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novelesque_life's review
4.0
4 STARS
(I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review).
Drusilla Jaco,aka DJ, is a juniour wizard learning the craft from her uncle and once guardian, Gerry St. Simon. He is also her boss and mentor for the New Orleans' Sentinel assigned to protect the city from rogue supernatural. Hurricane Katrina has caused more than damage and death to the city but have crumbled the the border between the modern world and the otherworld. While DJ is visiting her grandmother she realizes she has not heard from Gerry and goes back home to discover he has disappeared. The Elders have assigned an enforcer, Alex Warin who is sent in to help her locate her uncle but may have his own agenda. The search is on!
What a witty fun urban fantasy novel. DJ is sarcastic wizard who has bad luck with men - and will have you laughing out loud or crying alongside her. She is like Harry Dresdon in that she is anything but conventional and this novel is one part smart humour and another part heartbreaking.
(I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review).
Drusilla Jaco,aka DJ, is a juniour wizard learning the craft from her uncle and once guardian, Gerry St. Simon. He is also her boss and mentor for the New Orleans' Sentinel assigned to protect the city from rogue supernatural. Hurricane Katrina has caused more than damage and death to the city but have crumbled the the border between the modern world and the otherworld. While DJ is visiting her grandmother she realizes she has not heard from Gerry and goes back home to discover he has disappeared. The Elders have assigned an enforcer, Alex Warin who is sent in to help her locate her uncle but may have his own agenda. The search is on!
What a witty fun urban fantasy novel. DJ is sarcastic wizard who has bad luck with men - and will have you laughing out loud or crying alongside her. She is like Harry Dresdon in that she is anything but conventional and this novel is one part smart humour and another part heartbreaking.
lynseyisreading's review
4.0
Wizarding wizards!
What a treat this was. I've had my eye on this series for a while now. Doesn't it have the most fabulous cover art? Thankfully, I found the inside of the book just as appealing as the outside. If you like any of the following in your urban fantasy, you should get along with this book (and series) very well:
If you don't like any of those things...WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?
Just kidding. But seriously, this is a great start and I enjoyed Drusilla - DJ - Jaco very much. I also have my beady eye on the hunk of man goodness that is Alex, and Jean Lafitte? What an interesting fellow. I'll reserve judgement on him for now until I delve deeper into his delicious undead brain.
Ew...
I also really enjoyed the focus being on wizards for a change. And a female wizard to boot. Such a great idea to have your main character have an almost limitless potential for awesome. As long as she knows the spell for it, and can summon enough power, she can do pretty much anything. Which is so much more exciting than if she were, say, a werewolf or something.
What can you do? I can be a wolf.
What can you do? ANYTHING!
Which would you pick? Yeah, me too.
So I hope I've convinced you to go check it out. It should be on the shelf of every UF lover, without exception. I will not accept excuses.
Lynsey out.
4 Stars ★★★★
What a treat this was. I've had my eye on this series for a while now. Doesn't it have the most fabulous cover art? Thankfully, I found the inside of the book just as appealing as the outside. If you like any of the following in your urban fantasy, you should get along with this book (and series) very well:
- Sensible, non-stupid protagonist
- Interesting, complex and well-written secondary characters
- Just enough romance to appeal, without overtaking
- Villains you kinda-sorta have a crush on on the sly
- Interesting hierarchies within the supernatural community
- Magicky woo woo stuff
- A well-plotted mystery with a thrilling conclusion
- Vibrant and easy to visualize setting
- Great dialogue and engaging narration
- Wizards, weres, vamps, shapeshifters, and my favourite of all: historical undeads kept alive by the magic of memory (so. freaking. cool!)
If you don't like any of those things...WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?
Just kidding. But seriously, this is a great start and I enjoyed Drusilla - DJ - Jaco very much. I also have my beady eye on the hunk of man goodness that is Alex, and Jean Lafitte? What an interesting fellow. I'll reserve judgement on him for now until I delve deeper into his delicious undead brain.
Ew...
I also really enjoyed the focus being on wizards for a change. And a female wizard to boot. Such a great idea to have your main character have an almost limitless potential for awesome. As long as she knows the spell for it, and can summon enough power, she can do pretty much anything. Which is so much more exciting than if she were, say, a werewolf or something.
What can you do? I can be a wolf.
What can you do? ANYTHING!
Which would you pick? Yeah, me too.
So I hope I've convinced you to go check it out. It should be on the shelf of every UF lover, without exception. I will not accept excuses.
Lynsey out.
