Gin is tried. Tired of the killing. Tired of the
fighting. Tired of trying to survive. And when one of her employees finds
herself in a whole lot of trouble in the crosshairs of one of the more
dangerous crime lords in the city, she has to wonder just how far this is her
duty to fix?
But Bria is also deeply involved and Gin can never
abandon family. Even when that family is being reckless, foolish and perhaps
more dedicated than she should be.
When Gin killed her nemesis in Heart of Venom it was clear we were
going to have some books of transition. Gin getting used to her new reality,
dealing with the fallout, dealing with some personal stuff, spending some time
on the other characters and generally transitioning into a new story arc
Which we did. But Heart
of Venom was book 5, Poison Promise
is book 11. That’s an awful long time to transition. The other books did
everything I said – but in general the series was beginning to falter and
become boring – as I mentioned in my review of The Spider.
This book started and we had not one, but two enemies
with weird powers (which seems to have been something of an attempt to keep the
last few books interesting), I expected the worst – another random
assassination of the week book; not bad, but still leaving the series
floundering
But no! This book is the start of so much more! I hope anyway
Yes, we seem to have turned a corner on several issues.
Firstly, and most obviously, is the new big bad coming to town. I am a little
leery because the new big bad, as introduced, feels far too much like the last
big bad. I know that makes for great symbolism, but I also hope there isn’t
going to be too much rehashing.
The second major change is Gin’s own attitude and
awareness. There was a lot more focus on not just Bria but on the conditions of
Southtown. Southtown is desperately poor with virtually no opportunities that
are not crime related – the only people we know who have managed to escape life
in Southtown have resorted to dangerous or criminal enterprise (or both) to do
so. It’s their only option. The police have given up on the area, the crime
boss openly rules the area and it’s all very grim. I particularly like how
we’re repeatedly forced to see the grey in all the characters – like it would
be easy to see Troy as an abusive drug dealer or Coral as an addicted kidnapper
– but both were forced by desperate circumstances into the lives they lead.
Both did terrible things, both faced terrible consequences if they failed to do
those terrible things. This was their lives in Southtown, a place with no
options. It’s a really good class analysis.
And for much of the series this has been seen and
accepted. Some got out (like Rosalyn and Catalina) but most didn’t and the
characters – and Gin – accepted this as something they couldn’t change. This
has an interesting parallel with how Gin has dealt with the constant attacks by
various crime bosses trying to prove themselves. She has accepted this with the
same fatalism, she has to fight them, she has to save herself, and then move
on. Her daily life now includes fighting for her life. She can’t change this.
Gin starts the book very worn down. Tired. Tired of
killing. Tired of the pro-bono work constantly dragging her into life or death
situations. Tired of always been on guard. Tired of the endless fighting and
blood and just wanting it all to end – even if a devil’s bargain may be needed.
By the end of the book this all develops extremely well
with some truly excellent character growth – but also bounces off Bria. Now,
the conflict between Gin and Bria (Bria law & order vs Gin’s assassin)
annoyed me because I thought we had resolved this already – it’s bad enough to
have filler books without rehashing the issues they put to sleep! But this
really showed up a lot of Bria’s personality, her determination, her drive, her
need to make things better, to protect those around her all of which mirror Gin
so closely – albeit using different methods. The whole interaction was
excellent exposing so many issues – Gin treating Bria as less capable, Bria
proving herself, Bria having to confront just how unrealistic her lines are and
what they cost, Bria weighing people against values and through all this Gin
finding a new way to relate to the world and her role in it.
The character development is good – and with it we should see a new ramping up of the whole series.
Other improvements I liked – while there was a standard “Gin
gets captured/brought low” we managed to pull back on at least some of the
inevitable torture she always seems to face. It seems to be an Elemental Assassins trope: Gin attacks enemy,
Gin lose, Gin is tormented most horribly, Gin gets out, Gin stabs everyone
until they stop twitching them stabs them some more. With some extra stabbing.
Stab stab stab.
On that note, I also appreciated that while there was still plenty of stab stab stab, Gin has, again, remembered she’s the super powerful Elemental and actually using her power. Yes, overpowered protagonists can be annoying but Gin is surrounded with bad guys with super duper powers and she matches them but never uses it – I love this new direction of Gin using all her resources.
And the old favourites were still very present in this
book – the action is blood fizzing and awesome and it had some wonderful
epic-build up moments where I read the book with a big silly grin on my face
because People Who Deserve It are Going To Be Very Very Sorry (and, yes, I love
that moment when it’s done well). The writing is well paced, the relationships
are excellent and I continue to love the world that is still pretty solid with
its world building (though it’s now running the risk of going over the top with
rare and weird elemental powers – Elemental Chocolate may be next on the
agenda). It also has a laundry list of awesome female characters – not just Gin
the killing machine, but Bria and her values, Sophia and her enduring survival,
Rosalyn and her resolute drive, Catalina and her determination to do the right
thing – I wish I could see more of them around Gin (her brother and boyfriend
take more space) but they’re awesome and definitely there
This book also had the series’ first LGBT character.
Honestly, while this is good, I’m also disinclined to offer praise for finally
introducing an LGBT character in book 11. There’s an awful lot of “late” in
that “better late than never.” The character himself isn’t stereotyped – in
fact, he’s tough, dangerous and generally not conforming to personality tropes.
But I’m also basing him being gay or bisexual on one line in the entire book
(though I don’t think it was ambiguous). I’m tip-toeing around his identity
because it would be a spoiler, but my main problem with this character is that
his life revolves around his niece. He even throws away his work, his loyalty,
risks his life and is brutally tortured, all for his niece – there’s a reason
why we have a trope called The
Gay Uncle. And he ends up in a less-than-ideal role with Gin. I am hopeful
to see more of him since he has been set up to be something of a regular – but
I also want to see him be more than what we’ve seen.
This character (behold my spoiler dancing) is also Latino.
As is Catalina. Roslyn and Xavier are both Black and one of Gin’s circle of
friends is Native American. I don’t think they’re the most dominant characters
in Gin’s life (Bria, Finn, Owen and, to a lesser extent, Sophia takes those
spots) but they are consistently there.
This series is looking up – and it wasn’t low before. Elemental Assassins you have my
attention again! May the next books be as awesome as I expect them to be
