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Grimm Agency #1
Free Agent
When it comes to crafting happily-ever-afters, the Agency is the best in the land of Kingdom. The Fairy Godfather Grimm can solve any problem—from eliminating imps to finding prince charming—as long as you can pay the price…
Working for Grimm isn’t Marissa Locks’s dream job. But when your parents trade you to a Fairy Godfather for a miracle, you don’t have many career options. To pay off her parents’ debt and earn her freedom, Marissa must do whatever Grimm asks, no matter what fairy-tale fiasco she’s called on to deal with.
Setting up a second-rate princess with a first-class prince is just another day at the office. But when the matchmaking goes wrong, Marissa and Grimm find themselves in a bigger magical muddle than ever before. Not only has the prince gone missing, but the Fae are gearing up to attack Kingdom, and a new Fairy Godmother is sniffing around Grimm’s turf, threatening Marissa with the one thing she can’t resist: her heart’s wishes.
Now Marissa will have to take on Fairies, Fae, dragons, and princesses to save the realm—or give up any hope of ever getting her happy ending…
Working for Grimm isn’t Marissa Locks’s dream job. But when your parents trade you to a Fairy Godfather for a miracle, you don’t have many career options. To pay off her parents’ debt and earn her freedom, Marissa must do whatever Grimm asks, no matter what fairy-tale fiasco she’s called on to deal with.
Setting up a second-rate princess with a first-class prince is just another day at the office. But when the matchmaking goes wrong, Marissa and Grimm find themselves in a bigger magical muddle than ever before. Not only has the prince gone missing, but the Fae are gearing up to attack Kingdom, and a new Fairy Godmother is sniffing around Grimm’s turf, threatening Marissa with the one thing she can’t resist: her heart’s wishes.
Now Marissa will have to take on Fairies, Fae, dragons, and princesses to save the realm—or give up any hope of ever getting her happy ending…
281 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 29, 2014
48 people are currently reading
2856 people want to read
About the author
J.C. Nelson
15 books183 followersA Texas native transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, JC Nelson works with software, herds chickens and children, and writes books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 214 reviews
July 24, 2018
DNF at 12%. Because there's only so much crap I can take. “What kind of crap are we talking about here,” you ask? The highly flammable type. Sorry, what? Are there some incendiary examples I could share with you? Why of course there are! Horrendously Craptastic Crap (HCC™) abounds in this masterpiece!
✘ First we have this:
“Princess PMS rose to her feet.”✘ Then we have this (aka The Real Winner):
“She didn’t look like a princess. She looked like a college intern for a radio station. Five foot three, strawberry blonde, and a complexion that could sure as hell use work. Plus she was packing the freshman five on her hips, along with the sophomore seven on her thighs and, well, you get the idea.”✘ And finally, we have this (aka The Cherry on the Flammable Crap Cake):
“I'd have loved to be beautiful. To have flawless skin and a nose that didn't look tiny, or eyes that didn't look like my father was part bat. Grimm said that men loved my large brown eyes. I didn't. I wanted blue eyes like Mom and Dad, but you didn't get a say in genetic roulette. If I ever got to go home, I was planning on asking Grimm to change my eyes to be like them. A push-up bra and a firm running regimen were the other components of my beauty treatment.”➽ Quick recap. In the first 10 pages we have:
✔ Girl-bashing
✔ Body-shaming
✔ Reinforced stereotypes
This is what first came to my little mind when I read this:
And this is what it made me feel like:
I have to say that one of the things I liked most about this wonderfully enjoyable book is how gloriously mature its exceptionally lovable heroine is:
“Setting up a princess was a whole different matter, thanks to one fundamental law of the universe: Men are stupid.”Bloody fishing hell,
But you know what? Contrary to what I might have led you to believe, this book is not ALL bad. No it’s not. I mean, Free Agent might be filled to the brim with HCC™, but its mere existence proves without a doubt that publishers have a hilarious sense of humor. Yes it does. The book is marketed as Urban Fantasy, you see. Hahahahaha. Urban Fantasy! When it is naught but bad chick-lit in disguise, as written by a 15-year old! If that isn’t proof that publishers are an uproariously facetious bunch, I don’t know what will! So QED and stuff.
September 9, 2017
This doesn't happen often to me. That I read something so early in the book that there's no coming back from it. I'm too angry to get past it, and everything else is colored by that extremely negative first impression. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened to me here:
Yeah, I get the idea . . .
"She didn't look like a princess. She looked like a college intern for a radio station. Five foot three, strawberry blonde, and a complexion that could sure as hell use work. Plus she was packing the freshman five on her hips, along with the sophomore seven on her thighs and, well, you get the idea."
Yeah, I get the idea . . .
June 22, 2015
I really enjoyed this book. I picked it up because I just plain love fairy tales, and it sounded interesting, with a heroine who is basically a debt slave to her Fairy Godfather. I absolutely love urban fantasy, and it's great when you find one that hits on your happy buttons. This book does it for me.
One thing I will say is the author has a weird/morbid sense of humor. He talks freely about feeding poodles to hellhounds and running over gnomes, and this might be a turnoff to some readers. Once I got used to that, it didn't bother me as much. I think the worldbuilding was good. Set in New York, but the magical Kingdom is adjacent, and can only be reached by some with a magical tie.
Marissa is a cool character. She's tough as nails but also vulnerable in other ways. She reflects the psyche of the average twentysomething person: trying to figure out who they are and what they are doing, and what they want to do with their lives? Marissa has had it tough because her destiny wasn't exactly her own. Her only goal was working off her debt and getting back to her family. It's absolutely heartbreaking when she realizes the truth about her family. However, Marissa's feels very much like a fairy tale heroine. I like that Marissa's angst becomes her strength. While Grimm is her boss, I think their relationship is very complex. I would say that Grimm is almost like the father that Marissa craves. While her family seemed to throw her away, Grimm has given her another family and taken pretty good care of her, considering.
The romance was very cute. Nelson plants some seeds but never gives the whole story away, so one is likely to ask why Marissa thought this person was the target. I liked Liam a lot and I hope he sticks around. His curse is kinda sucky for him, but cool from an urban fantasy perspective. Ari is fun as well. A very unprincess-like princess who plays a huge role in this story.
The reviews aren't great for this, but I give it a strong thumbs up. The author knows his fairy tales and takes the reader along for a ride that is in parts funny, sad, scary, creepy, and feels unique even with some elements that make it fit well within the urban fantasy genre. Some aspects were a bit confusing, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. Overall, I found this thoroughly enjoyable and I devoured it in about 36 hours.
Overall rating: 4.5/5.0 stars.
Casting Ideas:
Chloe Bennett as Marissa
Miles Teller as Liam
One thing I will say is the author has a weird/morbid sense of humor. He talks freely about feeding poodles to hellhounds and running over gnomes, and this might be a turnoff to some readers. Once I got used to that, it didn't bother me as much. I think the worldbuilding was good. Set in New York, but the magical Kingdom is adjacent, and can only be reached by some with a magical tie.
Marissa is a cool character. She's tough as nails but also vulnerable in other ways. She reflects the psyche of the average twentysomething person: trying to figure out who they are and what they are doing, and what they want to do with their lives? Marissa has had it tough because her destiny wasn't exactly her own. Her only goal was working off her debt and getting back to her family. It's absolutely heartbreaking when she realizes the truth about her family. However, Marissa's feels very much like a fairy tale heroine. I like that Marissa's angst becomes her strength. While Grimm is her boss, I think their relationship is very complex. I would say that Grimm is almost like the father that Marissa craves. While her family seemed to throw her away, Grimm has given her another family and taken pretty good care of her, considering.
The romance was very cute. Nelson plants some seeds but never gives the whole story away, so one is likely to ask why Marissa thought this person was the target. I liked Liam a lot and I hope he sticks around. His curse is kinda sucky for him, but cool from an urban fantasy perspective. Ari is fun as well. A very unprincess-like princess who plays a huge role in this story.
The reviews aren't great for this, but I give it a strong thumbs up. The author knows his fairy tales and takes the reader along for a ride that is in parts funny, sad, scary, creepy, and feels unique even with some elements that make it fit well within the urban fantasy genre. Some aspects were a bit confusing, but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. Overall, I found this thoroughly enjoyable and I devoured it in about 36 hours.
Overall rating: 4.5/5.0 stars.
Casting Ideas:
Chloe Bennett as Marissa
Miles Teller as Liam
October 10, 2014
Of the 158 books I've tagged with "will probably regret", this is the second that made five stars. It deserves them, but not everybody will feel that way. I'll try to explain in a bit.
First off, I really enjoyed the characters. And I mean not just Marissa, but all of them. Grimm (the fairy Godfather) really had to work for the book to be successful, so that's a no-brainer. The friends and coworkers enhanced that success wildly, but the real winner was Princess Ari. I liked her growth, but I liked the development of her relationship with Marissa even better. And while I was worried about Liam as simple man-candy, he turned out fantastic as well (poor guy).
