One Good Book Deserves Another

Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance
Series: Otherkin, Book 4
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 380 Pages
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle
Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by HQN Books publisher Harlequin via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.




Satisfying Conclusion to the Lokan Arc

Lokan Krayl, soul reaper and fourth son of Sutekh, gave himself over to those who were conspiring to kill him in order to secure the safe release of his daughter - a daughter he wasn't supposed to be able to have. Just like, as a demigod, he wasn't supposed to be able to die. So much for supposed to be. He was murdered. Skinned, dismembered, his soul cast into a null zone in the Underworld. Betrayed by the lord he served, the most powerful Underworld lord. His father.

Sutekh murdered his own son.

But fortunately for Lokan, he is the fourth son, and since his murder, his three brothers have been scouring Topworld and Underworld both, for answers, for information, for hope...doing everything they could to recover his remains and bring him back. They were successful...more or less...but that is a story told elsewhere.

What's important, what's most significant, is that Lokan Krayl is alive...mostly...and he's stuck in Underworld. It is his challenge and his destiny to return to the land of the living. He must live again, because Sutekh's plan failed, but that does not mean he was defeated, and Lokan's daughter will be his next target.

To complete his journey back to life, Lokan will require yet more help, and that help will come from an unexpected, if not unwanted source. Bryn Carr, the bewitching woman who captivated him for an evening then disappeared from his life and bore his child, has been relegated to a safe corner of Lokan's mind. She is the mother of his child, and after tracking her down six years ago, Lokan has been comfortable keeping his thoughts for her contained to that. But when it is Bryn who joins him Underworld and tells him she is his guide through the Twelve Gates, walks with him on his treacherous journey, Lokan is going to have to deal with the fact that the feelings he has for Bryn are not so mild as he's always thought.

Lokan, though, may have realized too late all he had going for him before his murder. He's wants Bryn to be his, wants a future together as a family. He has no idea that Bryn's offer of guidance and assistance out of the Underworld hides a bitter truth and obscures the sacrifice she's made to give it.


Finally, Lokan! I swear, I can't remember any other series I've read where I spent so long focusing on a character who was not only not in the first three books beyond a few short pages here and there but was also dead. It was like three books of foreplay. And after its slightly disappointing predecessor, which provided answers but no real feeling of resolution or accomplishment, this fourth book was far more satisfying to me.

I felt like I already knew Lokan, but Bryn was new. I sorta love how Silver maintained continuity with the first book in the series and provided plausible explanation for the characterization differences. I also enjoyed getting insight into the origins of their relationship and seeing how their daughter came along. I wish, though, that both characters had been afforded a bit more development.

There were several wonderful moments in the book, in particular the conclusion, which I loved. I appreciated that the storyline was a little less linear and singularly focused than the first three books. Bryn's introduction and backstory, the history between her and Lokan, and the glimpses of Lokan's past added fresh breath into the series.

I loved the external plot thread and the action-adventure journey through Underworld, and once again I was impressed with the scope and originality of the diverse cultural and paranormal elements of the book. Silver has consistently done a great job blending the various religious deities and mythologies, the fantastical and the magical, all merging together into a surprisingly cohesive whole.

The romance between Lokan and Bryn was a little less appealing to me. I felt it lacked the touches of humor, intense physical chemistry, and fiery passion that defined the relationships between Dagan and Roxy and Alastor and Naphré in the first two books. And Bryn's character was a different sort of heroine - which isn't a bad thing on its own merits, but I prefer kick-ass warrior chicks like Roxy and Naphré over Bryn's desperate maternal fierceness and more internal personality. The evolution of the romance had some problems too. It was very two dimensional and heavily focused around the angst generated by Bryn's resigned hopelessness while Underworld.

The totally satisfying resolution and book conclusion were the high points for me. Though the journey to that conclusion was fraught with some of the same series-long issues I've had since the beginning, like a tendency toward repetition of information in the narrative (by the fourth book, I really don't need to be told that Sutekh is the über-lord of the Underworld every time his name is mentioned, but if I am, I'd appreciate at least having different wording or phraseology used), and had a few issues particular to this book and these characters, I liked the read. I would love to know what, if anything, Silver was planning on doing next with the Otherkin series.

