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nerdywerewolf's review against another edition
5.0
A lot happened in this book that was very obvious groundwork for a big battle to come. What's perplexing (in the best way) is that it didn't *feel* that way when I was reading it. It didn't give that semi-boring 'middle-book' impression. I don't really know how to explain it better. I love books that have a lot of action: explosions, all-out-brawls, life-or-death-let's-save-the-world-stuff. While this installment had little of that, it was compelling to the last page. Devon Monk is definitely one of my very favorite authors.
chelseaj91's review against another edition
4.0
Allison Beckstrom has willingly paid the price of pain to use magic, and has obeyed the rules of the Authority, the clandestine organization that makes-and enforces-all magic policy. But the the Authority's new boss, Bartholomew Wray, refuses to believe that the sudden rash of deaths in Portland might be caused by magic, Allie must choose to follow the Authority's rules, or turn against the very people for whom she's risked her life.
To stop the plague of dark magic spreading throughout the city, all that she values will be on the line: her magic, her memories, her life. Now, as dead magic users rise to feed upon the innocent and the people closest to her begin to fall, Allie is about to run out of options.
So we've reached book 7 in the Allie Beckstrom series. This time around, there's some pretty big changes in store for everyone as the pick up the pieces after the events in the previous book. That being said, this book (while I enjoyed it) felt more like a setup/transition than anything else.
After the fight at the Life Well, Bartholomew Wray (the new head of the Authority) comes in and shakes everything up--he replaces all the Voices with people of his choosing, some who may or may not be his personal lapdogs, and he has the previous Voices Closed to the point that they don't remember their time as Voice. From the beginning, he rubs Allie the wrong way and that immediately causes her to be suspicious (not that she didn't have plenty of reason as it was). Unfortunately for Allie and Co, Zay is forced to Close Maeve and Victor and Terric is appointed as a Voice.
On top of dealing with all of that, the Veiled (and magic in general) have somehow been poisoned and it's killing people, including fellow Hound Davy Silvers who was bitten. A portion of this story is spent trying to figure out what's wrong with him and if there's a way to fix it. Daniel is still inhabiting Allie's mind and for the moment, they seem to have created a tenuous alliance. As if that wasn't enough, after Allie's initial interview with Wray and a Truth spell, she gets violently ill whenever she attempts to use magic of any kind. Although she can now see magic without any assistance, she can't cast which is very bad.
Cody and Nola come in for a moment and while Cody doesn't cast magic, somehow he's able to tell that something's wrong. There wasn't too much of them this time around though. Unfortunately, to keep Nola safe, Allie has to keep a lot of what's been going on secret. Hopefully they can fix that eventually. There wasn't much of Stotts either. Allie did go to him when they were initially getting ready to stand against the Authority, but being a policeman and without proper evidence, he wasn't able to help.
Zay grew a little in this book I thought. After Wray forced him to Close Victor and Maeve, he kind of pulled in on himself and Allie had to push through that too reach him. Once she did, his view went from black and white to shades of grey. He started to see that maybe blindly following the oaths he'd taken when he became Guardian weren't necessarily the best for everyone.
Shame and Terric's relationship also changed. It's clear that they both have some kind of feeling for the other, but Shame specifically doesn't want to admit anything. Whether it's because he's scared of what it means or just because he's being selfish, I'm not sure yet. I would like to see that develop more in the coming stories.
To stop the plague of dark magic spreading throughout the city, all that she values will be on the line: her magic, her memories, her life. Now, as dead magic users rise to feed upon the innocent and the people closest to her begin to fall, Allie is about to run out of options.
So we've reached book 7 in the Allie Beckstrom series. This time around, there's some pretty big changes in store for everyone as the pick up the pieces after the events in the previous book. That being said, this book (while I enjoyed it) felt more like a setup/transition than anything else.
