Scan barcode
A review by imaginary_space
Dead Spots by Melissa F. Olson
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was an entertaining, quick read and there's a lot to like about it. I especially appreciate the absence of hormonal teenage behaviour by adult characters.
The backstory of vampires, werewolves and witches is okay, I wasn't particularly excited about it. Some things about the general setup of the story need a lot of suspension of disbelief, but that's mostly all right.
I like that the story is told from the perspective of those low on the supernatural food chain, and I like that Scarlett is not the chosen one to save the world(TM), although I didn't really understand why she was the lowest of the low with her powers. She's also a super rare urban fantasy heroine: actually acts clever most of the time and uses her common sense, she has one-night stands and sees nothing wrong with that, she doesn't let her love life take over her whole life.
Most of the secondary characters I found interesting and believable in an urban fantasy-way, especially the vampires. Scarletts housemate is refreshing and funny with a hint of tragic, and it's great to see the old, powerful boss-vampire to actually behave like one (most of the time) and not fall in love with the heroine and act like a homone-controlled teenager because of it.
The lovetriangle is not my favourite trope, but it was done okay here, and the characters behaved like the adults they are, which made me happy. Problematic romance tropes were pleasantly absent.
Pacing is good and the plot is interesting enough.
All in all, this is more of a 3-star-book, but since it didn't do so many of the things that usually annoy me to no end in urban fantasy novels, I have to give it a fourth star, simply because I am so happy about that fact.
The backstory of vampires, werewolves and witches is okay, I wasn't particularly excited about it. Some things about the general setup of the story need a lot of suspension of disbelief, but that's mostly all right.
I like that the story is told from the perspective of those low on the supernatural food chain, and I like that Scarlett is not the chosen one to save the world(TM), although I didn't really understand why she was the lowest of the low with her powers. She's also a super rare urban fantasy heroine: actually acts clever most of the time and uses her common sense, she has one-night stands and sees nothing wrong with that, she doesn't let her love life take over her whole life.
Most of the secondary characters I found interesting and believable in an urban fantasy-way, especially the vampires. Scarletts housemate is refreshing and funny with a hint of tragic, and it's great to see the old, powerful boss-vampire to actually behave like one (most of the time) and not fall in love with the heroine and act like a homone-controlled teenager because of it.
The love
Pacing is good and the plot is interesting enough.
All in all, this is more of a 3-star-book, but since it didn't do so many of the things that usually annoy me to no end in urban fantasy novels, I have to give it a fourth star, simply because I am so happy about that fact.