4 Stars ★★★★
diaryofthebookdragon's review
3.0
In the flood of new urban fantasy novels, [b:Royal Street|12009478|Royal Street (Sentinels of New Orleans, #1)|Suzanne Johnson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1314132668s/12009478.jpg|16974328] is missing that special something that will make it stand out. All of the necessary elements are here: first-person point of view, budding love triangle, wizards, shapeshifters, fae, werewolfs...
The only interesting part of the book is setting: New Orleans during hurricanes Katrina & Rita. I was not aware how much damage they have done and it was sad reading it.
Don't get me wrong, the book was an easy read, but I do not have a feeling that I would have missed very much if I skipped it.
The only interesting part of the book is setting: New Orleans during hurricanes Katrina & Rita. I was not aware how much damage they have done and it was sad reading it.
Don't get me wrong, the book was an easy read, but I do not have a feeling that I would have missed very much if I skipped it.
dukefn99's review
4.0
I'm always interested in a good urban fantasy novel. When I won a copy of the fourth book in the series, I knew I needed to go start at the beginning so that everything made sense. And boy, am I glad I did.
This book starts off with a bang, introducing the reader to New Orleans just days before Hurricane Katrina strikes. The reader then weathers the storm and aftermath with the characters that are reeling from the destruction. In Suzanne Johnson's world, New Orleans is already a hot spot for paranormal activity. But the storm weakens the borders and is allowing all those paranormal creatures and undead easier access to our world.
This book introduces us to DJ. She's a green wizard, drawing most of her powers from potions and wards. She's still learning how to control and understand her powers when her mentor disappears during the hurricane. Since Gerry, her mentor, is the Sentinel of New Orleans, she is asked to step into his position by the Elders, who are the ruling group of wizards. They don't want her looking into Gerry's disappearance and send Alex, an enforcer, in to help her with her new job.
Phew! Now that we have the ground laid, let's get into this review. I really like where Ms Johnson was going with this book. It's an interesting world that was created and setting it to coincide with Hurricane Katrina was a winner in my book. She didn't gloss over details of how bad the hurricane and aftermath were and yet everything fit well into the story.
For the most part, I liked DJ. She was a little snarky, I laughed from time to time with her antics. She was a little hard headed and rebellious, not listening to the advice (or orders) of those who knew more than she did. Alex wasn't as alpha as I would have liked him to be. He let DJ dictate what they were going to do and then had to mop up after her when it didn't work out as planned. I think their dynamic would have worked better if he stood up to her a little more. There is an underlying spark between the two which wasn't explored a lot during this book, but I have a feeling will be present in the future books of the series.
In the end, the supporting characters really stole the show. From Jean Lafitte to Louis Armstrong to Baron Samedi, Ms Johnson pulled historical and voodoo characters into her story to enrich the plot. The scenes that these characters were in amped up the action and helped save this book from being a little mundane. There are only so many times that I want to read about DJ and Alex eating MRE's or all those little day-to-day chores they were doing that didn't really advance the plot (but did add some understanding about like in New Orleans at that time).
All in all, I enjoyed this story and am interested in seeing where this is going to go. I was slightly disappointed at the ending, but the journey to get there was worth the ride.
This book starts off with a bang, introducing the reader to New Orleans just days before Hurricane Katrina strikes. The reader then weathers the storm and aftermath with the characters that are reeling from the destruction. In Suzanne Johnson's world, New Orleans is already a hot spot for paranormal activity. But the storm weakens the borders and is allowing all those paranormal creatures and undead easier access to our world.
This book introduces us to DJ. She's a green wizard, drawing most of her powers from potions and wards. She's still learning how to control and understand her powers when her mentor disappears during the hurricane. Since Gerry, her mentor, is the Sentinel of New Orleans, she is asked to step into his position by the Elders, who are the ruling group of wizards. They don't want her looking into Gerry's disappearance and send Alex, an enforcer, in to help her with her new job.
Phew! Now that we have the ground laid, let's get into this review. I really like where Ms Johnson was going with this book. It's an interesting world that was created and setting it to coincide with Hurricane Katrina was a winner in my book. She didn't gloss over details of how bad the hurricane and aftermath were and yet everything fit well into the story.
For the most part, I liked DJ. She was a little snarky, I laughed from time to time with her antics. She was a little hard headed and rebellious, not listening to the advice (or orders) of those who knew more than she did. Alex wasn't as alpha as I would have liked him to be. He let DJ dictate what they were going to do and then had to mop up after her when it didn't work out as planned. I think their dynamic would have worked better if he stood up to her a little more. There is an underlying spark between the two which wasn't explored a lot during this book, but I have a feeling will be present in the future books of the series.
