Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Ebony Gate by Ken Bebelle, Julia Vee

4 reviews

booksdogsandcoffee's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Top tier urban fantasy!

Vee and Bebelle excel in creating a lush and contemporary fantasy world in San Francisco, drenched in the beauty of Chinese culture, magic and mythology. A well rounded and intriguing cast of characters, with a sassy badass lead. 

My favorite part of the whole book was learning about the families and the dragon magic connected to each of them. 

I cannot wait to get more out of this series and to read other books by these two authors. 

Cw
Blood
Gore
Death
Murder


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lbelow's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

4.75

What a rollicking start to a series! This book was non-stop action mixed with the ever-entangling roots of connection: to family, to friends, to place. It was SO SATISFYING when Emiko finally accepted
becoming the Sentinel
. I wanted to pump my fist in the air! I also enjoyed how smart she is as a character. It was refreshing to read a mystery where she isn't scrounging for clues the entire time and making wrong guesses, but knows enough to pinpoint her target and is instead outgunned and has to regroup. It brought Emiko's lone wolf character flaw into stark relief as she had to change tactics and open herself to taking allies. Honestly, after this riot of a book, I cannot wait for book 2! 
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wanderonwards's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Thank you to Macmillan/TOR Publishing Group for sending me an ARC of this title. I received this copy for free and this review contains my honest opinions. 
 
I’m always excited to see more urban fantasy (and everything about this book just sounded so good!) and I was secretly hoping this would be one of my top reads of the year. Unfortunately, Ebony Gate didn’t quite deliver on its promise for me. While Emiko was a promising character and I really enjoyed the world building and magic system, I think both the plot and the ways the characters interacted let this story down. At times the plot felt like it was trying to go in every direction at once and the pacing suffered, despite the story taking place over only a couple of days. Additionally, most of the other characters had only brief interactions with Emiko and their page time felt more like introductions for larger roles in later books, rather than helping the plot progress. I am hopeful this series will find its stride in the next book. Thank you again to the publisher for sending me a free ARC. 
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sarrie's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 
It’s incredibly rare for me to find an Urban Fantasy that’s solid and does not fall into the trap being more on the Romance than the Fantasy side. If that’s you and you want that great Urban fantasy feeling - pick up Ebony Gate. 

The story follows Emiko Soong who, after giving up a coveted and rare position in her family, moves to San Francisco and attempts to make her own way and her own life. Emiko is part of a race of humans descended from Dragons who all manifest different powers at different levels. Emiko seems to have little to no magic and as such as fulfilled the role of assassin and earned the nickname “The Butcher of Beijing”. Because of that we see her move through a society that doesn’t quite accept her on the whole but begrudgingly respects her. The magic is fascinating and fun, and the teases about Emiko and her ‘abilities’ through the book have me very ready for another installment. 

The characters themselves are fun, and even San Francisco as a city takes on a character role as the city is manifesting itself as a sentient force that requires a guiding hand, something it has seemed to pick Emiko for. She struggles against that throughout the book (we all know how it’s going to end) but I always love a sentient magic city idea. 

On the whole I really enjoyed this. The beginning dragged a bit, and it was also fairly overwhelming with the new setting and ideas so it may take some getting used to. I loved the lack of romance, but the beginning also managed to somehow feel like it was setting something up that I’m not crazy about for future books, a plot line that really didn’t feel needed. There was some repetition to the writing, but on the whole this is definitely a book and series I’ll be looking forward to. 

A solid new urban fantasy - for fans of the genre I’d definitely recommend this one. 4 out 5 paper lanterns. 
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