The Ripple Effect (Rhiannon's Law, #3) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

May 14, 2012 Chelsea rated it it was amazing

Shelves: vampires, uf-pnr, demons, magic

This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club.

Readers of the Rhiannon’s Law series know J.A. Saare never pulls punches. Rhiannon makes massive mistakes, awful things happen to her, the world spins out of control, everyone makes poor choices and the characters just have to deal. It’s what I like so much about the series. Nothing is easy in these books, and you can never take a sweet moment between characters for granted, because it all could change in the next chapter.

We come into The Ri This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club.

Readers of the Rhiannon’s Law series know J.A. Saare never pulls punches. Rhiannon makes massive mistakes, awful things happen to her, the world spins out of control, everyone makes poor choices and the characters just have to deal. It’s what I like so much about the series. Nothing is easy in these books, and you can never take a sweet moment between characters for granted, because it all could change in the next chapter.

We come into The Ripple Effect a few weeks after the horrible misunderstanding (a.k.a. The Awfulness) between Disco and Rhiannon from the end of The Renfield Syndrome. He wants to apologize, wants to make things right and our girl Rhiannon isn’t having it. Their mutual friends are trying to make them get past this. Again, Rhiannon isn’t ready to forgive him.(I wouldn’t be ready either.)

The Ripple Effect is a book about consequences. And that’s a good thing. Every action has meaning, and everyone must endure as the results trickle in. First, turns out our boy Disco was sheltering Rhiannon from the real vampire world. That means his master is coming to visit and expects to see things a bit more violent and the humans much more subjugated. Imagine Rhiannon’s reaction to this. We find a link between demons and vampires and have to spend quality time at their place, which results in scenes horror fans will love and others will cringe at — but you’ll know who the bad guys are immediately.

As a result of the master vampire visiting, Rhiannon has to play dutiful girlfriend while in private still giving Disco the cold shoulder. This forces them — and Paine — to work out their issues, and to accept one another’s faults as best they can in a stressful situation.

Unrelenting and honest. Dark, deep and a touch dirty. If you like your vampires sexy and scary, The Ripple Effect is a must. Since it’s a Saare book, expect big changes in love, death and a heavy dose of violence — the kind that will captivate you early on.

Sexual content: Sex ...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Dahlia (yadkny) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

'Rhiannon's Law #18: No one asks for their life to change, but it does. The bad things we face are tests created to separate the strong from the weak. Once you've found your place–as the savage lion or the tranquil lamb–it's up to you to take the next step, to decide what comes after. Even if it means destroying everything in your path on the road to deliverance.'

After being brought back from the edge of death, the brink of death, and actual death so many times, I was worried for our girl Rh 'Rhiannon's Law #18: No one asks for their life to change, but it does. The bad things we face are tests created to separate the strong from the weak. Once you've found your place–as the savage lion or the tranquil lamb–it's up to you to take the next step, to decide what comes after. Even if it means destroying everything in your path on the road to deliverance.'

After being brought back from the edge of death, the brink of death, and actual death so many times, I was worried for our girl Rhiannon from the beginning of this story. I knew her emotional state would be a complete disaster with how the last book ended and knew that this wasn't something she could necessarily physically fight out of her system. She tried, God love her, but it once again takes extreme circumstances for her to see the light and realize what really matters. However, no amount of enlightenment comes without a price and Rhiannon wasn't the only one who suffered. I have to warn that if you've been following this series and love certain characters or even if you only have a level of respect for others, this story will crush in ways you didn't think possible. It crushed me, chewed me up, and spat me out leaving me physically drained by the run of high emotions.

In my reading journey, I don't believe I have ever been afraid for or of a heroine so much as I was for/of Rhiannon. There was absolutely no amount of predictability in her moves (or the storyline for that matter) and that made for a tense read. At times, I thought there was no way for her to come back from this or that and she consistently surprised me with her persistence and perseverance. For that she is the most inspirational and admirable character I have ever read. Having said that, her stubbornness and slight selfishness this time around made her a very frustrating character as well, but I can't say I'd have done anything different. To Rhiannon I say - stay the same, don't ever change... unless it's for the ones you love. Then it's ok to be a monster created by monsters or an angel of vengeance.

Gabriel and Paine... what can I really say about them that hasn't already been said or they haven't proven through their actions or words. I knew there wouldn't be an automatic road to happily-ever-after and even after certain events occurred, I remain hopeful. That's just the power these brilliantly realized characters have.

