A bombing rocks the supernatural community, stunning them
with fresh grief, anger and worry – who is behind it? Fingers instantly point
to the human anti-supernatural hate groups who are growing louder and more
vicious with each passing day. The newspapers engage in the worst kind of “journalism”
and there have even been a string of rapes attached to anti-fae hatred.
But how much is it the human haters, and how much is it a
new scheme by the demons, newly reinforced with forces of nightmare from both
the demon world and one of the worst Sorcerers in Otherworld’s history coming
to Earth to further their quest for the spirit seals.
In many ways, this book brought the series back on track
to a degree. After a few books of endless distraction, personal drama and
side-plots we returned partially to the main plot and partially to a dominant
side plot. And, frankly, it was about damn time because the series was rapidly
losing itself.
But now we have dramatic bombings and tackling of two
major issues. Firstly - the human prejudice against the fae and the
supernatural in general, how difficult that is making things and finally
rallying to strike back against that and do something concrete to shift the
tide of public opinion. I like that it was addressed and they finally did
something rather than spend several more books wasting chapters on lamenting on
it but not actually doing anything. I think it was generally well done with
some very good ideas but also that it was rather simplistically fought and
defeated. The big bad was too careless and too easily brought low, the general
community was too eager and too easily rallied against hate (which, if history
tells us anything, is rather dubious since the non-affected community is usually
far more apathetic than that). It was good, it was nicely addressed – but it
was a little simple.
The second storyline was the big one – Shadowwing! The
big bad is actually on everyone’s radar again. We have bombings, investigation,
killing off bad guys, alliances with the demonic underground and generally
being back on track. As a bonus, I think we’ve also seen the last of at least 2
pernicious elements that were clinging to this series way past there
should-have-been-dead-and-buried dates.
Of course, this wouldn’t be an Otherworld book without
endless distractions: Chase’s heritage, Zachary’s new life, Shamas’s secret, Delilah’s
completely failure to live like an adult and keep clean and Iris’s wedding.
Some of them were good – like the wedding, but a lot of them were also really
really pointless. There’s also a real problem with character and storyline bloat
that necessitates a lot of recap. My bright spot is that I think a lot of these
storylines are being closed.
A lot of this book is introspective and deals with how
much the D’Artigo sisters lives have changed but also how much they have
changed as people as well. And part of that is regretting the change. I’m torn
on this – on the one hand, I wish it weren’t Delilah doing these musings while
at the same time I have to admit that she is the one most likely to. The
problem is that Delilah has always been rather immature and childish and she
was coming out of that – some of these musings feels like a step back. I also
have the least grasp of Delilah’s love interest Shade because he’s just… there.
He dropped in from nowhere and became Delilah’s One Twu Lub even more abruptly
and with even less screen time than Menolloy’s Nerissa. So when Delilah laments
about the past I almost feel like she is resenting her sister’s happiness
because I quite simply don’t believe hers.
Still, it’s also realistic and doesn’t mean she’s mean or selfish necessarily – but major parts of her life are changing. Major people in her life are developing and she is no longer their focus. Especially since she was both the baby of the family and how close knit their family has been – there is a sense of losing sisters and mother figures. Yes that does kind of seem selfish – like she’s resenting their happiness and not being focused on her – but it is a very human reaction. Things are changing, people are changing, people she loves are changing and it’s only natural to fear that change.
There’s also a reflection into how the sisters have
changed and hardened – especially Delilah – and been hurt (especially Camille
the rock of the family) which has shaken them a lot. It’s not a bad thing to
spend some time reflecting on how their family has grown but also moved apart,
how new people have come and then found their own lives and how the sisters
themselves have been scarred, have grown, have stepped up but also been hurt.
We’re also seeing that reflected in the other sisters –
as everyone has rallied round Camille after her horrific experiences, they’ve
also learned to be more independent of her which has left her feeling a tad
unneeded.
We do have a few POC – not just Morio but also among the
allies against hate they rallied. They’re not bad or stereotypical characters,
but they’re not major characters either. Carter has been revealed to be
bisexual which is a step up – though he’s in an inherently short term
relationship. Menolly continues to have an excellent relationship with Nerissa
that is great to see.
However, there’s something rather tasteless in having a bachelorette
party in a lesbian bar – and to then invite a male stripper? Good gods,
vomiting on said stripper’s crotch is the least rude thing they did all
evening!
I’m also not keen on Tim generally being completely and
utterly absent from the story suddenly being there to offer the GBLT community
in anti-hate rallies to stand in solidarity with the fae. It makes him – and the
community – feel like a tool to them and puts a special primacy on the anti-fae
prejudice. Especially since there’s a strong thread of both appropriation (“Fang
hags,” really?) and implication that anti-fae prejudice is the new hate while
anti-woman, poc, GBLT hate is no longer acceptable.
I dislike that we had another book with strong rape
elements – because this is a massive pattern in the series. Even when rape is
treated as as horrific as it is, when the issues surrounding rape are covered
pretty well and there’s a lot of survival messaging linked to it – it’s still
yet more rape.
On the whole I think this book is pulling the series back
to where it needs to be. It’s has it’s ramble in the wilderness and is now back
on the rails heading down the plot. But it’s still pretty bogged down. I would
say I found the book mildly amusing but with hope that the series itself is
going to reverse its downward plunge.