Second, the world building really worked for me. I'm not a huge fan of fairy tales, though I like the fae well-enough. I never thought combining the two would work, but it really did. Maybe because fairy tales didn't really feature, much, except as twisted background. I also had doubts about "Kingdom" as a . . . thing. But that ended up working out, for what we saw of it.
But really, it was the story that drew me in and held me tight. It's this element that will be a bit difficult for readers to agree upon because the story appears scattered and unfocused on first blush. The problem is that there are a couple different antagonists and they trade off in importance over the run of the story. That makes Marissa and Grimm look both beleaguered (good) and scattered (bad). Indeed, Marissa is taking things from several sides simultaneously and once or twice appears to jag off on a tangent that appears to be of less urgency than other, more pressing, concerns. When those tangents turn out to be important, it feels like the author might be cheating or substituting intuition for authorial dictate.
The reason I didn't feel that way, though, is that I don't think the antagonists actually function as the story's main conflict. For me, the real conflict in the story is Marissa's servitude. Or slavery, really. More important, though, is her sense of self that affects and reinforces that slavery. Once I saw the story as her conflict with her own self-identity, the story fell completely into place. That unified not only the actions/reactions of the antagonists, but also Marissa's choices and responses as she tests the boundaries of her servitude and her identity under its constraints.
Particularly intriguing on Marissa's voyage of self discovery is how it illuminates Grimm's personality as her bond holder. The reader perceives a shift in his relationship with Marissa, but eventually it becomes clear that the shift is entirely on the part of Marissa and her growing understanding of who she is. That's fascinating because .
Marissa's conflict with her situation and identity as the heart of the story was, unfortunately, undermined by the opening of the book. Nelson would have done better eliminating the whole introductory chapter (or two?) and starting with Marissa responding to Grimm's next task. The weak opening leaves the reader wondering what the story will be about and puts off establishing the promises of the story until later. Remove that part and you'd have started strong and solidly on the track of the real story being told. With that part, it takes a while to get the underlying thematic conflict because the start of the real story feels like as much of a tangent as anything else at that point.
So the story, particularly the growth and development of Marissa, was completely enthralling to me. Add pacing that was just the comfortable side of unrelenting and you have a book that kept me up until the small hours when I really couldn't afford it. And it's that that pushed this to five stars when it was headed to an otherwise pretty comfortable four.
First off, I really enjoyed the characters. And I mean not just Marissa, but all of them. Grimm (the fairy Godfather) really had to work for the book to be successful, so that's a no-brainer. The friends and coworkers enhanced that success wildly, but the real winner was Princess Ari. I liked her growth, but I liked the development of her relationship with Marissa even better. And while I was worried about Liam as simple man-candy, he turned out fantastic as well (poor guy).
Second, the world building really worked for me. I'm not a huge fan of fairy tales, though I like the fae well-enough. I never thought combining the two would work, but it really did. Maybe because fairy tales didn't really feature, much, except as twisted background. I also had doubts about "Kingdom" as a . . . thing. But that ended up working out, for what we saw of it.
But really, it was the story that drew me in and held me tight. It's this element that will be a bit difficult for readers to agree upon because the story appears scattered and unfocused on first blush. The problem is that there are a couple different antagonists and they trade off in importance over the run of the story. That makes Marissa and Grimm look both beleaguered (good) and scattered (bad). Indeed, Marissa is taking things from several sides simultaneously and once or twice appears to jag off on a tangent that appears to be of less urgency than other, more pressing, concerns. When those tangents turn out to be important, it feels like the author might be cheating or substituting intuition for authorial dictate.
The reason I didn't feel that way, though, is that I don't think the antagonists actually function as the story's main conflict. For me, the real conflict in the story is Marissa's servitude. Or slavery, really. More important, though, is her sense of self that affects and reinforces that slavery. Once I saw the story as her conflict with her own self-identity, the story fell completely into place. That unified not only the actions/reactions of the antagonists, but also Marissa's choices and responses as she tests the boundaries of her servitude and her identity under its constraints.
Particularly intriguing on Marissa's voyage of self discovery is how it illuminates Grimm's personality as her bond holder. The reader perceives a shift in his relationship with Marissa, but eventually it becomes clear that the shift is entirely on the part of Marissa and her growing understanding of who she is. That's fascinating because .
Marissa's conflict with her situation and identity as the heart of the story was, unfortunately, undermined by the opening of the book. Nelson would have done better eliminating the whole introductory chapter (or two?) and starting with Marissa responding to Grimm's next task. The weak opening leaves the reader wondering what the story will be about and puts off establishing the promises of the story until later. Remove that part and you'd have started strong and solidly on the track of the real story being told. With that part, it takes a while to get the underlying thematic conflict because the start of the real story feels like as much of a tangent as anything else at that point.
So the story, particularly the growth and development of Marissa, was completely enthralling to me. Add pacing that was just the comfortable side of unrelenting and you have a book that kept me up until the small hours when I really couldn't afford it. And it's that that pushed this to five stars when it was headed to an otherwise pretty comfortable four.
August 18, 2014
I'm just going to leave this here...
"I wasn't afraid of your average dark alley. I had standard Agency-issue spells in my coat and a nine millimeter in my purse for dealing with the less dangerous pests, but even I knew you have to be careful with an upset woman."
Page 3, Free Agent by J.C. Nelson.
"The loading bays down at the end of the alley didn't look too promising, and now Princess PMS rose to her feet."
Page 3.
"She didn't look like a princess. She looked like a college intern for a radio station. Five foot three, strawberry blonde, and a complexion that could sure as hell use work. Plus she was packing the freshman five on her hips, along with the sophomore seven on her thighs and, well, you get the idea."
Page 7.
"I'd have loved to be beautiful. To have flawless skin and a nose that didn't look tiny, or eyes that didn't look like my father was part bat. Grimm said that men loved my large brown eyes. I didn't. I wanted blue eyes like Mom and Dad, but you didn't get a say in genetic roulette. If I ever got to go home, I was planning on asking Grimm to change my eyes to be like them. A push-up bra and a firm running regimen were the other components of my beauty treatment. To be the wrong woman you didn't have to look great, just available and interested."
Page 14.
"I had been up for three days straight and for my answer I invented the Leperochaun, a little man who carried disease, hoarded gold, and, worst of all, was Irish."
Page 21.
All of these statements are printed in the mass market paperback (ISBN: 9780425272671) that released July 29, 2014 from Ace Books, New York. The statements all irked me in one way or another. They are either sexist (exhibiting negative body-shaming imagery or gender stereotypes), racist, and pejorative.
I do not enjoy reading a book that promotes any of these things. I will not be reading the rest.
This book has been stricken.
0 stars.
- review courtesy of www.bibliopunkkreads.com
August 5, 2014
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy
Since I’m always up for a good twist on the classic fairy tales, FREE AGENT sounded right up my alley. And does it ever have all the right twists! A modern version of Snow White’s poisoned apple, werewolves who don’t like red because of a red-hoodie-wearing female in their past, and fairy godparents in mirrors are just some of the aspects of the mythology Nelson has created. Add the nearly non-stop action, an awesome cast of characters, and we’ve got an excellent opening to a new series!
I was a little worried that Marissa, the main character and narrator, was going to get on my nerves at first. She seemed a tad bit whiny, and I can’t handle a whiny main character. But she grew on me, with her dubious moral code and her tell it like it is manner. Other characters were intriguing as well, especially the princess Arianna (you can call her Ari) who I almost liked even more than Marissa.
FREE AGENT is definitely not for the squeamish. It has it’s fair share of violence and gruesome scenes – one thing I noted as I was reading was that characters in the book are frequently losing their lunch over something or another. It wasn’t too much for me, but it was borderline, so I wanted to caution any readers for whom it may be an issue.
One of the things we see a lot of these days are the supernatural plus law enforcement (think THE GRENDEL AFFAIR, DIRTY MAGIC, or CURSED) but FREE AGENT manages to take both of those aspects up a notch, especially in terms of sheer creativity. This is not a book that feels like you’ve read it before, and once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down until I was finished. As the first book in the Grimm Agency series, I can’t wait to see where Nelson goes with the world, and am eagerly awaiting ARMAGEDDON RULES, book two in the series, which comes out in February of 2015.
Sexual content: Kissing
Since I’m always up for a good twist on the classic fairy tales, FREE AGENT sounded right up my alley. And does it ever have all the right twists! A modern version of Snow White’s poisoned apple, werewolves who don’t like red because of a red-hoodie-wearing female in their past, and fairy godparents in mirrors are just some of the aspects of the mythology Nelson has created. Add the nearly non-stop action, an awesome cast of characters, and we’ve got an excellent opening to a new series!
I was a little worried that Marissa, the main character and narrator, was going to get on my nerves at first. She seemed a tad bit whiny, and I can’t handle a whiny main character. But she grew on me, with her dubious moral code and her tell it like it is manner. Other characters were intriguing as well, especially the princess Arianna (you can call her Ari) who I almost liked even more than Marissa.
