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A review by vikingwolf
Murder of Crows by Annie Bellet
2.0
Having enjoyed the first book, I was looking forward to the next in the series. It had a beautiful cover which is always a bonus. But sadly everything that made the first book so good was lacking in this sequel.
Jade's estranged father comes to her for help, asking her to come back to the tribe to solve the murdered and find those who are missing. Despite serious misgivings, Jade agrees as a Justice investigating in the area has also vanished. However the tribe are not welcoming and family secrets are going to be a shock to her.
The first thing I loved about the first book were Jade's shifter and gaming friends, all of whom were absent for pretty much all of the book. I certainly missed them and the fun they bring to the plot. Instead we had Jade and Alek meeting her family from hell and those characters did not appeal to me in any way. They kicked her out of the tribe for not becoming a crow shifter, they ignore and abuse her and tell her to leave again, they don't try to help the investigation, they offer no thanks for what she does...why is she even there? It is a total waste of time and the non stop family angst got old really fast.
The second thing was her relationship with Alek. Despite his friend being missing and him being a Justice, Jade is determined to trust him with nothing. She continually goes off to do her own thing and solve things all alone, getting into trouble all the way. Alek was a good alpha male in book one but here he is reduced to wandering about trying to see what Jade is up to, and being there to fight with. Their fledgling relationship crashes and burns here which adds more angst than the book can cope with.
The fast paced plot all vanishes as well. Instead we are left with Jade talking to people, Jade wandering around mine shafts and woods, and Alek wandering around trying to locate Jade. It is repetitive and boring, and has little relation to the first book in this series. Jade herself becomes whiny and annoying, doing things that hacked me off as much as the dull plot did. Did I care what happened to the tribe and its members? No. We already knew that Jade had a bad upbringing so we didn't need to see it for a whole book and at the end of it all, were things resolved to give her closure? Well, no! So I saw no point to this entire storyline.
I was so disappointed by the standard of this book that I decided not to read on with the series.
Jade's estranged father comes to her for help, asking her to come back to the tribe to solve the murdered and find those who are missing. Despite serious misgivings, Jade agrees as a Justice investigating in the area has also vanished. However the tribe are not welcoming and family secrets are going to be a shock to her.
The first thing I loved about the first book were Jade's shifter and gaming friends, all of whom were absent for pretty much all of the book. I certainly missed them and the fun they bring to the plot. Instead we had Jade and Alek meeting her family from hell and those characters did not appeal to me in any way. They kicked her out of the tribe for not becoming a crow shifter, they ignore and abuse her and tell her to leave again, they don't try to help the investigation, they offer no thanks for what she does...why is she even there? It is a total waste of time and the non stop family angst got old really fast.
The second thing was her relationship with Alek. Despite his friend being missing and him being a Justice, Jade is determined to trust him with nothing. She continually goes off to do her own thing and solve things all alone, getting into trouble all the way. Alek was a good alpha male in book one but here he is reduced to wandering about trying to see what Jade is up to, and being there to fight with. Their fledgling relationship crashes and burns here which adds more angst than the book can cope with.
The fast paced plot all vanishes as well. Instead we are left with Jade talking to people, Jade wandering around mine shafts and woods, and Alek wandering around trying to locate Jade. It is repetitive and boring, and has little relation to the first book in this series. Jade herself becomes whiny and annoying, doing things that hacked me off as much as the dull plot did. Did I care what happened to the tribe and its members? No. We already knew that Jade had a bad upbringing so we didn't need to see it for a whole book and at the end of it all, were things resolved to give her closure? Well, no! So I saw no point to this entire storyline.
I was so disappointed by the standard of this book that I decided not to read on with the series.