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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Unclean Spirits by M.L.N. Hanover (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"In a world where magic walks and demons ride, you can't always play by the rules.

Jayné Heller thinks of herself as a realist, until she discovers reality isn't quite what she thought it was. When her uncle Eric is murdered, Jayné travels to Denver to settle his estate, only to learn that it's all hers -- and vaster than she ever imagined. And along with properties across the world and an inexhaustible fortune, Eric left her a legacy of a different kind: his unfinished business with a cabal of wizards known as the Invisible College."

My Thoughts:

Unclean Spirits was a satisfactory beginning to this urban fantasy series with a unique and entertaining world. And although I thought that this book was a solid read, I did have a few issues with it. Let's start off with the positive first and what I enjoyed. The storyline and world building in this book were very unique which was one of the best things about this book. The author created an unusual world where vampires and demons used human bodies to live and were called "riders". Jayne is kinda thrown into this world which makes it interesting as we get to learn about the world (and all of these supernatural things) right along with her. She gets caught up in the struggle against the riders and their leader after her beloved uncle dies.

Jayne was an interesting main character. She came across as very realistic as she struggled to come to terms with all of the changes in her life. And unfortunately she doesn't really have anyone that can give her all of the answers even though she does develop a group of allies that she works with. I really liked the different characters that made up Jayne's inner group. They were all unique and with their own stories...I hope that we get to continue to learn more about them in future books. And although I liked Jayne's character, I struggled with her indecisiveness at times as well as her lack of confidence in herself. There were times that I just wanted her to be more assertive and ready for whatever was going to thrown at her next. This could just be my preference when it comes to female urban fantasy heroines...I fully admit it. But her character did affect my enjoyment of the book at certain points. That being said, I am eager to continue on with the series. I feel like the ending of the book helped to show a stronger, more confident side to Jayne, and I'm hopeful that it will carry on as the books progress. Plus, I'm curious to see what will happen next!

Overall, this wasn't my favorite beginning to an urban fantasy series but I did enjoy it. I really enjoyed the world that the author created as it was nice and dark while still being original. I will definitely be picking up book two in this series. Recommended.

Bottom Line: An enjoyable read but with a few flaws.

Disclosure: Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book. My thoughts are my own :)

12 comments:

  1. Really good, fair review, Sam. I prefer female protagonists who are strong and decisive, too. After all, we have to continually buck the stereotypes of girls and women. :)

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    1. Thanks Suko! I'm hoping that in the 2nd book that she will come into her own more. I've got my fingers crossed :)

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  2. Sounds, well I do not know. I am curious and also worried that I would not give it another go

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    1. Yeah, it was kind of a middle of the road read for me. I'm hoping that the series gets better by the 2nd book but we will see...

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  3. Nice honest review Sam. It sounds like this had both good and bad points. I do like heroines to be strong and self reliant in this type of read as well. I've read a handful of urban fantasy.

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    1. It really did have both good and bad points. Reviews like this are the hardest to write for me because I didn't hate it (and don't want my review to come across that way) but didn't love it either.

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  4. I too like stronger female heroines. I always like the ones who are really lippy as well. This sounds pretty good despite the few issues you had.

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    1. LOL! I have a tendency to like the sassy ones as well :)

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  5. I'm glad that you want to continue on with this series and told us about the things that didn't work so well for you. You have so many great books in this genre that I'm having a hard time deciding which of them to pick for my best of book blogging buddies reads!!

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    1. This wouldn't be the one that I would pick for you Staci! Personally, I think you should read Soulless by Gail Carriger. Or Feed by Mira Grant. Those are two books that I would choose for you :)

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  6. ok..i want it ..i read your review and i have to read it. the first book in an urban series can be rough..the second one usually decides it for me..so i will get this

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    1. The second book usually decides it for me as well which is why I am more than willing to continue on with this series :)

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