FREE AGENT is definitely not for the squeamish. It has it’s fair share of violence and gruesome scenes – one thing I noted as I was reading was that characters in the book are frequently losing their lunch over something or another. It wasn’t too much for me, but it was borderline, so I wanted to caution any readers for whom it may be an issue.
One of the things we see a lot of these days are the supernatural plus law enforcement (think THE GRENDEL AFFAIR, DIRTY MAGIC, or CURSED) but FREE AGENT manages to take both of those aspects up a notch, especially in terms of sheer creativity. This is not a book that feels like you’ve read it before, and once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down until I was finished. As the first book in the Grimm Agency series, I can’t wait to see where Nelson goes with the world, and am eagerly awaiting ARMAGEDDON RULES, book two in the series, which comes out in February of 2015.
Sexual content: Kissing
January 16, 2015
My issue with Free Agent is a personal one. A lack of connection. And some slightly off world building. Because within reading the first page I knew the writing was solid and the world would be fun. To be honest it took a while to get into it because all of the terms and stuff are shoved in your face. At no time is the world explained. Once the terms and stuff kind of sunk in things went smoother. And I discovered some clever humor and fun pokes at fun fairy tales.
So it's safe to say any reader needs pay attention and wait 10 to 20 pages before things click. Nothing will ever truly be explained. Because at first I was so sure that the humans of this world knew that magic and fairy tales existed. Then all of a sudden at 44% there's a wolf chasing Melissa but—
Next it would seem like people were well versed. Then the male love interest was rocked by the sudden truth of a world filled with magic. So at this point I'm going to say the majority of humans don't know . . . but. Ugh. That was another sticking point with me. I do not like to have to guess about any aspect of the Urban Fantasy world being presented. The author needs to make it clear up front. That's not being picky, it's simply good world building.
The final straw was that I could not connect with Melissa. Something about the writing was holding me at arm's length from her and I couldn't connect. UF mainly consists of loner leads. Yes, those types of leads can be hard to create connections for readers. However, it's been done enough and well enough that I expect more out of any book I'm reading. Not just in UF. This continued the whole book. Not only could I not connect to the lead, but I had no emotions to the love story. In fact there was so little connection with the writing that I could not believe love at first sight—or in three dates—in a fairy tale world. Nope. Not only that but all of the characters were hard to like and connecting to any of them was impossible. Instead, the majority of the characters made me greatly dislike them.
The problem was that no matter good the writing, it would tell me how I should feel with the character. It didn't weave a tale that I could connect to. Which is funny because I highlighted the heck out of this book because of the witty dialogue and hilarious fairy tale quotes. That's were I think the problem lies. Nelson was so good, and stuck, on giving hilarity and good lines that character development and connections were quickly glossed over. One scene where Melissa finds out a painful truth about her step-mom, that part of letting her get bartered away was because Melissa's father would never get over her mother while she was there . . . wasn't even addressed. Melissa was angry, but not over that. In fact, it just kind happened and was gone. So the whole plot of the evil queen emotionally ruining Melissa fell flat for me. Because this book couldn't stir my emotions.
It tired me. I went from thinking “this might be a 4 out of 5 read”. To a 4 and then 3 out of 5. I pushed through and determinedly decided I would not quit this book. Then with about 20% of the book left I thought “I wish this book was done!” It hit my 1 out of 5. Because I know longer wanted to read it, in fact I was wishing that it was over. I felt cheated out of my money.
Sad truth is that Free Agent one of my most anticipated books of 2014. Lots of other readers loved it. Too bad for me. It was annoying to keep wondering about the universe Nelson had created, but then it was just boring not being able to connect with the characters. Most of the time I didn't even like any of them. Yes, even the lead I found stupid, rude, and annoying. Worst was the overall plot was annoying. The only solid thing was the funny jokes about various fairy tales. In the end I think a number of readers will enjoy Free Agent. I simply needed more.
Sexual Content: Mild sexual humor, one or to mild dark themes. Honestly it's clean for the most part.
1/5- I couldn't finish it or wish I hadn't.
Originally reviewed at Book Whispers.
So it's safe to say any reader needs pay attention and wait 10 to 20 pages before things click. Nothing will ever truly be explained. Because at first I was so sure that the humans of this world knew that magic and fairy tales existed. Then all of a sudden at 44% there's a wolf chasing Melissa but—
“ . . . what the people on the sidewalk saw—probably convinced themselves it was a homeless man who hadn't shaved, or a rabid dog chasing two women.”
Next it would seem like people were well versed. Then the male love interest was rocked by the sudden truth of a world filled with magic. So at this point I'm going to say the majority of humans don't know . . . but. Ugh. That was another sticking point with me. I do not like to have to guess about any aspect of the Urban Fantasy world being presented. The author needs to make it clear up front. That's not being picky, it's simply good world building.
The final straw was that I could not connect with Melissa. Something about the writing was holding me at arm's length from her and I couldn't connect. UF mainly consists of loner leads. Yes, those types of leads can be hard to create connections for readers. However, it's been done enough and well enough that I expect more out of any book I'm reading. Not just in UF. This continued the whole book. Not only could I not connect to the lead, but I had no emotions to the love story. In fact there was so little connection with the writing that I could not believe love at first sight—or in three dates—in a fairy tale world. Nope. Not only that but all of the characters were hard to like and connecting to any of them was impossible. Instead, the majority of the characters made me greatly dislike them.
The problem was that no matter good the writing, it would tell me how I should feel with the character. It didn't weave a tale that I could connect to. Which is funny because I highlighted the heck out of this book because of the witty dialogue and hilarious fairy tale quotes. That's were I think the problem lies. Nelson was so good, and stuck, on giving hilarity and good lines that character development and connections were quickly glossed over. One scene where Melissa finds out a painful truth about her step-mom, that part of letting her get bartered away was because Melissa's father would never get over her mother while she was there . . . wasn't even addressed. Melissa was angry, but not over that. In fact, it just kind happened and was gone. So the whole plot of the evil queen emotionally ruining Melissa fell flat for me. Because this book couldn't stir my emotions.
It tired me. I went from thinking “this might be a 4 out of 5 read”. To a 4 and then 3 out of 5. I pushed through and determinedly decided I would not quit this book. Then with about 20% of the book left I thought “I wish this book was done!” It hit my 1 out of 5. Because I know longer wanted to read it, in fact I was wishing that it was over. I felt cheated out of my money.
Sad truth is that Free Agent one of my most anticipated books of 2014. Lots of other readers loved it. Too bad for me. It was annoying to keep wondering about the universe Nelson had created, but then it was just boring not being able to connect with the characters. Most of the time I didn't even like any of them. Yes, even the lead I found stupid, rude, and annoying. Worst was the overall plot was annoying. The only solid thing was the funny jokes about various fairy tales. In the end I think a number of readers will enjoy Free Agent. I simply needed more.
Sexual Content: Mild sexual humor, one or to mild dark themes. Honestly it's clean for the most part.
1/5- I couldn't finish it or wish I hadn't.
Originally reviewed at Book Whispers.
May 10, 2015
I tried, I really did. I very rarely DNF anything, but I got to 375/498 pgs (that's 75% mind you) and just couldn't take it anymore. Honestly, the only reason why I made it this far is because I checked out both the first and the second book from the library and I really hate leaving anything unfinished - which might explain why my DNF ratio is something like 1400:3, even including everything I had to read back in college as an English and PoliSci double major. Also, I thought it might be interesting to read something from a male author, considering the genre is dominated by female writers. I may also have tried extra hard because I'm procrastinating over studying for a test and I usually feel bad about leaving reviews for something I haven't read completely.
Ok, the reality is that I don't even need to justify why this was a DNF, because I suspect many people reading this will already understand why. It's actually amazing that I did get through 75% of this book because all I can say is, it left me with a vague headache and feeling angry. I get that princesses and women are supposed to basically be caricatures in this book, but this book was such a mess with everything else, I just could not give a crap about any of the characters. The initial idea is interesting but the execution and writing are awful, and I don't even feel bad about being blunt, even knowing the author might be reading this! I've received more than a few scathing reviews in my lifetime and IMO, maybe this author hasn't received enough, because I could write a novella on all the things that went wrong in this book.
Characterization? Just WHO in this book is supposed to be likable? If it's Marissa, about 9/10 times she's just whining about poor her, she's not a princess, everything bad happens to her, she's a slave because of her naive choices as a teenager, and even the big reveal about her parents couldn't get me to muster up ANY sympathy for her at that point. The concept of Grimm is interesting until you realize he's just a bad plot device. The Black Queen or whatever? Who cares? I felt angry on behalf of Ari only because of the author's descriptions of her, which I'm positive other readers have pointed out in their reviews, so I won't even get into it here. Ari was the only half decent character and that just isn't enough to keep me reading. Liam? Oh, you mean someone could possibly be even more whiny and self-pitying than Marissa? She dumped you after one ridiculous "date" if it can be even called that, she didn't cheat on you or divorce you. There's that one prince who is missing, but it's never really established why anyone would really care, since by the virtue of being a "prince" character, he's like some slimy douchebag and we are told that straight out. Need I mention again that all characters are supposed to be caricatures?
