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A review by ravenpuffr2
Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston
4.0
This was a fun serving of Shelly Laurenston crazy-sauce, including all of the things I was looking for. Empowered women who don't as permission, laugh out loud dialogue and situational comedy, and unapologetic insanity. I lost count of the number of times I had to stop reading, go find my teenage daughter, and share a line of dialogue or a hilarious exchange, just because I couldn't keep it in.
However, for me, it didn't quite soar to the heights of the Call of Crows trilogy - some of my favorite books in existence, but that is partially because of the narrative structure. Given everything going on in the world, getting solidly into this one required a little more effort than I was ready for. The opening scene was brilliant, but then we started getting an explosion of new characters, new points of view, and "in the deep end" world building. Getting hooked into The Unleashing was an easier road because we start the book with a single point of view character who knows NOTHING about her new existence, so we can ramp up with her.
I am very much looking forward to the rest of the series, and if her other shifter books are set in the same universe, I will enjoy exploring all of its various corners, because I do love her style, and now I have a much better grounding in the underlying assumptions of this universe.
However, for me, it didn't quite soar to the heights of the Call of Crows trilogy - some of my favorite books in existence, but that is partially because of the narrative structure. Given everything going on in the world, getting solidly into this one required a little more effort than I was ready for. The opening scene was brilliant, but then we started getting an explosion of new characters, new points of view, and "in the deep end" world building. Getting hooked into The Unleashing was an easier road because we start the book with a single point of view character who knows NOTHING about her new existence, so we can ramp up with her.
I am very much looking forward to the rest of the series, and if her other shifter books are set in the same universe, I will enjoy exploring all of its various corners, because I do love her style, and now I have a much better grounding in the underlying assumptions of this universe.