The Otherkin Series:

Prequel                                    Book 1                                   Book 2

Book 3                            Book 4

Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance
Series: Otherkin, Book 3
Rating: 3 Stars
Length: 384 Pages
Formats: Paperback, Kindle




Not My Favorite in the Series

Malthus Krayl, now the youngest of the three remaining soul reaper sons of Sutekh, überlord of the Underworld, is the only one of his brothers who doesn't think they are going to be able to bring their murdered brother Lokan back from the dead. The adrenaline junkie with a bad boy Lothario complex a mile wide keeps that opinion on the down low, however, because he's right on board with both Dagan and Alastor about finding whomever is responsible for that death and making them pay for their heinous act.

Making them pay a lot.

Their investigation has led them to Pyotr Kuznetsov, High Reverend of the Setnakhts, cult followers loyal to Sutekh. Mal stalks Kuznetsov, but before he can snatch him up and press him for answers, he's accosted by Calliope Kane, Daughter of Aset, ancient enemy of Sutekh. He's a little taken aback when, instead of easily overpowering her and getting exactly what he wants as he fully expected to do, she gets the drop on him and uses his own blood against him. She leaves him cut, bleeding, and stuck to a wall. And he'd never been more captivated by a female in all his years.

The challenge laid, the lines drawn, Mal and Calliope dance a wicked dance. Born enemies, vastly different agendas, and serving opposing masters, the heat of their attraction to each other may turn the final key in the puzzle of Lokan's murder. Or it will destroy them both.


It pains me to say this, but I was terribly disappointed in this third installment of Silver's Otherkin series. Fortunately I came to this series late, because when this book was originally published, it was slated to be the last in a trilogy. Had that been the case, I would've felt even less kindly for it because the conclusion was anything but satisfying.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

This third book gave me problems with both major plot arcs. The series arc, the search for Lokan's killer or killers, went a little wonky here. What had been a slow, steady accumulation of facts and disparate, confusing information that tantalized as it intrigued became, in Sins of the Flesh, a bunch of leaps and bounds of information, answers, and actions without a clear understanding of how such progress was made from one book to the next.

Compounding that issue were several unanswered questions about major players and their entourage which have been popping up since the beginning, a new character who was the key to critical information who hadn't been mentioned before, and a resolution that didn't actually resolve anything. And I may be wrong, because it's been awhile, but I could swear the events and characters featured in the Otherkin prequel, Sin's Daughter, caused a plot conflict at a crucial part in this book.

Then there were the lead characters. I loved Dae and Roxy, Alastor and Naphré. Those couples were really the driving force of my entertainment in the first two books. Mal and Calliope, however, left me a little cold. I didn't dislike them, really, they were fine in their roles, but they didn't work for me as well as the couples that preceded them. Mal was too much the typical bad boy womanizer allegedly reformed by love and Calliope was a bit too good at acting completely cold and unfeeling for far too long into the book for my tastes. Beyond that, there wasn't much attention given to character definition or depth for either of them.

And the reason Calliope had such hate on for soul reapers, the major defining aspect of her character, was resolved with almost ridiculous ease in a startlingly short amount of time once the topic was broached. I couldn't quite buy that given the circumstances and Calliope's age. On the other hand, I was absolutely right on one very big answer to a very complicated question, so I did feel some measure of satisfaction in the book.

I'm very glad that this book isn't the conclusion of a trilogy and I'm anxious to see the fallout of the events of this book as the series continues. I have enjoyed Silver's dark, edgy, unique world and her sexy, dangerous characters. This one wasn't nearly as appealing to me as the others, but I do have high hopes for the next. By the nature of the story in this one, I can't imagine it not serving as a turning point to what comes next, and I plan to be along for the ride. Besides, I liked both Mal and Calliope better when they were secondary or ancillary characters, so having them return to those roles can only have events looking up for me.

Heads Up: This is not a series I would recommend being read out of order or jumping into it anywhere but the beginning (though the prequel isn't absolutely necessary). Silver writes a cohesive series that is essentially a paranormal murder mystery spanning three books, but not enough exposition is provided at the beginning of each to sufficiently clue in new/unfamiliar readers to the breadth and scope of the world, plot, and characters.

The Otherkin Series:

        Prequel                                            Book 1         Book 2                                           Book 3

Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance
Series: The Otherkin, Book 2
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Length: 368 Pages
Formats: Paperback, Kindle


Sinfully Delicious
Lokan Krayl, soul reaper and youngest son of Underworld god Sutekh, has been murdered. His death has rocked his brothers, incensed them, infuriated them...confused them. Lokan, like his brothers, are demigods. It isn't supposed to be possible for them to be killed.