Every scene in this book was so forced and unrealistic, including Marissa's love for Liam - which is actually worse than in any YA novel that I've read so far, and that's saying a lot - that I found myself speeding through scenes in some kind of desperate hope that the plot or something would eventually get better. The whole setup about matching a prince and a princess together was ridiculous...because "men are stupid," right? Are we all 12 and actually think this is how people get together? Scratch that, I tutor 12 year old kids who would laugh their heads off at the thought. Oh, Marissa jumped out of a building out of TRUUUUUE LOVE for Liam? *Now cue the friend who literally can't wait to inform the guy that Marissa just did that out of TRUUUUUUE Love!* Are you kidding me?
Okay, I'll end my rant here. The best thing I can say about this book is that maybe this book just wasn't for me. Maybe pgs 375-498 were amazing. Unfortunately, I gave this book at least three too many chances already and life's short, I have a long list of much better books to read.
Ok, the reality is that I don't even need to justify why this was a DNF, because I suspect many people reading this will already understand why. It's actually amazing that I did get through 75% of this book because all I can say is, it left me with a vague headache and feeling angry. I get that princesses and women are supposed to basically be caricatures in this book, but this book was such a mess with everything else, I just could not give a crap about any of the characters. The initial idea is interesting but the execution and writing are awful, and I don't even feel bad about being blunt, even knowing the author might be reading this! I've received more than a few scathing reviews in my lifetime and IMO, maybe this author hasn't received enough, because I could write a novella on all the things that went wrong in this book.
Characterization? Just WHO in this book is supposed to be likable? If it's Marissa, about 9/10 times she's just whining about poor her, she's not a princess, everything bad happens to her, she's a slave because of her naive choices as a teenager, and even the big reveal about her parents couldn't get me to muster up ANY sympathy for her at that point. The concept of Grimm is interesting until you realize he's just a bad plot device. The Black Queen or whatever? Who cares? I felt angry on behalf of Ari only because of the author's descriptions of her, which I'm positive other readers have pointed out in their reviews, so I won't even get into it here. Ari was the only half decent character and that just isn't enough to keep me reading. Liam? Oh, you mean someone could possibly be even more whiny and self-pitying than Marissa? She dumped you after one ridiculous "date" if it can be even called that, she didn't cheat on you or divorce you. There's that one prince who is missing, but it's never really established why anyone would really care, since by the virtue of being a "prince" character, he's like some slimy douchebag and we are told that straight out. Need I mention again that all characters are supposed to be caricatures?
Every scene in this book was so forced and unrealistic, including Marissa's love for Liam - which is actually worse than in any YA novel that I've read so far, and that's saying a lot - that I found myself speeding through scenes in some kind of desperate hope that the plot or something would eventually get better. The whole setup about matching a prince and a princess together was ridiculous...because "men are stupid," right? Are we all 12 and actually think this is how people get together? Scratch that, I tutor 12 year old kids who would laugh their heads off at the thought. Oh, Marissa jumped out of a building out of TRUUUUUE LOVE for Liam? *Now cue the friend who literally can't wait to inform the guy that Marissa just did that out of TRUUUUUUE Love!* Are you kidding me?
Okay, I'll end my rant here. The best thing I can say about this book is that maybe this book just wasn't for me. Maybe pgs 375-498 were amazing. Unfortunately, I gave this book at least three too many chances already and life's short, I have a long list of much better books to read.
January 18, 2015
Mon avis en Français
My English review
I love all the stories related to tales, or even faes and fairies, so when I saw the summary I knew it was perfect for me. Also, have you seen this cover? I think that right now many novels come out with beautiful illustrations and it’s true that I succumb every time! So once again, I fell for this new one.
Marissa has not had an easy life so far. Young, her parents gave up on her so that her sister could live normally, being sick at birth. In return, she must now work for Grimm and do whatever he asks for. And so she has worked for years after darkened her memories about her parents. But what exactly is this agency? Grimm is able to make your wishes come true against a specific payment. The latest? Marissa must help a princess to make succumb a prince. To do that she charms him, let him fall in love with her and leaves him thereafter for the princess, so she can come to comfort him. But then, nothing goes as planned and our young heroine could well be taken at her own game by falling herself in love with the young man. In addition, a war is brewing, the sealed for the world of fae is gone and they will do anything to get it back, no matter how many people they have to kill for it. Anything else? Oh yes, because a new fairy godmother appears, taking a dislike in Marissa and she determined to make her pay for every insult she did.
I enjoyed discovering this heroine with a fiery temperament but nevertheless remains very fragile in all circumstances. It hurts my heart to see the young woman succumbing to Liam, knowing that she can not keep him to herself but all this is just the beginning of something much bigger. She does not hesitate to take action, trying to do her best and after following the orders so far, she wants to manage her own decisions. She will discover throughout the story that having friends can change her monotonous life and that she is actually very good at getting into catastrophic situations.
During the story, we learn more about the young woman and her past. Furthermore we discover that sometimes wishes that we want are not necessarily what will make us happy. Through it, we also meet Ari, a Princess that Marissa will have to protect and despite her naivety, she starts to have a place in our heart. She thirsts for freedom, wants to find out what she can do in this new world and help Marissa and following her seems to please her a lot. There is of course the false prince, Liam, whose relationship with the young woman touches us and we always hope that a good relationship can be formed between the two.
It was a very good first novel that poses a lot of things and I’m looking forward to read more now to learn more at the same time about the world that the author has created. On top of that, many stories are developing, finally binding perfectly over the chapters. Did I forget to mention the blessings and curses that the young woman has received and that exist in the form of little people with a strong nature? Because we can only love them.
In any case I had a great time I am curious to read more!
My English review
I love all the stories related to tales, or even faes and fairies, so when I saw the summary I knew it was perfect for me. Also, have you seen this cover? I think that right now many novels come out with beautiful illustrations and it’s true that I succumb every time! So once again, I fell for this new one.
Marissa has not had an easy life so far. Young, her parents gave up on her so that her sister could live normally, being sick at birth. In return, she must now work for Grimm and do whatever he asks for. And so she has worked for years after darkened her memories about her parents. But what exactly is this agency? Grimm is able to make your wishes come true against a specific payment. The latest? Marissa must help a princess to make succumb a prince. To do that she charms him, let him fall in love with her and leaves him thereafter for the princess, so she can come to comfort him. But then, nothing goes as planned and our young heroine could well be taken at her own game by falling herself in love with the young man. In addition, a war is brewing, the sealed for the world of fae is gone and they will do anything to get it back, no matter how many people they have to kill for it. Anything else? Oh yes, because a new fairy godmother appears, taking a dislike in Marissa and she determined to make her pay for every insult she did.
I enjoyed discovering this heroine with a fiery temperament but nevertheless remains very fragile in all circumstances. It hurts my heart to see the young woman succumbing to Liam, knowing that she can not keep him to herself but all this is just the beginning of something much bigger. She does not hesitate to take action, trying to do her best and after following the orders so far, she wants to manage her own decisions. She will discover throughout the story that having friends can change her monotonous life and that she is actually very good at getting into catastrophic situations.
During the story, we learn more about the young woman and her past. Furthermore we discover that sometimes wishes that we want are not necessarily what will make us happy. Through it, we also meet Ari, a Princess that Marissa will have to protect and despite her naivety, she starts to have a place in our heart. She thirsts for freedom, wants to find out what she can do in this new world and help Marissa and following her seems to please her a lot. There is of course the false prince, Liam, whose relationship with the young woman touches us and we always hope that a good relationship can be formed between the two.
It was a very good first novel that poses a lot of things and I’m looking forward to read more now to learn more at the same time about the world that the author has created. On top of that, many stories are developing, finally binding perfectly over the chapters. Did I forget to mention the blessings and curses that the young woman has received and that exist in the form of little people with a strong nature? Because we can only love them.
In any case I had a great time I am curious to read more!
November 25, 2014
Great premise. The blurb on this book totally sucked me in. Sounding promising, fresh and fun.
The reality? Not so good. The author completely failed to deliver. The main character - Marissa - was too YA, unsympathetic, bitchy (without the fun factor) unnecessarily mean, and inconsistent.
All the characters in this novel are kind of unlikeable. And the author failed to make me believe in the H & h attraction - which sets up the rest of the book to fail as the h's reasoning for a lot of her decisions never ring true.
There are too many clichés in this story to count. h working for a mystical organisation, against her will, she's a screw up so things always go wrong but she gets the job done usually with a high body count/property damage so she seems to think this makes everything okay. I really wish she'd been a bad ass agent and embraced her role. That was the story I wanted to read.
This premise could have been delivered in a hundred different ways - what a pity the author chose this route.
