Rating (Out of 5): ~4.5
Genre: YA/NA Supernatural Romance
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Publish Date: September, 2012
Spoilers?: No.
With
the defeat of the evil Douglas behind him, Sam LaCroix is getting used
to his new life. Okay, so he hadn’t exactly planned on being a powerful
necromancer with a seat on the local magical council and a capricious
werewolf sort-of-girlfriend, but things are going fine, right?
Well
. . . not really. He’s pretty tired of getting beat up by everyone and
their mother, for one thing, and he can’t help but feel that his new
house hates him. His best friend is a werebear, someone is threatening
his sister, and while Sam realizes that he himself has a lot of power at
his fingertips, he’s not exactly sure how to use it. Which, he has to admit, is a bit disconcerting.
But
when everything starts falling apart, he decides it’s time to step up
and take control. His attempts to do so just bring up more questions,
though, the most important of which is more than a little alarming: Is
Douglas really dead?
Something Specific:
Love:
- Hailey and James. Ship it all the way. More
below.
- The gnomes and other creatures—they are all
fantastic.
- Ramon. Brid. Sam. James. Not in that order.
Quotes:
- "'Someone died today,’
I said. ‘That should be mourned. And respected.’ […] ‘My sorrow it for those he
leaves behind and what he could have been.’” (Hardback, pg. 314) I like the thought that, no matter the person, when they die, someone deserves mourning, whether it's them or the people who cared for them.
The Cover:
I like these covers. The first one on the first book I think I prefered the style of, but I still really like this one. It fits, it looks good, it works for the book really well: the style and the actual image. Although I don't think that the wolf particularly needs to be on this book, it still works. I like it.
Review:
This book was so
good. Even better than the first one, I think. I can’t believe it took me so
long to finally read it. (Also, at first, I was worried about my memory being
so fuzzy when it came to the first book, but that wasn’t really a problem.
Particularly because of the fact that McBride seems to know what she’s doing
with the whole recap thing. Most of it was in the first chapter, and it was
done very well—giving a good idea of what happened in the first book, along
with a lot of humorous comments from Sam.)
I love the
characters, all of them. I love Sam, the necromancer; he’s a rather average guy
in personality, he’s sarcastic, he’s new to all this supernatural stuff but
he’s handling it rather well. He’s fun, and I like being inside his head. I
love all of his friends. Ramon, his best friend and newly been made were-bear,
is awesome. He works just so well with Sam, and he’s just so sweet and funny
and great. I love Brid; she’s strong and smart, and handles things under
pressure, and while she does something not smart in this book, she has her
reasons for it. Frank I didn’t remember very much, nor do I have a good handle
on who he is, but I liked his part in the book, particularly when he got the
job of taking care of the creatures that live on the land and making sure
they’re happy. The werewolf pack was fun, and I liked the little insights given
about them, particularly Brid’s brothers, and even more so Sean. I like Sam’s
family and his relationships with them.
I love the romance
between Sam and Brid; they are just so sweet and adorable and fun together. I
wouldn’t mind more time between them, really. And I’m not very happy with what
happened between them in this book; but I don’t want to spoil too much. Part of
me wasn’t hit as hard as I probably should have been, just because I didn’t
really believe it would last, but it seriously sucks. I liked how everyone
around them bothered them about it, though. And I really want there to be
another book now so I can read what
happens between them soon.
Next, is Hailey and
James. As individuals, I rather like both of them. Hailey, Sam’s little sister,
is fun, and very much a character I enjoy. And James is just fantastic and I
love him, he’s such a show stealer. He used to work for Douglas, but is now
stuck with Sam, and he’s very conflicted with his feelings, and I felt so bad
and understood it and wanted to hug him. I love what happened to him at the
end, it was… so fantastic. Now, the Hailey and James part. There are very big
hints to those things happening, and I am a huge fan of that. I ship them. I
ship them completely. By the end of the book, they even had more of my
fangirling attention than Sam and Brid did (by a small but still
noticeable amount).
Now the
Douglas/actual serious plot of the book. That was done very well and was very
exciting, and I really like how it all concluded. Plus there was a lot of
personal growth for Sam, what with getting used to his powers, taking control
of his new house (which, ohmygod, the gnomes are amazing and ohmygod I love
them and I want more, ahhhh), everything that happened with Brid and even with
Ramon, and then his taking position in the Council and standing up for himself
about it.
Every bit of it was just so good. I loved it, and I
want more. I believe McBride is writing a related series next, but that she
plans to continue this one later, and I cannot
wait. I’m very excited for her other series, though, as it sounds good, and
I really just think I love her writing and characters and everything. She’s
definitely an author that has moved onto my watch list.
. 
