Tagged: werewolves
The Taking by Terra Harmony
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Eighteen-year-old Serena now reigns as queen of both the Undine of The Deep and the wolves of The Dry. The alliance between her maidens and the werewolves is shaky when all at once the basic necessities of food and shelter are taken away and both their worlds fall apart. After decades of war, the two societies must work together if they want to survive what lies ahead. A promised land is theirs for the taking, but first, they must survive each other.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received an ebook copy of the whole trilogy on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
The Taking picks up almost exactly where the second book, The Betrayed ends: with Serena deciding to move her entire civilization to a more hospitable environment. And since she’s now officially Queen of the Werewolves after Alaric’s death and the werewolves are back on the side of the Undine, that means they’re moving too. Moving two species who have been at war for almost two decades isn’t exactly going to be easy and Serena has no illusions. But ever since the werewolves were given an eviction notice from the protected park land, they really have no choice but to move with the Undine to a place where no one in the government will take notice of them or otherwise bother them. Lo and behold, they find a place up in the Arctic where it isn’t as polluted! But how does one get from around Vancouver Island to the Arctic on ships without having to land and go through customs?
The answer is to join up with the annual boat race, but that puts the move on an extremely tight schedule. Serena and the Undine must pack up the remnants of their civilization, transform into human form and keep that human form for almost three weeks. As we saw in previous books, the Undine tend to dry out when out of water for more than a day and it gets extremely painful after that. Not only that, the werewolves will have to learn to work with their former enemies and tensions are still high after Alaric’s death. Hmm…put two different species who have hated each other for two decades together on a cramped space for three weeks and see what happens. But as Serena makes clear to everyone, they have absolutely no choice. Still, some Undine choose to stay behind because they’re old and set in their ways. The move will decrease the pressure on the ecosystem because fewer Undine will be eating the sea life but the acidity of the ocean will eventually kill anyone who stays behind. Still, as Kai and Liam tell Serena, it’s not her decision.
Serena is now a mature young woman. She’s still struggling with being Queen at the age of only 18 but she’s really coming into her own. Now that she has political clout she’s finally free to ditch Murphy and mate with Kai, who is patient with her and doesn’t want her to do anything she isn’t comfortable with. Murphy takes the whole thing in stride because it means he can be with who he truly wants to without pretending to love a much younger woman. Amidst the uprooting of almost their entire kingdom, most of Serena’s subjects can’t be bothered and Serena has the confidence to do what she thinks is right. Still, things aren’t going to be easy sailing both literally and metaphorically because of the aforementioned former enemies being forced to live in cramped quarters together for almost a month. There are lots of bumps on the road to a new start.
The plot is of course interesting because by this point I was very invested in the characters. It was also quite a bit more fast-paced than the previous two books because of the time-crunch nature of the Undine/werewolf move. At the same time, the ending almost felt a little too rushed. It was exciting and thrilling but I really missed out on the little details of how everyone was going to survive and adjust up in the Arctic. The journey to their Arctic haven in the end was very rushed. I wish Terra Harmony had slowed things down just a little bit; enough to maintain the excitement without sacrificing her descriptive writing.
Still, The Taking was an enjoyable conclusion to what has been a good trilogy. If you haven’t started the trilogy I’d definitely recommend downloading the first book for free and giving it a try. And if you’ve stuck with the trilogy thus far you’ll enjoy the ending. I know I did.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
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The Betrayed by Terra Harmony
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Two separate worlds; the Undine of the Deep and the Wolves of the Dry. A history muddled in war but thick with family bonds blur the lines of right and wrong. The youngest members of each race unite, trying to steer their people away from the brink of disaster. Serena and Liam must work together to resolve the problems of their people before the pressure tears these twin siblings apart. But the betrayed are angry, and are out for revenge.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received an ebook copy of the whole trilogy on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
With that doozy of a cliffhanger at the end of The Rising, I just had to read The Betrayed almost immediately after. I mean, finding out that not only the King is Serena’s father but that he sacrificed himself to save her and the Undine? That’s a pretty steep cliffhanger to end the first book in a trilogy on. It didn’t make the first book unsatisfying, though. It just made me want to read the second book as soon as possible!
