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!