Storm Born (Dark Swan, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jun 10, 2010 Chelsea rated it really liked it

Shelves: suggested-series-firsts, fantasy, uf-pnr

This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club.

I’ll come out the gate saying I love Eugenie Markham, the heroine of Richelle Mead’s Dark Swan series. This may be because I see lots of myself in her. It may be because I love strong female characters. Hell, it might be because she’s hails from the Grand Canyon State. Whatever the reason, I had a blast spending 350+ pages with her.

Eugenie is a shaman, but her style is more mercenary than sage healer. Hire her and she’ll boot the fae, spirit This review was originally posted at Vampire Book Club.

I’ll come out the gate saying I love Eugenie Markham, the heroine of Richelle Mead’s Dark Swan series. This may be because I see lots of myself in her. It may be because I love strong female characters. Hell, it might be because she’s hails from the Grand Canyon State. Whatever the reason, I had a blast spending 350+ pages with her.

Eugenie is a shaman, but her style is more mercenary than sage healer. Hire her and she’ll boot the fae, spirits and otherworldly folk out of your place and back to their own plane (or the underworld if things get a little nasty). Her step-dad taught her the skills, but now she’s surpassed all others. She’s feared in the Otherworld. So, when more and more faeries (or gentry as she calls them) show up knowing her name — her real name — and making some pretty lewd propositions, Eugenie is a bit unnerved.

We won’t reveal the plot, because as this one unfolds Eugenie learns about her past, her destiny and has to face some deep-seated fears. Also, hot guys of suspicious nature abound. It’s a straight urban fantasy book, but the love drama will still get you tied up in knots. You’ll have a love/hate relationship with Eugenie’s decisions. With the guys’ choices. With, well, everything. And it will have you sprinting for the final pages.

It’s no secret Richelle Mead tops my favorite authors list. So elements of her writing that resonate with me tend to pop up in all her novels. Her descriptions are always precise, but detailed. She treads that fine line of making the scene lush without bogging us down in allegories, which is particularly impressive as the scenery in Storm Born is so very key. Once Eugenie enters the Otherworld — the land of the faeries — each realm is demarcated by a dynamic shift in the surroundings down to the season. It’s key to understanding their world, but she doesn’t let us get lost in the leaves, if you will.

Storm Born is dark, dangerous and emotionally complex. Expect lots of ass-kicking, awe-inspiring kissing and magic to overflow in this urban fantasy novel.

Sexual content: Wow kisses and sex scenes brimming with mental power struggles. Adults only. ...more

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