Started Reading: January 11, 2008
Finished Reading: January 12, 2008

This was a book I needed to finish quickly else I wouldn’t be able to study at all during the weekend, heh. I was actually a bit hesitant to read a book from the series again because I’ve forgotten what had happened in the last two books. But I’m glad I read this because it reminded me why I read the first two books in the first place. I loved Mercy Thompson and Briggs’ other characters. : D

It was Zee’s and a bit of Ben’s turn to be put under the spotlight now, which is good because they, as characters, have developed along with Mercy, Adam, and Sam. It’s always refreshing to find characters other than the protagonist being fleshed out. I’m also glad that the resolution between Mercy’s two relationships has been included in this book already. It’s not good to drag that out too long.

But still, that’s not just everything that I enjoyed.

What makes this book stand out from the other two is that this is more emotional than them. Especially when Mercy struggles with the enemy, because her subconscious fears are realized during those moments as well. The author handled the rape and abuse gently (and with subtlety) while she wrote about characters that were strong enough to try overcoming their weaknesses. I admit I teared up at Mercy’s horrible experience and making a reader cry is almost as hard as making them laugh.

I didn’t consider Mercy’s nightmare as something depressing - or any other aspect of this book, for that matter. I found her growing as a person and her development in this novel is significant. She was able to realize what exactly she wanted, her limits and how far she could push them, her weaknesses and the people she could trust.

As for the mystery department, it is good as always. : ) Mercy was going to have to deal with the fae sooner or later.

I’m looking forward to reading the next book. In the forum, Patricia Briggs’ husband said it was scheduled for release on January next year. I hope the schedule won’t be pushed any farther than that!

Tags: Patricia Briggs

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 12th, 2008 at 7:01 am and is filed under Mystery, Urban Fantasy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.