Sign in with FacebookEmily May's Reviews > Chasing Magic
Chasing Magic (Downside Ghosts, #5)
by Stacia Kane (Goodreads Author)
Aww. I do love a man who's willing to hold your hair for you while you throw up all over the place. They're so hard to find these days...
Yes, that's right. My Terrible love continues. I honestly don't know what it is about this scarred, ugly beast of a man who talks like he's dumb, but the guy has something. He's fucking adorable. How is it that he can call Chess "Chessiebomb" and get away with it? Chessiebomb. You'd think I would need someone to hold my hair for me after that one. It just shows how well Kane must handle her characters if she can offer up a drug addict + ugly henchman twosome and make me love them both.
I think it's also brilliant that I'm still hanging on every aspect of the relationship between Terrible and Chess. The sexual tension is still there, the uncertainty is still there (well, it is for them anyway), I still never tire of following them through their many struggles to accept love from one another. As far as sex scenes go, Chasing Magic has some of probably the most... intense, yeah, I think that's the best way to describe it. Chess and Terrible's sexcapades are complicated and somewhat brutal, often fuelled by something far less simple than desire.
The mystery in this was more satisfying than the one in Sacrificial Magic, but I still think the strength of these later books is in their exploration of the characters. These are two extremely troubled individuals and we finally see Chess's drug habit starting to get to her more and more. Before, as long as she didn't allow the drugs to wear off completely, she would be fine. Or as fine as a drug addict who suffered childhood abuse can be. But now her usual highs aren't enough and she's getting herself into increasingly dangerous territory.
One thing that is certain: this book is by far the most gruesome. Torture scenes, extremely large amounts of blood, bones breaking through flesh... ugh. Definitely not one for the squeamish.
I'd say this is a really sad addition to the series. Those who've stayed with Chess so far will know how little she has that brings her happiness, well she loses one of the few things she does have in this book. I really hope that she is able to get that back before the series is over.
by Stacia Kane (Goodreads Author)
Aww. I do love a man who's willing to hold your hair for you while you throw up all over the place. They're so hard to find these days...
Yes, that's right. My Terrible love continues. I honestly don't know what it is about this scarred, ugly beast of a man who talks like he's dumb, but the guy has something. He's fucking adorable. How is it that he can call Chess "Chessiebomb" and get away with it? Chessiebomb. You'd think I would need someone to hold my hair for me after that one. It just shows how well Kane must handle her characters if she can offer up a drug addict + ugly henchman twosome and make me love them both.
I think it's also brilliant that I'm still hanging on every aspect of the relationship between Terrible and Chess. The sexual tension is still there, the uncertainty is still there (well, it is for them anyway), I still never tire of following them through their many struggles to accept love from one another. As far as sex scenes go, Chasing Magic has some of probably the most... intense, yeah, I think that's the best way to describe it. Chess and Terrible's sexcapades are complicated and somewhat brutal, often fuelled by something far less simple than desire.
The mystery in this was more satisfying than the one in Sacrificial Magic, but I still think the strength of these later books is in their exploration of the characters. These are two extremely troubled individuals and we finally see Chess's drug habit starting to get to her more and more. Before, as long as she didn't allow the drugs to wear off completely, she would be fine. Or as fine as a drug addict who suffered childhood abuse can be. But now her usual highs aren't enough and she's getting herself into increasingly dangerous territory.
One thing that is certain: this book is by far the most gruesome. Torture scenes, extremely large amounts of blood, bones breaking through flesh... ugh. Definitely not one for the squeamish.
I'd say this is a really sad addition to the series. Those who've stayed with Chess so far will know how little she has that brings her happiness, well she loses one of the few things she does have in this book. I really hope that she is able to get that back before the series is over.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read Chasing Magic.
sign in »
Comments (showing 1-32 of 32) (32 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Brandi
(new)
-
rated it 3 stars
Jul 06, 2012 07:39pm
Oooo me too! I was thinking about asking you to do a read along with me, lol. Ironic we're sort of doing one now.
reply
|
flag
*
LOL, it was your update that made me decide I had to read it right now. Hehe, this is actually my first read along on goodreads!
I had thought about trying a high fantasy one since I still want more Dragoneye. Are you interested in doing it? I've only done one once, and we had the book separated into chapters so we could talk about it afterward...but I'll be honest and say that I wouldn't be able to put this one down for that, lol.