The reality? Not so good. The author completely failed to deliver. The main character - Marissa - was too YA, unsympathetic, bitchy (without the fun factor) unnecessarily mean, and inconsistent.
All the characters in this novel are kind of unlikeable. And the author failed to make me believe in the H & h attraction - which sets up the rest of the book to fail as the h's reasoning for a lot of her decisions never ring true.
There are too many clichés in this story to count. h working for a mystical organisation, against her will, she's a screw up so things always go wrong but she gets the job done usually with a high body count/property damage so she seems to think this makes everything okay. I really wish she'd been a bad ass agent and embraced her role. That was the story I wanted to read.
This premise could have been delivered in a hundred different ways - what a pity the author chose this route.
November 5, 2014
A twisted land where fairy tales come to life and the young woman bound by magic unable to leave it all behind. Free Agent is the perfect blend of fairy tale, paranormal, urban fantasy and a dash of romance. If you enjoy any of those, you have to pick up this book.
Grimm is Marissa’s boss, the one she is connected to no matter what she tries to give him the slip. She is good at what she does, she always completes her assignments. But when she starts to fall for the Prince she should be setting up, she ends up sending a curse his way and becomes wedged in the middle of a fairy war.
The plot is fun and engaging. The twists on the various fairy tale characters are new and full of attitude. Basically, reading Free Agent is fun. The only thing that would be better is if we had Grimm Agency #2 ready and waiting!
Grimm is Marissa’s boss, the one she is connected to no matter what she tries to give him the slip. She is good at what she does, she always completes her assignments. But when she starts to fall for the Prince she should be setting up, she ends up sending a curse his way and becomes wedged in the middle of a fairy war.
The plot is fun and engaging. The twists on the various fairy tale characters are new and full of attitude. Basically, reading Free Agent is fun. The only thing that would be better is if we had Grimm Agency #2 ready and waiting!
September 26, 2018
2.5 stars. Ok paranormal/fairy tale series about a woman whose parents sold her into indentured servitude working for the Grimm Agency. (I know, that's amazingly unhelpful even by my reviewette standards, but pretty much anything else I can say would be a spoiler.)
August 16, 2014
Disclosure: I received a review copy from the publicist in exchange for a honest review.
Free Agent jumped on my radar months ago. I haven’t read any Urban Fantasies that tackled classic fairy-tales and was curious how it would be. The beginning of the book was kind of hard getting into; it was so different from the usual types of Urban Fantasies I read. It had a lot going on and if I had to describe this book in one word it’d be wacky. However, being wacky was a good thing! After a few chapters, I found myself immersed in Marissa’s world where the only currency that matters is glitter (Yes, you read that right) and High Kingdom/Low Kingdom is superimposed over our world, and only those with magic can enter…or in Marissa’s case a special bracelet from her boss Grimm, The Fairy Godfather. Marissa is Grimm’s agent; she works the odd jobs from disposing an imp to being the ‘wrong girl’ (to know what I mean, you got to read the book!) hoping to pay off her parent’s debt.
It took a few chapters for me to get invested into the story and in our main heroine and narrator, Marissa. I’ll admit I wasn’t so keen with the world building, everything I read seemed so comical from the glitter currency, Marissa dressing up in a red cape and using pigs to barter with the wolves, to matching a prince and princess for a HEA ending. But I was so wrong. Nelson actually made everything work, and no sooner I found myself unable to put down the book. Even when I did put it down, my mind kept going back to the book desperate to find out what will happen next. I ended up enjoying Free Agent more than I expected. The world that Nelson created is so unique and unlike anything I’ve ever read; with all the fairy-tales you can think of incorporated but with Nelson adding his own personal spin on it.
I really like the main character Marissa. She’s been barter by her parents at the age of 16 in exchange to help save her little sister Hope’s life and you’d think anyone being an indenture servant/agent would have a crummy attitude or outlook on life but Marissa takes everything in great strides. Marissa is only human, relying on magical gadgets and potions to get the job done but what she lacks in magic/power she makes up for in personality and heart. Another character that stood out from the crowd was Princess Arianna (Ari) who happens to be one of the agency’s clients in search of a Prince. Most of the Prince and Princess are described as ridiculously good-looking and of course stuck-up but Ari is the complete opposite. Ari is seen as an underdog and second string princess at the start of the book but progressed greatly into her own person who was strong and independent by the end of the book.
Free Agent is an exciting action packed debut that will have you up till the early morning and laughing out loud till your inside hurts. I love everything about this new series. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for something creative, fresh and unique. Free Agent is a boat load of fun with plenty of snarky dialogue to boot. I’m already looking forward to the sequel, Armageddon Rules which comes out next February. I’m already counting down the days…7 more months to go! LOL.
Free Agent jumped on my radar months ago. I haven’t read any Urban Fantasies that tackled classic fairy-tales and was curious how it would be. The beginning of the book was kind of hard getting into; it was so different from the usual types of Urban Fantasies I read. It had a lot going on and if I had to describe this book in one word it’d be wacky. However, being wacky was a good thing! After a few chapters, I found myself immersed in Marissa’s world where the only currency that matters is glitter (Yes, you read that right) and High Kingdom/Low Kingdom is superimposed over our world, and only those with magic can enter…or in Marissa’s case a special bracelet from her boss Grimm, The Fairy Godfather. Marissa is Grimm’s agent; she works the odd jobs from disposing an imp to being the ‘wrong girl’ (to know what I mean, you got to read the book!) hoping to pay off her parent’s debt.
It took a few chapters for me to get invested into the story and in our main heroine and narrator, Marissa. I’ll admit I wasn’t so keen with the world building, everything I read seemed so comical from the glitter currency, Marissa dressing up in a red cape and using pigs to barter with the wolves, to matching a prince and princess for a HEA ending. But I was so wrong. Nelson actually made everything work, and no sooner I found myself unable to put down the book. Even when I did put it down, my mind kept going back to the book desperate to find out what will happen next. I ended up enjoying Free Agent more than I expected. The world that Nelson created is so unique and unlike anything I’ve ever read; with all the fairy-tales you can think of incorporated but with Nelson adding his own personal spin on it.
I really like the main character Marissa. She’s been barter by her parents at the age of 16 in exchange to help save her little sister Hope’s life and you’d think anyone being an indenture servant/agent would have a crummy attitude or outlook on life but Marissa takes everything in great strides. Marissa is only human, relying on magical gadgets and potions to get the job done but what she lacks in magic/power she makes up for in personality and heart. Another character that stood out from the crowd was Princess Arianna (Ari) who happens to be one of the agency’s clients in search of a Prince. Most of the Prince and Princess are described as ridiculously good-looking and of course stuck-up but Ari is the complete opposite. Ari is seen as an underdog and second string princess at the start of the book but progressed greatly into her own person who was strong and independent by the end of the book.
Free Agent is an exciting action packed debut that will have you up till the early morning and laughing out loud till your inside hurts. I love everything about this new series. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for something creative, fresh and unique. Free Agent is a boat load of fun with plenty of snarky dialogue to boot. I’m already looking forward to the sequel, Armageddon Rules which comes out next February. I’m already counting down the days…7 more months to go! LOL.
August 6, 2015
Original Post:
Someday her Prince will Come, Maybe: FREE AGENT by J. C. Nelson
http://fangswandsandfairydust.com/201...
Audiobook provided by publisher for review purposes. No remuneration was exchanged and all opinion presented herein is my own except as noted.
I should probably have learned by now that when I am dealing with a new-to-me urban fantasy world, I need to do it in print. I spent the first few hours of this wondering why the Grim Reaper, with whom I confused this Grimm, wasn’t killing people or “taking souls home.” The rest of this book, about an indentured servant working for the man in the magic mirror, Grimm, confused me similarly:
Was Marissa’s magic cell phone back to Grimm through her bracelet or her compact?
Her parental abandonment is stated but other arrangements were hinted at.
Was she pretty or plain, does she have magic or not, and the guy she falls for, what is he?
Fae, fairies, gin, First-rate and second-rate nobility — there’s a very structured class system but I did not get it.
I imagine the story would have been much better read in print than listened to in audio. I certainly thought a lot of it was inventive; especially Grimm’s ability to jump from one surface to another. It reminds me of when I first saw people talking on nearly invisible headsets on the street and thought they were crazy people talking to who or whatever.
Marissa should be a more likeable character: her backstory should inspire sympathy. But she is so hard and acts so tough that it is only through her acts of rescue and heroics that we see there is probably a decent person beneath the hard shell. Even then, she often attributes her behavior to a profit motive. I do not understand her attraction to the guy to whom she is ultimately interested, it would be like falling in love with the guy with the worst table manners ever. And, I never understood what happens with his status of human or magical. Other things I did not get is if this is a world wherein regular humans know about the magic world, the differences between the fae and fairies, and a curse on Marissa.
I enjoyed the difference between magical money, called “glitter,” and mundane money or items of value. And I liked how one accrued and stored up glitter. And I liked the development of a real friendship between Marissa and one of her clients. All her other “friends” are ambivalent or worse.
