Helpful Score: 2
This was my first by Kalayna Price and it won't be the last. This story flowed well and kept me guessing all the way to the end. Can't wait to read Grave Dance. If you are interested in witch's and faes, this book is for you.
Helpful Score: 2
1st in series, and a really good start. The reader gets a pretty cool blend of mystery, paranormal, and romance all rolled into one.
Alex is a Grave Witch, and she can see the world through "grave sight" She's can also raise shades (memories from a dead body) so they can testify in court. Death is also her friend and looks hot in his jeans; he saves her from a spelled bullet with her name on it. She also fighting to solve a cryptic message that can free herself of a soul-sucking virus spell attached to her shoulder. All the while bodies are turning up left and right.
This book was a pretty hardcore paranormal. Mainly dealing with witches, faeries, Death himself, and ghosts. Its been a long while since ive read a paranomal that uses a large amount of descriptive writing. I will continue the series.
Alex is a Grave Witch, and she can see the world through "grave sight" She's can also raise shades (memories from a dead body) so they can testify in court. Death is also her friend and looks hot in his jeans; he saves her from a spelled bullet with her name on it. She also fighting to solve a cryptic message that can free herself of a soul-sucking virus spell attached to her shoulder. All the while bodies are turning up left and right.
This book was a pretty hardcore paranormal. Mainly dealing with witches, faeries, Death himself, and ghosts. Its been a long while since ive read a paranomal that uses a large amount of descriptive writing. I will continue the series.
Helpful Score: 1
Can you say "Bad Anita Blake Knock-Off"????? I kept waiting for this book to stop reminding me of ALL THE OTHER great paranormal series I've read from Laurell Hamilton & J.R.Ward & Patricia Briggs & Kim Harrison....but it just never happened. Every page brought another "Oh, yeah, this other author used that idea last year" to mind.
Sure, it was a fast-paced story. Sure, there was so much happening it was hard to keep track. Unfortunately I was still BORED.
And frankly, I just didn't like Alex Craft, the main character. I'm sorry I bought the second book in the series--I won't be reading it!
Stick with better authors--Kalayna Price is just too weird to be good.
Sure, it was a fast-paced story. Sure, there was so much happening it was hard to keep track. Unfortunately I was still BORED.
And frankly, I just didn't like Alex Craft, the main character. I'm sorry I bought the second book in the series--I won't be reading it!
Stick with better authors--Kalayna Price is just too weird to be good.
Was a great first book. Have the next one on my wishlist.
This was a very enjoyable start to a series. It is a fully self-contained story - all of the important plot points are wrapped up by the last page. The plot moves along well, and the world-building needed when introducing a new series was handled in a very natualistic manner.
Alex Craft is a strong female character. She's not terribly feminine, but she's also not a woman in name only. She's also a very human character, making occasionally foolish choices or mistakes, but ones that the reader can relate to. Further, while she is a powerful figure, her power has clearly-defined limits, and has some important drawbacks. This makes the overall world more balanced, and keeps the character of Alex interesting.
The plot revolves around a police case involving some ritual murders. Because the story is told from a first-person perspective, it is difficult for the reader to get too far ahead of the protagonist in determining who the culprit is. I found this to be a positive - third-person narratives too often point out clues that the protagonist should not have missed, and thus give less enjoyment as I wait for the characters to catch up with me.
One other important thing Ms. Price does well is setting up the next part of her series. As I mentioned before, the story of Grave Witch is fully self-contained. There's no lingering plot holes to be filled by further stories. But there are consequences from this story that will clearly carry over into future stories in the series. So, there is just enough to know that Alex Craft isn't nearly ready to have a "happily ever after", without preventing the actual story wrap-up.
So, overall, a 5 out of 5 for world-building, character development, and plot execution.
Alex Craft is a strong female character. She's not terribly feminine, but she's also not a woman in name only. She's also a very human character, making occasionally foolish choices or mistakes, but ones that the reader can relate to. Further, while she is a powerful figure, her power has clearly-defined limits, and has some important drawbacks. This makes the overall world more balanced, and keeps the character of Alex interesting.