So now Serena is Queen and the problems that were her father’s are now her own. Not only is the ocean not getting any less acidic where the Undine are situated, the werewolves are still a huge problem after the mini-war that broke out at the end of the last book. Werewolves were killed and Undine were killed; in the end it brought everyone no closer to a peace deal. Serena’s father’s sacrifice should have ended the war between werewolves and Undine but Alaric (the leader of the werewolves) is still demanding that the Undine hold to the king’s bargain and surrender Serena for him to experiment on. That’s obviously not going to happen now that she’s Queen, but Serena has more than herself to think of: only one of the women who were able to mate in the last book has been able to conceive and now the werewolves are blockading the beach again. Cordelia, the woman in question, now has nowhere to give birth to her child and that’s a major problem for a child who might be the new hope for the entire Undine species.
Serena really is going through a lot. First she learns that her father isn’t dead and is in fact the king and then he dies to save her and his people. She loves one of his guardsmen, Kai, but has to pretend to be mated to Murphy, the Captain of the Guard for political reasons so that the older generation will accept her. On top of all that, the supply of food for the Undine is dying out with the rising acidity of the ocean where they live. Things really aren’t looking good for Serena but I was really impressed with her character. She truly does rise to the challenge, even if things start out a little bumpy. Of course she makes mistakes and isn’t the best politician yet but she’s only 18. I shudder to think of most 18-year-olds (or 80-year-olds for that matter) trying to tackle all of those problems at once. And some of the solutions Serena comes up with aren’t popular; still, she sticks to them.
The plot in The Betrayed is a lot more fast-paced than the previous book and some of the plot twists are far less predictable. There was a lot of intrapersonal conflict on Serena’s part because of all the pressure placed on her but it was interesting since I’ve come to care about her character, particularly in this second book. She has a tough job and she’s doing the best she can, especially since she was never raised as royalty and never even suspected that the king was her father and she was the rightful heir to the Kingdom of the Undine. Yes, there’s also a little romantic intrigue because of Serena’s inability to express her love for Kai in the open but that’s sort of a background to the still-simmering tensions between werewolves and the Undine. The way Serena resolves the conflict is brilliant, if a little messy and while the book ends on another cliffhanger it’s nowhere near as dramatic as the cliffhanger of the first book.
If you enjoyed The Rising I think you’ll enjoy The Betrayed just as much, if not more. It’s a great second book that doesn’t really drag on and on because of how Terra Harmony makes you care about her characters. You really do worry about what happens to them and Serena is a very memorable character in her own right. Basically, if you read and enjoyed the first book you need to pick up this second book. You won’t regret it and you’ll be just as eager as I am for the third and final book.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
The Rising by Terra Harmony
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Seventeen-year-old Serena is the youngest member of a dying race. The increasing acidity of the ocean is destroying her home, slowly eating away at the once thriving underwater landscape. But since the night of Serena’s birth, it is an outside force that most threatens their dwindling population. Werewolves, who once served as protectors for mermaids in the Kingdom of the Undine, now seek to eliminate all who dwell in the ocean — and Serena is about to find herself right in the middle of the deadly conflict.
Given the title of Werewolf Liaison, Serena is determined to make things right for her people. When she ventures to The Dry, she meets Liam, the werewolf with hazel eyes, and her whole world gets turned upside down. As Serena discovers the real history between werewolves and mermaids, she is left wondering who her true enemies are.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received an ebook copy of the whole trilogy on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I had read one of Terra Harmony’s books previously and thought it good, if a little preachy. I was a little iffy about trying another book by her not because of the preachy factor but simply because I was still not quite sure how I felt about some of the scenes in the book I read, Water. They were a little graphic, although justified within the narrative, but I was still a little wary. But I still decided to try requesting the full Painted Maidens trilogy because it sounded good.
The world Terra Harmony has created in the trilogy is just amazing. The main character Serena is a mermaid, although they call themselves the Undine. She’s the youngest member of her dying race, which has been unable to reproduce because their land guardians the werewolves rose up in revolt against them and massacred dozens of mating couples and labouring mothers on the beach 17 years ago, including Serena’s mother and the King’s wife and children. You see, the Undine do swim like mermaids but for normal functions like going to court, sleeping and learning they remain on land in the various cave systems near the island where they live. It’s actually kind of fascinating to read the little details of Undine transformation because it’s not as straightforward as cartoons and other books would have you think. (Which does actually make a lot of sense.)
Anyway, Serena is a fascinating character. She was orphaned by the Full Moon Massacre 17 years ago and lives in a sort of communal nursery with other Undine around her age, although most of them are 18 at this point. They’re indulged by society simply because they’re the last hope of the species but even among the last class there are hierarchies and old family rivalries. Serena is most definitely at the bottom of the ladder until the day jobs are chosen for the young Undine and she’s appointed the King’s own Werewolf Liaison, tasked with bringing peace between two species that have been warring for almost two decades. She was given the job in part because she’s always sneaking up to The Dry but also because of the hidden motivations of those in power. I don’t want to give too much away but let’s just say there’s a very special reason for her appointment.
