Subscribe to my RSS Parajunkee on Twitter Like on Facebook! Goodreads YouTube Tumblr
Paypal
Google Email Me! google Amazon profile
Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, books, movie, giveaways and more! This blog has moved. View latest greatest info at parajunkee.com

4.23.2010

Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between by J.A. Saare

Dead, Undead, or Somewhere in BetweenDead, Undead, or Somewhere in Between by J.A. Saare
Review copy provided by author.
Author Web Site.

PJVs QUICKIE POV: I approached this novel with trepidation, I really don’t even know why, probably because I couldn’t nail it down, categorize it in a pretty little box. Some touted it as Urban Fantasy, some as PNR I even got a few snips from another blog with it as erotica. So what to do? I like my genre boxes, which is so odd for me, since I was told over and over in design school “Think Outside The Box!” But what is wrong with a bit of organization? I think I’m rambling. Back to the book. So confusion led to it sitting on my shelf for a month or two...until I couldn’t take it anymore, picked up the book, and then I was stuck. To put it in perspective, I grabbed it for my cereal book (the one I read while I’m brushing my teeth and then eating my cereal before I leave for work). I was on page 15 by the time the clock read 6:31 which was the warning to me that said “Get to Work” but I didn’t want to go to work, I wanted to keep reading! I was hooked from page one. Now it is my turn to categorize this: This has to be one of the best Urban Fantasy books to come out of an ePublishing house that I have read so far. And I can’t help but imagine the potential this book has if a good editor got their hands on it. Great job Mrs. Saare, can’t wait for the next one.

REVIEW: Rhiannon, like all of my fav Urban Fantasy chicks is kick ass, curses like a sailor, brings grown men to their knees with her sharp insults and might be a tad bit on the unhinged side of the crazy line. Did I mention she also sees ghosts? Not your happy little translucent ghosts either, we are talking, mangled, chest cavity exposed, missing limbs - what you looked like on the slab kind of dead people. Yum. Rhiannon is my kind of chick.

While slinging drinks in a New York strip club, Rhiannon is approached by a vampire, who goes by the name Disco (hee hee). Disco needs help from a ghost seeing girl like Rhiannon and he isn’t taking no for an answer. Before Rhiannon can say “Go to Hell”, Disco has her running around the city looking for some lunatic that enjoys cutting up vampires and taking their hearts. Not to mention he drags her into a snakes nest of vampire politics and a world she has been shying away form, but is very much a part of: Necromancy.

A knee-jerking, action, adventure of the fanged variety, Dead, Undead is a great addition to your Urban Fantasy TBR. Pick this one up, you will not be disappointed.

What I liked about this novel:
Saare approached your garden variety UF subjects with finesse. She took characters that were very stereo-typically UF/PNR and made them different and very entertaining. I liked her approach.

Like all damaged characters, Rhiannon was in a seriously bad mental place when Dead, Undead opens. This is also a typical UF trait in their main female characters. For example, Anita Blake and her hate. Mercy Thomas and her abandonment. Sookie Stackhouse and her being treated as a pariah. Well for Rhiannon her past is a childhood of abuse. Saare approached this from straight on, holding back nothing when it came to her character, we know she is broken, she knows she is broken, but like all good novels, their is progression. Usually in these books there is a break, whether internal or external. Saare handled Rhiannon’s break with a subtlety that impressed me, she didn’t take the easy way out and this gives me great anticipation for what will come next in her later novels.

The characters were well done with a level of emotion that you don’t normally see in these kinds of novels. Saare tackled some very hard subjects in this book, and instead of being turned off I was very empathetic. Rhiannon was hard where I expected her to be hard, and soft when it was needed. She was a very well rounded character.

Then the ending...oh my do I want more. I ended this book with WTH? And I need more like now!

What I didn’t like about this novel: My one hang up on this novel was that there were a lot of elements that are used in many of the popular vamp series. This happens a lot, there is only so many ways you can write vamp novels, but I guess they were just very glaringly obvious in this one. The vampire family structures, the mark, the human familiars, I’ve read many of these ideas in other books.

My dislikes in no way turned me away from this book though, and it was very easy to overlook once I got hooked into this novel.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Adults, there is a ton of cursing and a bit of nookie. Urban Fantasy, vamp fans you’ll really enjoy. Fans of the Anita Blake, Sookie Stackhouse, Rachel Morgan, Mercy Thomas series, enjoy.









15 comments:

bittenbyromance said...

Great reivew! This sound so good I will have to put this one on my TBR pile.

Sparklybearsy said...

Dayum another great review for this book, i must MUST get it asap! ive heard such good things about it on Twitter & blogsverse.

thanks for teasing me a lil bit more hun LOL! great review

Anna said...

Great review! Like you the ending got to me, I can't wait to read the sequel.

Julie@My5monkeys said...

great review and must add this little book to the reading pile.

Bells said...

I loved your review of the book! I was also hooked from page 1 and didn't want to stop reading it. I loved this book so much that I gave it away on my blog as a book I wanted to share. I for one cannot wait boo 2 as well.

WonderBunny said...

I liked this book. I also had the WTH reaction to the ending. And the next book (I think) doesn't even have a release date yet, so it will be a bit of a wait. Great review for this book! I have great books sit forever on myself just waiting for me to feel motivated to read them.

J.A. Saare / Aline Hunter said...

Thank you for such a fantastic review. I'm so glad you enjoyed the story.

I also want to thank you (again) for hosting me on the tour back in February and helping the book take off.

Jaime

Sophia (FV) said...

Very nice review PJ! I agree, this was a good book and I look forward to the next one. The ending on this one was a killer!!

Cari Quinn said...

Excellent review for an amazing book!

Smokinhotbooks said...

This is an ebook ::quickly grabs Kindle::

Great review PJ!

Natalie said...

I'm not going to lie, I was planning on steering clear of this one, mainly because I have yet to read an e-Published book that has really grabbed me. But your review's convinced me to add it to my TBR list! From what you said, I think I might enjoy it as well. Thanks for the review! :)

Karen said...

Looks really good - added to the pile!

Lola said...

Bit of nookie...Hee! :P

KittNLuv (Paperback Dolls) said...

Great review! I agree, read this book from beginning to end in one sitting. The ending really threw me, but only made me want the next that much more. I like to think of it as 'Urban Fantasy Romance' isn't that the new term now days? ;) lol

Melissa (My World...in words and pages) said...

Great review! I have to say I love Rhiannon as well. All about her is just great, all the way to the cursing like a sailor. :) Glad you loved the book. And can't wait for the next one either.

Post a Comment

Let me have it...