The ramblings of a bibliophile.
I loved the prose in this. It was jumpy and a little all over the place. Quite sharp and to the point. And not really the kind of prose I would have expected from a novella in a paranormal romance collection. It wasn’t really that heavy on the romance either, that was just kind of slotted in. Which I appreciated immensely. After all, what I like about this series (the novella that I have already read anyway) is the darkness of it and the intensity.
This was a twisted, funny and kind of problematic story. One thing after another goes wrong. Again and again and again. Which is, quite frankly, hilarious. And also painful. The man makes one wrong decision after another.
I can’t imagine Gin as being retired, even after only reading one of her novels. Everything in Spider’s Bite is incredibly high adrenalin and a fight to the death (literally), so although the idea of retirement is nice, it’s hard to imagine the actual decision / action.
This story was so good! I always love stories with a kick ass lead. Especially in those cases where the female is completely independent and has a tragic past. It’s a trope, but it’s one that I absolutely adore. And can never quite seem to get enough of. And Gin is no different. She has a horrible, and slightly mysterious past. She has built herself up to take care of herself and runs around the entire time kicking ass and taking names.
From getting halfway through Spider’s Bite before reading this, I knew that Gin killed Ingles because he wasn’t a very nice guy. This short story tells you exactly how not-nice. And also exactly how Gin leaves him. No wonder Donovan is so annoyed at her throughout the series. Having said that, I kind of loved it. There was such beautiful poetic justice in this tale.
Another thoroughly enjoyable short edition to the Elemental Assassin series. It features Gin’s first kill, her youth and the pride and care that Fletcher takes in his young apprentice. I’m still only halfway through the first novel, and it is obvious in this how much Gin cares for her mentor, so it was incredibly nice to read about his feelings towards her.
I always enjoy short stories from a different perspective. And this fit that bill perfectly. I have read this while I’m only halfway through Spider’s Bite, but it already helps to understand the relationship between Gin and Finn so much better.
I really liked the narrator of this story. She had a completely relatable voice. She was pithy, sarcastic and full of sass. There was also this great sense of vulnerability and innocence in everything in this story that was, well, not entirely relatable, but certainly enjoyable to read. And that was all before the romance and the vampires got involved!
I laughed a LOT at this short story. And full on laughing out loud as well. Not just quite inside giggles or secret smiles to myself. I chortled loudly and very happily as I read this story. It was funny, cute and had that slightly sarcastic and witty humour that I tend to love.
I have a more-than-slight obsession with tales about intellectuals. I am an intellect. I’m obsessed with learning. And understanding. And just experiencing in general. So it was really fun to read a vampire romance that featured two such characters. Alright, the rest of the story was so incredibly cliché. And more than a little irritating in parts, but mostly, it was just fun to read about people who wanted to be immortal simply for the fact that it means a forever of learning.
