CBR18 Book 30: "Black Water Sister" by Zen Cho

Page count: 384 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

Monthly Keyword Challenge 26: Sister

Jessamyn "Jess" Teoh is feeling aimless and adrift. Born and raised in the USA, she has just moved to Malaysia with her parents, and they're staying with one of Jess' aunts while her parents are looking for their own place to stay. Jess is unemployed, broke and hiding the fact that she has a girlfriend in Singapore. Her girlfriend wants her to get a job in Singapore, so they can be together, but Jess keeps lying to her about her job searches. 

So when she starts hearing a strange voice in her head, Jess puts it down to stress. It takes a while for her to realise that the voice belongs to her dead grandmother, who used to be a spirit medium. Being mediums apparently runs in Jess' family, having skipped Jess' mother for some reason. Jess' Ah Ma was the avatar of a mysterious spirit goddess known as the Black Water Sister, and now a local businessman is threatening the park where the Black Water Sister's shrine lies. Ah Ma needs Jess' body to stop this, and settle a personal score against the magnate as well. Soon, Jess discovers that Ah Ma takes over her body at night, so she wakes up exhausted. She needs to figure out how to make a deal with her dead gran's ghost, before she ends up permanently possessed.

Black Water Sister is a rather unusual urban fantasy. Most urban fantasies are set in the USA or the UK, and the protagonists, often supernatural themselves, tend to solve paranormal mysteries involving all manner of creatures, like vampires, werewolves (or other shapeshifters), demons, angels, druids, witches, fae and the like. Our protagonist here is an aimless twenty-something who has no idea what she wants to do with her life, and the supernatural elements are ghosts and various spirit deities. The setting is Malaysia, a place I know very little about, in a culture I am also mostly unfamiliar with. 

While this was an interesting book, I found Jess a difficult protagonist to engage with. She's confused and depressed, and clearly has no idea what she wants with her life. While I understand why she needed to hide her queerness from her family, I also felt Jess was rather mean to her girlfriend, who only seemed to want the best for her. I'm frankly not sure what her girlfriend sees in her.

Obviously, having to share a body with the ghost of your estranged grandmother isn't exactly easy, especially when you're living with relatives you barely know and are struggling to understand the language. One perk of the whole experience is that while her Ah Ma is sharing her head, Jess becomes fluent in Malay very quickly. 

I read this back in March, and by now, I don't remember that much about it. The plot went in unexpected directions more than once, and there were both funny and some really rather gory bits. The only other Zen Cho novel I've ever read is Sorcerer to the Crown, a Regency-set story about magic, so if nothing else, this book proves that the author is able to write in different settings and time periods.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR13 Book 4: "Big Bad Wolf" by Suleikha Snyder

Page count: 320 pages

Rating: 4 stars

Disclaimer! I got an ARC from NetGalley. That has in no way influenced my review.

In a dystopian alternate reality, where the 2016 election led to the USA becoming a tightly regulated surveillance state, pretty much at the same time as the existence of a number of supernatural beings were revealed, several big cities, including New York, are now a Sanctuary City for supernaturals. 

Joe Peluso, an ex-soldier turned werewolf through military experimentation, is in prison for murdering six bear shifters with ties to the Russian mafia. His legal team is determined to give him a proper defense, but Joe believes himself beyond redemption. He has no regrets about the murders that landed him in prison, which were in retaliation for the death of his foster brother. However, he is haunted by his years as a soldier and all the lives he ended during his long military career. He has no intention of sharing any information or revealing anything to his lawyers that might help him get a lighter sentence and fully expects to be killed in prison by Russian mobsters soon enough.

Neha Ahluwalia, one of the lawyers on his team, as well as a trained psychologist, believes that everyone deserves a chance. She can't really explain her near-instant attraction to Peluso, which just seems to grow with each of their meetings. Falling for one of their clients, let alone a werewolf with a long history of violence is utter madness, but Neha can't stay away. On the day of Joe's trial, she agrees to a brief meeting alone with him, and they end up going on the run together after the Russian mob attempts to kill Joe and creates chaos at the courthouse. While he might not see himself as worthy of love or affection, Neha has caught glimpses of the wounded and vulnerable man behind the gruff facade, and she's determined to fight for their happy ending. 

