Review: Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells
Red-Headed Stepchild
Urban Fantasy
Orbit (April 1, 2009)
352 pages
From jayewells.com:
It's this gentle unearthing of vulnerability within Sabina that makes our assassin heroine more likable and her story that much more gripping. Add that to the fact that her existence is mired in lies and the few things that she once held dear are quickly revealing themselves to not be so reliable anymore, and you get a pretty well-developed plot.
There are some bright spots throughout, however. Sabina finds companionship with her newly formed crew and even a possible love interest in the form of a "mancy", or mage, warrior of sorts named Adam.
This being a somber world though, Well's does not end this installment on much of a happy note - which I found just made me more anxious for the sequel, Mage in Black, due next spring.
Grade: A
In a world where being of mixed-blood is a major liability, Sabina doesn’t really fit in. And being an assassin – the only profession fit for an outcast – doesn’t help matters. But she’s never brought her work home. Until now.Well's has burst out of the gate pretty Strong with her debut novel and the first in the Sabina Kane trilogy. Sabina's world is pretty gritty, and she's at the heart of the darkness. She's probably one of the loneliest characters that I've read about so far in this genre. At the beginning, she's not even aware of how alone she is. It isn't until she is thrust into circumstances through which she starts meeting supporting cast members, such as her demon kitty Gighul and the faery Vinca, that she begins to notice just how much she yearns for attachments of some kind.
Her latest mission is uncomfortably complex, and threatens the fragile peace between the vampire and mage races. As Sabina scrambles to figure out which side she’s on, she uncovers a tangled political web, some nasty facts about her family and some unexpected new talents. Any of these things could be worryingly life-changing, but together, they could be fatal…
This time, it’s personal.
It's this gentle unearthing of vulnerability within Sabina that makes our assassin heroine more likable and her story that much more gripping. Add that to the fact that her existence is mired in lies and the few things that she once held dear are quickly revealing themselves to not be so reliable anymore, and you get a pretty well-developed plot.
There are some bright spots throughout, however. Sabina finds companionship with her newly formed crew and even a possible love interest in the form of a "mancy", or mage, warrior of sorts named Adam.
This being a somber world though, Well's does not end this installment on much of a happy note - which I found just made me more anxious for the sequel, Mage in Black, due next spring.
Grade: A
1 Comments:
I absolutely loved this book! It was SO amazing! Had me sitting on the edge of my seat, and Giguhl had me in fits of laughter! Such an awesome book. Awesome review!
I've reviewed this book too, so I'll link to yours from mine :)
Post a Comment