The Girl Who Sees (Sasha Urban, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Nov 15, 2023 Moondance rated it it was ok

Shelves: urban-fantasy, almost-didn-t-finish, zombies, sos-bingo-2023, mental-illusionist, could-have-been-better-than-it-was

"I'm not a psychic," I say to the makeup girl.

Sasha Urban is a mental illusionist who wants to leave her day job as a financial analyst to have a career in TV. Her first TV appearance goes very wrong as she learns that she can see the future.

I really wanted to like this book. The premise sounded interesting. However, it did not hold my interest and I found myself putting it down multiple times. I would have given up on it completely had I not been reading it for a challenge.

The first three quart ...more

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Aug 08, 2018 Monadh rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires, uf, werewolf, precognition

Minority Report meets The Mentalist: exciting new UF series with a quirky and snarky heroine set in NY

It is always a risk to try a book by a new author, but I love the books of Dima Zales’ wife and I am really into UF, and boy am I glad that I took a chance on this one. There have been mumblings by industry insiders that Paranormal/UF are past their peak and are actually on the wane (I haven’t observed this myself), so I am doubly glad to discover a new and exciting UF series.

I also had some res Minority Report meets The Mentalist: exciting new UF series with a quirky and snarky heroine set in NY

It is always a risk to try a book by a new author, but I love the books of Dima Zales’ wife and I am really into UF, and boy am I glad that I took a chance on this one. There have been mumblings by industry insiders that Paranormal/UF are past their peak and are actually on the wane (I haven’t observed this myself), so I am doubly glad to discover a new and exciting UF series.

I also had some reservations about a guy writing a female POV heroine, but Anna Zaires (his wife) mentioned in a newsletter that they had in fact co-authored the book, and I have to say, I really liked the narrative voice, it’s a perfect combination of snarky and sweet, quirky and down to earth.

I found the premise different enough to spark my interest: it can best be described as a kind of Minority Report meets The Mentalist. The heroine, Sasha Urban (ok, her surname does appear a tad corny) believes herself to be a quite ordinary person living in a normal world. By day she works as an analyst for an investment firm and though she admits to some natural aptitude she thinks it’s mostly hard work that makes her so good at her job, even if she doesn’t particularly like it. At night she pursues her real passion and works as a magician/mentalist at a restaurant/club where she performs magic tricks that can all be explained rationally. One night she is approached by a TV show producer who offers her an appearance on a live show and she grabs it with both hands. While in the studio she has her first real vision and it is not a good one. And though her vision turns true, she refuses to believe that she has any supernatural ability and is looking for a rational explanation for the events. Unfortunately her TV appearance has also brought her to the attention of the supernatural community (the Cognizants) that has a strong mandate against exposing their world to normal humans. Soon different factions of Cognizants are after her while she is still looking for a rational explanation for everything that is happening and has difficulties coming to terms with her precognitive abilities, even though all her visions/dreams come true. But that only makes her question herself more as she is afraid that she is in fact enacting a self-fulfilling prophecy…

This first book in the Sasha Urban series has all the right ingredients: a quirky, likable heroine, great supporting characters, a good narrative voice, great (but not overwhelming) world-building, an urban setting (New York) that is an important part of the story (the perfect backdrop for a scooter chase), good overall pacing, an interesting slew of supernatural creatures (vampires, necromancers, zombies, patterners, precogs, truth seekers and other less common mythical creatures, including a domovoi, a type of Russian house elf). There is also the mystery of the heroine’s origins that is alluded to, and two mysterious men that promise to become even more important in the future.

I was wholly captivated by this first installment of the Sasha Urban series and would give it a solid 4 ½ stars. Can’t wait to get my hands on book 2, titled Misfortune Teller, set to be released on September 4, 2018. ...more

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Aug 03, 2019 SusieQ rated it it was ok · review of another edition

This was a hard one to get through.

I liked the world building to a point, because there were some fresh ideas going on there, but it felt very YA to me.
I guess I like a little bigger splash of romance in my PNR. This felt like PN minus the R.
Overall, my thoughts when finishing Sasha's story was "Meh".
Didn't feel that connected to, or invested in, Sasha or her friends or her world.

I guess I am uber picky after reading reliably brillant and hilarious PNR authors.
There is SO MUCH good stuff out ...more

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