Bayou Moon (The Edge, #2) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jun 09, 2010 AH rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, shifters, own, zzread-feb2011, necromancer

There are a lot of things that I enjoyed about Bayou Moon. The world building was incredible. Ilona Andrews (and her husband Gordon) are a very imaginative duo. When they build a world, they fully immerse the reader in that world. Bayou Moon is a world of swamps, mud, strange creatures, eccentric characters, and magic.

Bayou Moon takes place two years after On the Edge. For those who have not read these books, The Edge is a place that exists as kind of a buffer zone between our world (The Broken There are a lot of things that I enjoyed about Bayou Moon. The world building was incredible. Ilona Andrews (and her husband Gordon) are a very imaginative duo. When they build a world, they fully immerse the reader in that world. Bayou Moon is a world of swamps, mud, strange creatures, eccentric characters, and magic.

Bayou Moon takes place two years after On the Edge. For those who have not read these books, The Edge is a place that exists as kind of a buffer zone between our world (The Broken) and the Weird (a magical parallel universe to our world). The Mire is a very swampy part of The Edge and is a place of lawlessness and feuds. It has kind of a trailer park feel to it, a poorer and wilder part of The Edge. This book focuses on William and Cerise. William was introduced in On the Edge and I did not find him a likable character at the time. Cerise is a new character, a member of the large and magical Mars family. William is on a secret mission and meets Cerise on his journey into The Mire. Right away, we experience the Ilona Andrews’ trademark banter complete with sparks flying between William and Cerise, but there did not seem to be the kind of attraction that has been done so well in their other books.

I really enjoyed the descriptions of the swamp and the creatures that lived within it. The mode of transport was especially neat, boats pulled by these otter/seal creatures called rolpies. Using a giant eel as a “watchdog” was also very original. The swamp is a dangerous, oppressive place and there are many other dangerous creatures living in it. Giant sharks, huge alligators, not to mention the feuding families that live in the swamp, all are lethal.

I loved Cerise’s family. Every single member of this family had some kind of endearing eccentricity that just made me want to read on. It seemed to me that Cerise was the smartest of the bunch as she did the family bookkeeping. Cerise was also a white flasher – she was able to control magic and flash white with her sword. I loved how the family constantly tried to pair up Cerise and William. One of my favorite scenes was when Cerise and her assorted female relatives were watching William and commenting on how attractive he was.

I didn’t particularly like Cerise. I can’t figure out why I didn’t like her. Just didn’t. I felt the same way about William’s character as well. I did like reading his “wolfie” thoughts but there just didn’t seem to be enough “wolfie times” for William.

The villain in this book was very brutal. Spider was just creepy as were his “fused” henchmen. Spider’s specialty, aside from violence, was to fuse humans with other creatures and plant life to create monsters to serve him. Think of it as a kind of "veggiepunk" (as opposed to steampunk).

I found this book to be a really imaginative read. I can’t wait until Ilona Andrews publishes the next book in this series.

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Oct 26, 2010 Francesca the Fierce (Under the Covers Book Blog) rated it liked it

Shelves: books-read-2011, werewolves-shifters, witches-shaman-magic, read-audio-books, genre-urban-fantasy

I'm sad to say I was kind of disappointed with this book. I know in general what to expect with this author, and especially with this series. There is a lot more of the fantasy element than any type of romantic connection, but I think the fantasy might've been just a tad over-powering the romance in this one. I would say it was a 99% fantasy to 1% romance. So, once you're VERY clear about that...

The storyline was very interesting, I thought it was a lot easier to understand the whole world and w ...more

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Mar 03, 2021 Rachel-RN rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2021

We first met William in book 1 (On the Edge). In this world, you have the "Broken:" non-magical, "real" world, the "Weird:" magic exists, and the "Edge:" the place between. Most in the Weird are unable to cross into the Broken. Those in the Broken are ignorant of the existence of the other 2. The Edgers (as they are called) can easily cross into the Broken and may cross into the Weird if they have enough magic. William is a wolf changeling. Cerise comes from a magical family and lives in the Mir ...more

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Sep 03, 2010 Vivian rated it liked it

Shelves: read-2010

**may contain mild spoilers**

I want to give it a 4 because I like the Edge realm and I do think the story was interesting and well told, but I'm not in love with the characters like I was in the first book.

The biggest problem I had with Bayou Moon (and was a little disappointed by) was the story seemed like it was just following the formula of the first one. Cerise was like a copy of Rose to me, but not quite as loveable, IMO. I like her fine, and I actually do like William a lot, but their sto ...more

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Dec 22, 2010 Diane ~Firefly~ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal, shifters, magic, kindle, romance

Holds up well on the re-read. I liked Rose's family a little bit better than Cerise's. Maybe because it was smaller and more time spent on them individually. Still a great read. The Mar clan was very interesting and I'd never want to start a feud with them. The Mire, sucks. I thought the Edge was a horrible place to live, but the Mire is way worse.

What I enjoyed:
* William's POV. Poor guy had a horrible life and was sure he would never get a happy ending.
* William was so sweet with Lark and helpf ...more

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Apr 21, 2010 Regina rated it really liked it

Shelves: owned-kindle, paranormal-pnr, 2010-reads

Sept 28 2010

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Dec 19, 2011 Tammy rated it it was amazing

What a fantastic book!! I love this series!!!Great job!I loved William from the last book.Cerise was the perfect girl for him. Then we were introduced to a whole new cast of characters to fall in love with as well as villains to Hate! The final great touch was when Declan, Rose and the boys made an appearance. I cant recommend this book highly enough. Awesome!!

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Jun 16, 2013 Karen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: paranormal, urban-fantasy, challenge-shelf-2014, 2014-serial-eyes-challenge

I really love this series and its world. Bayou meets Camelot in a paranormal urban (rural?) fantasy. William is a danged near perfect character - indeed all the characters came to life, even the minor ones. Good stuff. :)

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