Bloodangel (edition 2005)

I really *wanted* to like this book but the characters were just way too one-dimensional.

The author crammed too much plot into a relatively short book and glossed over most of the disturbing things that occurred. I think if she could've fleshed things out and stopped pulling punches, it would've been a lot better. ( )

One of the best books I've read this year. A very dark urban fantasy, with beautifully lyrical writing making the book impossible to put down. At times the plot was disjointed and very confusing, but it didn't matter because the writing was so good. ( )

Even though the book was a gift from a friend I let this lie on my bookshelf for years, reluctant to pick it up. The title, the cover and back blurb made this sound like hundreds of other urban fantasies complete with vampires.

I was wrong.

First, look ma, no vampires. Now, don't get me wrong, I rather like the creatures in many iterations from Stoker to King to Rice to Hamilton and Harris (but not Meyer.) But just how many such books are out there? And if not the bloodsuckers, well, then it's weres. No weres here either. And yes, that's a lot of what I did like. That this is not like other urban fantasies I've read and there's a really well-thought out magical system featured. This does remind me somewhat of many a Buffy episode in that there is a threatened apocalypse in the offing, but it never felt too predictable. I should warn this is of a rather dark hue of fantasy, rather violent and gory at points although within lines I could stand.

It did take a bit for me to get into it, because there are several narrative strands. They eventually converge, but I found it hard in the first hundred pages to feel connected to the story and characters as the story bounced between New York City artist Jess Shepard, Minnesota teen Ramsey Doe and California musician Lucas Maddox. Each did come into focus for me eventually, but if this misses a fifth star, it's because even though the writing and world-building was strong, the characters themselves didn't pull at me emotionally. Maybe because most of them came across as too detached. (Or at least most didn't. I felt most for Ramsey, but he wasn't given enough face time to quite suck me entirely in.) But I certainly would be interested in reading more of Justine Monk and the sequel, Lord of Bones. ( )

I feel a little bad for rating this so low because it's probably only contingent on my having glutted myself of this genre, but I found it just so profoundly meh.

No more urban fantasy/horror books by unknown/new authors for me, and I'm sticking to it! ...At least not unless it comes hugely recommended. ( )

I wasn't in love with the progress of this story; it seemed rather disjointed and episodic - but each episode was very well done, well imagined. I'm a little puzzled about the mythology, by how the angels of the book, some fallen (or all fallen?) are intended to relate to better-known manifestations of angels, but in the end it doesn't really matter. I liked the protagonists (though it's never fun not knowing whether main characters can be trusted or not); they had solidity and depth, and I enjoyed spending time with them, investing time in them. The demon Del was a little masterpiece. The writing carried the day, coolly handling every eventuality… maybe a little too coolly, in a way, leading to an ending which was intense, but not as intense as expected - it was almost detached. I was involved, but not rapt; mildly horrified but not actively repulsed; glad but not to a personal level. There was a lot of background that felt skimmed over, but … It was a unique story, well told. Overall, very good job. I'll look for Justine Musk's other books. ( )