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Saturday 11 December 2010

Review: EMBERS

Embers by Laura Bickle

Genre: urban fantasy

About Embers:
Anya Kalinczyk book 1
Unemployment, despair, anger--visible and invisible unrest feed the undercurrent of Detroit's unease. A city increasingly invaded by phantoms now faces a malevolent force that further stokes fear and chaos throughout the city.

Anya Kalinczyk spends her days as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department, and her nights pursuing malicious spirits with a team of eccentric ghost hunters. Anya--who is the rarest type of psychic medium, a Lantern--suspects a supernatural arsonist is setting blazes to summon a fiery ancient entity that will leave the city in cinders. By Devil's Night, the spell will be complete, unless Anya--with the help of her salamander familiar and the paranormal investigating team --can stop it.

Anya's accustomed to danger and believes herself inured to loneliness and loss. But this time she's risking everything: her city, her soul, and a man who sees and accepts her for everything she is. Keeping all three safe will be the biggest challenge she's ever faced.
Source: Info in the About Embers was taken from the author's website at http://www.laurabickle.com/index_files/novels.htm on 10/11/2010.

My Thoughts:
I looked forward to this book because I liked the premise. But somehow it fell just short of my expectations. It is still a very good book. It was just that maybe I was expecting a bit more than what I got. My expectations was just a bit too much and I got a little disappointed. This was the main reason why this book did not get a 5 out of 5...
What I liked about the book: I liked the way the story was told. The author has a very nice "voice" indeed, to keep my interest engaged. She has a very good way of making the characters come to life like Sparky. I like that Sparky is sentient enough to have free will and that he gets naughty sometimes ;)

What I don't like about this book: The main protagonist is portrayed as a kick-ass chick. But for a kick-ass chick she does get stupid sometimes. I get exasperated when she does not acknowledge her limitations which could most likely get her and everyone else in trouble. But this I could easily forgive for the wonderful reading experience I get out of this book. The story ended with a bang and a happy-ever-after but was just a shade this side of predictable.

Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 3.5
Ending = 3.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = 4

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


I would like to thank Juno Books for the free eARC of this book received! I would also like to thank Simon & Schuster for the paperback review copy recieved! And thank you also to disney for hosting a contest which made it possible for me to get my hands on a copy of this book from the winnings!

8 comments:

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

I have this on my tbr. I am a bit worried now because like you I'm not fond of a kick-ass girl getting stupid. But 4/5 still looks good. Thanks for the review!

Blodeuedd said...

I'd like to read this book cos of the salamander, he sounds so cute :D

Tales of Whimsy said...

Awesome review. I like when you break down what works and what didn't.

Julie said...

I like your honest review. I agree with Juju. I like that you break it down. The story sounds interesting, especially being set within the Detroit Fire Department.

Kelly aka yllektra(I Work For Books) said...

Thanks for the review.
This book (series) seems pretty original and I love the covers, too!!

I think I'd enjoy this a lot! :)

Unknown said...

Nice review!! I think you'll enjoy Sparks more, I know I did =)))

xoxo

Laura Bickle said...

Thanks so much for taking the time to read and review EMBERS! I'm excited that you enjoyed it, and appreciate that you gave it a try. :-)

Demitria said...

New follower...

demitrialunetta.blogspot.com

Thanks for the info...think I'll check it out.

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