After the fight at the Life Well, Bartholomew Wray (the new head of the Authority) comes in and shakes everything up--he replaces all the Voices with people of his choosing, some who may or may not be his personal lapdogs, and he has the previous Voices Closed to the point that they don't remember their time as Voice. From the beginning, he rubs Allie the wrong way and that immediately causes her to be suspicious (not that she didn't have plenty of reason as it was). Unfortunately for Allie and Co, Zay is forced to Close Maeve and Victor and Terric is appointed as a Voice.
On top of dealing with all of that, the Veiled (and magic in general) have somehow been poisoned and it's killing people, including fellow Hound Davy Silvers who was bitten. A portion of this story is spent trying to figure out what's wrong with him and if there's a way to fix it. Daniel is still inhabiting Allie's mind and for the moment, they seem to have created a tenuous alliance. As if that wasn't enough, after Allie's initial interview with Wray and a Truth spell, she gets violently ill whenever she attempts to use magic of any kind. Although she can now see magic without any assistance, she can't cast which is very bad.
Cody and Nola come in for a moment and while Cody doesn't cast magic, somehow he's able to tell that something's wrong. There wasn't too much of them this time around though. Unfortunately, to keep Nola safe, Allie has to keep a lot of what's been going on secret. Hopefully they can fix that eventually. There wasn't much of Stotts either. Allie did go to him when they were initially getting ready to stand against the Authority, but being a policeman and without proper evidence, he wasn't able to help.
Zay grew a little in this book I thought. After Wray forced him to Close Victor and Maeve, he kind of pulled in on himself and Allie had to push through that too reach him. Once she did, his view went from black and white to shades of grey. He started to see that maybe blindly following the oaths he'd taken when he became Guardian weren't necessarily the best for everyone.
Shame and Terric's relationship also changed. It's clear that they both have some kind of feeling for the other, but Shame specifically doesn't want to admit anything. Whether it's because he's scared of what it means or just because he's being selfish, I'm not sure yet. I would like to see that develop more in the coming stories.
cem_214's review against another edition
5.0
Oh I'm so, so glad I already have the next book, Magic Without Mercy! This series just gets better and better. The twists, the turns...fantastic, never saw some of it coming. Would never have guessed a lot of it either! Can't wait to find out what happens next!
leighryks's review against another edition
4.0
I love this series, but I can't explain why. I start read and just kind of fall in. I like the characters and probably have a crush on Shamus. The plot is twisty enough that I can't predict what will happen next. This one was particularly fun because I won a copy of the book off the authors blog which just made the experience feel special. And gah... the cliffhangers kill me. Devon Monk has said that this will be a series of 9 books that are pretty much set of three ( a trilogy of trilogies). This is number 7, so there was much tangling of threads.
littlemainelibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
Clearly a keeper! :-)
I was so excited to pick up this, the 7th book in the Allie Beckstrom series! As usual it didn't disappoint!
Filled with the hiney kicking, witty commenting, magic slinging, cozy kissing and relationship challenged friends I've come to love hanging out with! Again Ms. Monk has spun a tale that kept me flipping pages for an entire night until I finished the book!
This book throws a whole new twist in the chords of chaos that surround the lives of it's main characters... Allie, Zayvion, Shame and Terric! A twist that had me literally gasping out loud and shouting "NO WAY!!!" much to the consternation of beloved hubbie who was watching TV in the same room. This prompted the usual conversation of, "What's going on in your book?" and my elaborate drawn out expose' that leaves him glassy-eyed, he really needs to read them for himself! LOL! ;-)
This is a series I have thoroughly enjoyed from book one to book seven. I slogged around a bit between books 2-4 but they have gotten progressively better as I learn the subtle ins and outs of my friends personalities.
Unlike many "paranormal" books... those that MUST be filed under romance... more like "paranormal paramours", this has the paranormal elements with a touch of believability! Not really sci-fi or fantasy (although it is paranormal, definitely fantasy! LOL!) it is the believability that keeps me coming back for more! I often think I could be walking down the street and walk right past Allie! ;-)
Enoy!
I was so excited to pick up this, the 7th book in the Allie Beckstrom series! As usual it didn't disappoint!