His death has changed...everything.

Alastor, second son of Sutekh, is of one mind with his remaining brothers. Find Lokan's remains. Locate his Ka - his soul. Bring. Him. Back. Oh yeah...and find the person or persons responsible for this travesty and make them pay in ways not even Sutuekh himself could dream. Screaming and bleeding and dying in agony not optional.

They've followed every lead they've found, discovered alleged conspiracies, uncovered a traitor, and while some of the information that has come to them is shocking, they haven't found what they need to find, and for Lokan, time is running out. That could be why Alastor is less than thrilled when he tracks his latest lead to a cemetery in the middle of nowhere just in time to see a surly Naphré Kurata burying the man.

Naphré wasn't having a good night. Her mentor, the man who trained her to be the assassin she is, admitted to accepting a hit on her and she was forced to kill him when he carried through with the attempt. Disregarding the pain of that betrayal and loss - sometimes life was just that ugly - the fact remains that Naphré has no idea who wants her dead, or why. The badness doesn't come close to ending there, either. No, she's left with the unsavory task of disposing of the body, and no sooner does she get it buried than a soul reaper shows himself and makes her uncover it so he can get at the soul.

The reaper may be hot as sin in his thousand dollar suit, and definitely acts all mightier than thou about getting his own hands dirty, but Naphré has had just about enough of being everyone's bitch and doesn't hesitate to let Alastor know that she's not without her own set of claws, regardless of how ineffective they are against him. She's a former Daughter of Aset and a soul-pledged assassin in her own right and no amount of sexy is going to push her around.

Even with his grim task, Naphré's fiery nature turns his head, and Alastor has a hard time shaking off their arousing confrontation. When he returns the soul of the man who may know something about his brother's death to his father, though, Alastor gets the third largest shock of his very long life. The soul is forfeit and its information unattainable...unless he brings Naphré to the Underworld goddess who has claim on it.

Something very peculiar is going on in Underworld, and the shifting tides of betrayal and murder are making the ground beneath his feet feel like quicksand. Still, nothing is more important to Alastor than his brother. He'll do anything, pay any price, to get him back - even if he has to use the one woman in centuries who stirs a heart he thought doomed to solitude.

I have to be honest here, I'm not entirely sure why I love this series as much as I do. That's horrible for a reviewer to say, isn't it? Especially one who's never at a loss for explaining in often excruciating detail just what she likes/dislikes/loathes about a book and why. Be that as it may, this series works for me in ways that other more widely popular series don't, and though I know what I like about it, I still can't figure out why that makes the series as a whole so appealing.

There's no doubt that the world is highly creative and original, and I thoroughly enjoy the backstory of the characters and the mythos created for the brothers' existence and purpose. Still, the narrative is often repetitive (admittedly, less so in this book than in the previous one), as Silver has a habit of reiterating information and themes throughout the books as if to emphasize the significance of key points. That tends to annoy me; I'm a reasonably intelligent reader who is capable of remembering information from one page to the next.

I have issues with the series plot arc, too. It's been very convoluted since the beginning and heavily burdened by the myriad of characters that seem to have a vested interest in Lokan's death, all their conflicting agendas, and all the whispers of conspiracy. I wasn't thrilled with the lack of progression of the arc in this book, either. Too many new questions and shady connections were introduced, far too few answers or information revealed. The focus on Naphré's storyline and her dubious past further blurred the lines of the investigation for me instead of clarifying it, and for an arc that was written as a trilogy, having the second book end with so few answers was a bit disappointing.

None of that sounds like it would warrant a four-and-a-half star rating from me, does it? I know. Those aren't small issues. And yet, despite them, I loved this book and I love this series.

Silver's strong, intelligent, kick-ass female lead characters totally work for me in every single facet. I loved Roxy in the first book, but Naphré is even better. I adore that she is an assassin - there just aren't enough female protagonists that are killers-for-hire in this day and age. These books definitely trend more towards the dark and sexual end of the urban fantasy romance/paranormal romance spectrum, and I dig that because that's where you find these sorts of gray-area heroines that I find so appealing. She's not a total badass, though. Naphré definitely has her own quirks and peccadilloes. The hand sanitizer alone made her easy to relate to - it humanized her.