In the end, the supporting characters really stole the show. From Jean Lafitte to Louis Armstrong to Baron Samedi, Ms Johnson pulled historical and voodoo characters into her story to enrich the plot. The scenes that these characters were in amped up the action and helped save this book from being a little mundane. There are only so many times that I want to read about DJ and Alex eating MRE's or all those little day-to-day chores they were doing that didn't really advance the plot (but did add some understanding about like in New Orleans at that time).
All in all, I enjoyed this story and am interested in seeing where this is going to go. I was slightly disappointed at the ending, but the journey to get there was worth the ride.
rkstumblingbear's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
library_bookwyrm's review
4.0
Royal Street is a great paranormal romance, set in New Orleans during and right after Hurricane Katrina. It looks like it will segue into an awesome series! I tend to stick to paranormal and steampunk romances, and this one was irresistible; I love reading a book where I can pinpoint the exact location of the action. "Hey, look - Uptown!" "Oooh, Napoleon House!" The romance story line was a comfortably familiar "Oh, my - two hot guys, who will she choose?" (a trademark of romances), while the paranormal activity was twisty enough to keep you guessing what will happen next. If you like paranormal romances, you'll like Royal Street. If you like paranormal romances AND live in New Orleans, this is a definite must-read!
chllybrd's review
4.0
I gave it 3.5/5 stars
ROYAL STREET takes place during and after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Druisilla takes off to safety at her Grandmas house but her mentor Gerald St. Simon goes missing. Now that the borders between her world and the Underworld have crumbled Druisilla becomes the target of a dead pirate as well as a voodoo god. To make matters worse a sexy new partner walks into her life sent by the wizard elders.
Druisilla (DJ) is a junior wizard trying to figure her way through what she is capable of. She tended to jump before thinking, and made bad decisions anyways but I still found it enjoyable to follow her. I loved Alex. He jumps into the book by rescuing DJ from a dead pirate Jean Lafitte and never left. He was always surprising me with what was revealed about him next. There was a great array of characters, we had bar owners, dead legends, pirates, voodoo gods and assassins. The author does a great job of incorporating the events around Hurricane Katrina and using real life descriptions that brought everything into picture. There is a bit of a love triangle between DJ, her bodyguard/partner Alex and his cousin Jake. I have to say it was a bit of an annoyance because all along I could really only see her with Alex so Jake ended up annoying me when he probably wouldn't have otherwise.
Book one is filled with a lot of background and what I would consider build up for book two. The ending is left open but isn't cliffhanger-ish. Overall I enjoyed it and will be reading book 2.
ROYAL STREET takes place during and after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Druisilla takes off to safety at her Grandmas house but her mentor Gerald St. Simon goes missing. Now that the borders between her world and the Underworld have crumbled Druisilla becomes the target of a dead pirate as well as a voodoo god. To make matters worse a sexy new partner walks into her life sent by the wizard elders.
Druisilla (DJ) is a junior wizard trying to figure her way through what she is capable of. She tended to jump before thinking, and made bad decisions anyways but I still found it enjoyable to follow her. I loved Alex. He jumps into the book by rescuing DJ from a dead pirate Jean Lafitte and never left. He was always surprising me with what was revealed about him next. There was a great array of characters, we had bar owners, dead legends, pirates, voodoo gods and assassins. The author does a great job of incorporating the events around Hurricane Katrina and using real life descriptions that brought everything into picture. There is a bit of a love triangle between DJ, her bodyguard/partner Alex and his cousin Jake. I have to say it was a bit of an annoyance because all along I could really only see her with Alex so Jake ended up annoying me when he probably wouldn't have otherwise.
Book one is filled with a lot of background and what I would consider build up for book two. The ending is left open but isn't cliffhanger-ish. Overall I enjoyed it and will be reading book 2.
elsiemookow's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I haven't picked up an old-school urban fantasy in ages, and although I admit there are better out there, it was nice to pick up a relatively mindless actiony book. Taking place during and after Hurricane Katrina, there are magicians, pirates, voodoo practitioners, shapeshifters- you name it and it appears. Don't expect too many plot twists or surprises, and it will be a fun read.
bunnerz's review
4.0
Ratings - completed series:
#1 Royal Street (this book): ★★★★☆
#2 River Road: ★★★★☆
#3 Elysian Fields: ★★★★☆
#4 Pirate's Alley: ★★★★☆
#5 Belle Chasse: ★★★★☆
#6 Frenchman Street: ★★★★☆
#1 Royal Street (this book): ★★★★☆
#2 River Road: ★★★★☆
#3 Elysian Fields: ★★★★☆
#4 Pirate's Alley: ★★★★☆
#5 Belle Chasse: ★★★★☆
#6 Frenchman Street: ★★★★☆