Gritty, raw, dark, poignant, and surprisingly beautiful, this story left me completely broken. I thought Rhiannon had been put through the ringer enough in the first two books, but that was not to be in this one. I won't give any spoilers away, but the end is just the beginning and I absolutely cannot wait for the next one!

'I was coming for them and, Heaven or Hell, I was bringing death with me.' ...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Katie rated it really liked it

4.5 stars...this didn't disappoint. Basically, Rhia has the amulet and Sucker...and Disco's boss wants them both. I am thinking the whole time - You can't give them either, but how are you going to get away with it! With the last book we saw another side of Rhia(that I instantly fell in love with); and she didn't disappear on us! A lot of stuff I can't talk about in a review, but just know that this is a great setup for the final installment. I struggle with third books in general because nothin ...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Sharon rated it it was amazing

No Spoilers
If you have read the first two books in this series then you are in for a whole lot of OMG. This story is a page turner and I ate it up like a PMSing woman in a chocolate factory. As fans know, Rhiannon is one hardened soul who doesn’t trust anyone and refuses to be controlled, but she has finally gone too far and those close to her pay the price. Rhiannon’s mouth has finally written a check her a$$ can’t cash. We have all been waiting to see the fallout between Disco, Paine and Rhian No Spoilers
If you have read the first two books in this series then you are in for a whole lot of OMG. This story is a page turner and I ate it up like a PMSing woman in a chocolate factory. As fans know, Rhiannon is one hardened soul who doesn’t trust anyone and refuses to be controlled, but she has finally gone too far and those close to her pay the price. Rhiannon’s mouth has finally written a check her a$$ can’t cash. We have all been waiting to see the fallout between Disco, Paine and Rhiannon after the events of book two and all your questions will be answered. I have gained more respect for Disco (Gabriel); I appreciate the fact that the author doesn’t water down who Disco is because of his relationship with Rhiannon. The watering down of male characters is a persistent double standard when it comes to romance dynamics. The man has to change who he is but the woman gets to keep being herself, both the good and bad. Disco accepts all that Rhi is and it is time she accepts him.

This is dark urban fantasy, which means there is a horror element and Rhiannon is thrown into the darkest place we have seen so far. I was angry and frustrated at her behavior and then she made me cry. What more can you ask for from a book? We also get up close and personal with the demon and half-demon world Saare has created. They are truly evil creatures and the dynamics between them and the vampires has been forever changed by the end of this book.

One of my new favorite characters in this series is the fallen angel Marigold. She is trapped in Hell and has made a deal with Rhiannon to get out. She is an unknown factor and bent on vengeance. I can’t wait to see how her relationship with Rhiannon is going to develop. Another character I think I am going to love is Bane. We aren’t given much information about him, but he appears out of nowhere to help Rhiannon and he definitely has an agenda of his own. At this point we don’t know if he is human or not. Rhiannon asks him:

“Are you a shifter?”
I’d met plenty of lycanthropes during my trip to the future. Bane was large and mean enough to qualify as one, and I’d learned vampires and shifters weren’t exactly friendly with each other
when I made a trip into the future. Maybe that’s what he was—a shifter of some kind—and recognized my mark because of it.
He answered without blinking. “I’m something worse.”

Ahhh! I am dying to know what he is! Maybe in the next book… If you haven’t read this series you need to start with book one, Dead, Undead or Somewhere in Between, to appreciate the growth of the characters. If you love dark urban fantasy this is a must read.

5 "I told you so" Sheep
http://ismellsheep.blogspot.com/2012/... ...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Vivian rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-2012

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Spoilers present. Turned into a slight rant.

It took me a while to decide how I wanted to rate this. Though I finished the book and enjoyed the last half, the first half had me more than a little angry at what happened. To sum it up, Rhiannon was basically mind-raped by her Disco at the end of book 2 and decides she needs out of that situation. Good for her.

My issues in book 3:
1. Her supposed friend is trying to convince her that she is over-reacting by avoiding the guy and needs to let it go an ...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Tammy rated it it was amazing

This was another excellent installation into the Rhiannon’s law series. The Story moved at a good pace, in all honesty this one was a little slower moving than the other two. I think its because of where she ends up going with the tale however, so all in all it moved along ok. The characters were interesting , The established characters were as always wonderful, the new ones were pretty good. There could have been a little more time spent fleshing out the bad guys but overall like I said this wa ...more

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