I had hoped to have this review finished by the book's release date last week, but my depression had other ideas, and quite a lot of the things I wanted to achieve have had to be postponed. My friend and fellow Cannonball reviewer Emmalita reviewed this back in December (and has already used one of my favourite lines from the book as her review title and made me very excited to get to this. I've only ever read Ms. Snyder's contemporary romance novella Tikka Chance on Me, so seeing her take on urban fantasy/paranormal romance was interesting and quite different. 

There's a lot to like in this book, including the two main characters. I adored pretty much everything about Neha, including how completely unapologetic she was about was about embracing her desires once she admitted to herself that she fancied the pants off Joe. I could have done with a lot less self pitying, recriminations and angst from Joe (I have never had much patience with the oh woe is me, I'm so dark and unlovable because of my past dudes), but I guess feeling constantly guilty and not worthy of a wonderful lady like Neha is better than being an unapologetic sociopath who's full of himself. 

It's quite clear that as well as the central romance between Neha and Joe, this book is setting up the wider world in which the Third Watch, the secret agency staffed by both humans and paranormals who end up helping our protagonsists on the run. There's a whole host of supporting characters, including an incredibly charming and very scene-stealing vampire, as well as a no nonsense surgeon, both of whom I hope feature in future books. There's a really nice focus on friendship and community thoughout the book and while I have a few niggles about the book as a romance (everything happens VERY fast between Neha and Joe - I would have liked a bit more time for them to get to know each other before declaring eternal love), I loved this as the start of a new paranormal fantasy series full of competence porn, great world building and interesting characters.

As far as I can tell from Ms. Snyder's Twitter, this series will be at least a trilogy. I can't wait to get my hands on more. 

Judging a book by its cover: I absolutely see what the cover designer was trying to do here, but I'm not sure it entirely works.While I totally get that showing that just underneath the surface of our hero lurks a big, dangerous wolf, the actual effect of having two big yellow wolf eyes basically looking out at you from the torso of the muscular and very fit cover model is more distracting than enticing. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

#CBR10 Book 80-82: "Heroine Complex", "Heroine Worship" and "Heroine's Journey" by Sarah Kuhn

Total page count: 1136 pages

SPOILER WARNING! As I'm reviewing all three books in a trilogy, it's going to be difficult for me to discuss the books without minor spoilers, especially in books 2 and 3, as they naturally follow on from and develop stuff that's gone before in the series. So if you want to approach this series entirely spoiler free - you may just want to read the synopsis for book 1.

#CBR10Bingo: Heroine Complex: So it begins

Heroine Complex - 4.5 stars

Evie Tanaka is the long-suffering and ever patient personal assistant to Aveda Jupiter, San Francisco's favourite superheroine. Friends from girlhood (when Aveda was still Annie Chang), Evie has become a master at anticipating Aveda's many demands, handling her diva tantrums and keeping her life organised.

When Aveda gets injured, things become a lot more complicated. Aveda wants Evie to pose as her (in disguise) during a public appearance, and when danger strikes, it becomes obvious that Evie has superpowers of her own that she's been repressing for years. Of course, the gossip press believes her flame wielding powers to be Aveda's (who is still bed-ridden) and the demon threat they've been containing appears to be ramping up.

In addition to dealing with Aveda's many demands and trying to control her suddenly public knowledge powers, Evie also has to do her best to raise her demanding teenage sister Bea (their mother died, their father is off "finding himself"), not to mention figure out her rather confusing and conflicting feelings for Nate, Team Aveda's scientific adviser.

Heroine Worship - 4 stars

Aveda Jupiter and Evie Tanaka are now San Francisco's cool demon fighting superhero duo, but when the video of Nate's proposal to Evie goes viral, Aveda finds herself more and more in the role of sidekick. Nevertheless, Aveda is painfully aware that she hasn't always been the best friend and is determined to be an absolutely magnificent maid of honour. While there's been a lack of demonic attacks in the city in the last few months, a new sinister force, focusing specifically on brides, means that Evie could in fact be in danger, and Aveda will need to work hard to keep her best friend safe.

As well as trying to navigate her feelings about sharing the spotlight, as well as making sure she's the very best and supportive friend she can be, Aveda is trying to figure out how to prove to Scott Cameron that she loves him, and if he can't return the feelings - at least find her worthy of friendship.

