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mjspice's review against another edition
3.0
I liked it overall. It had a good plot and likeable characters. Plus the heroine is a WOC being part Greek and part Egyptian.
I am kinda confused about the rituals performed in the book tho because TBQH, it felt like the author meshed up various parts from different cultures like chakras, totems etc and various pagan gods like Persephone, Ishtar etc to make up a Wiccan culture. Unless, of course, that's what actual Wiccan culture really is which still doesn't seem like a good look either way....
Also, I do wish most of the story had taken in other different areas than the lead's house really. The world building seemed a big closed because of it.
I am kinda confused about the rituals performed in the book tho because TBQH, it felt like the author meshed up various parts from different cultures like chakras, totems etc and various pagan gods like Persephone, Ishtar etc to make up a Wiccan culture. Unless, of course, that's what actual Wiccan culture really is which still doesn't seem like a good look either way....
Also, I do wish most of the story had taken in other different areas than the lead's house really. The world building seemed a big closed because of it.
drey72's review against another edition
3.0
I can’t believe Linda Robertson’s Persephone Alcmedi series has been around since 2009 and I’ve just now heard of it. Where the heck have I been hiding?
I’ll start off with some things I didn’t like — they’re pretty minor (mostly), but still annoying enough that it interrupts the good “flow” of my reading. The first is the heroine’s name. It’s not bad enough she’s Persephone Isis, but her last name is a mouthful of consonants. Good thing for Johnny’s nickname — she’s Red to me, now.
The other thing that bugged me was how whiny Seph was. I mean, I know what she agreed to do isn’t what she really wants to do, or even should do, and she finds out the well is deeper than she thought when she jumped in it, but hey welcome to the real (ha ha!) world. At least Seph has super wicked powers, y’know? The rest of us mere mortals just have to slog through on our own…
Ok, enough with the complaining already (heh). Vicious Circle starts off with death, follows it up with vengeance (call it justice if you’d like), heaps mounds of weres into the mix, throws in super-scary vampires, and wraps it all up (kinda) nicely at the end. Phew. That is one pot I’m not going to step into!
The best thing about Vicious Circle? The story itself — it’s full of feeling and doing. So yes, Seph may have been whiny, but it’s whine-while-I-go-kick-ass which I can definitely understand. Overall, I enjoyed Vicious Circle. I’ll be seeing where Seph goes from here, in book 2 — Hallowed Circle.
drey’s rating: Pick it up!
I’ll start off with some things I didn’t like — they’re pretty minor (mostly), but still annoying enough that it interrupts the good “flow” of my reading. The first is the heroine’s name. It’s not bad enough she’s Persephone Isis, but her last name is a mouthful of consonants. Good thing for Johnny’s nickname — she’s Red to me, now.
The other thing that bugged me was how whiny Seph was. I mean, I know what she agreed to do isn’t what she really wants to do, or even should do, and she finds out the well is deeper than she thought when she jumped in it, but hey welcome to the real (ha ha!) world. At least Seph has super wicked powers, y’know? The rest of us mere mortals just have to slog through on our own…
Ok, enough with the complaining already (heh). Vicious Circle starts off with death, follows it up with vengeance (call it justice if you’d like), heaps mounds of weres into the mix, throws in super-scary vampires, and wraps it all up (kinda) nicely at the end. Phew. That is one pot I’m not going to step into!
The best thing about Vicious Circle? The story itself — it’s full of feeling and doing. So yes, Seph may have been whiny, but it’s whine-while-I-go-kick-ass which I can definitely understand. Overall, I enjoyed Vicious Circle. I’ll be seeing where Seph goes from here, in book 2 — Hallowed Circle.
drey’s rating: Pick it up!
thenia's review against another edition
3.0
This is the beginning of Percephone Alcmedi's story, a witch that finds her life changed in many ways, with her grandmother moving in with her and a task that goes against what she stands for.
