Helpful Score: 2
I have been a big supporter of this elemental assassin series but this book is the PITTS. Instead of exploring the magical world that made it fascinating in other books, it's just violence, and death and story line that is stupid.
Gin is supposed to be an elemental of great strength, even stores power every day in her ring, then in one fight, blitz, it's all gone. She used it up. zip, zero, stupid. Boyfriend story also stupid. people missing and dead in pits, stupid.
Gin is supposed to be an elemental of great strength, even stores power every day in her ring, then in one fight, blitz, it's all gone. She used it up. zip, zero, stupid. Boyfriend story also stupid. people missing and dead in pits, stupid.
Karissa E. (ophelia99) reviewed Heart of Venom (Elemental Assassin, Bk 9) on + 2527 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This is the 9th book in the Elemental Assassin series. The tenth book will be a prequel novel titled The Spider and is due to release in December 2013. This was an okay book but, like the last one, it was a pretty self-contained story and didnt do much to advance the broader story.
Sophia and Jo-Jo have some history with a brother-sister (Grime and Hazel) crime-lovin' combo team. When Grime and Hazel come to claim Sophia as their own, Gin will do everything in her power to get Sophia back.
These books have become very, very formulaic. Someone Gin loves gets hurt/kidnapped by someone else very powerful, Gin goes on a rampage to save them and almost dies, Gin regroups and enlists the aid of her friends and kicks butt. The last few books in this series have been exactly like that, it makes them very, very predictable.
There is excessive recapping of previous books (as there has been in every book in this series). This is something that has continually bothered me with this series. I like some recapping, but I dont need the same things recapped over and over throughout the book.
I am still enjoying the characters and the writing style is easy to read. Estep has continued the story arc involving the mystery of M M Monroe, although not much progress is made with that story in this book either.
All our favorite characters are present in this story. Fletcher, Bria, Gin, Owen, Jo-Jo, and Sophia all have a part to play. Fletcher and Bria spend a lot of time in the background. The story is mostly about Sophia, so we learn a lot of background about her and Jo-Jo.
Owen and Gin also feature in the story a lot. Supposedly their relationship is still on the rocks because of events that happened in the last book. Owen tries to make up for his mistakes in this book...it made him come off as kind of whiny to be honest. I am kind of sick of the on again, off again thing that has been going on with Owen and Gin. This is an issue we dont need to revisit in these books; they need to either get over each other or stick together...I am honestly sick of hearing about it.
While it was nice to hear Sophias backstory, this was still one of the weaker books in this series. In my opinion the more recent books in the series have been weaker. I thought this book was slightly better than the previous book but still not nearly as engaging as earlier books.
Overall this book was better than the eighth book in this series but still not all that great. It was good to hear about Sophias backstory, but the Gin/Owen stuff is getting old. The book followed the same formula as all the previous books in the series have. There wasnt much progress made on the M M Monroe mystery that started many books ago. I am still enjoying the characters and the awesome action scenes, but thought the plot was lacking.
Ill definitely read the next book but if it doesnt improve over these last couple books I think I will be setting this series aside. I still do recommend this series to fans of urban fantasy. The first six or so books in the series were really well done.
Sophia and Jo-Jo have some history with a brother-sister (Grime and Hazel) crime-lovin' combo team. When Grime and Hazel come to claim Sophia as their own, Gin will do everything in her power to get Sophia back.
These books have become very, very formulaic. Someone Gin loves gets hurt/kidnapped by someone else very powerful, Gin goes on a rampage to save them and almost dies, Gin regroups and enlists the aid of her friends and kicks butt. The last few books in this series have been exactly like that, it makes them very, very predictable.
There is excessive recapping of previous books (as there has been in every book in this series). This is something that has continually bothered me with this series. I like some recapping, but I dont need the same things recapped over and over throughout the book.
I am still enjoying the characters and the writing style is easy to read. Estep has continued the story arc involving the mystery of M M Monroe, although not much progress is made with that story in this book either.
All our favorite characters are present in this story. Fletcher, Bria, Gin, Owen, Jo-Jo, and Sophia all have a part to play. Fletcher and Bria spend a lot of time in the background. The story is mostly about Sophia, so we learn a lot of background about her and Jo-Jo.
Owen and Gin also feature in the story a lot. Supposedly their relationship is still on the rocks because of events that happened in the last book. Owen tries to make up for his mistakes in this book...it made him come off as kind of whiny to be honest. I am kind of sick of the on again, off again thing that has been going on with Owen and Gin. This is an issue we dont need to revisit in these books; they need to either get over each other or stick together...I am honestly sick of hearing about it.
While it was nice to hear Sophias backstory, this was still one of the weaker books in this series. In my opinion the more recent books in the series have been weaker. I thought this book was slightly better than the previous book but still not nearly as engaging as earlier books.
Overall this book was better than the eighth book in this series but still not all that great. It was good to hear about Sophias backstory, but the Gin/Owen stuff is getting old. The book followed the same formula as all the previous books in the series have. There wasnt much progress made on the M M Monroe mystery that started many books ago. I am still enjoying the characters and the awesome action scenes, but thought the plot was lacking.
Ill definitely read the next book but if it doesnt improve over these last couple books I think I will be setting this series aside. I still do recommend this series to fans of urban fantasy. The first six or so books in the series were really well done.
Helpful Score: 1
Finally a Sophia and Jo-Jo book! This duo has always been involved in everything that has to do with Gin but it has always eluded me as a reader what their back-story is. Now we are introduced to some very sick villains. These guys, a brother-sister team, really do take the cake for evil. Harley has always had a thing for Sophia and is coming back to collect her now that the Tin Man is no longer protecting her. Little does he know that The Spider is now in charge of Sophias safety and she is not happy when her loved one is snatched. Harleys sister Hazel is a piece of work and her jealousy is pretty apparent along with her obvious insanity.
There wasnt much progression on who the mysterious M.M. Monroe is but I can tell we are getting close. I think this was more of a filler book and to give us more insight into the powerhouses of Sophia and Jo-Jo. We do get a glimpse into what might possible happen with Owen and Gin and I am ready for them to decide which way they are going to go. The roller coaster that Estep takes us on is always a thriller and sometimes I just dont want it to end.
As is typical with a series there is a lot of recapping what happened in previous books but for me this is a much needed refresher considering the amount of books I have read in between this one and the last one to come out. For most it could be a lot or repetition but I dont base my rating on recapping. The one flaw I have and have had this entire series is that sometimes Gin is just too hard on herself and twists everything into her fault. I would like to see a little growth in her character in this aspect. This is still an amazing series and I cant wait to read the next installment which is a prequel novel titled The Spider due out in December.
(ARC was provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review)
There wasnt much progression on who the mysterious M.M. Monroe is but I can tell we are getting close. I think this was more of a filler book and to give us more insight into the powerhouses of Sophia and Jo-Jo. We do get a glimpse into what might possible happen with Owen and Gin and I am ready for them to decide which way they are going to go. The roller coaster that Estep takes us on is always a thriller and sometimes I just dont want it to end.
As is typical with a series there is a lot of recapping what happened in previous books but for me this is a much needed refresher considering the amount of books I have read in between this one and the last one to come out. For most it could be a lot or repetition but I dont base my rating on recapping. The one flaw I have and have had this entire series is that sometimes Gin is just too hard on herself and twists everything into her fault. I would like to see a little growth in her character in this aspect. This is still an amazing series and I cant wait to read the next installment which is a prequel novel titled The Spider due out in December.
(ARC was provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review)