And pair a completely appealing heroine up with a delicious alpha male like Alastor, toss a few soft spots or quirks into his character (age-old trauma works nicely...so does a penchant for English toffee - and don't even get me started on the yummy accent), making you want to both ravish him and comfort his physical and emotional wounds, then add a healthy dose of witty, humorous banter (especially tongue-in-cheek...I'm a sucker for tongue-in-cheek humor) and you've pushed just about every one of my happy-reader buttons. I can forgive a fair amount of technical and/or story issues if two eminently likable characters have chemistry that is smokin' hot, emotionally powerful, and in charge of the story. As it was in this book. It also helped that the romance arc between Alastor and Naphré was far more thoroughly and satisfactorily developed than the one between Roxy and Dagan in the first book.

Maybe I've been wrong about myself all these years. I've always thought I was a carefully objective reviewer who weighed every facet of a book before putting forth a judiciously chosen rating that accurately reflects not only what I felt about a book in its entirety, but what I thought about it as well. But maybe that's not the case, after all.

Maybe I'm just a total 'ho for the romance.

Quotable:

She was competent. Strong. Intriguing—
She pressed her lips together, closed her eyes and inhaled sharply.
—and possibly about to hurl.
He took one giant step to the left. Just in case.

The Otherkin Series:

Prequel

Book 1

Book 2

Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance
Series: The Otherkin, Book 1
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Length: 384 Pages
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle


Roxy Tam was nineteen...and a half...when she saw him for the first time. She was bruised, cut, and tied up, tossed onto a moldy mattress in a rank room that had seen the worst of humanity and was going to see more. She had been taken by a monster. But there are those who hunt the hunters, not for the righteousness of it, but to harvest the blackest souls to feed their voracious master. Or in Dagan Krayl's case, his voracious father.

He is a soul reaper. Eldest son of Sutekh. A hunter. A killer. But tonight is not Roxy Tam's night to die.

For the eleven years since he freed her and left her, she's loathed him, burned for him, dreamed of him. She is now a Daughter of Aset, enemy of his kind, and she's on a mission cloaked in secrecy following the rumored death of one of Sutekh's sons. Roxy only hoped - silently - that it wasn't Dagan. She knew it was possible her sisters had something to do with it, and that could mean war. She needed answers to tough questions and she needed them fast. If the path to those questions leads her to death's door, so be it. She had a bone or two to pick with him, anyway.

He'd let her go and given her money all those years ago so she would have a better life, a more normal life than what he'd sensed she was destined for before she was almost a victim of a rapist and murderer. In the interim, she haunted his dreams - dreams his kind weren't supposed to have. He thought of her when he allowed himself to do so, and yearned for her when he couldn't help himself. When the trail to his brother's killer points to a serial killer wearing the necklace he remembered around Roxy's neck, Dagan realizes his wishes for her may have been in vain. Finding out if Roxy is even alive becomes just as important to him as finding his brother's murderer.

And he knows how wrong that is.

They aren't friends, they've never been lovers, and their respective kinds are mortal enemies, yet if Dagan and Roxy can't find common ground and stop a killer, the Underworld will descend into war and the human race will be nothing but fodder.

Have you ever picked up a book that everyone in the world seems to love, or a book you've been anxiously waiting to be released, and when you're done reading it you're disappointed - not so much because the story wasn't good, but because you expected to be wowed and wasn't? I hate that. Unmet expectation is a bitch.

But there's a flip side.

Sometimes you pick up a book and start reading with no strong expectations at all. There aren't any preconceptions, no anticipation of greatness - heck, you may not even know how well it's rated by other readers. You just sit back to read, unburdened by the weight of obligation to feel favorably about it, and find yourself swept away by pure reading enjoyment.

Maybe part of the impact of the story is the very lack of expectation. That's fair, I suppose. Doesn't alter the pleasure in the read. And Eve Silver's Sins of the Heart gave me tons of reading pleasure.

On a critical level, it wasn't a perfect read for me. The introduction of the series arc was odd, especially as the groundwork was being laid at the beginning, with some abrupt and disjointed leaps that made the timeline choppy. There was also a lot of repetition in the narrative, most notably in the first half of the book, and points that were mentioned again and again as if Silver doubted readers could keep details in their heads for more than a few pages at a time. And by the end of the book there were still a lot of questions that remained unanswered - to the point that this book almost failed to be completely self-contained or feel finished.

