Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
Rate: 4 out of 5 stars
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I couldn’t say that the plot of this book struck me as a particularly unique one… but it still drew my attention when I read the blurb and decided to sign up for the blog tour.
I found Lila to be a really intriguing character. Although I’m not keen on flashbacks used in the middle of a chapter (I find that they’re clunky and detract from the main storyline), I felt it worked quite well to learn bits and pieces of Lila’s past as the book went on.
I would have liked to see more of the magical creatures in the world contained within this book. Although I did get to learn about the Talents the ‘human’ characters had, I didn’t feel like I got much of a background as to how the Talents formed in the characters… or the history of the different abilities.
I thought that Lila’s ability of sight was particularly interesting… and her second power was actually pretty cool, since there was an obvious effort to balance it out and make it less powerful than it came across as.
The powers would have been pretty good… but I felt the soulsight power really ruined that. Although I didn’t get a sense of insta!love on Lila’s part for Devon (she was clearly attracted to him, but there was no sense of undying love… and I’m fairly certain that, when confronted with someone a person finds attractive, there’s going to be attraction there, whether or not it’s acted upon), I did feel that a lot of the potential for Lila and Devon to get to know each other was lost because the soulsight just… lumped everything in there. And I didn’t feel Devon fought when he could have done in the first fight scene, which was at odds to what his personality and skills were supposed to be.
I liked the use of the pixies and I particularly found myself growing fond of Oscar. It was interesting to see the different types of families and what each of them was like, as well as seeing them playing politics.
I did find Deah to be an interesting character and one I would have liked to see more of, despite what her original appearance suggested.
I think I would read the sequel to this book in the future. Despite the issues mentioned above, this book was entertaining and I liked Lila as a character. I would also be interested in reading more about the other characters in the future, too.
Bad things always come in threes.
Three strikes. Those three bears that Goldilocks ran into.
The three guards with swords who were chasing me right now.
“Come back here, you thief!” one of the guards bellowed, his voice booming across the dark rooftops.
I grinned and ran faster.
Thirty minutes ago, I had let myself into the lavishly furnished, but poorly protected brownstone of a rich, Family-affiliated accountant who had bought a ruby necklace for his girlfriend—something his wife didn’t exactly appreciate.
So I had been dispatched to swipe said necklace on the angry wife’s orders and dime. It had been child’s play to climb up the drainpipe to the second floor of the brownstone, pick open a balcony door, and slip inside. I hadn’t even had to break into the office safe, since the necklace had been nestled in a black velvet box, the top open, sitting on the accountant’s desk, the rubies sparkling for my greedy eyes to see. So I’d closed the lid and tucked the box with its necklace into my long, sapphire-blue trench coat.
Then I had rifled through the rest of the desk to see what else I could steal.
I’d been mildly surprised and rather pleased to come across a pair of diamond cufflinks tucked away in another box in one of the drawers. The diamonds weren’t as large and impressive as the rubies, but into my pockets they’d gone all the same, along with a gold fountain pen, a sterling silver letter opener, and a crystal paperweight.
Nothing that I hadn’t swiped dozens of times before in my seventeen years. In fact, this job had been easier than most of the ones that Mo had sent me on recently.
You might say that I was a sort of modern-day Robin Hood, merrily stealing from the rich. Only I never, ever gave my loot away for free. There were only three people in this world that I cared about—me, myself, and I. Well, maybe four, if you caught me on a good day and I felt like including Mo. Either way, Mo could fend for himself, and mine was quite enough of a mouth to feed, as far as I was concerned.
Once I made sure that all of the loot was securely tucked away in my coat pockets, I scanned the rest of the office. But the vases and other knickknacks were too awkward and oddly shaped for me to carry away, and the furniture was far too large and heavy.
Satisfied with my haul, I decided to leave. Which, of course, was the exact moment that one of the guards had stepped into the room to fetch the necklace for his boss.
He had yelled for his two buddies, they’d come crashing into the office, swords drawn, and I had beat a hasty retreat through a side door, up some stairs, and out onto the top of the brownstone before leaping onto the roof of the next house over … and the one after that … and the one after that …
Now, here I was, five minutes later, still racing across the rooftops of some of the nicer brownstones in Cloudburst Falls, West Virginia. The guards had been harder to shake than I’d expected, but I had a plan to take care of that.
I always had a plan.
Jennifer Estep is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance.
Her Elemental Assassin series follows the life and times of Gin “the Spider” Blanco, a barbecue restaurant owner who also happens to be an assassin with magical control over the elements of Ice and Stone.
The Mythos Academy series focuses on Gwen Frost, a 17-year-old Gypsy girl who has the ability to know an object’s history just by touching it. She studies at Mythos Academy, a school for the descendants of ancient warriors.
Her Bigtime paranormal romance books feature sexy superheroes, evil ubervillains, and smart, sassy gals looking for love.
Estep’s new Black Blade series is about 17-year-old thief Lila Merriweather, who has a Talent for sight, along with the ability to take magic others used against her to boost her own powers. She tries not to get involved with the Families who control much of the town, but ends up in the middle of a potential turf war.
Excerpts, free short stories, and more information on Jennifer’s books can be found at http://www.jenniferestep.com.
Ink of Blood 
Nice review!
Thanks!