The plot revolves around a police case involving some ritual murders. Because the story is told from a first-person perspective, it is difficult for the reader to get too far ahead of the protagonist in determining who the culprit is. I found this to be a positive - third-person narratives too often point out clues that the protagonist should not have missed, and thus give less enjoyment as I wait for the characters to catch up with me.
One other important thing Ms. Price does well is setting up the next part of her series. As I mentioned before, the story of Grave Witch is fully self-contained. There's no lingering plot holes to be filled by further stories. But there are consequences from this story that will clearly carry over into future stories in the series. So, there is just enough to know that Alex Craft isn't nearly ready to have a "happily ever after", without preventing the actual story wrap-up.
So, overall, a 5 out of 5 for world-building, character development, and plot execution.
A good start to the Alex Craft series. Witches, strange charms, fae and politicians. Strange bedfellows all! Alex and Falin strike sparks. 4 stars
This is the first book in the Alex Craft series. The fourth book in this series, Grave Visions, is expected to release in August 2013. I have had this urban fantasy series on my shelf to read forever. It was a fun read; I enjoyed the humor and Alexs interesting Grave Magic.
I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was decent but not spectacular. The narrators voice sounds a little bit...mushy and wasnt like I pictured Alex being. The narrator also had a bit of trouble with differentiating some of the male voices. Still overall the narrator did a good job conveying character emotion, and it was a decent listen.
Alex Craft is a Grave Witch who is on the rocks with the rest of her family and struggling to make ends meet. When Alex is asked to investigate a high profile murder things start to get complicated. She is attacked by a Shade and then someone tries to murder her. Good thing she is on good terms with Death and that she has the tough cop, Falin Andrews, to back her up.
This was a very enjoyable urban fantasy, I liked it. There is humor in here, some great characters, an intriguing world and I enjoyed Alex's grave witch magic. The story is very much an investigative urban fantasy, there is a case of serial murders that must be solved and it involves black magic and fey.
Alex is a snarky character with a great sense of humor, some incredibly intriguing magic, and a problem with making ends meet. She also has a habit of taking guys home to ward off the grave chill, which has gotten her into trouble more than once.
Alex was a very fun character to read about, she is engaging and she knows how to ask for help when she needs to. Yeah, she does some kind of stupid things, but it is all highly entertaining.
The next wonderful thing about this book is the character Death. He loves wearing jeans, seems to have a soft spot for Alex, and turns up at the worst times to claim souls. Him and Alex have some wonderful banter and he is a delightfully mysterious. I cant wait to read more about him in future books.
Helping out Alex is investigator Falin Andrews. While I didnt like him as much as Death in the beginning of the book, he grew on me as a character. I enjoyed his interactions with Alex and all of the crazy secrets that were revealed around him.
I liked that the plot had multiple levels. The main story is resolved, but a lot of side storylines involving Alexs background and the surrounding characters remain unanswered.
Overall a solid urban fantasy read, I enjoyed it. I liked the humor throughout, the interesting magic, and all of the mysteries surrounding our characters backgrounds. There was a solid mystery that was solved and it had a number of interesting fey and magic elements involved. I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy investigative urban fantasy. I plan on continuing the series and am looking forward to reading Grave Dance.
I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was decent but not spectacular. The narrators voice sounds a little bit...mushy and wasnt like I pictured Alex being. The narrator also had a bit of trouble with differentiating some of the male voices. Still overall the narrator did a good job conveying character emotion, and it was a decent listen.
Alex Craft is a Grave Witch who is on the rocks with the rest of her family and struggling to make ends meet. When Alex is asked to investigate a high profile murder things start to get complicated. She is attacked by a Shade and then someone tries to murder her. Good thing she is on good terms with Death and that she has the tough cop, Falin Andrews, to back her up.
