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A review by renpuspita
The Grendel Affair by Lisa Shearin
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Not bad for a series starter but The Grendel Affair have some drawbacks that make me don't fully rate it to 4 stars. The book sure is entertaining to read, fast paced, full of action, with enemies and supernatural creatures from myth (which I love!), also blurbed by Ilona Andrews themselves who set the high bar for urban fantasy series. But if you think SPI Files will be as engaging as Kate Daniels since some premise is the same, then you will be disappointed. Okay, I know that seems unfair to compare both series. Makenna Fraser aka Mac actually remind me much to Mackayla Lane from Fever series with the same nickname and same ability. Since Mac from Fever is a sidhe-seer and Mac from SPI is also a seer, both able to read past supernatural's glamour and the aura. However, I can said that Makenna is not a have fun girl like Mackayla. She is a newbie in SPI files with some dry humor, however the humor or sarcasm is just...that. Don't get me wrong, personality wise, Mac is okay. But her humor barely make me laugh or maybe I'm just not in the mood. I like Mac, but not in a "I would love to be her friend" like.
The book is pretty much a classic urban fantasy with little to no romance. I think at first Mac will have romantic relationship with her partner, Ian Bryne. But if I read reviews from the upcoming book, seems like their relationship more like platonic and Mac have another guy as main love interest. Which is fine by me. However I feel like her team have too much testosterone with only Mac is the only girl while the other female characters are her boss, a dragon lady (literally dragon) named Vivienne Sagadraco and some female agents name Liz and Sandra that only have miniscule role. Agents around Mac are pretty much macho guys, like a werewolf named Yasha, a fellow agent named Calvin and trigger-happy grendel killing from Scandinavia named Rolf. This is just me, tho. I think other readers will find it fine with Mac surrounded by many male agents but I would love to see Mac have female friend.
The strength of this book lay in not only action parts but how Shearin masterfully written the enemy. The SPI agents face grendel. Yes THAT GRENDEL from Beowulf. The grendel is a monster that can't be messed with because they are intelligent beings and strategically planned their attack. The big enemy boss aka the boss that will be spanning for many books (maybe) already introduced and I like Shearin's take into the Babylonian myth. While I find Mac and Ian are okay, I'm fascinated by Vivienne Sagadraco. I want to know who exactly she is, from what mythology she based from since she share some connection with the enemy boss. While the problem with grendel already resolved, there are some questions regarding the enemy that left unanswered. Anyho, while I said Mac is just okay, actually I like that she is a newbie in the team despite have seer ability. So there are some room for her developments both in characterization and also strength in become SPI field agent.
The Grendel Affair is not wow-ed me, but that always happen with first book in the series. I still enjoy Mac and Ian's adventure when facing the cunning and fast grendel. Definitely looking forward for next book and I hope I can connect more to Mac and enjoy the story.
The book is pretty much a classic urban fantasy with little to no romance. I think at first Mac will have romantic relationship with her partner, Ian Bryne. But if I read reviews from the upcoming book, seems like their relationship more like platonic and Mac have another guy as main love interest. Which is fine by me. However I feel like her team have too much testosterone with only Mac is the only girl while the other female characters are her boss, a dragon lady (literally dragon) named Vivienne Sagadraco and some female agents name Liz and Sandra that only have miniscule role. Agents around Mac are pretty much macho guys, like a werewolf named Yasha, a fellow agent named Calvin and trigger-happy grendel killing from Scandinavia named Rolf. This is just me, tho. I think other readers will find it fine with Mac surrounded by many male agents but I would love to see Mac have female friend.
The strength of this book lay in not only action parts but how Shearin masterfully written the enemy. The SPI agents face grendel. Yes THAT GRENDEL from Beowulf. The grendel is a monster that can't be messed with because they are intelligent beings and strategically planned their attack. The big enemy boss aka the boss that will be spanning for many books (maybe) already introduced and I like Shearin's take into the Babylonian myth. While I find Mac and Ian are okay, I'm fascinated by Vivienne Sagadraco. I want to know who exactly she is, from what mythology she based from since she share some connection with the enemy boss. While the problem with grendel already resolved, there are some questions regarding the enemy that left unanswered. Anyho, while I said Mac is just okay, actually I like that she is a newbie in the team despite have seer ability. So there are some room for her developments both in characterization and also strength in become SPI field agent.
The Grendel Affair is not wow-ed me, but that always happen with first book in the series. I still enjoy Mac and Ian's adventure when facing the cunning and fast grendel. Definitely looking forward for next book and I hope I can connect more to Mac and enjoy the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail