Disclaimer: I was sent this book by the author in exchange for a review. I have not received any monetary incentives for a positive or negative review.
Type: Series, Paranormal Mystery, Vampires, Werewolves, Cops, Fairy Tales
About the book: " Two Worlds. One Mystery.
Cassandra returns, still caught between realities, and she has another mystery on her hands. Eight-year-old Adam Baker is the latest in a string of children to mysteriously vanish, and when the bones of a young child are found, Cassandra is increasingly worried for his safety—and the Preternatural Crime Unit has ordered her to keep away from the case or else. Meanwhile, Aram is facing trial, and only Cassandra can save him. But does she want to?
Juggling a boyfriend, college, vampire politics and investigative work is difficult, and it doesn’t help that something seems to be wrong with her powers. Can she pull herself together in time to save all those lost in the night? "
So I have re-discovered by ability to draw things on pages of a book in my ebook reader. This is great for making notes, however they do not always make sense later. However, I will gladly share these notes with you - "Funny," "Good description," "Blake-like," "Cool, Gargoyles!," a random squiggle, and finally "Whiny." So there you have it. My review.
What? Oh.. you want me to explain it? Fine. But we're working backwords so I can erase the notes as I go. Let's start with "whiny." Cassandra has a boyfriend, Magnus, who is supposedly several years (or decades) her senior. He is a half-elf, so he ages much slower, but he is still older and assumably more mature than Cassandra. But it's hard to feel this maturity level. On the page before my note, Magnus is practically pouting before Cassandra had forgotten about their date, and indeed she had.. but only because she had a lot of other things on her plate at the time. But then on the next page, she is calling Magnus a sweetheart, thinking of helping others. While yes, Magnus has shown several times throughout the book that he will help whenever she, or others, need it - sweetheart wasn't always the best description of him. Maybe sweetheart with a touch of whine-whine-whinerpants. That said, I did enjoy him, as well as some of the rather yummy descriptions of him.
A random squiggle was probably just me messing with the screen. Let's move past that one.
The next note is "Cool, Gargoyles!" - that's right, in his book we get to meet some gargoyles. Or.. gargoyle-like creatures.. I'm not sure if that's actually the name they're given. I have to say, this is not something I've seen a lot of in paranormal fiction, and I'm intrigued. The characters were interesting, and it seems they like to travel in packs, and even have mates. I love group dynamics, and I thought the author added an interesting spin with this type of mythical creature. It seems like the gargoyles are there to stay, so I hope Cassandra will get to see more of them in the future.
Next up is "Blake-like." Those who were fans of Laurell K. Hamilton's early part of the Anita Blake series will definitely enjoy "Lost Innocents," and I'm sure, the rest of the Cassandra Fairbanks series. Cassandra has the same drive, and to some extents, the same weird humor as Anita. And you get all of the nummy guys and interesting ties to them, without all of the uncomfortable weird sex scenes. I would suggest this series to anyone that enjoyed the first six or so books of Anita Blake, and it's definitely a series people should get into. It's a tough subject matter to deal with (children are being kidnapped and killed), but Cassandra is plucky, and she is willing to work hard to solve the case, even if it means getting herself arrested in the process.
"Good Description" - there's a lot of that in this book. O'Dell does quite well at setting the scene for the reader, and there were a few moments that stuck out to me. My favorite has to be when Cassandra first reaches the abandoned cathedral that plays an important role in the plot. The description was thorough and haunting.. which set the mood perfectly, considering Cassandra was there to examine some bones found.
And my last note is "funny." I truly loved Cassandra's sense of humor, and her quick comebacks. Everyone has heard the joke "if you look up stupid in the dictionary, there will be a picture of you." Cassandra's response is one of my favorite amusing lines in the book: " 'Well I'm not the one who had to look up 'stupid' in the dictionary,' I said, watching his laughter fae and his posture stiffen. 'And mine doesn't have pictures in it, moron.' " I chuckled while reading this scene. So despite the dark tone of the novel, the author provides the reader with a few light moments, so as not to bring you down.
That said, I'm going to give "Lost Innocents" by Sonnet O'Dell a FOUR POINT FIVE out of FIVE (4.5/5). I thought the plot was good, the characters were interesting, and I'm definitely feeling the urge to read more of the series (I hope there will be more!). As I said, I had a problem or two with a character (or two)... such as Magnus, who occasionally just needed to hush up and look pretty. But I really did enjoy the book. A lot.
Happy Reading!
~!~ Morning Glow
1 comment:
Interesting review style! I enjoyed it, and it makes me think I'd enjoy the book, whinerpants or not.
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