Percephone is very reluctant to leave her comfort zone and everything that's happening in her life forces her to do just that. She suppresses and avoids and postpones dealing with her biggest issues in hopes they will magically disappear, which, of course, doesn't happen. She realizes she's even more out of her league when a very powerful vampire enters the picture, when she knows virtually nothing about vampires.
There is a mix of different deities and mythical and mystical lore combined in the story and there is even a prophecy of sorts about a person walking between the lines of the three worlds (human, werewolf and vampire), or the Lustrata, as they call her.
Johnny, the main hero is very unlike what one would expect of an alpha werewolf and is pretty much a mystery so far. Menessos, the big bad vampire, is another mystery and I'm curious to see how the events at the end of this book have affected him.
Next comes [b:Hallowed Circle|6329337|Hallowed Circle (Persephone Alcmedi, #2)|Linda Robertson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388879396s/6329337.jpg|6514975], in which I hope Percephone will continue to change for the better and manage to find her place in her world.
Percephone is very reluctant to leave her comfort zone and everything that's happening in her life forces her to do just that. She suppresses and avoids and postpones dealing with her biggest issues in hopes they will magically disappear, which, of course, doesn't happen. She realizes she's even more out of her league when a very powerful vampire enters the picture, when she knows virtually nothing about vampires.
There is a mix of different deities and mythical and mystical lore combined in the story and there is even a prophecy of sorts about a person walking between the lines of the three worlds (human, werewolf and vampire), or the Lustrata, as they call her.
Johnny, the main hero is very unlike what one would expect of an alpha werewolf and is pretty much a mystery so far. Menessos, the big bad vampire, is another mystery and I'm curious to see how the events at the end of this book have affected him.
Next comes [b:Hallowed Circle|6329337|Hallowed Circle (Persephone Alcmedi, #2)|Linda Robertson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388879396s/6329337.jpg|6514975], in which I hope Percephone will continue to change for the better and manage to find her place in her world.
cherryblossom_reads's review against another edition
5.0
Vicious Circle first book from the series Persephone Alcmedi is quite different from the other books I've read so far. The rituals and other magic part was very beautifully explained, the main character Persephone is really a strong and intelligent woman or well witch. I loved her!
The plot is good, all in all it was worth a five star book.
Read it!
The plot is good, all in all it was worth a five star book.
Read it!
loveinpanels's review against another edition
4.0
Much better than what the cover and/or back blurb would lead you to believe. I liked the characters, especially the way that none of them fell into the awful urban fantasy stereotypes I'm getting so tired of. The author has another unique take on the way werewolves, vampires, and witches fit in the world and how they interact.
I was beginning to worry that urban fantasy was running out of ideas... but I am happy to be wrong!
Recommended, particularly to fans of Patricia Brigg's Mercy Thompson books and Kim Harrison's Hallows series.
I was beginning to worry that urban fantasy was running out of ideas... but I am happy to be wrong!
Recommended, particularly to fans of Patricia Brigg's Mercy Thompson books and Kim Harrison's Hallows series.
pacey1927's review against another edition
5.0
So I picked this book up on a whim and I was well rewarded for this purchase. This book amazed me from the start. Persephone is a witch and witches aren't supposed to like warewolves. Every full moon, Seph kennels a bunch of wares to keep themselves and others safe. Seph's wiccan nature is well developed and fairly true to real Wiccan beliefs. When Seph's warewolf friend is murdered and she is offered money to assassinate her killer, Seph questions her very nature and what she is capable of. Seph's grandmother has recently been released from a nursing home and she is cranky and annoying. Ssph soons finds an entire cast of friends to round off the book's primary characters. I fell immediately for Johnny, the tattoed, pierced lead singer of a goth-techno-metal band, who is also a warewolf. He is one of the most genuinely charming lead men I have read in a long time. Seph finds herelf confronting prejudices of all kinds, including her own regarding vampires, when she learns that her friend's killer may be a powerful master vampire. I don't want to give too much detail and possibly spoil what I guarentee will be a fun read for you! I will say that what happens with Seph, her warewolves, and the vampires is an action packed adventure...but what made this story so compelling to me is the strength of these characters. I could see that there is more to each of these characters than we have touched on in "Vicious Circle". By page 100, I had gone onto Amazon and checked to make sure there was a sequel in the works, because I knew I would want more. I was grateful to read there are at least two more volumes to come. Paranormal readers, I know its getting harder and harder to find a book that really sticks out, but this may well be the one you are looking for!