Serena is a fascinating character. She’s more scientifically oriented and intellectually curious than many of her classmates but at the same time she really does lack some basic social skills. Really, she’s the epitome of the awkward teenager and instead of being cutesy-awkward she’s often genuinely awkward as she tries to navigate the pitfalls of friendships and relationships with Undine males. The fact that Undine society still has some ridiculous gender stereotyping and gender roles doesn’t exactly help the whole situation. But when she’s named Werewolf Liaison Serena really comes into her own. She matures and improves on her natural resourcefulness in an attempt to bring an end to the conflict that killed her parents. And she discovers some terrifying secrets that society has kept from her and her classmates.
Some of the plot twists were predictable but I really do give Terra Harmony credit for keeping the story interesting and fast-paced despite that. There isn’t a lot of action in the beginning but there’s a lot of interpersonal drama and tension. It’s also a good thing that the action is put off until later because getting used to Undine society isn’t something that happens in just a few pages. It’s so alien and different from our own that it really does take getting used to. Undine society is far from perfect but you really do gain a certain appreciation for it and for its people who are just trying to ensure their species survives.
Basically, if the blurb or my review has got you interested, I’d say go for it! The Rising is a great start to the Painted Maidens trilogy. Plus, this first book is free on both Kindle and Nook!
I give this book 4/5 stars.
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Cameron’s Law by Mia Darien
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Vampires are people, too.
Cameron’s Law has made all supernatural creatures legal citizens, and the boy next door has suddenly become the werewolf next door. With Sadie Stanton, vampire and one of the public faces of the legislation, calling the little town of Adelheid, Connecticut home, it can’t help but be a focal point for these once mythical beings.
But when vampires start attacking werewolves without provocation, Adelheid draws the attention of those that would seek to have Cameron’s Law repealed and would send the preternaturals back into the shadows they used to hide in, but without the safety of their anonymity and their law.
Can Sadie keep the city’s two biggest species from descending into chaos and war before it brings all of them to harm? And can she do it when she herself gets thrust into the spotlight?
[Although I’m publishing this review in conjunction with the Adhelaid blog tour, I downloaded an ebook copy for free because I was interested in Cameron’s Law anyway and the tour gave me an excuse to read it. As always, this is still an honest review.]
I’ve become almost immune to books with action-packed beginnings, but when a book starts out with someone getting staked you know it’s going to be good. And when the character that gets staked is heading to the police station even though they’re a vampire, you know there’s a whole new exciting world yet to be revealed.
Welcome to Adhelaid, Sadie Stanton’s headquarters where she fights for supernatural rights. You see, only a year ago she helped pass Cameron’s Law, the law that made all supernatural beings citizens of the United States with full rights. As you can probably guess, there were a lot of people unhappy about that and they go to extreme lengths to express that unhappiness. You might be thinking that this sounds a little cliché but I’m vastly over simplifying all of the politics between supernatural beings and humans Mia Darien throws into her novel. If you were to read Cameron’s Law for one reason and one reason only, it would definitely have to be for the world-building. It’s impressive.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about Sadie in the beginning, but she’s definitely the kind of snarky character you can’t help but fall in love with. She’s snarky and she knows it’s a defense mechanism, but she’s also a little vulnerable when it comes to her heart. Let’s just say I love how she doesn’t fall in Insta-Love and that when she’s in love it’s not all rainbows and sunshine either. Especially when the mysterious murders of werewolves by apparent vampires cause tensions between the two supernatural communities.
Part of what I really liked about Cameron’s Law in regards to the plot was that it was fast-paced but there were some slow moments for readers to catch their breath. The slow moments aren’t boring and actually forward the plot, but it’s nice not to have constant action so you can get a little backstory. The interactions between Sadie and Vance are definitely slower than the greater conspiracy but they further both the plot and their characterization.
Even if you’re not really into urban fantasy or paranormal romance I’d highly recommend Cameron’s Law. I’m so glad that I got an opportunity to pick up a great book I otherwise would have missed because of Mia Darien’s blog tour. So seriously people, if you’re looking for a short but good read, pick up Cameron’s Law. You won’t regret it. Besides, it’s free right now on both Amazon and Barnes and Noble if you get it in their respective ebook formats!
I give this book 5/5 stars.