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A review by brokenrecord
Omens by Kelley Armstrong
5.0
I JUST REALLY LOVED THIS. I hesitate to promote it too strongly because it wasn't a perfect book by any means, but it felt perfect for me, like it was written with my specific interests in mind. First off, I saw some complaints in reviews that this was more of a detective/mystery novel than anything else, and yes, the mystery does take the primary focus, but there are definitely fantastical/supernatural elements in play. You might be disappointed if you go in expecting answers as to exactly what's going on, but since I'm a huge fan of slow and gradual development, it worked perfectly for me that there were various hints towards more supernatural things going on, but the greater explanations are going to be coming in future books. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how the supernatural elements are built more and explained in the future. And the small town setting was great. I really love weird, small town settings where random supernatural stuff is happening; it actually was a bit reminiscent of Haven now that I think about it. I enjoyed all the random characters we met, and I'm eager to learn more about them and figure out everything that they know.
And then there was the relationship between Olivia and Gabriel, which, okay, it's not really a relationship yet, but I can only imagine that's where it's heading. There's really nothing romantic going on between them in this book, only the slightest of possible mentions that there could be some attraction on either side, but that was totally fine for me. Like I said, I'm a fan of slow development, and that definitely applies to romantic relationships in books (and in series, especially) as well. I enjoyed that this book really took its time developing their working relationship and each of them gaining the slightest bit of trust in the other. I was afraid from the summary and the reviews that Gabriel would be a typical, obnoxious alpha male, but he really didn't bother me like the vast majority of alpha male characters do. He was much more calm and collected than most alpha males, and while he's definitely in it for himself above anything else, his behavior never stepped too far over the line for me to be okay with. I'm definitely hopeful and eager for their relationship to develop further in future books.
So yeah, anyways, I got so much more sucked into this book than I ever expected, and I'm now overly anxious for the next book to come out!
And then there was the relationship between Olivia and Gabriel, which, okay, it's not really a relationship yet, but I can only imagine that's where it's heading. There's really nothing romantic going on between them in this book, only the slightest of possible mentions that there could be some attraction on either side, but that was totally fine for me. Like I said, I'm a fan of slow development, and that definitely applies to romantic relationships in books (and in series, especially) as well. I enjoyed that this book really took its time developing their working relationship and each of them gaining the slightest bit of trust in the other. I was afraid from the summary and the reviews that Gabriel would be a typical, obnoxious alpha male, but he really didn't bother me like the vast majority of alpha male characters do. He was much more calm and collected than most alpha males, and while he's definitely in it for himself above anything else, his behavior never stepped too far over the line for me to be okay with.
Spoiler
Agreeing to take James's money to protect Olivia was a bit douchey, but like he said, he was going to try to protect her as best he could anyways, and it's not like he was taking money for nefarious purposes. It was clearly something Olivia would have a problem with, but I'm glad that he realized that and actually told James he wouldn't work for him anymore before Olivia even found out (so it's not like he was just doing it to seek forgiveness or anything, since she didn't even know about it).So yeah, anyways, I got so much more sucked into this book than I ever expected, and I'm now overly anxious for the next book to come out!