Reviews

A Family Affair by Karen Chance

cplumma3's review

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

woad674's review

dark tense fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

lynseyisreading's review

5.0

Excellent short story. A lot was packed into only 75 pages. You get to see things from John's perspective for a change. I also learned a lot about Casonova and his feelings towards our Cassie. No Billy Joe in it, but hey, you can't have everything.

Thank you, Ms Chance for this fab freebie.

caiken4's review

4.0

Free Short
http://www.karenchance.com/free_stories.html

Pritkin short. I enjoyed this action packed short. It had all the normal major players in it (Pritkin, Cassie, Casanova, Rosier) which was nice.

rclz's review

5.0

Good as always. Love reading anything by Chance that concerns any and all of her characters.

amyiw's review

2.0

This was push through it boring for me. The only thing good was getting glimpses into Pritkin's past and the gifts in the beginning and end. Rosier turns from a evil menacing demon to almost a clownish like character, fist fighting with his servants. More than half of the book is chase, attack, run, and duck. It was just exhausting and not fun for me, last minute impossible saves from more than overwhelming and impossible odd in the space of 76 pages. I really was wondering when can we get to a true interaction between characters? You don't really, just glimpses. I really have never liked Cassanova's character and this one makes me like him even less.

For shorts in this series I started with "The House at Cobb's End" and glad I did as I really liked it. So I know my disappointment wasn't caused by the length or how she writes novellas, it was the substance in this one. The all impossible (not smart) action and a lot of info dumping of the demon world, made the enjoyment of the characters almost impossible.

vaderbird's review

3.0

5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish

memyselfandbecca's review

4.0

I loved this for the insight you get into Pritkins life and how he views Cassie. Really adds to the understanding of their relationship.

quirkycatsfatstacks's review

5.0

A Family Affair by Karen Chance is another one of the short stories that fits into the Cassandra Palmer World. In this instance, it’s another one from the perspective of Pritkin! So fans of his should be thrilled about this one.
Unlike the House at Cobb End, A Family Affair is set in the present. Well, the present for the main series, that is. Which means that Cassie and all of the others have a presence in this plot. It fits in after Curse the Dawn, but before Shadowland (another short story).
A Family Affair brings a problem straight to Pritkin’s feet – in the form of his father. He’s got a deal to offer, but naturally there are risks involved. And one of those risks should probably be whether or not the demon can be trusted…
Side note before we begin: I’ve actually read this whole series multiple times (it’s one of my favorites), but it wasn’t until recently that I realized that I’ve never reviewed the older books in the series. So here I am, reading them all again, and loving every minute of it.
Because I’m doing a reread with a group of people (the Karen Chance Street Team – message me if you want to know more about it) I’m also going to include the discussion prompts we’ve been using. That will be at the end of the review, so if you’re curious, check it out.

A Family Affair was one of those short stories that you wish would just keep on going. It completed the plot, of course, but that doesn’t mean I was ready for it to end! The characters and plot made for a really fun and fast paced read.
As per usual, Cassie showed us her particular talent for getting herself into trouble. It probably didn’t help that the trouble came from Pritkin’s family this time around (hence the name).
There were a lot of fun moments in this novel. But personally, I love that Cassanova got dragged around for this one. It felt somewhat karmic, considering how many times he’s whined about having to clean up or avoid the fights.
The implications in this short story were interesting – everything from what Rosier was doing, to what he had been ordered to do. I had forgotten where that whole plot had started, to be honest. So it’s nice to see the hints getting dropped.
I’m going to have to decide if I’m going to read Shadowland next, or move on to the next Cassie novel, Hunt the Moon. I’m torn.


Reread Commentary:
Again, spoiler warning here.
So reading this short story again, knowing full well where the Rosier plotline is going to lead, sure changes things. I know the truth behind Rosier’s words here, and just how bad the decision ends up becoming. It certainly added to the impact here, to put it mildly.


For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

sherrios's review

4.0

Okay. This was significantly better than the previous short. This is the Pritkin that I enjoy, and the appearance of Rosier and Casanova and Marlowe just made it that much better. I absolutely adored the banter between Casanova and Rosier, and Kit is just a pleasure to read about no matter where he appears.

I'm still firmly in the 'I wish Cassie and Pritkin could just be good friends' camp. I recognize that the tiresome love triangle is a common trope in urban fantasy - have to keep people guessing! - but it just feels forced with those two.

All in all, awesome.