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Until Death

Karen Woodward (Goodreads Author)

3.71 · Rating details · 7 ratings · 5 reviews

Darla longs to work magic but when, on her 18th birthday, a demon reveals to her she is a sorcerer, one of the most powerful creatures of magic that can exist, she discovers that nothing comes without a price. Long ago, the Council of Mages declared that sorcerers were too powerful to exist and hunted them almost to extinction. Her family pleads with Darla to renounce her ...more

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ebook, 250 pages

Published July 12th 2011 by Silverland Press (first published July 11th 2011)

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· 7 ratings · 5 reviews

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Sep 14, 2011 Karen Jones rated it really liked it

Until Death requires a little effort at first, but there's a big payoff at the end. The beginning (the effort portion) was slow and for several chapters I had a hard time focusing because my head kept screaming, "Come on... get to it a'ready!" There's nothing wrong with that, per se, as a slow build can be quite titillating. But I'm afraid readers might give up too soon. My advice - keep going until the going gets really good (the payoff part). And it does.

The heroine-ish main character is Darla Until Death requires a little effort at first, but there's a big payoff at the end. The beginning (the effort portion) was slow and for several chapters I had a hard time focusing because my head kept screaming, "Come on... get to it a'ready!" There's nothing wrong with that, per se, as a slow build can be quite titillating. But I'm afraid readers might give up too soon. My advice - keep going until the going gets really good (the payoff part). And it does.

The heroine-ish main character is Darla. She's a bit of a bumbler, a grumbler and has plenty of anxiety to make her interesting. She's just turning 18, and all that that implies. She's portrayed very well in the context of the story and readers are sure to adore her as I did. In the book, she discovers something about herself which leads to some very revealing truths that have been hidden from her for nefarious reasons.

Her counterpart, Kael, is a demon. Now, this has some amazing potential. His character doesn't receive the attention that the Darla character does. Readers will be left wondering over his backstory and details of his personality. But, oooooh, it's enough to leave me wanting to know more. I believe (and hope) Until Death is just the beginning for this series which will fully develop the Kael character in the next installment.

I started to give this book three stars. Most people seem to be giving it three. Then I realized, despite a slow beginning, a couple confusing character choices (briefly explained below), a continuity issue (see below if you don't worry about spoilers), I can't wait to read the next one. That makes four stars in my book. Pun intended.

**POTENTIAL SPOILER**
The continuity issue began in Chapter 23 where Darla can shield herself (and does) for protection, then later in Chapter 28, she can no longer do this. No explanation of her later failure is given. I was also confused by a couple of events. In one, Darla makes a decision regarding her father that seems sudden and out of character for her. The other event seemed like an obvious long-term eventuality, but it reads as if it occurred near instantly. Perhaps the author, Karen Woodward, was "wrapping things up" and a longer passage of time was not as obvious to the reader as it should have been. However, the event I allude to would have been far more fun if we'd had a nice, tortuous wind-up before culmination. *wink, wink* ...more

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Sep 21, 2011 Jessica Buike rated it really liked it

As a story, this was an excellent read with in-depth characters. We explore a world in which you are either magically gifted or mundane. There are lots of great paranormal elements, and a few good surprises mixed in with a few more predictable events. The main character, Darla, is one who is easy for the reader to relate to.
However, there are several spelling and editing errors, the biggest of which being the use of quotation marks - they are misused all over the place, and it makes it hard to ...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Timmain rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, female-heroine, magic, romance, supernatural, urban-fantasy

The story of Darla, a young woman living in a world of magic, magicians, demons and mages who seemingly has no magic of her own. Darla enters the story using a first person angle that takes the reader on a fast paced adventure of self-discovery, self-preservation and romance. Aside from some editing issues, the story was very likable and introduced the reader to a world that was very believable. If you are a lover of all things supernatural in an urban fantasy, I would recommend this book.

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Sep 22, 2011 Rob Blackwell rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed reading "Until Death." The main character, Darla, is extremely likable, and the quasi-magical-but-still-has-Starbucks world was well drawn. Overall, the plot was fast paced and unique, and I kept reading quickly to find out what was going to happen next. I only have one complaint and that was that the romance felt a little... sudden. That said, I'd happily pick up the sequel and recommend this to anyone who enjoys urban fantasy. ...more

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Nov 03, 2011 Philip Catshill rated it it was amazing

This is one of those books that gripped me from page one. It is written in the first person, and treats the magical community in which Darla lives, as so matter of fact, that within a page or two it becomes entirely believable. I thoroughly enjoyed the light hearted way that this book is written especially the odd comments such as
“I wanted to people to stop trying to kill me. Was that really so much to ask?”

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