Heroine's Journey: Dream Vacation - San Francisco (and the bookstore Bea works at is heavily inspired by The Ripped Bodice, which while it is in L.A. in real life, is seriously a life goal of mine to visit)

Heroine's Journey - 4 stars

Set a few years after the other two books, this one features Beatrice "Bea" Tanaka, Evie's little sister as the heroine. Not really entirely sure what she wants to do with her life, except join Evie and Aveda as a superheroine, Bea is working part time in a bookstore/coffee shop and tinkering with improving gadgets for the superheroes. When she's not trying to convince her sister and Aveda to let her join their team, she hangs out with her best friends, Sam and Leah. Bea has the ability to emotionally project, which has so far proven really useful in getting bookstore patrons to behave civilly, but her sister seems to see her as too impulsive and irresponsible to really join Team Aveda.

As people are going missing, and new forces appear to be threatening the city, strange messages are being left for Bea. She's determined to prove her worth and show Evie and Aveda that she's a valuable asset. Once she really gets going, is she leaning a bit too far towards the super-villain end of the spectrum to get the job done, though?

----

I've seen these books recommended in a number of places and by so many different people. Fun and adventurous urban fantasy novels with a diverse cast, where every single book is centred solidly on the relationship between women. Complex, different and interestingly flawed women, none of whom are perfect and need to work to be accepted by and occasionally forgiven for making dumb mistakes. There are "good" girls and "mean" girls. There are actual biological families and found ones.

Aveda, or Annie Chang, is Chinese. Evie and Beatrice are half Japanese. Aveda and Evie grew up watching superhero movies starring Michelle Yeoh and the importance of representation for Asian women is absolutely addressed, in all three novels. There are straight characters, as well as bisexual and lesbian ones. Some of the women have a lot of sexual experience, others barely any. Each of the three books features a different woman as the main protagonist, each with a different love interest, but more importantly, a number of personal and emotional issues to work through and conquer.

I very much enjoyed all three books, but Heroine Complex was my favourite, mainly because both Aveda/Annie and Bea were more hard work as protagonists. It seems book 3 was written in large part at The Ripped Bodice in LA, which is why the bookstore Bea works in is so inspired by it (and her best friend Leah is not only named for one of the proprietresses, but Fitzwilliams Waffles, their bookshop dog, is the model for Leah's dog Pancake).

I had not realised until I checked out Sarah Kuhn's blog after finishing the trilogy that she has a new contract for another three books and a novella set in this universe. I'm not sure whether it will concern the same characters or a whole new set of awesome superheroines, but based on this trilogy, I will absolutely be eagerly waiting for more.

Judging the books by their covers: All three books have bright, colourful covers with art that seems deliberately inspired by comic books (which seems perfectly appropriate considering they deal with superheroes). Jason Chan draws all the covers and makes each of the heroines distinctive and badass-looking, with a memorable scene from the book front and centre on the cover.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.

#CBR9 Book 58: "White Hot" by Ilona Andrews

Page count: 416 pages
Rating: 5 stars

This is book 2 in a trilogy and if you've not read Burn for Me yet, that's where you really should begin. While you could begin the story with this one, you'll get a better introduction to the story, characters and world-building if you start with book 1.

It's been a few months since the events of the first book, and Nevada has been practising her abilities, learning more about what she can do and how she can control them. She insists makes Augustine Montgomery agree to let her question a suspected serial killer of little girls, in order to verify the location of his latest victim, and he agrees, against his better judgement. In return, Nevada agrees to see a friend of his, Cornelius Harrison, whose wife was recently murdered under mysterious and clearly magical circumstances. She knows that she and her family may not have the power or resources to help Mr. Harrison, but his grief is so palpable and she feels enough for him and his daughter to agree to take the case anyway.

They have not been investigating long when they discover that Mrs. Harrison's death was part of a bigger conspiracy, possibly connected to the events Nevada were involved in a few months ago. While she's tried her best to put Connor "Mad" Rogan out of her mind (not helped by the constant teasing and hinting from her family), they are soon reunited, as Connor is also investigating the event, having lost several of his people in the same incident. He persuades Mr. Harrison that it would be in their best interests to work together, and Nevada doesn't really have a choice but to respect her client's wishes.

