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lalabristow's review
5.0
Previously Published on my blog: Welcome to Larissa's Bookish Life
*Spoiler Free
It is very hard nowadays to create something original and worthy of following through book after book, when it comes to Urban Fantasy. I mean, there are SO MANY Urban Fantasy series out there that for one to shine more than the others it doesn’t only have to be different but also offer such compelling characters and world that you won’t care that it all has been done before.
Jess Haines has been able to do it all. I mean, she hasn’t invented the UF wheel by any means, but with Deceived by the Others she has gone through a path with her characters that I wasn’t expecting at all, as an avid and sometimes jaded reader, I can definitely appreciate that.
I for one, thoroughly enjoyed both Hunted by The Others and Taken by the Others, but even though both books were quite awesome to read they had yet to cement strong feeling about this series and characters.
However, Deceived by the Others hits it out of the park for me, by not being drowned in clichés and proving that Jess Haines is not afraid of how her readers might feel and is brave enough to pursue a path with her characters that some might consider insane.
I, for one, am glad she went where she did with this book and I can only remember one author making me feel this way and it was Jeri Smith-Ready with the third in her WVMP Radio Series, Bring on The Night. For me, an author that is not afraid to take the almost unpaved path has balls and I admire her/him with all my heart.
The H&W Investigations series was already one I quite enjoyed, but with Deceived by the Others, Jess Haines has guaranteed her spot in my yearly book budget as well as in my heart.
If you are as much as an Urban Fantasy fan as I am, I absolutely recommend this series to you. If you have already read the first two book, you CANNOT miss this one, it’s brilliant.
*Spoiler Free
It is very hard nowadays to create something original and worthy of following through book after book, when it comes to Urban Fantasy. I mean, there are SO MANY Urban Fantasy series out there that for one to shine more than the others it doesn’t only have to be different but also offer such compelling characters and world that you won’t care that it all has been done before.
Jess Haines has been able to do it all. I mean, she hasn’t invented the UF wheel by any means, but with Deceived by the Others she has gone through a path with her characters that I wasn’t expecting at all, as an avid and sometimes jaded reader, I can definitely appreciate that.
I for one, thoroughly enjoyed both Hunted by The Others and Taken by the Others, but even though both books were quite awesome to read they had yet to cement strong feeling about this series and characters.
However, Deceived by the Others hits it out of the park for me, by not being drowned in clichés and proving that Jess Haines is not afraid of how her readers might feel and is brave enough to pursue a path with her characters that some might consider insane.
I, for one, am glad she went where she did with this book and I can only remember one author making me feel this way and it was Jeri Smith-Ready with the third in her WVMP Radio Series, Bring on The Night. For me, an author that is not afraid to take the almost unpaved path has balls and I admire her/him with all my heart.
The H&W Investigations series was already one I quite enjoyed, but with Deceived by the Others, Jess Haines has guaranteed her spot in my yearly book budget as well as in my heart.
If you are as much as an Urban Fantasy fan as I am, I absolutely recommend this series to you. If you have already read the first two book, you CANNOT miss this one, it’s brilliant.
beth_dawkins's review
3.0
2.5
Shiarra is a P.I. who has decided to take a vacation with her werewolf boyfriend, Chaz. He thought it would be a good idea to introduce her to his pack. As the weekend progresses it is clear that someone has some issues with Chaz, and soon these other people are not the only ones.
This is the third novel in the H&W Investigation series. I had a like-hate relationship with this novel. It starts out slow. In the last two books big things happened, huge things! In this the problems don’t seem that big at first. There are a couple people pissed at Chaz, and because he took Shiarra along, she becomes the perfect bait. The mountain vacation, among all the pack members makes for a lot of meet and greets. This was handled well, and wasn’t overwhelming. What made it move at a crawl was that that our two main characters start to get pranked, and death threats. The threats are chalked up to younger pack members giving challenge to Chaz, who is the Alpha. The fact that this was shrugged off annoyed me. Another problem is that the characters constantly tell Shiarra to be safe, don’t go places alone, etc… but she doesn’t listen. Instead she is constantly off getting into trouble, kind of like Carl on The Walking Dead.
During the unveiling of what was behind the pranks Chaz and Shiarra suffered, something else is uncovered. I can’t say much more than that. If I did it would give far too much away, but it rocks the very foundations of Shiarra. What is uncovered happens towards the last half of the novel. This is where the story heats up, and then ends. The thread running through the novels has been, ‘the Others (Others- everything that isn’t strictly human) use Shiarra.’ I hope this novel is the end of that.