This was a very enjoyable urban fantasy, I liked it. There is humor in here, some great characters, an intriguing world and I enjoyed Alex's grave witch magic. The story is very much an investigative urban fantasy, there is a case of serial murders that must be solved and it involves black magic and fey.
Alex is a snarky character with a great sense of humor, some incredibly intriguing magic, and a problem with making ends meet. She also has a habit of taking guys home to ward off the grave chill, which has gotten her into trouble more than once.
Alex was a very fun character to read about, she is engaging and she knows how to ask for help when she needs to. Yeah, she does some kind of stupid things, but it is all highly entertaining.
The next wonderful thing about this book is the character Death. He loves wearing jeans, seems to have a soft spot for Alex, and turns up at the worst times to claim souls. Him and Alex have some wonderful banter and he is a delightfully mysterious. I cant wait to read more about him in future books.
Helping out Alex is investigator Falin Andrews. While I didnt like him as much as Death in the beginning of the book, he grew on me as a character. I enjoyed his interactions with Alex and all of the crazy secrets that were revealed around him.
I liked that the plot had multiple levels. The main story is resolved, but a lot of side storylines involving Alexs background and the surrounding characters remain unanswered.
Overall a solid urban fantasy read, I enjoyed it. I liked the humor throughout, the interesting magic, and all of the mysteries surrounding our characters backgrounds. There was a solid mystery that was solved and it had a number of interesting fey and magic elements involved. I would definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy investigative urban fantasy. I plan on continuing the series and am looking forward to reading Grave Dance.
This ended up being a good book! Truthfully, I had a hard time getting into the story during the first half. The "story building" took a long time- it was interesting, but it didn't "grab" me until the second half. Once it did, though, I couldn't put it down.
There was a lot to like about the story. Not every character was completely predictable, and there is a good mystery running throughout the book. I loved the ghost "sidekick" that follows Alex around- he's very funny! Alex's love interests are definitely unorthodox, and I didn't even want to like one of them! I liked the way the author described Alex's "grave-sight", and it was nice to see fae instead of vampires for a change. I am very interested to see what happens in the sequel.
There was a lot to like about the story. Not every character was completely predictable, and there is a good mystery running throughout the book. I loved the ghost "sidekick" that follows Alex around- he's very funny! Alex's love interests are definitely unorthodox, and I didn't even want to like one of them! I liked the way the author described Alex's "grave-sight", and it was nice to see fae instead of vampires for a change. I am very interested to see what happens in the sequel.
The first half of the book was great. It's set in a neat universe where magic expanded our reality. Alex is an interesting character that I liked learning more about, and her powers are fairly unique. The mystery was a fun journey for the first part of the book.
Eventually, we get to the big sex scene and then after that it feels a little like we just kind of needed to get to an ending so we just zoom along to get there. It felt a little rushed, and some things definitely needed a bit more explanation than we got.
Still, I'm looking forward to reading the second. I know this is a urban fantasy romance, and I'm definitely more into the urban fantasy than the romance, but I'm willing to give book 2 a shot!
Eventually, we get to the big sex scene and then after that it feels a little like we just kind of needed to get to an ending so we just zoom along to get there. It felt a little rushed, and some things definitely needed a bit more explanation than we got.
Still, I'm looking forward to reading the second. I know this is a urban fantasy romance, and I'm definitely more into the urban fantasy than the romance, but I'm willing to give book 2 a shot!
a lot more intense than I anticipated. Good. A little hard to keep track of everything going on. Liked it. a really good book for the first in a new series.
I bought book three at a library sale and had to get the other two to read what happens in order. Alex Craft grabbed my attention at the beginning and it was a what is going to happen next read! Crazy odds! Could they come up with a better plan and she is very resourceful and discovering new things about her heritage and family!
I liked this series. Unfortunately the character is not unique, but I have enjoyed other women who can raise the dead, have strange powers and boyfriends. I like that I couldn't predict the direction of the story, and it flowed well. A good read.
