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A review by divapitbull
The Curse of Tenth Grave by Darynda Jones
5.0
I really enjoyed the 10th grave installment. It was fast paced and there was a lot going on. The mystery of the day didn't overwhelm the story - probably because there were at least 3 (the mystery of the missing dead girl, the cursed orphan and the ghost busters) and there was a little advancement of the overall storyline - but that didn't really materialize until towards the end. I think I really enjoyed this installment for 2 reasons. Charley has gotten much less annoyingly stupidly cheesy. Her trademark sense of humor is still there, but she seems to have toned it down by more than just a notch. And best of all - she is growing into her Godliness. Finally she's looking like a badass (love the kiss of death and the Vulcan mind meld). Finally she's looking like a warrior (pulling up her army and rocking the god glass) instead of playing the bumbling victim. This Charley I am actually liking.
10th grave picks up 1 week after Charley gets her memories back and returns to New Mexico after her little excursion in New York. Things are a bit strained between she and Reyes - and she can't figure out why - although she does realize that she's returned with some jaw dropping Intel that she really can't trust him with at the moment. Being as Reyes it turns out is the most powerful and evil of the 3 gods of Uzan. Or at least he was until his "brothers" helped Satan trap him in the god glass so he could shake & bake a son out of him. So while Charley is missing her Beep she's also worried that Reyes might go all destroyer of universes and obliterator of life on her when he learns his true celestial name - forcing her to trap him in the god glass to keep Beep safe. (FYI Reyes definitely earned his bad boy street cred with this little bombshell). And of course Reyes is hiding some secrets of his own from Charley. Some have to do with his own insecurities and others about steps he’s taking to stop her beloved Ubie from going to hell. Misunderstandings and mis-assumptions abound on all sides and nothing is resolved until just over half way through when Cookie forces a game of naked twisted.
The overall story arc doesn’t really come in to play until the last 80%; but Charley’s confrontation with Mae’eldeesahn one of the gods of Uzan is Epic. We learn a little more back story related to how the gods Val-Eeth and Rey’azikeen ended up on earth playing out their drama as Charley and Reyes. And Team Charley gains another very cool departed who joins the ranks of the inner circle protecting Beep.
10th grave picks up 1 week after Charley gets her memories back and returns to New Mexico after her little excursion in New York. Things are a bit strained between she and Reyes - and she can't figure out why - although she does realize that she's returned with some jaw dropping Intel that she really can't trust him with at the moment. Being as Reyes it turns out is the most powerful and evil of the 3 gods of Uzan. Or at least he was until his "brothers" helped Satan trap him in the god glass so he could shake & bake a son out of him. So while Charley is missing her Beep she's also worried that Reyes might go all destroyer of universes and obliterator of life on her when he learns his true celestial name - forcing her to trap him in the god glass to keep Beep safe. (FYI Reyes definitely earned his bad boy street cred with this little bombshell). And of course Reyes is hiding some secrets of his own from Charley. Some have to do with his own insecurities and others about steps he’s taking to stop her beloved Ubie from going to hell. Misunderstandings and mis-assumptions abound on all sides and nothing is resolved until just over half way through when Cookie forces a game of naked twisted.
The overall story arc doesn’t really come in to play until the last 80%; but Charley’s confrontation with Mae’eldeesahn one of the gods of Uzan is Epic. We learn a little more back story related to how the gods Val-Eeth and Rey’azikeen ended up on earth playing out their drama as Charley and Reyes. And Team Charley gains another very cool departed who joins the ranks of the inner circle protecting Beep.