Review: Unhuman Light

Unhuman Light by Chris Stoneheart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A vegan human who fights demons, defies vampires, god-like beings yet cries after killing the bad guys... how exactly does this work? Quite well! This new series is intriguing and contains all the elements of rich and meaty urban fantasy.

Recommendation

Recommend this urban fantasy to readers who enjoy strong female leads who are not afraid to buck the system. Fans of Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews will enjoy this new series by new author, Ms. Stoneheart.

Characters

The characters in this book are intense and stand out. Each supporting cast to Kaitlin is unique and demands their own attention and adoration. Powerful men working together to teach, protect and support a female is a heady fantasy. When said female can take care of herself and return the favor, it is even better. What is also interesting is that there are other females in this story who are friends of Kaitlin and support her. One of them, Cora is a strong werewolf and her relationship with Kaitlin is of genuine friendship. This is key because so many books have lead female characters who horde all the males and have catty backstabbing frenemies. It is a pleasure to read a book where it flies contrary to the current drivel peddled to women.

Things I liked
✓ Alpha males
✓ Complex lead character
✓ Demons
✓ Shifters
✓ Strong friendship with other women
✓ Strong protagonist
✓ Strong supporting characters
✓ Vampires

World building

Set in the Tennessee, by day, Kaitlin O'Malley is a therapist helping people work through their problems. By night and as a "hobby" she fights demons kidnapping women. She freelances as a demon fighter for her friend Aaron Drake who happens to be a dragon shifter. With her toes dangling into the supernatural waters, it is to be expected the monsters will grab her toes and drag her in their world.

This first book seems to be setting up the world and characters. There are vampires, demons, shifters and other beings. Coming from Kaitlin's point of view, it is a bit overwhelming because she is only human. Well, a human with a little extra kick. This supernatural world is vast with many different alliances that are unknown to Kaitlin. The reader follows along with Kaitlin trying to figure out who is allied with whom and what kind of other supernatural groups exist. It's exciting and daunting at the same time. Seeing a little glimpse of the Fae world promises more fun to come.

Action/Plot

The amount of action and reveals in this book is surprising. Usually, authors give a little taste of their world to hook a read in. The books usually cover only a few days events or less. In this one, it feels like weeks have been condensed into days. And yet years are explained as past history or flash backs to decades or centuries are distilled in just a few pages. It is impressive how fluid the time is in this story and how much group is covered. Just as the reader expects the book to end, it continues on. Then when the book ends, it feels as if the length is not enough. The book concludes well and creates a desire to see what will happen next.

I received this book as an advance read copy

Thorn Queen

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Killing Time

Killing Time by Elisa Paige

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I LOVED THIS BOOK!  I wasn't sure what to expect.  I did like her previous books I purchased.  I never expected to receive a ARC of this one. I had been eagerly anticipating the release so I could buy it.  Back to my review. 



Killing time pulled me in from the very first chapter.  Ms. Paige did another outstanding job with her heroine, Sephti, also known as Nomad.  Sephti has all the qualities I like in a strong woman, just like Mia in Shadowplay.  There are many parallels in the way Sephti and Mia were raised.  For me, I enjoyed this.  The brutality of Sephti's childhood has my heart bleeding for her.  The strength and independence Sephti demonstrates is admirable.  I felt engaged and vested in Sephti's journey.  The one caution I would advise Ms. Paige is to designing all her heroine in the same manner of traumatic brutal upbringing.  Each of her heroines in the different books do have slightly different personalities.  Still, their pattern is eerily close.



The dynamic between Koda and Sephti was amusingly frustrating.  I really loved how clueless Sephti was in the human world.  Her depth of character made me fall for her very quickly.  Koda and his haughty manner made me want to kick his ass.  I'm glad he finally comes around.



What I like about this story is that bad things happen.  The good guys do not always win and live the next day to save us again.  This pain causes me to enjoy the book more since I feel more.  Killing Time takes place concurrent to the other books which is kind for me because it's like watching events from 4 different perspectives.  I like this because the world Ms. Paige built is more elaborate and complete.  What I like most is her characters are never perfect.  Even when you think something is going to go right, it doesn't always go exactly as planned.



I enjoyed Ms. Paige's interpretation of the fae world.  Her view of the vampire world has been lovely.  In this book, we learn of the Native American mythology.  I do not know much about Native American mythology but what Ms. Paige woven into her story gave me a huge respect for the culture.  I loved this aspect of the story.



There is only one item that confused me.  The last confrontation, how does that fit in the time line with Shadowplay?  I almost have to map out a diagram to figure it out correctly.  Still, I loved this book and I recommend it to everyone.  All of my friends and strangers alike.  There is romance, intrigue, love lost, battles won and lost.