The novel suffers from the same issues as the ones before it. The story is told through Shiarra’s eyes, and she is not my favorite narrator. Her narrative is nearly always heavy. She also repeats her plans or thoughts to the point that I want to knock on the window between us, to say I got it. I really, really enjoyed this novel, and at the same time I really didn’t like it at all. There are some major flaws, the biggest one being that it isn’t finished. It was all building to the next book instead of a complete story. The ending feels like it is the middle, and a ton of the beginning feels like it shouldn’t have been there at all. Despite this the end of the novel is where it is at. Shiarra got a slap in the face, and I felt it as a reader. Towards the end, once Shiarra discovers something on her own, the novel picks up. Mainly because I wasn’t expecting what happened. It is a race to the end, only it has no end. It is a cliffhanger, but didn’t feel like that for me. Instead it felt like it should have been the middle, or turning point in the novel.
It isn’t this often I am torn between liking something, and disliking it. At the same time this isn’t a middle of the ground novel. It will invoke feelings in the reader no matter what. Yes, I cannot wait to read the next book, but not for the usual reasons. I was left unsatisfied, and because of that I want to read the next book. While the characters have continued to be the same, and the stories in the first two books were self-contained. This is not the case with Deceived by the Others. It suffers from the same flaws as the first two books, and has a couple more issues with the story. As much as I look forward to the next novel, I hope it does more.
Shiarra is a P.I. who has decided to take a vacation with her werewolf boyfriend, Chaz. He thought it would be a good idea to introduce her to his pack. As the weekend progresses it is clear that someone has some issues with Chaz, and soon these other people are not the only ones.
This is the third novel in the H&W Investigation series. I had a like-hate relationship with this novel. It starts out slow. In the last two books big things happened, huge things! In this the problems don’t seem that big at first. There are a couple people pissed at Chaz, and because he took Shiarra along, she becomes the perfect bait. The mountain vacation, among all the pack members makes for a lot of meet and greets. This was handled well, and wasn’t overwhelming. What made it move at a crawl was that that our two main characters start to get pranked, and death threats. The threats are chalked up to younger pack members giving challenge to Chaz, who is the Alpha. The fact that this was shrugged off annoyed me. Another problem is that the characters constantly tell Shiarra to be safe, don’t go places alone, etc… but she doesn’t listen. Instead she is constantly off getting into trouble, kind of like Carl on The Walking Dead.
During the unveiling of what was behind the pranks Chaz and Shiarra suffered, something else is uncovered. I can’t say much more than that. If I did it would give far too much away, but it rocks the very foundations of Shiarra. What is uncovered happens towards the last half of the novel. This is where the story heats up, and then ends. The thread running through the novels has been, ‘the Others (Others- everything that isn’t strictly human) use Shiarra.’ I hope this novel is the end of that.
The novel suffers from the same issues as the ones before it. The story is told through Shiarra’s eyes, and she is not my favorite narrator. Her narrative is nearly always heavy. She also repeats her plans or thoughts to the point that I want to knock on the window between us, to say I got it. I really, really enjoyed this novel, and at the same time I really didn’t like it at all. There are some major flaws, the biggest one being that it isn’t finished. It was all building to the next book instead of a complete story. The ending feels like it is the middle, and a ton of the beginning feels like it shouldn’t have been there at all. Despite this the end of the novel is where it is at. Shiarra got a slap in the face, and I felt it as a reader. Towards the end, once Shiarra discovers something on her own, the novel picks up. Mainly because I wasn’t expecting what happened. It is a race to the end, only it has no end. It is a cliffhanger, but didn’t feel like that for me. Instead it felt like it should have been the middle, or turning point in the novel.
It isn’t this often I am torn between liking something, and disliking it. At the same time this isn’t a middle of the ground novel. It will invoke feelings in the reader no matter what. Yes, I cannot wait to read the next book, but not for the usual reasons. I was left unsatisfied, and because of that I want to read the next book. While the characters have continued to be the same, and the stories in the first two books were self-contained. This is not the case with Deceived by the Others. It suffers from the same flaws as the first two books, and has a couple more issues with the story. As much as I look forward to the next novel, I hope it does more.
suzrae73's review
4.0
Really enjoy this series, I love Shia, love Sara and Arnold! Jess Haines is a great writer who keeps you engaged and wanting to know what happens....
booksinastorm's review
2.0
http://books-in-a-storm.tumblr.com/post/174761611861/snowflake-book-reviews-title-deceived-by-the
veronica87's review
2.0
I wasn't into this book at all. Shiarra leaves town to go on a weekend werewolf retreat with the character I like the least. This felt like total filler so there was a lot of skimming involved. I'll read the next book since I already own it but my interest is severely lagging.
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