Filled with the hiney kicking, witty commenting, magic slinging, cozy kissing and relationship challenged friends I've come to love hanging out with! Again Ms. Monk has spun a tale that kept me flipping pages for an entire night until I finished the book!
This book throws a whole new twist in the chords of chaos that surround the lives of it's main characters... Allie, Zayvion, Shame and Terric! A twist that had me literally gasping out loud and shouting "NO WAY!!!" much to the consternation of beloved hubbie who was watching TV in the same room. This prompted the usual conversation of, "What's going on in your book?" and my elaborate drawn out expose' that leaves him glassy-eyed, he really needs to read them for himself! LOL! ;-)
This is a series I have thoroughly enjoyed from book one to book seven. I slogged around a bit between books 2-4 but they have gotten progressively better as I learn the subtle ins and outs of my friends personalities.
Unlike many "paranormal" books... those that MUST be filed under romance... more like "paranormal paramours", this has the paranormal elements with a touch of believability! Not really sci-fi or fantasy (although it is paranormal, definitely fantasy! LOL!) it is the believability that keeps me coming back for more! I often think I could be walking down the street and walk right past Allie! ;-)
Enoy!
kurenai's review against another edition
4.0
Oh man, cliffhangers how I hate you!
Another fantastic read in the Allie Beckstrom series. What I love about these books is not only the believable characters and the snark and the fun, fast-paced action but that everything - everything - comes with a price attached. I'm not going to bother giving a summary of this book because if you're starting now I'd tell you to not bother and go straight to the beginning, pick that up, and go from there.
Overall this was yet another great book to add in to the series but somehow it felt a little weaker to me. I just kept thinking 'damn, Grant has everything, doesn't he?! And good thing he's such good friends with Allie so she can take advantage of that.' That was probably the one main thing that irked me in this particular story; Allie needed something and if it was mental she could go to her dad and if it was physical well, Grant has turned out to be quite beneficial in that regard.
With that little bit of snark aside I must admit that I powered through this book in one afternoon; I just couldn't put it down like all of the other Allie books. It was fun, it has a quick and action-filled storyline, things happened to people that I cared about, and there were more nasty people showing up to screw up Allie's life.
...but a cliffhanger? Really?! Ugh, I hate those so much! Now I have to wait until 2012 to see how Allie gets out of this predicament!! But you know what? I'll totally do it because I really want to know what happens next!!! And that should be praise enough.
Another fantastic read in the Allie Beckstrom series. What I love about these books is not only the believable characters and the snark and the fun, fast-paced action but that everything - everything - comes with a price attached. I'm not going to bother giving a summary of this book because if you're starting now I'd tell you to not bother and go straight to the beginning, pick that up, and go from there.
Overall this was yet another great book to add in to the series but somehow it felt a little weaker to me. I just kept thinking 'damn, Grant has everything, doesn't he?! And good thing he's such good friends with Allie so she can take advantage of that.' That was probably the one main thing that irked me in this particular story; Allie needed something and if it was mental she could go to her dad and if it was physical well, Grant has turned out to be quite beneficial in that regard.
With that little bit of snark aside I must admit that I powered through this book in one afternoon; I just couldn't put it down like all of the other Allie books. It was fun, it has a quick and action-filled storyline, things happened to people that I cared about, and there were more nasty people showing up to screw up Allie's life.
...but a cliffhanger? Really?! Ugh, I hate those so much! Now I have to wait until 2012 to see how Allie gets out of this predicament!! But you know what? I'll totally do it because I really want to know what happens next!!! And that should be praise enough.
rienne's review against another edition
3.0
Renegade life is pretty exciting, but it's too bad everything else is not great about this series. I couldn't even muster any feelings when Allie described Davy as a little brother. I'll probably search out the last two books, but purposefully spoiled myself to see how it would end. I also can't believe there is a flicking spin-off two-book series about Shame and Terric.
catniprocks's review against another edition
5.0
OMG that book did not just end like that! NEED. NEXT. ONE. NOW.