vailynst's review against another edition
3.0
*Notes: Story about transformations and taking charge of choices. Vague links on exactly what friendships, family and even emotional attachments are to the main character.
galaxies's review against another edition
3.0
Eh. 2.5 stars, I guess. It wasn't entirely bad but it wasn't very inventive either. I doubt I'll be reading the sequels.
jadeshea's review against another edition
3.0
Vicious Circle begins with Persephone being a local witch and reading Tarot cards. She just recently had her Nana move in with her, and she's trying to figure out how to manage life now. But when her werewolf friend Lorrie is murdered, things go from bad to worse for Persephone. With more werewolves then she knows what to do with, and a teenager she's got her hands full. Not to mention some crazy vampires seem to be after them as well. She must find the killer before it is too late.
This book was interesting. I just never really connected with the characters, or felt much emotion from them. I, sometimes felt like Persephone didn't have many emotions, and it made it hard to enjoy her character. Especially when it came to the "romance" part of the story. Other then that though it was really interesting to see the witches, werewolves, and vampires all together. Not sure I will read any more in this series, but this one was still good to pass the time with.
This book was interesting. I just never really connected with the characters, or felt much emotion from them. I, sometimes felt like Persephone didn't have many emotions, and it made it hard to enjoy her character. Especially when it came to the "romance" part of the story. Other then that though it was really interesting to see the witches, werewolves, and vampires all together. Not sure I will read any more in this series, but this one was still good to pass the time with.
thenia's review against another edition
3.0
This is the beginning of Percephone Alcmedi's story, a witch that finds her life changed in many ways, with her grandmother moving in with her and a task that goes against what she stands for.
Percephone is very reluctant to leave her comfort zone and everything that's happening in her life forces her to do just that. She suppresses and avoids and postpones dealing with her biggest issues in hopes they will magically disappear, which, of course, doesn't happen. She realizes she's even more out of her league when a very powerful vampire enters the picture, when she knows virtually nothing about vampires.
There is a mix of different deities and mythical and mystical lore combined in the story and there is even a prophecy of sorts about a person walking between the lines of the three worlds (human, werewolf and vampire), or the Lustrata, as they call her.
Johnny, the main hero is very unlike what one would expect of an alpha werewolf and is pretty much a mystery so far. Menessos, the big bad vampire, is another mystery and I'm curious to see how the events at the end of this book have affected him.
Next comes [b:Hallowed Circle|6329337|Hallowed Circle (Persephone Alcmedi, #2)|Linda Robertson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388879396s/6329337.jpg|6514975], in which I hope Percephone will continue to change for the better and manage to find her place in her world.
Percephone is very reluctant to leave her comfort zone and everything that's happening in her life forces her to do just that. She suppresses and avoids and postpones dealing with her biggest issues in hopes they will magically disappear, which, of course, doesn't happen. She realizes she's even more out of her league when a very powerful vampire enters the picture, when she knows virtually nothing about vampires.
There is a mix of different deities and mythical and mystical lore combined in the story and there is even a prophecy of sorts about a person walking between the lines of the three worlds (human, werewolf and vampire), or the Lustrata, as they call her.
Johnny, the main hero is very unlike what one would expect of an alpha werewolf and is pretty much a mystery so far. Menessos, the big bad vampire, is another mystery and I'm curious to see how the events at the end of this book have affected him.
Next comes [b:Hallowed Circle|6329337|Hallowed Circle (Persephone Alcmedi, #2)|Linda Robertson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388879396s/6329337.jpg|6514975], in which I hope Percephone will continue to change for the better and manage to find her place in her world.