The chemistry between Nevada and Connor is as strong as ever, and while to Nevada, it may have seemed as if he completely forgot about her after she rejected his over the top suggestion that she come away with him at the end of the last book, he's clearly just been biding his time, doing whatever he can to keep her and her family safe from any and all threats they might be facing. It becomes clear very quickly that a group of very powerful people are working together to create chaos and possibly destroy Houston and Nevada and Connor have once again made themselves their biggest enemies. Will they survive long enough to actually have a proper conversation about their attraction and the possible future of their relationship?

In Burn for Me we were introduced to Nevada Baylor and Connor Rogan and the alternate reality where there are any number of magic users all over globe and the more powerful, the higher the political power the families hold. Connor "Mad" Rogan was a bit too much of a careless and ruthless alpha male, so incredibly powerful that he was used to take what he wanted and act without long-term consequences. He has a lot of potential as a hero, but was clearly far too emotionally closed off and unstable to be a proper partner to the awesome Nevada, whose powers were clearly only hinted at in the first book. Here we get a lot more back-story into what made him the man he is (it's not exactly pretty) and Nevada gets a greater understanding of what she's going to have to face, if she decides that he is the right man for her.

It was obvious that Connor realised very quickly that Nevada was a Prime, even though she herself was unaware of the scope and extent of her abilities. Now she has started learning to use and control them, but she doesn't seem to realise how just how dangerous exposing her abilities to the world might be, and what long-term consequences it can have for her family or her potential relationship with Connor.

In this book, more of Nevada's awesome family get their time to shine. Her cousins, the computer genius Bern and his brother Leon, still so frustrated that he doesn't seem to have any special abilities in a family with so many gifted people (it turns out he isn't as much of a dud as he thinks, I suspect this will be a plot point in the third book); her wonderful and strong grandmother and mother, who both work so hard to help protect the family; and her younger sisters, Arabella and Catalina, who can both be infuriating teenage brats, but who won't hesitate for a second to help the family and do their fair share of protective detail if it's required. It becomes clear over the course of the book that the Baylors are a very gifted family, with Catalina and Arabella having Prime-level powers of their own. We see some of what Catalina is capable of towards the end of the story, but Arabella's powers are still mostly a mystery, but all the hints we have been given suggest shape-shifting of some kind, possibly into something large and formidable.

Cornelius Harrison, an animal mage, who made a minor appearance in the first book also becomes important here. Ilona Andrews excel at characterisation, even when it comes to teenage and child characters, and Harrison's four-year-old Mathilda is never just a plot moppet, although she is used very well to bring out the unexpectedly softer side to several other characters over the course of the story. Harrison's ability to control animals is used excellently several times, including one of my absolute favourite scene, involving cat-burgling ferrets wearing infra-red cameras and little harnesses full of useful tools.

Impatient readers also have to wait quite a long time before the central couple finally have a chance to consummate their relationship. There are a number of fairly scorching scenes in the build-up, but they always get interrupted by something inconvenient, like prying family members or near-death experiences.

While the stakes sometimes seem higher in this book than in the last, the resolution to their big problem seemed to almost go too smoothly. Having read the book twice over the course of a week, I find that even the somewhat weaker ending didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book overall, and at the moment, it's one of my very favourites of the many great paranormal fantasy books the Andrews have written so far. There seem to be two main threats facing the Baylors and Rogan in the next book, and I'm so intensely glad that I won't have to wait more than about a month to get my greedy hands on it.

Judging a book by its cover: I seriously don't even know where to begin with this cover. The really sad and awful truth is that THIS is what it looks like AFTER the marketing department actually edited it, managing to against all odds, make it worse than it was before. The original cover still had the implausibly muscular male model (who I'm going to assume is supposed to be Connor - note that it's a different dude from the cover of Burn for Me) and the Shakira-lookalike who I can only guess is supposed to be Nevada (again, completely different model than they used on the previous cover) in a very cheesy embrace, but there were not exaggerated and cartoonish-looking icicles all over the title font, nor was there the pastel nightmare that I think is supposed to show the ice cave our protagonists are trapped in at one point. The original cover was bad, this is so much worse.

To be fair, the actual scene in the ice cave would require a cover that is decidedly NSFW, hence both participant wearing at least some clothes here. It's still, without a doubt, the most eye-gougingly awful cover I think I've ever had the misfortune to see on a paranormal fantasy cover, and makes me very happy that I own the book in e-format, so I don't need to wrap my book in a bag when reading it on public transport.

Crossposted on Cannonball Read.