In essence, this book is important for setting up the series, but that made it a hard book to understand on audio. Whether the remaining books are easier to listen to or read I cannot say. What about you: have you read this series? What do you think about it in print or on audio?
Someday her Prince will Come, Maybe: FREE AGENT by J. C. Nelson
http://fangswandsandfairydust.com/201...
Audiobook provided by publisher for review purposes. No remuneration was exchanged and all opinion presented herein is my own except as noted.
I should probably have learned by now that when I am dealing with a new-to-me urban fantasy world, I need to do it in print. I spent the first few hours of this wondering why the Grim Reaper, with whom I confused this Grimm, wasn’t killing people or “taking souls home.” The rest of this book, about an indentured servant working for the man in the magic mirror, Grimm, confused me similarly:
Was Marissa’s magic cell phone back to Grimm through her bracelet or her compact?
Her parental abandonment is stated but other arrangements were hinted at.
Was she pretty or plain, does she have magic or not, and the guy she falls for, what is he?
Fae, fairies, gin, First-rate and second-rate nobility — there’s a very structured class system but I did not get it.
I imagine the story would have been much better read in print than listened to in audio. I certainly thought a lot of it was inventive; especially Grimm’s ability to jump from one surface to another. It reminds me of when I first saw people talking on nearly invisible headsets on the street and thought they were crazy people talking to who or whatever.
Marissa should be a more likeable character: her backstory should inspire sympathy. But she is so hard and acts so tough that it is only through her acts of rescue and heroics that we see there is probably a decent person beneath the hard shell. Even then, she often attributes her behavior to a profit motive. I do not understand her attraction to the guy to whom she is ultimately interested, it would be like falling in love with the guy with the worst table manners ever. And, I never understood what happens with his status of human or magical. Other things I did not get is if this is a world wherein regular humans know about the magic world, the differences between the fae and fairies, and a curse on Marissa.
I enjoyed the difference between magical money, called “glitter,” and mundane money or items of value. And I liked how one accrued and stored up glitter. And I liked the development of a real friendship between Marissa and one of her clients. All her other “friends” are ambivalent or worse.
In essence, this book is important for setting up the series, but that made it a hard book to understand on audio. Whether the remaining books are easier to listen to or read I cannot say. What about you: have you read this series? What do you think about it in print or on audio?
August 6, 2014
This was a fun story, with great twists on the classic fairytales. It was a mystery, romance, and urban fantasy all rolled into one book. There was humor, action, and a problem of world-ending proportions. My kind of book!!
The heroine, Marissa, was likable. I felt bad for her because of how she ended up working for Grimm's Agency, but I loved that she made the best of things. Tough, smart, and resourceful, I think she was a great narrator for the story. Marissa had her flaws though, like when she acted without thinking and tended to be a bit mean to undeserving people. But the Marissa we met at the beginning of the story was very different from Marissa at the end, and I always appreciate that.
The side characters of this book were interesting, and not always how I thought they were. First, there was Grimm. I went back and forth between trusting, hating, and liking him. In the end, my feelings toward his character are firmly in the "like" camp. The author made us see things so firmly from Marissa's point of view, that I was surprised when revelations came out about how Grimm was actually treating Marissa. I loved it!! Then, there was Ari. She definitely turned out to be a better and more likable character than I thought. Instead of being girly and shallow, Ari ended up being someone that Marissa considered her one friend. Finally, there was Liam. I loved his more relaxed take on life, and how he didn't take anything too seriously. The relationship between he and Marissa was very complex, given what Marissa's job was when she met them. But I did really like it, because I can tell that they'll be good for one another.
The plot of this story was fun, fast, and original. It followed Marissa as she worked through various cases for Grimm. Through these assignments, she met Ari and Liam, got blessed/cursed by a Fae Mother, an tried to fend off a war of epic proportions while trying not to die or get entangled with evil fairies. It was some really great reading, and it kept me up seriously late.
Overall, I definitely recommend this book. It looks like the start of a really unique series, where fairytales aren't always as the seem, and happily ever afters aren't quite so happy. The world is interesting, and the characters are fun. I'm already looking forward to Marissa's next adventure!
The heroine, Marissa, was likable. I felt bad for her because of how she ended up working for Grimm's Agency, but I loved that she made the best of things. Tough, smart, and resourceful, I think she was a great narrator for the story. Marissa had her flaws though, like when she acted without thinking and tended to be a bit mean to undeserving people. But the Marissa we met at the beginning of the story was very different from Marissa at the end, and I always appreciate that.
The side characters of this book were interesting, and not always how I thought they were. First, there was Grimm. I went back and forth between trusting, hating, and liking him. In the end, my feelings toward his character are firmly in the "like" camp. The author made us see things so firmly from Marissa's point of view, that I was surprised when revelations came out about how Grimm was actually treating Marissa. I loved it!! Then, there was Ari. She definitely turned out to be a better and more likable character than I thought. Instead of being girly and shallow, Ari ended up being someone that Marissa considered her one friend. Finally, there was Liam. I loved his more relaxed take on life, and how he didn't take anything too seriously. The relationship between he and Marissa was very complex, given what Marissa's job was when she met them. But I did really like it, because I can tell that they'll be good for one another.
The plot of this story was fun, fast, and original. It followed Marissa as she worked through various cases for Grimm. Through these assignments, she met Ari and Liam, got blessed/cursed by a Fae Mother, an tried to fend off a war of epic proportions while trying not to die or get entangled with evil fairies. It was some really great reading, and it kept me up seriously late.
Overall, I definitely recommend this book. It looks like the start of a really unique series, where fairytales aren't always as the seem, and happily ever afters aren't quite so happy. The world is interesting, and the characters are fun. I'm already looking forward to Marissa's next adventure!
March 1, 2015
*Genre* Urban Fantasy
*Rating* 3.0
*My Thoughts*
Free Agent is the first installment in the Grimm Agency series by J.C. Nelson. Nelson is a male author who tells his story through the eyes of 24-year old Marissa Lock. Marissa is a character who you can't but help feel a bit of concern for. Sold to Fairy Godfather Grimm on her 16th birthday, she then went to work for him on her 18th birthday. For 6 years, she has had to do pretty much whatever he tells her to do, and can't get out of her contract/servitude until her parents debts are paid off.
What's a girl to do? If you are Marissa, you face off against evil Queens, princes with agendas, goblins, Fae, Trolls, witches, wolves, dancing princesses, and a Fairy Godmother who wants to start a war. You come face to face a princess (Ari) you truly hate, but she ends up being your only real friend. You also find yourself falling in love with your mistaken prince (Liam Stone), and learn that he's half dragon. You also clean up massacres, work with the IRS, and hunt down serial killers.
*Full Review Posting @ Gizmos Reviews 03/01/2015. Link to Follow*
Published: July 29th 2014 by Ace
*Rating* 3.0
*My Thoughts*
Free Agent is the first installment in the Grimm Agency series by J.C. Nelson. Nelson is a male author who tells his story through the eyes of 24-year old Marissa Lock. Marissa is a character who you can't but help feel a bit of concern for. Sold to Fairy Godfather Grimm on her 16th birthday, she then went to work for him on her 18th birthday. For 6 years, she has had to do pretty much whatever he tells her to do, and can't get out of her contract/servitude until her parents debts are paid off.
What's a girl to do? If you are Marissa, you face off against evil Queens, princes with agendas, goblins, Fae, Trolls, witches, wolves, dancing princesses, and a Fairy Godmother who wants to start a war. You come face to face a princess (Ari) you truly hate, but she ends up being your only real friend. You also find yourself falling in love with your mistaken prince (Liam Stone), and learn that he's half dragon. You also clean up massacres, work with the IRS, and hunt down serial killers.
*Full Review Posting @ Gizmos Reviews 03/01/2015. Link to Follow*
Published: July 29th 2014 by Ace
March 13, 2015
I refuse to feel guilty about loving Free Agent and giving it 5 stars. Yes, there are small parts of this book that express sentiments of which I do not approve, but those sentiments are MARISSA'S since the book is set in first person. When she is 16, Marissa's life is given to the Fairy Godfather in trade for a wish to save her sister. For six years, she has seen princesses getting 'happily ever afters' simply because they are princesses. She has risked her life and fixed magical problems every day, and she sees no chance for a happily ever after for herself. She is angry, bitter, hurt, and very tired. So, she is not kind and understanding because she sees no place for those emotions in the hell in which she currently lives. However, Free Agent is not a depressing book; it is a snarky urban fantasy with great characters. Bad things happen; Marissa discovers some truths about herself, uncovers some mysteries, and may have found a type of happily ever after. I look forward to book #2, Armageddon Rules.
My library has Armageddon Rules, and I need some snarky urban fantasy, so I am going to reread Free Agent, then read Soul Ink, and hope my library copy of AR is in.
My library has Armageddon Rules, and I need some snarky urban fantasy, so I am going to reread Free Agent, then read Soul Ink, and hope my library copy of AR is in.
