Tainted (The Blood Lily Chronicles, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Aug 02, 2010 Patrick rated it really liked it

Shelves: reviewed, book-series

The premise of the book may not be very original, but it was something which quickly caught my attention.

Tainted, an urban fantasy about a heroine who fights demons, may not be the most original concept, but it certainly is entertaining. It starts off with a gripping opening and is very fast-paced and entertaining throughout.

One thing I really liked about this book were the plot twists. As Lily kills more demons, she absorbs some of their powers and becomes more demonic. Nor suprisingly, this l The premise of the book may not be very original, but it was something which quickly caught my attention.

Tainted, an urban fantasy about a heroine who fights demons, may not be the most original concept, but it certainly is entertaining. It starts off with a gripping opening and is very fast-paced and entertaining throughout.

One thing I really liked about this book were the plot twists. As Lily kills more demons, she absorbs some of their powers and becomes more demonic. Nor suprisingly, this leads to a struggle against her own inner demons. Will she become evil? It's up to the reader to find out.

Another aspect that I praise it the extremely fast pace. The chapters are very short, so it's an easy to stop anytime and pick up where you left off. Most of them end with a cliffhanger which leads to a good amount of suspense. It will be easy for most urban fantasy readers to devour this book in no time. There are little, if any, boring or slow spots. The book quickly jumps from scene to scene without any boring dialogue sequences or filler moments.

Lily is one of the best heroines that ubran fantasy has to offer. Rather than simply an empty vehicle that the author uses to move the plot foward, Lily has a fully fleshed out personality. She has the definite bad girl attitude which is shown through many memorable quotes full of sass and sarcasm. However, her priorities to her family and sister are still deeply rooted in her heart and a character like her never forgets her duties.

One particularly intriguing aspect of the book is the love interest, who, believe it or not, happens to be a demon. This builds up a fair amount of suspense and mystery as Lily has trouble deciding on who to trust. Coming from someone who doesn't like romance very much, Julie Kenner used it in a way to make it suspenseful.

Overall, it's a fairly easy read. (It took me two or three days to finish.) The plot does seem like it could use some more creativity or originality, since there are dozens of urban fantasy books like it. (Hunter Kiss, Black-Sun's Daughter, etc.) However, for what it's worth, it's damn good entertainment. ...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Moondance rated it it was ok

I'm not sure why I didn't like this book. I always enjoy the Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series, but this one never caught my attention. It took me almost 10 days to get through it because I kept putting it down. I never clicked with Lily/Alice and felt rather let down by the whole experience. 2 stars :-( ...more

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Jan 29, 2011 Tammy rated it liked it

This book was ok. It started off really exciting. Then it really dragged. At least it did for me. I found myself skimming at times just to get through the endless fight scenes. What saved this book as far as I was concerned was the ending. Really had me excited for the next book. Hope the next one is better .

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