got an advanced reading copy of this book through NetGalley(dot)com.  It was an okay book, but I had trouble enjoying the characters and picturing the world.

Chalice is a half-angel who has been trained from the age of nine to knife fight and steal.  Her mother died during childbirth and her father is a Fallen Angel.  Chalice has been bound to a viscous gargoyle and is being used by her guardian, an evil sorceror, to carry out their dirty work.  Things change when she meets Aydin, who like her has special abilities, and (like her) is bound to a gargoyle.  Chalice is now twenty five and wants her freedom; she will find out that freedom has a cost and along the way she will have some tough choices to make.

There were some things I really liked about this book.  The whole theme of angels and gargoyles is unique and interesting.  The world built here is complex, yet incomplete.

I had some problems with Chalice as a character.  I didn't understand the need for the flashback prologue, I think the story would have been better without it.  Chalice always came across as kind of bland to me, she was vindictive but didn't have a lot of dimension to her character outside of that.  At many points in time Chalice comes across as much younger than twenty five; she seems like a teenager or even younger.  I am not sure if this was intentional, but it was frustrating.  She would complain about wanted freedom like a true adult but her actions and complaining would be very childish.

Her love interest in the book, Aydin, was also bland to me.  He was kind of funny and cute, but was never very engaging as a character.  Aydin and Chalice as a couple were pretty lackluster.  The heat between them seemed one-sided (Chalice obviously was into him) and never really got anywhere; I never found myself rooting for them as a couple or really enraptured by any of the scenes they featured in.

Chalice's Fallen angel father, despite his brief appearance, was probably the most interesting character in the book.  Followed by a side character who can talk with angels, hopefully he features more in the next book too.

While I found the idea of a world filled with angels, gargoyles, and magic alluring I had trouble wrapping my head around the world in this book.  The settings, place in time, and surroundings were hard to picture.  Even when the story was in Colorado I had trouble remembering we were in Colorado.  I also had trouble making sense of the magic system; it was a blend of super hero like angel abilities, wards, spells, and curses.  I could never quite figure out the rationale behind any of them, the rules behind the different types of magic, or really which type of magic was what.  It was something that should have been explained better, especially since Chalice is immune to some types of magic but not all.

The plot was mysterious and well done.  I did like the inclusion of many different races (Eeves, gargoyles, angels, etc).  I enjoyed reading about Chalice's fighting abilities.  I also enjoyed Aydin's ghosting abilities.  I like the quirky idea of a Saint who is living parcled out in pieces.

Basically I enjoyed a lot of the ideas in this story, just not how the ideas were executed.  The story ends well, some things are wrapped up but you can tell Chalice's adventures are just beginning.  Definitely the first book in a new series.

Overall an okay read.  Some of the concepts in here are very neat: love the gargoyles and bindings, the half angel children, and other magical stuff like that.  I wasn't big on our two main characters Chalice and Aydin; they weren't likable or engaging and the chemistry in their relationship felt forced.  The world is a bit confusing as the different types of magic are never explained very well; the descriptions were a bit lacking...I kept forgetting where the story was taking place.  I personally won't be reading any more of this series, although I will keep an eye on it to see if subsequent books are better.  If you are big into angel mythology you might enjoy this, although I would recommend the Remy Chandler series in place of this one.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:

- Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
- 100+ Reading Challenge

- E-book Reading Challenge