April 14, 2015
I am in deep heart feel with this book.
It was so fun, I mean like, remember when you were a kid and everything you did, like pretending to being anything, was out of this world fun? Yeah this was that.
The banter was amazing and at times it made me laugh out loud. It had everything I ever wanted in a wacked out fairy tale alternate world. . If I didn't know this was part of a series it could have been a standalone.
My feels are exploding knowing it's not a stand alone!
I have to say, you have to go into this book with an open mind, don't expect it to be the traditional Fairy Tales and Happy Ever Afters type deal, because you will be sadly disappointed.
Can't wait for the next book!
Chow!
It was so fun, I mean like, remember when you were a kid and everything you did, like pretending to being anything, was out of this world fun? Yeah this was that.
The banter was amazing and at times it made me laugh out loud. It had everything I ever wanted in a wacked out fairy tale alternate world. . If I didn't know this was part of a series it could have been a standalone.
My feels are exploding knowing it's not a stand alone!
I have to say, you have to go into this book with an open mind, don't expect it to be the traditional Fairy Tales and Happy Ever Afters type deal, because you will be sadly disappointed.
Can't wait for the next book!
Chow!
July 15, 2014
I received this book as an ARC, here from GoodReads. Right from the beginning "Free Agent" piqued my interest with its new take on classic fairytales. I was completely taken by surprise at every twist and turn this novel took; it came to the point that I was willing to skip ahead to the last chapter, just to quell my need to know (which I thankfully avoided doing). The ending was a bit abrupt, and in my opinion, could have been developed more. Other than that, i enjoyed this novel and am looking forward to the next one.
August 12, 2014
This was definitely a good read. I loved the characters and the story line. Having never heard of a Fairy Godfather, or encountered one before, I was wondering what it would be like to work for one and Marissa gives as good as she gets. I cannot wait for the next book in the series, visiting with Marissa, Grimm, Ari, Liam and even Rosa was a blast. This book made me laugh, cry and smile throughout the pages. Great story, clear writing and an author j.C Nelson I will definitely read again.
October 19, 2015
A delicious way to incorporate Grimm's Fairy Tales. Enjoyed little mentions of obscure stories that haven't quite made it into Disney movies. NEED MORE.
October 28, 2015
The idea was great but the book was mediocre... the world-building is a bit confusing and the author really could have done better, but I enjoyed the reading and maybe I would read the next one.
March 17, 2019
Un univers relativement original et des personnages qui sont plutôt intéressants malgré quelques déception.
Alors oui il y a des clichés, mais l'héroïne évolue tout doucement. On aurait aimé une plus grande évolution une plus grande réflexion sur ses préjusés mais bon.
J'ai aimé l'univers, mais j'ai tout de même trouvé les explications un peu confuses
Les personnages avaient pas mal de potentiels mais ne sont pas assez exploités à mon goûts. Pour Ari et Liam on peut le comprendre et ça viendra, mais pour les collègues de Marissa j'en attendais un peu plus, je reste sur ma faim. Je n'ai pas vraiment compris leur hostilité envers elle. Ok, on n'est pas obligé d'être ultra proche de ses collègues de travail, mais là j'ai trouvé que c'était un peu étrange ce côté "prof"/"je ne t'aime pas".
Alors oui il y a des clichés, mais l'héroïne évolue tout doucement. On aurait aimé une plus grande évolution une plus grande réflexion sur ses préjusés mais bon.
J'ai aimé l'univers, mais j'ai tout de même trouvé les explications un peu confuses
Les personnages avaient pas mal de potentiels mais ne sont pas assez exploités à mon goûts. Pour Ari et Liam on peut le comprendre et ça viendra, mais pour les collègues de Marissa j'en attendais un peu plus, je reste sur ma faim. Je n'ai pas vraiment compris leur hostilité envers elle. Ok, on n'est pas obligé d'être ultra proche de ses collègues de travail, mais là j'ai trouvé que c'était un peu étrange ce côté "prof"/"je ne t'aime pas".
May 10, 2018
Fast, fun read with slightly over-the-top violence (think Shelly Laurenston). The mix of fairytale and modern setting felt fresh to me and the plot was nicely unpredictable. I liked how Marissa's initially dismissive impression of princess Arianna gradually turns into friendship by the end and how her relationship to her employer Grimm is complicated by her backstory.
Quibble: It felt strange that "fae" and "fairy" were two very different peoples.
Quibble: It felt strange that "fae" and "fairy" were two very different peoples.
March 4, 2019
More of a pleasant stroll than riveting action adventure. Has a young adult feel to it although the main character is young twenties. Basically ok - no superlatives to lavish on it and no degradations.
April 18, 2015
Marissa works for Grimm who runs the Agency. He’s a fairy and he grants wishes – your happily ever after can be yours!
For a price – a price paid in hard earned Glitter, the essence of magic. It’s the high cost of glitter and the desperate need for a wish that led Marissa’s parents to sell her to Grimm in the first place. Now she works saving kids from wolves, ensuring princesses and princes fall in love (dumping the princes and letting the princess pick up the pieces is surprisingly effective) and generally counting the glitter until she earns her freedom.
But her latest routine job, matchmaking a prince and princess, goes terribly wrong – and it just escalates from there. A prince has gone missing, the fae are set to invade the Kingdom and Marissa has caught the attention of a fae queen and the big bad from every fairy tale ever. And there’s a new fairy godmother in town, maliciously granting Marissa’s heart’s desire and Grimm doesn’t appreciate people muscling in on his turf.
In the past I have seen books with gritty fairy tales and, I have to say, they haven’t really worked. The silly tone and the dark tone together just haven’t really worked, it’s been a strain and it’s been a stretch and the conflicting elements didn’t work well together
This one worked
It worked because it didn’t try to push an idea of the silly, lightness that fairy tale depictions often try for. This may be silly at times, but it’s not light and it keeps the grim going. This has a woman running off with Glass Slippers that try to possess her. This is a world where Red Riding Hood is so named because she dipped her cloak in the blood of the wolves she slaughtered. This is a world where mirror-living fairy godparents are vastly powerful beings that hand out magical wishes at exorbitant fees (paid for in the ever precious “Glitter”) and that includes parents selling children into indentured servitude to pay for desperate wishes.
This is a world where the high magic and wonder of fairy tales is included but without any jarring elements. The Disney is pushed back, the contrasts used for jarring contrast and amusement more than jolly little giggles. The whole theme and tone works, it really works with none of the ill-fitting elements I’m used to. When there’s comic relief it’s more because of things added like the Gnomish postal service hating Marissa because she ran one of them over. It doesn’t rely on fairy tales made dark to make us laugh. It has fairy tales and it has humour but it isn’t FLUFFY
The world always keeps that magical fairy tale touch and the re-imagining really works; we have royal houses with Princes and Princesses with all the fairy tale elements in the Kingdom – which is a wonderful mash up of castles, swords and sorcery and skyscrapers and CEOs. It has some delightful moments like a princess converting a hellhound (because princesses and animals!) and some deep edgy moments like the origin of witches.
Which brings us to our protagonist, Marissa – and excellent mix of hope, cynicism, youth, experience, confidence and doubt. She’s the indentured servant to Grimm, a fairy (and therefore ultimate power) because her parents sold her. She has a lot of desperate hope for the future and because of that she isn’t really living her life – but nor does she have any solid plans for her future either beyond some nebulous hope. She matures a lot over the process of the book, realising she’s not as good as she thinks she is in some cases while also discovering new confidence in other. She also takes direction in her life – as an indentured servant, an effective slave, she’s had very little in the way of choice about which way her life goes or what she does and she finds her agency, her choices and her power over the course of this book. And all of that while being the mundane person in a sea of people with woo-woo.
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For a price – a price paid in hard earned Glitter, the essence of magic. It’s the high cost of glitter and the desperate need for a wish that led Marissa’s parents to sell her to Grimm in the first place. Now she works saving kids from wolves, ensuring princesses and princes fall in love (dumping the princes and letting the princess pick up the pieces is surprisingly effective) and generally counting the glitter until she earns her freedom.
But her latest routine job, matchmaking a prince and princess, goes terribly wrong – and it just escalates from there. A prince has gone missing, the fae are set to invade the Kingdom and Marissa has caught the attention of a fae queen and the big bad from every fairy tale ever. And there’s a new fairy godmother in town, maliciously granting Marissa’s heart’s desire and Grimm doesn’t appreciate people muscling in on his turf.
In the past I have seen books with gritty fairy tales and, I have to say, they haven’t really worked. The silly tone and the dark tone together just haven’t really worked, it’s been a strain and it’s been a stretch and the conflicting elements didn’t work well together
This one worked
It worked because it didn’t try to push an idea of the silly, lightness that fairy tale depictions often try for. This may be silly at times, but it’s not light and it keeps the grim going. This has a woman running off with Glass Slippers that try to possess her. This is a world where Red Riding Hood is so named because she dipped her cloak in the blood of the wolves she slaughtered. This is a world where mirror-living fairy godparents are vastly powerful beings that hand out magical wishes at exorbitant fees (paid for in the ever precious “Glitter”) and that includes parents selling children into indentured servitude to pay for desperate wishes.
