Red-Headed Stepchild

Spring09

Amazon preorder,Amazon received

Sabina Kane is half vampire and half mage and the two species have long been enemies. So even though she comes from royal blood and her grandmother is head of the Dominae (vampires), she's constantly put down for her parents' sin. She works as an assassin for the Dominae and loyalty to them was drilled in by her grandmother at an early age.

But her world starts to unravel when she's ordered to kill a friend from assassin school for treason against the Dominae; then told to go undercover to learn the plans of, and assassinate the half vampire half demon leader of a united group of vampires, mages and faeries. Only it becomes difficult to know who to trust as she learns everything she'd been led to believe isn't true.

The story contains a lot of action as Sabina is a kick-butt heroine, emotion (she's never really had a close friend before), humor in the form of a demon cat-shifter, some sexual tension and political machinations. And of course Sabina isn't quite what she thought she was; nor is she infallible. If outnumbered and without a weapon, well, she's in trouble.

I enjoyed how Sabina thinks and shares with us her reasoning before saying or doing something. There is plenty of world-building and I'm guessing a great deal more as the series goes on. Sabina has only limited knowledge and had no interaction with mages, faeries or demons before, so we're learning as she does. And each species follows their own religion, worshipping the "deity" that started them. For the vampires, it's Lilith.

There is plenty of room for character growth, which is a good thing because she's got a lot of growing to do. While mostly confident in her abilities, she has a difficult time letting go of loyalty to the Dominae, even when presented with some truths. In that aspect she's a little wishy-washy. But I expect that to change.

After reading this first book I realize the series had already concluded after 5 books and a novella. Well, at least I can read them back-to-back and not have to wait for a book to be released. ( )

It may not be fair to put RED-HEADED STEPCHILD on the DNF shelf, as I know I've read it before. I couldn't remember enough after my first reading to get me into the rest of the series, so I tried to re-read. I just can't get more than a chapter or so in. Can anyone give me encouragement to get over the hump?

I was disappointed with this opening, but have heard enough good things about the rest of the series that I'll probably take another look. Read Abigail's review at All Things Urban Fantasy.

I really wanted to love this book. I've been looking for a good urban fantasy to love as much as Mercy Thompson or Kate Daniels unfortunately this isn't it. I liked the characters and the romance,but the story just didn't grab me like I wanted it to. ( )