Fans more fond of romance arcs than the external conflicts found in urban fantasy or epic fantasy may be disappointed in the romance in this book, though readers disenfranchised by the formulaic nature of the genre might love it. I did. In my opinion, Silver had two characters defined by a less-is-more lifestyle and philosophy and that's exactly how their romance developed.

There were, in fact, so many aspects of the story that satisfied me that even with the critical issues, I liked this book very much. Roxy and Dagan were great lead characters. They had amazing chemistry together and were likable, though the series setup and world defining hampered character development and limited their depth as individuals. The world building and created mythos were unique, original, and fresh. I loved the concept of the soul reapers, the Egyptian mythology (I'm so tired of the Greek pantheon I could scream), and the way the Underworld was defined. All those building blocks fit really well together to form the foundation for a plot that really impressed me.

The mystery elements were handled with aplomb, clues and shadowy connections uncovered at a deliciously slow and steady pace. I loved the plot twists. Silver seems to have an inherent ability to divulge information in such a way as it answers some questions and asks more, teasing readers, keeping them guessing and on the edge of their seat to find out what happens next. I was so wrapped up in the pieces of the puzzle, so invested in the characters' struggle with their own issues and the complications of a relationship that what criticisms I had hardly made a dent.

All in all, the lack of a more traditional romantic plotline, one that left a lot of questions unanswered, worked for me - but only because it fit with these two characters. The series plot arc has me hooked. I enjoyed the world and the mythos. Sure, it's possible I enjoyed this book so much because I hadn't been expecting a lot from it, but regardless, I had a great time with this one and look forward to seeing where the series goes next.

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: The Otherkin, Book 0.5 (Prequel)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Length: 1071 Locations
Formats: Kindle


Fifty years ago an act of betrayal led to the death of the only man Amber Hale ever allowed herself to love. Now she's on the run - again...still...always - and letting her guard down for just a blink of time almost seals her fate when the Hunters break into her apartment. She doesn't know why she's being hunted. For all that her mother instilled the deep fear of the Hunters long ago, Amber has never known why. She only knows she's been running her whole life...all one hundred or so years of it. She also doesn't know why she stopped aging when she was in her twenties, or why no matter the damage done to her, she can't be killed. A century of questions. No answers. Just endless running.

Until the night the Hunters broke in brandishing guns. She took out two of them, but there are more. As she maneuvers around to get a look at the rest of her small apartment, she's startled by the actions of one of the Hunters. He strides in and viciously attacks the other one. When he turns his head, Amber's ever-beating heart nearly stops. The man who she just watched slam a fist into the chest of a Hunter and rip out his heart...is Kai Warin. A man who was shot to death fifty years ago. The man she loved.

Eve Silver introduces readers to her Otherkin world with this action-packed prequel novella. While it's short on world-building, there's enough there to give you an idea of soul reapers and their backstory, and the smooth narrative and realistic dialogue shows off Silver's writing style and ability. The story arc was a bit condensed by necessity of length, but it still managed to be a satisfying read.

I was particularly pleased with how the romance was dealt with. I'm finicky about novellas that feature romances. Pushing characters together too quickly doesn't work for me. With the fifty year history between Amber and Kai, that issue was avoided and the relationship had a much more natural feel.

The ending of Sin's Daughter was abrupt, though, I have to admit. I wouldn't expect some long, drawn out ending for a novella, but in this case it was exceedingly short and choppy, and a bit anticlimactic on top of it. Most notably, it didn't come close to matching the intensity of the preceding action, and that was an issue that isn't impacted by the length of the novella. I also had one other slightly silly issue, but one I thought of often while reading. Amber is a century old, Kai would've been born sometime in the forties. Even if Amber wasn't born with the name "Amber" it's the one she used fifty years ago when she was with Kai and the one she's still using. Neither name seemed to fit with the time in which they were born and/or lived. They seemed far too modern. I feel almost ridiculous mentioning it, but for some reason, it was very jarring to me throughout the novella.

For a teaser, though, and a glimpse into the world of a series, it's a good effort. I was previously unfamiliar with Eve Silver's books, but based on what I read in Sin's Daughter, I'll be checking out the Otherkin Trilogy, starting with Sins of the Heart. I'm looking forward to seeing how Silver expands a plot into a full length novel.