This is a world where the high magic and wonder of fairy tales is included but without any jarring elements. The Disney is pushed back, the contrasts used for jarring contrast and amusement more than jolly little giggles. The whole theme and tone works, it really works with none of the ill-fitting elements I’m used to. When there’s comic relief it’s more because of things added like the Gnomish postal service hating Marissa because she ran one of them over. It doesn’t rely on fairy tales made dark to make us laugh. It has fairy tales and it has humour but it isn’t FLUFFY
The world always keeps that magical fairy tale touch and the re-imagining really works; we have royal houses with Princes and Princesses with all the fairy tale elements in the Kingdom – which is a wonderful mash up of castles, swords and sorcery and skyscrapers and CEOs. It has some delightful moments like a princess converting a hellhound (because princesses and animals!) and some deep edgy moments like the origin of witches.
Which brings us to our protagonist, Marissa – and excellent mix of hope, cynicism, youth, experience, confidence and doubt. She’s the indentured servant to Grimm, a fairy (and therefore ultimate power) because her parents sold her. She has a lot of desperate hope for the future and because of that she isn’t really living her life – but nor does she have any solid plans for her future either beyond some nebulous hope. She matures a lot over the process of the book, realising she’s not as good as she thinks she is in some cases while also discovering new confidence in other. She also takes direction in her life – as an indentured servant, an effective slave, she’s had very little in the way of choice about which way her life goes or what she does and she finds her agency, her choices and her power over the course of this book. And all of that while being the mundane person in a sea of people with woo-woo.
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August 7, 2014
This review was originally posted on Backchatting Books
Marissa Locks works for Grimm, the fairy godfather. Yep, only he isn't exactly like the fairy godmother that usually pops up in fairytales as he's more like a powerful Godfather who forces Marissa to work off her parents' magical debt. One of Marissa's stock in trade jobs is getting a prince to lust after her and then breaking his heart so a princess can pick up the pieces and get her happily ever after. Twelfth time however is not the charm and something goes terribly wrong. Grimm isn't happy, the princess isn't happy and Marissa has a limited time to sort things out.
It took a little while to warm to Marissa as she was just so world-weary and cold. Making friends with Arianna, the princess, was the start of her rehabilitation for me as she had something else to focus on rather than her slave status and her work. I particularly liked her grit in the face of her severe injuries she suffered. I probably would have curled up into a foetal position and stared blankly at a wall for days but like all true urban fantasy heroines, she kept getting back up and trying to make a difference.
The secondary characters are a delight but my favourites would have to be Arianna (just call her Ari) for her perkiness in the face of disaster, Liam for enduring a baptism of fire and Grimm for maintaining his murky motives through most of the novel. I also had a soft spot for Ari's step-mother as every fairytale needs a malevolent villainess.
The plot is messy with different strands all tangled up but on reflection, I think that suited the novel. To get a princess her happily ever after requires intricate planning and one wrong move has a ripple effect. Marissa makes that mistake and spends the rest of the novel trying to deal with the fall out which is frequently violent, highly entertaining and often confusing. Don't worry, Nelson weaves all the threads together nicely at the end. I don't want to give away many spoilers but there be apples, something scaly and a red hoodie within. I really liked the world that Nelson built up with formidable fae, magic mirrors and werewolves that can be bribed with bacon but as usual, I'm a little greedy and wanted to know more. Marissa's family really intrigued me as did Ari's and I hope that they get fleshed out more in the next novel.
You do have to invest a bit of time in this novel to really enjoy it as there is so much going on. Is it worth it though? Definitely.
Marissa Locks works for Grimm, the fairy godfather. Yep, only he isn't exactly like the fairy godmother that usually pops up in fairytales as he's more like a powerful Godfather who forces Marissa to work off her parents' magical debt. One of Marissa's stock in trade jobs is getting a prince to lust after her and then breaking his heart so a princess can pick up the pieces and get her happily ever after. Twelfth time however is not the charm and something goes terribly wrong. Grimm isn't happy, the princess isn't happy and Marissa has a limited time to sort things out.
It took a little while to warm to Marissa as she was just so world-weary and cold. Making friends with Arianna, the princess, was the start of her rehabilitation for me as she had something else to focus on rather than her slave status and her work. I particularly liked her grit in the face of her severe injuries she suffered. I probably would have curled up into a foetal position and stared blankly at a wall for days but like all true urban fantasy heroines, she kept getting back up and trying to make a difference.
The secondary characters are a delight but my favourites would have to be Arianna (just call her Ari) for her perkiness in the face of disaster, Liam for enduring a baptism of fire and Grimm for maintaining his murky motives through most of the novel. I also had a soft spot for Ari's step-mother as every fairytale needs a malevolent villainess.
The plot is messy with different strands all tangled up but on reflection, I think that suited the novel. To get a princess her happily ever after requires intricate planning and one wrong move has a ripple effect. Marissa makes that mistake and spends the rest of the novel trying to deal with the fall out which is frequently violent, highly entertaining and often confusing. Don't worry, Nelson weaves all the threads together nicely at the end. I don't want to give away many spoilers but there be apples, something scaly and a red hoodie within. I really liked the world that Nelson built up with formidable fae, magic mirrors and werewolves that can be bribed with bacon but as usual, I'm a little greedy and wanted to know more. Marissa's family really intrigued me as did Ari's and I hope that they get fleshed out more in the next novel.
You do have to invest a bit of time in this novel to really enjoy it as there is so much going on. Is it worth it though? Definitely.
June 24, 2015
3.5 stars
To pay off the debt of her parents, Marissa Locks works for Grimm, a Fairy Godfather whose job is to grant wishes. Although it's not the job of her dreams, everything was going pretty well until a love at first sight between a prince and a princess turns into a nightmare with scary fairy, a curse and a blessing, and a lot of dead people and future war with fae ...
I love fairy tales, really. But there ... The main problem with this book is that it starts to get interesting around 80% =S The summary looked good but it took me a VERY long time to get into the story ...
The author's style was nice but not great (a little more humor would have been nice and especially more action !!), the universe was muddled (Where are we exactly ?? In a medieval or a modern world ?? Who are the various factions ?? What are their stories ??) and the plot and subplots were superficial (Everything goes too well and too fast for the hero and finally I was quite bored ... )
The characters were also too shallow and not very engaging. I don't get attached to Marissa who was very artificial (few feelings, blurring past and inconsistent reactions ...) and the guy Liam ... Well I think any feelings I could feel for him are definitely dead when he began eating with his fingers to their date >< It was just yuck x)
Other minor characters were just as flat and uninteresting (except for Ari and Grimm who were perhaps more interesting to follow =))
The only thing that I liked was the blessing and the curse that take tangible form and who were endearing in some way =)
In short, a book that could have been great ... Except not.
PS: Maybe read it right after a great Mercy Thompson did not play in its favor ...
To pay off the debt of her parents, Marissa Locks works for Grimm, a Fairy Godfather whose job is to grant wishes. Although it's not the job of her dreams, everything was going pretty well until a love at first sight between a prince and a princess turns into a nightmare with scary fairy, a curse and a blessing, and a lot of dead people and future war with fae ...
I love fairy tales, really. But there ... The main problem with this book is that it starts to get interesting around 80% =S The summary looked good but it took me a VERY long time to get into the story ...
The author's style was nice but not great (a little more humor would have been nice and especially more action !!), the universe was muddled (Where are we exactly ?? In a medieval or a modern world ?? Who are the various factions ?? What are their stories ??) and the plot and subplots were superficial (Everything goes too well and too fast for the hero and finally I was quite bored ... )
The characters were also too shallow and not very engaging. I don't get attached to Marissa who was very artificial (few feelings, blurring past and inconsistent reactions ...) and the guy Liam ... Well I think any feelings I could feel for him are definitely dead when he began eating with his fingers to their date >< It was just yuck x)
Other minor characters were just as flat and uninteresting (except for Ari and Grimm who were perhaps more interesting to follow =))
The only thing that I liked was the blessing and the curse that take tangible form and who were endearing in some way =)
In short, a book that could have been great ... Except not.
PS: Maybe read it right after a great Mercy Thompson did not play in its favor ...
February 18, 2017
I was debating giving it a 5star but I'm not sure if such a light read can really be put on the same line as epic fantasy classics.
What I really liked about this trilogy: 1) fresh jokes (boy, they are hard to find these days!); 2) the conversations about feelings seemed to be kept to a minimum (a huge difference from the norm in similar book series). The first book is stronger than the other two, but all of them are fine for an easy read.
What I really liked about this trilogy: 1) fresh jokes (boy, they are hard to find these days!); 2) the conversations about feelings seemed to be kept to a minimum (a huge difference from the norm in similar book series). The first book is stronger than the other two, but all of them are fine for an easy read.
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