Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between (Rhiannon's Law, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jan 30, 2011 Regina rated it liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy-uf

3.5 stars.

Urban fantasy is difficult for me to read right now and I guess, I can be difficult on urban fantasy books. But despite that, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The last half of this book is amazing. Everything clicked. Interesting characters and new plot developments that were surprising. The ending is a cliff hanger, but it is one of the coolest cliff hangers I have read and good news – the sequel is out already. So it is easy to dive in to the next one. For us who are just rea 3.5 stars.

Urban fantasy is difficult for me to read right now and I guess, I can be difficult on urban fantasy books. But despite that, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The last half of this book is amazing. Everything clicked. Interesting characters and new plot developments that were surprising. The ending is a cliff hanger, but it is one of the coolest cliff hangers I have read and good news – the sequel is out already. So it is easy to dive in to the next one. For us who are just reading this series now we can get immediate satisfaction. I should say that I did struggle with the first half of this book. Choppy scene endings and few, sometimes no, transitions to the next scene made it difficult to follow the action. Some of the sentences are oddly worded, so I did do some re-reading. I like kick-ass heroines, I do think Saare went over the top with Rhiannon’s character, for example at one point she makes a subtle weight joke about a secretary, which was just over the top in my opinion. And there are a quite a few repeated urban fantasy storylines from other series. So this book actually had a number of things going against it, but despite all of these things I was interested to keep reading. J.A. Saare, tells the story in a captivating way. It is good fun, in a new setting. What Saare does really well, is that she gets what makes a decent urban fantasy story – struggle. Nothing comes easy in this story. The main character is highly damaged from an abusive upbringing. Because of this, Rhiannon isolates herself emotionally. The characters each have to overcome barriers to get what they want; the hurdling of those barriers makes for good reading. And it isn’t a happy feel good book, although there is humor and a fun romance, good people die in painful and gruesome ways; not everything ends well. For me, all of this works together to put together a fun urban fantasy read. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy urban fantasy books and particularly, like watching the evolution and struggle of damaged characters.

Now, this is sort of off topic, but I have been avoiding urban fantasy books lately; after gorging myself for about 18 months on the genre, I started to get bored with newer series and all of the repeated themes. Vampire with abilities to read minds? Kick ass heroine who is also a necromancer? Virgin heroine, despite her being in her early to mid-twenties? Heroine who is scarred in one way or another and unable to exist in the world (strong empathy, strong psychic, sexually abused, orphaned, etc.)? Instant love/lust connection between heroine and the hero? Vampires mysteriously disappearing? The healing power of vampire blood? Freaky vampire children? Uber beautiful characters? Rudeness and snarkiness for humor? Frequent readers or even infrequent readers of the urban fantasy genre have seen all of these themes and more. And rarely, rarely are they presented in a new and interesting way .. which resulted in me avoiding the genre for awhile. So, aside from new releases in my favorite series, this is the first book in the genre I have read for awhile. What is it with this genre that there is a lack of new and innovative writing? Is the genre glutted? Have all ideas been explored? Just some thoughts not really related to this book.
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Dec 28, 2010 Sharon rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This story has all the things I love in a PNR/UF, but it was a little different. Usually the vampire hero is the angry, tortured soul and the human heroine is the one that calms the angry beast. In this story the heroine is one foul mouthed, messed up chick and the vampire is the one who helps her find peace. I really liked the pissed off Rhiannon, there were so many great quotes that came out of her mouth such as "If you were anyone else, your nuts would be taking a long vacation, and the desti ...more

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Sep 18, 2010 Yulia rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, paranormal, urban-fantasy

Nice book.
What I liked here is that the two main characters have history, unlike the usual book where we are just thrown into the character's life and it seems she just came from nowhere with no past. ...more

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May 31, 2010 Dahlia (yadkny) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Rhiannon Murphy, bartender extraordinaire, is about to face all of her worst nightmares and some she didn’t even know existed.

After being strongly encouraged to assist in the hunt of a murderous fiend, Rhiannon begins to learn her supernatural necromancy potential. The adventure not only lands her with a permanent vampire family, but also launches her onto a journey of self-discovery and romance. However, Rhiannon’s past won’t easily release her and the mysterious evil that has been cannibalizi Rhiannon Murphy, bartender extraordinaire, is about to face all of her worst nightmares and some she didn’t even know existed.

After being strongly encouraged to assist in the hunt of a murderous fiend, Rhiannon begins to learn her supernatural necromancy potential. The adventure not only lands her with a permanent vampire family, but also launches her onto a journey of self-discovery and romance. However, Rhiannon’s past won’t easily release her and the mysterious evil that has been cannibalizing on vampires isn’t about to go down without a major fight. Soon Rhiannon finds herself locked in a battle of possession over her mind, body, and soul.

“Rhiannon’s Law #37: Don’t get so high and mighty. God will only reward that arrogance with a huge bitch slap back to reality.”

Rhiannon’s “imaginative inner dialogue” is not only a constant companion to herself, but a very entertaining companion to the reader as well. What Rhiannon lacks in knowledge of her own unique and latent abilities, she more than makes up for with physical prowess and an attitude that backs it up. This girl does more than just walk the walk and talk the talk, she epitomizes it. And her ignorance to a great many things in the story is actually a reader benefit, so we can become accustomed to the world Ms. Saare built alongside Rhiannon.

I was very impressed with Rhiannon’s twisted back-story. It’s no wonder she is who she is now and I have a newfound respect for this amazingly resilient character. The rest of the cast provide fascinating and humorous character dynamics yet remain for the most part enigmatic. This helps in keeping the level of suspense high as the reader tries to navigate the ‘whodunit’ part of the story. Unfortunately, there is no level of preparedness when it comes to meeting Disco (aka Gabriel). This darkly dangerous vampire encompasses all the attributes necessary to make him tops on the alpha male hotness scale. Then again, I absolutely must give a shout-out to Paine. Not sure where Ms. Saare plans on taking his story, but I will most definitely be there to witness it when she does.

Overall, I am ecstatic to have found another author with a clear talent and love for writing in this genre. The combination of suspense, romance, mystery, and action keeps the story moving at a rapid pace. I enjoyed the romantic and tender moments just as much as I enjoyed the bloody gruesome ones. Add to it distinctive characters, witty dialogue, and a compelling storyline and this story is worth re-reading numerous times. Anticipation is high after reading the final scene and I can’t imagine not continuing this phenomenal series.

Note to the reader: This book has been reedited since its initial publication and Ms. Saare included some bonus materials, which can be found at the end of the story. One of which is the first introduction of Rhiannon to Disco titled, Eyes on Me, and I would recommend that readers read that portion of the bonus material first before beginning the story. This particular short provides enough set-up, so confusion at the start of the main story is minimal.

Review also posted @ The Romance Reviews:
http://www.theromancereviews.com/view...