Charley has a secret. And it’s a doozey. She knows what
Reyes really is, how he was created – and she has no idea if this revelation means
she can’t properly trust him, certainly not in protecting their daughter, Beep
It’s only made worse by the distance that seems to be
growing between them.
Of course she can never focus on one thing – she has a homeless girl facing a curse, a prosecutor who doesn’t like her very much who wants her to prove a guy innocent and her supernatural exploits appear to have gone viral on the web.
I believe this book to be something of transition book.
And that’s not a bad thing. In the last few books the meta of the Charley
Davidson series has morphed into something incredibly huge and overwhelming.
This seems ironic for me to say after several books of saying “more meta! More
meta!” but the last few books we’ve had the birth of Beep and her godly future,
the revelation of Charley and what she is, the revelation of Reyes and what he
is, the introduction of many characters and concepts. We’ve had gods and
dimensions and ALL THE THINGS. So much, so very very very much.
So having a book where the meta is largely confined to
the end helps us get back to Charley and her relationships and her standard
zany shenanigans to help pull back from the meta. Don’t get me wrong, I love
the meta and the epic but I also really really love Charley’s silliness. I love
the fun of his series. I love the humour. I love Danger and Will Robinson. I
love every single conversation she has with Cookie. I love her superlative
irrelevance
Yes, that’s not interspaced with reminders that she is
uber powerful and even epic moments where she does things like challenge the
Archange Michael to his face because she is DONE with his shit AND his boss.
The combination works. It really really works and it’s fun and hilarious and
awesome. I love this series, I will always pick up another book in this series
with utter glee
Of course there are problems – including the habit of
these books including ALL THE THINGS. So many storylines in one book! But this
works more in this book because the meta has been largely pushed to the end of
the book and the many storylines are more of the point. This is a shenanigans
book, so bring on the shenanigan
Still, between the runaway teenager, ongoing questions
about Charley’s relationship with Reyes, the continuing safety of Beep and the murder
mystery that Charley’s investigating (with added investigating of the person asking
her to investigate). Oh and the totally unnecessary child support plot line. And
the weird storyline from Charley’s work with the peace corps (if I didn’t read
my notes I’d even have forgotten this storyline!) There always seem to be just
one plot point too many.
And at the end we do have a return to the meta and, I’m
glad to say, a quick removal of the whole secret building that had started
between Charley and Reyes because I really didn’t want to face another lot of
romantic tension based on a rather dubious set of conflict. I’m glad to see all
of these issues being there for a book and then being addressed by the end.
Along with a whole lot of epic and setting us up for a full on embrace of the
ever more powerful metaplot that is building.
So, plotwise, this book worked. The world building is
fun, original and definitely growing which I’m definitely loving as it gives
far more depth to the fun that so characterises this series. It goes without
saying that the immense humour of this series continues (I love how these characters
work together).
I could really do without Reyes ever-escalating angst and
pain. He has a tragic past. We get it. Stop doubling down on that, please. And,
honestly, the least interesting part of this series is oh-how-steamy-hot Reyes
is. I get it. He’s hot. MOVE ON. You’ve been married with him for some time,
you’ve known him for longer – at some point Charley needs to be able to look at
her husband without being concussed by his sexiness.
Of course this series is almost defined by the awesome
relationships between women. No matter how much Charley loves Reyes, Charley
and Cookie will always be the stars.
In terms of POC, we have Reyes who, in addition to being
god, son of Satan and full of so much power, he is Latino which is not erased
even if it isn’t a major informing element of his character. We seem to
emphasise his ethnicity in his cooking while his being orphaned from parents seems
to separate him in terms of language and culture. We have Garret, a major character
and a Black man from the beginning of the series who doesn’t play a huge role
in this book. We also have minor POC – an Asian FBI agent, POC in the orphanage
which Charley investigates
We have two LGBTQ characters, Peri who is a minor
recurring bisexual character who Charley uses as a safehouse. She’s in a
relationship with a man who wants monogamy… only in regards to men. She can
have sex with other women (she doesn’t but that’s their relationship). See, an
open relationship would be one thing but this gender specific openness seems to
feed the idea that bisexuals can’t be happy with just one partner. We also have
a random gay man who is “gay as a blue jay on a sunny day” and has his
sexuality referred to as a “lifestyle”. Random caricature dropping is not
inclusion.
We do have some interesting moments looking at disabled
characters – we have the ongoing inclusion of Quentin a deaf character – who isn’t
really present in this book but seems to be definitely informing more of Amber’s
storyline. I do wish he was a more regular presence but he seems so tangential
to the rest of the series. It’s a shame. We do have a very heartfelt look at a
terribly abused mentally ill person as he passes his life through Charley. It’s
heartfelt, it’s sympathetic, it’s powerful but it’s not exactly a character
