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siavahda's review against another edition
5.0
I'm really classing this as four-point-five stars, but the book is so good I'd rather round up than down on this one.
I am not the biggest fan of urban fantasy; I'm particularly not a fan of first-person urban fantasy. But I loved the author's book Dragon Legacy (so much that I still haven't finished it; it's so intensely good I can only manage to read it a few pages at a time before I'm overwhelmed by The Awesome), so I decided to take a risk and follow her as she jumped genres.
Definitely one of my better decisions.
Siggy is a tough-as-nails, brittle, definitely-crazy woman of Native American descent - though I'm not sure even she knows it until the grandfather she never knew existed manages to track her down and call her home. Siggy, you see, was wrongfully taken from her family by social services and shoved into the foster system, as happens and has happened to Native children for decades. Split Feather pointedly and eloquently addresses this as a systemic issue at several points throughout the book, which is good, because it's a horrible thing that very much needs addressing in the real world, too. Siggy was taken so young that she has no memories of her original family by the time the mysterious birthday card with a ticket to Alaska inside arrives at her beaten-up trailer, but a series of bizarre and troubling events - namely, meeting the sparklepunk assassin Bane, supposedly sent to kill her but who saves her life instead - convinces her to take the risk and head up north to find her family.
And oh, she can see demons. Or so she calls them - the monsters she hallucinates everywhere, including the one who's followed her around all her life, whispering commands to kill - other people, herself, her demon doesn't really care so long as blood is spilled. So far Siggy has managed to do no such thing, but crippling migraine-like headaches are her punishment for ignoring the monster, and worse, her demon seems to be becoming more powerful, able to snatch control of her body instead of just whispering in her ear.
The thing is, Bane can see the monsters too. So maybe she's not hallucinating after all?
I don't want to give away too much of the book's plot, because what unfolds after she reaches Alaska is such a breath of fresh air in a genre that's gotten pretty stale - definitely avoid spoilers if you plan to pick this up, because it's so very good when each plot twist and turn takes you by surprise. I can only assume Wolf drew heavily from Native mythology for the second half of the book, because the magic and monsters Siggy encounters are like nothing my white mythbuff self has encountered before (although I did recognise Sedna, even before she was named. One small point to me!) Suffice to say that Siggy undergoes some big adventures, faces multiple important and life-changing revelations, and uncovers what is hinted to be some complicated conspiracy of demons - all while finding her place amongst the extended family that welcomes her home with so much love and acceptance that she, traumatised and scarred as she is, really doesn't know how to handle.
My one critique is that there were a lot of surprising time-skips between chapters, which at times made the pacing more than a bit jerky - important conversations or transitions were skipped over, and occasionally I was left scrambling a bit to keep up or figure out what had happened during the time-skip. But bar that one reservation, I have to recommend this to every urban fantasy fan - and even non-urban fantasy fans like myself, because the writing is gorgeous, the characters are fantastic, the plot is alternately heart-wrenching and exciting, and there are so many unanswered questions (some raised on the very last page!) that I'm simply dying to get my hands on book two and find out what happens next!
Well done, Wolf; you've dragged me kicking and screaming back to urban fantasy. I hope you're pleased with yourself.
I am not the biggest fan of urban fantasy; I'm particularly not a fan of first-person urban fantasy. But I loved the author's book Dragon Legacy (so much that I still haven't finished it; it's so intensely good I can only manage to read it a few pages at a time before I'm overwhelmed by The Awesome), so I decided to take a risk and follow her as she jumped genres.
Definitely one of my better decisions.
Siggy is a tough-as-nails, brittle, definitely-crazy woman of Native American descent - though I'm not sure even she knows it until the grandfather she never knew existed manages to track her down and call her home. Siggy, you see, was wrongfully taken from her family by social services and shoved into the foster system, as happens and has happened to Native children for decades. Split Feather pointedly and eloquently addresses this as a systemic issue at several points throughout the book, which is good, because it's a horrible thing that very much needs addressing in the real world, too. Siggy was taken so young that she has no memories of her original family by the time the mysterious birthday card with a ticket to Alaska inside arrives at her beaten-up trailer, but a series of bizarre and troubling events - namely, meeting the sparklepunk assassin Bane, supposedly sent to kill her but who saves her life instead - convinces her to take the risk and head up north to find her family.
And oh, she can see demons. Or so she calls them - the monsters she hallucinates everywhere, including the one who's followed her around all her life, whispering commands to kill - other people, herself, her demon doesn't really care so long as blood is spilled. So far Siggy has managed to do no such thing, but crippling migraine-like headaches are her punishment for ignoring the monster, and worse, her demon seems to be becoming more powerful, able to snatch control of her body instead of just whispering in her ear.
The thing is, Bane can see the monsters too. So maybe she's not hallucinating after all?
I don't want to give away too much of the book's plot, because what unfolds after she reaches Alaska is such a breath of fresh air in a genre that's gotten pretty stale - definitely avoid spoilers if you plan to pick this up, because it's so very good when each plot twist and turn takes you by surprise. I can only assume Wolf drew heavily from Native mythology for the second half of the book, because the magic and monsters Siggy encounters are like nothing my white mythbuff self has encountered before (although I did recognise Sedna, even before she was named. One small point to me!) Suffice to say that Siggy undergoes some big adventures, faces multiple important and life-changing revelations, and uncovers what is hinted to be some complicated conspiracy of demons - all while finding her place amongst the extended family that welcomes her home with so much love and acceptance that she, traumatised and scarred as she is, really doesn't know how to handle.
My one critique is that there were a lot of surprising time-skips between chapters, which at times made the pacing more than a bit jerky - important conversations or transitions were skipped over, and occasionally I was left scrambling a bit to keep up or figure out what had happened during the time-skip. But bar that one reservation, I have to recommend this to every urban fantasy fan - and even non-urban fantasy fans like myself, because the writing is gorgeous, the characters are fantastic, the plot is alternately heart-wrenching and exciting, and there are so many unanswered questions (some raised on the very last page!) that I'm simply dying to get my hands on book two and find out what happens next!
Well done, Wolf; you've dragged me kicking and screaming back to urban fantasy. I hope you're pleased with yourself.
luanam's review
4.0
The majority of this book was for me a 5 star rating and the only reason I gave it a 4 star rating is that there were a couple of minor moments where a development did not feel quite paced right and a moment or two where the character did not ring quite as authentic as she does for the main. These moments are however outweighed by a story that had me gripped from start to finish and empathising with the character to the point of feeling her rage at one very pertinent part of the novel.
Also added bonus points to the scenes with the protagonist and her grandma - there is a bounty of beautifully affectionate yet pretty badass humour there :)
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