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A review by shannonleighd
Embers by Laura Bickle
3.0
*3.25 Stars*
This is sort of a tough one to review. I've lived south of Detroit for the better part of 25 years. This novel is set in and around Detroit so I knew I had to read it just for that fact alone. I think that I let the fascination of reading about somewhere that I'm familiar with overshadow some of the book's faults. By the last page though, it became clear that this was a less-than-perfect book.
Anya Kalincyzk is a fire investigator in Detroit, but she's also a Lantern - she has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts, and also devour them and send their spirits ... somewhere. Anya teams up with a group of ghost hunters every now and then when they need her help getting rid of some of the more malevolent ghosts. She even helps them out when a girl gets possessed by a demon, and unfortunately that demon proves to cause Anya a bit of indigestion.
Anya's job is getting tougher when someone starts setting fires around the city, and leaving their calling card for her to find: a symbol melted into concrete, a feat that would take a considerable amount of heat. Anya starts to investigate and what she finds is a little closer to home than she anticipated. There's someone else like her in Detroit, but he has his own twisted plan for renovating the city.
Anya's abilities are really different and interesting. Her personality though, was sort of lacking, and I unfortunately found that to be the case with most of the characters. On the other hand though, her elemental familiar Sparky, is fantastic. He really stole the show and made this book a lot more enjoyable. I think I might have even deducted a whole star if he hadn't be included. It probably helps that I've had a pet newt since I was little (I think he's immortal, he's pushing 19 years old!) but Sparky the salamander with his Gloworm toy really warmed my heart.
The hook-up Anya has near the end of the book was strange. I wasn't expecting any sex, and I especially didn't expect it to be with the person she chose. It really seemed out of character, although it was sort of sexy.
The ending fizzled. The build-up to the "final fight" was fantastic, but then it's almost like the author ran out of steam at the end. This was the most disappointing part of the whole book, and I don't really understand what happened. I also don't like what happened to one of the characters, even though if you were paying any attention you'd see it coming. It seemed kind of a waste of time to create a relationship between him and Anya, and then end things the way they did. Anya's relationship with him seemed kind of pointless and also questioned her integrity, making her seem wishy-washy.
I think even if this had been a 1-star book I'd still read the next just because it's set in Detroit. This book had it's shining moments but it also had it's share of low points, although it wasn't a terrible story. The author has a lot of good ideas, her execution is just a bit off. I'm going to chalk that up to "first book syndrome" and hope this series only gets better.
This is sort of a tough one to review. I've lived south of Detroit for the better part of 25 years. This novel is set in and around Detroit so I knew I had to read it just for that fact alone. I think that I let the fascination of reading about somewhere that I'm familiar with overshadow some of the book's faults. By the last page though, it became clear that this was a less-than-perfect book.
Anya Kalincyzk is a fire investigator in Detroit, but she's also a Lantern - she has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts, and also devour them and send their spirits ... somewhere. Anya teams up with a group of ghost hunters every now and then when they need her help getting rid of some of the more malevolent ghosts. She even helps them out when a girl gets possessed by a demon, and unfortunately that demon proves to cause Anya a bit of indigestion.
Anya's job is getting tougher when someone starts setting fires around the city, and leaving their calling card for her to find: a symbol melted into concrete, a feat that would take a considerable amount of heat. Anya starts to investigate and what she finds is a little closer to home than she anticipated. There's someone else like her in Detroit, but he has his own twisted plan for renovating the city.
Anya's abilities are really different and interesting. Her personality though, was sort of lacking, and I unfortunately found that to be the case with most of the characters. On the other hand though, her elemental familiar Sparky, is fantastic. He really stole the show and made this book a lot more enjoyable. I think I might have even deducted a whole star if he hadn't be included. It probably helps that I've had a pet newt since I was little (I think he's immortal, he's pushing 19 years old!) but Sparky the salamander with his Gloworm toy really warmed my heart.
The hook-up Anya has near the end of the book was strange. I wasn't expecting any sex, and I especially didn't expect it to be with the person she chose. It really seemed out of character, although it was sort of sexy.
The ending fizzled. The build-up to the "final fight" was fantastic, but then it's almost like the author ran out of steam at the end. This was the most disappointing part of the whole book, and I don't really understand what happened. I also don't like what happened to one of the characters, even though if you were paying any attention you'd see it coming. It seemed kind of a waste of time to create a relationship between him and Anya, and then end things the way they did. Anya's relationship with him seemed kind of pointless and also questioned her integrity, making her seem wishy-washy.
I think even if this had been a 1-star book I'd still read the next just because it's set in Detroit. This book had it's shining moments but it also had it's share of low points, although it wasn't a terrible story. The author has a lot of good ideas, her execution is just a bit off. I'm going to chalk that up to "first book syndrome" and hope this series only gets better.