Blood Oranges (edition 2013)

Once again I am blown away by the way this author's mind works. Tricksy, mesmerizing, and just plain fantastic. Quinn is as much defined by her addiction as by her supernatural powers. An unreliable narrator who I never gave up on, I don't know how Tierney manages to write such dark stories without ever overwhelming my interest in her flawed, fragile characters.

Full review to follow.

Sexual Content: References to sex, abuse, and prostitution. ( )

Oh, man, totally delightful. Which is a peculiar thing to say about a book with some of the flat-out grossest scenes I've ever read. (What happens when a werewolf eats something that her human half can't really digest? You don't want to know. Really.) I've read kind of a lot of urban fantasy, and when it's good, I like it, but it's often... kind of bad, and Blood Oranges is a response to the particular flavor of badness that is far too common in the subgenre. It totally works - the protagonist is the right person to comment on stupid media tropes, the world is sharply realized and dark in the "secret history" sort of way, that builds on real darkness, not dependent on an alternate-universe twist. The plot is not shocking but horrifying - it's clear pretty early on what the general shape of it will be (although the unreliable narration keeps it from plodding) but the details make it fascinating and awful.

The narration is worth a separate comment - it's the exact sort of intimate, fourth-wall-breaking style that Cherie Priest used to great effect in the stylistically similar (although tonally opposite) Bloodshot, which I also adored. Blood Oranges's protagonist is a junky who is at pains to point out that she's not a very good writer - she tells things out of order, holds back details, lies through her teeth - but Tierney is a very good writer, and all of those seeming lapses make the book far more interesting. I am totally on board.

(The fake author bio at the end is worth a read, too, if you usually skip those things. "Kathleen Tierney" is, as it says on the cover, Caitlin R. Kiernan, and she clearly has very little patience with the pen name. I was doubly delighted by the author's supposed place of residence - I went to high school in Deerfield, and I assume the reference to a house trailer was deliberate mockery, because it's... not that sort of town.) ( )

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.
allthingsuf.com

With the haunting, opium dream of THE DROWNING GIRL fresh in my mind, I was very curious to see how Caitlin Kiernan’s intricate, puzzle box storytelling would translate to urban fantasy. Though writing under a fresh nom de plume, Tierney brings that characteristic darkness; writing a charismatic, unreliable heroine, as defined by her addictions as by her supernatural nature. It’s not just Quinn that is broken and flawed, but her complicated world of betrayal, lies, and every-man-for-himself politics.

Perhaps most impressive out of this narrative is the fact that while I doubted Quinn’s narrative at times, I never lost interest in her. A liar, a junkie, two different kinds of monster… and yet worryingly fragile as well. Quinn has no special insight to protect her from trusting the wrong person, and while the action in BLOOD ORANGES moves quickly and clearly, it’s by no means easy to decide where the line between “good guy” and “bad guy” lies. The ambiguity of Quinn’s world made this story all the more gritty and realistic. Though dark, the supernatural violence of Quinn’s life is almost overshadowed by the grim realities of her human past. And I never felt like the abuse and neglect and prostitution in Quinn’s narrative was simply for shock value, or that it benumbed me to the present tense story.

Tierney has written a heroine that I never stopped caring for. Sometimes I doubted her, most of the time I worried about her, but I never felt disconnected or lost hope. Not your typical urban fantasy, BLOOD ORANGES is a mesmerizing exploration of magic without certainty, the day to day details about surviving as a vampire or werewolf. And Quinn herself is as transparent and unknowable as any real person, I was mesmerized by the process of decoding what she says and what she means and what she herself doesn't even realize. A must read for anyone drawn to the darker edges of urban fantasy, this book is a book I can’t stop thinking about.

Sexual Content: References to sex, abuse, and prostitution. ( )

Now here's a book that comes with a ton of caveats.

First of all, it seems whenever a title about vampires or werewolves comes out nowadays, most of us tend to automatically think, "Oh geez, not yet another YA urban fantasy." Except I don't know if I'd let any tween of mine get within twenty feet near a book like this. No question about it, it is adult fiction containing a lot of mature themes and very naughty language, though interestingly enough, no sex.

Which is also kind of the perfect segue into my next point: If you are someone who prefers a little paranormal romance in your urban fantasy, then this book is also not for you. Our main protagonist and narrator is one of those gals who would sooner kill a monster than get lovey dovey and make out with one, if you know what I mean. As all tough demon huntresses should be, if you ask me. That she also makes fun of sparkly vampires is a plus.

Actually, if you're still unsure of whether or not this book is for you, just flip through the first few pages of front matter to the author's foreword. Here's my favorite quote from it: "In fact, if you're the sort who believes books should come with warning labels, this book's not for you. Also, please note: Siobhan Quinn is not a very good writer. Fair notice."

Yes, fair and pretty much accurate. Good thing my sensibilities are not easily offended, because this book was a lot of fun and a riot to read. It actually made me laugh out loud a few times. There's just something about the gritty writing style and Quinn's sarcastic cynicism and that devil-may-care attitude of hers that makes me really like her. She reminds me of a female Sandman Slim.

Yeah, Siobhan Quinn is definitely not your run-of-the-mill urban fantasy heroine. Not at all. The two monster-kills that that first led her onto the demon-hunting path were complete flukes, the products of her clumsiness and sheer dumb luck. She's a foul-mouthed street-kid drug addict with serious issues who gets bitten by a werewolf and a vampire -- both in a single night! -- but her "werepire-ness" has not left her any prettier, any more cheerful, or improved her hygienic habits one whit. Not to mention she's also a junkie, a self-admitted coward and compulsive liar, and a terribly unreliable narrator.

But perhaps the thing I liked most about her character is the fact she breaks the urban fantasy female protagonist mold, in a way that's almost borderline satire. That along with the book's departure from the norm offers a refreshing change of pace for those of us who are wearying of the same-old-same-old genre tropes, and who might be looking for something different to stir things up.

By the way, Kathleen Tierney is the nom de plume of Caitlín R. Kiernan, whom I found out only after I finished this book is quite a well-known author of horror fiction. Though I have not read any of her other works, after Blood Oranges, I think I might want to. ( )

I finally found the monsters!

If you like your monsters to be brooding, passably human centerfolds with a desperate need to be loved and an obsession with haute couture, this is not your book, and thank the gods for that! The bookstore shelves are already buckling under the weight of all those books. If you like your monsters to be weirdly other and your protagonist to kick ass despite being a self-deprecating screw-up, you're going to love this gritty story that manages to be a fun and compelling page-turner while thumbing it's nose at the "ParaRom" genre. I devoured this book quickly and very much look forward to the next book in the series. ( )