I'm headed to bed to keep reading, but let me know about that book or another choice or what not, whenever you take a break. Night! :)
I'd be happy to do that. Or, alternatively, another one for consideration is The Blue Sword - it's been on my TBR for ages and everyone always raves about it. But either's fine by me, you can choose. Sleep well :)
Wow, that was 5 stars by everyone that I follow! Let's go for that one, but I have to find it first. It's not in Kindle format so I'll have to see if I can hunt it down. Do you want to read it after Chasing Magic?
Emily wrote: "I'd be happy to do that. Or, alternatively, another one for consideration is The Blue Sword - it's been on my TBR for ages and everyone always raves about it. But either's fine by me, you can choos..."Sorry to butt in, Em, 100 Thousand Kingdoms was a DNF for me:(
Yeah the reviews are not as positive as The Blue Sword for sure. I usually turn my nose up at the cover styling for that one too since I've never been into high fantasy, but after Froi and Eona I just want more. What else would you recommend Tatiana? Do you want to join in?
Tatiana, you know I always trust your judgement, thanks for letting us know :)Brandi, I'm up for reading The Blue Sword after Chasing Magic - hope you manage to get hold of it. Also, if you don't mind your fantasy a bit dark then you should read Skin Hunger.
I should be going up to the city tomorrow so I'll be able to check a Barnes and Noble, but otherwise I'm SOL. I will look into Skin Hunger, thanks! I do like me some dark books. Tatiana, I was intrigued by the Thief series you mentioned when I read one of your reviews for it...book 2 I think it was. I need to get on that one.I was thinking about reading The Night Circus too what do you think about that one?
Brandi wrote: "I should be going up to the city tomorrow so I'll be able to check a Barnes and Noble, but otherwise I'm SOL. I will look into Skin Hunger, thanks! I do like me some dark books. Tatiana, I was i..."For me it was too flowery and wordy, to be honest. There isn't much of a plot or character development in it. But, you know how it is, a lot of people loved it too.
It was actually Tatiana's review that turned me off that one :/By the way, I second the recommendation for The Thief series.
Oh crap, I'll have to go read that. I already bought it too because when I got the bookstore I was so overwhelmed with choices, and had no access to GR, that I bought it simply because I recognized the title.:/ It was $15 fricken dollars too! For a paperback. I wish I had a bookstore in my town still!!Hey, what about The Truth about Celia Frost? I've been dying to read this, but it isn't available in the US, so I finally broke down and ordered it yesterday.
Brandi wrote: "Oh crap, I'll have to go read that. I already bought it too because when I got the bookstore I was so overwhelmed with choices, and had no access to GR, that I bought it simply because I recognize..."Never heard of this book. I don't think any of my friends have read it...
Brandi wrote: "None of mine either. I think it has great potential!"Good luck with it!
I rarely read anything without a prior recommendation.
Tatiana wrote: "Brandi wrote: "None of mine either. I think it has great potential!"Good luck with it!
I rarely read anything without a prior recommendation."
Thanks, I hope I love it!
Brandi, some of my UK reviewer friends have read that and the response from them seems pretty positive. Amy's review might give you a better idea about it.
Emily wrote: "Brandi, some of my UK reviewer friends have read that and the response from them seems pretty positive. Amy's review might give you a better idea about it."That's so funny--I just read that review last night, lol. I really hope I like it because it's been in the back of my mind for a while now, and I paid more than I usually would to get it sent here. :/
In other news, I won't be going into the city so I won't be able to get a hold of The Blue Sword. Anything else you might want to try out?
Brandi wrote: "Catie just started reading A Face Like Glass, how does that sound? Tatiana did you want to join?"From what I know about it, it's more of an MG fantasy, and MG lit doesn't often work for me...
As it happens, I actually received a copy of A Face Like Glass from the publisher but I wasn't sure if it's for me. I was thinking of waiting for Catie's review and then deciding. MG stands for "middle grade".
Ah, thanks for the clarification! I'm waiting to hear her thoughts too since it costs $10. I get twitchy when I have to spend more than $8 on an ebook. I'm out of ideas for the moment though on books. Do you have any you want to do, or should we maybe plan to do a read along a bit later on?
Perhaps we should wait a bit, I'm certain there'll be plenty of new releases we both want to read coming up! Check back again if anything else springs to mind :)
I just had to jump in here to say 1) great review Emily and 2) if you guys decide to read The Blue Sword, can I join in? Brandi, it just so happens that I have an extra copy of that one laying around that I'd be happy to mail to you if you'd like. Let me know!Also, 3) A Face Like Glass is excellent, but it is pretty middle-gradey and it has a medium to slow pace, which I think are both typically dealbreakers for Tatiana. I will keep you posted!
Oh that would be fantastic Catie, thank you!! How about we all read it once I get it and we're all in between books?
