Anne Bishop (1) (1955–)

Sigh... I'm both happy and sad at the moment. Happy because (of course) it was such a great book but also sad since it was the last we see of our friends.

Worldbuilding:
As far as I know, this is the last book about the Lakeside Courtyard (*sniff*) so it was nice that we pretty much stayed here the whole instalment.
As always, all scenes and environments were very well written, letting my mind remain fully immersed in the story.

Character development:
Meg has come such a long way from when we first met her, trying to escape the Controllers. It feels with this book, she has come full circle. She has grown and learned so so much. I love how she used her prophecy cards instead of making cuts, even though it was still very tempting. She and Meri Lee are getting really good at deciphering their meaning and I hope we will see other blood prophets use her method in later books.
Simon steps up for his people in this instalment, trying to keep the worst of some really bad influence out of the different packs living in Lakeside Courtyard, even if his hands are partially tied by the Elders. Meg and Simon are confused about their feelings for each other, which made me roll my eyes on numerous occasions, seriously :)
In this instalment, I really felt how tight the different packs are, to their own and to the other packs living in the Courtyard. They have their home, and they will defend it in any way possible.
As we have come to expect from the author, all the characters feel vibrant and alive. Very well written!

Pacing and flow:
The whole book you just know bad stuff is going to happen, and every time you're like 'is this it?' (it wasn't :p). It kept me on my toes and I had so many problems putting the book down, but I really needed some sleep (in my defence, it was 4.30 in the morning). Great balance between action and conversation.

The book:
The book was well written with no (noticeable) errors. There is no sex described (if that is important to you.
The book is 397 pages long, spread over 33 chapters and written from multiple point of views (mainly Meg and Simon and Vlad).

Final thoughts:
It seems this is the last book for Meg and Simon (so far) and that makes me freaking sad. Hope we will get to see how they are doing in the spinoff though! (I mean, that ending can't be the only thing we get, right?)
This series has been one of my favourites from book 1 onwards and I can't recommend it enough!… (more)

This is an amazing series, if you haven't started it yet, please go do that now! You won't be disappointed! :D

Worldbuilding, as always, was very good. We move through several towns where Intuits and the Others live, and of course, our beloved Lakeside Courtyard.
Scenes and environments were well detailed, triggering memories from previous books as well as putting new locations on our map.

Character development was great. Meg continues to grow, step by little step, even though the events in this book force her to go even more out of her comfort zone. Being the one other cassandra sangue look to for guidance and help is not a small thing. But she has her female pack and the Courtyard residents te help her.
I like how all the characters have such diverse and rich stories. This book really does center around the human packs the Courtyard seems to be growing and I look forward to reading more how they interact :)

Pacing and flow were great. Once you get to the good stuff, you really, really (yes, really) want to continue reading and find out what happens next! Meh, who needs sleep anyway, right?

The book itself was well written with no (noticeable) errors. There is no sex described in this book (if that is important to you).

All in all, I just really love this series and recommend everyone to at least try the first book. Can't wait to get going on book 5!… (more)

Meg Corbyn is on the run from the Controller, an gilded prison where girls like her, blood prophets, get cut to induce visions.
Freezing and out of options she applies for a position of Liaison between humans and the Others. They are shape shifters of some sort, the native inhabitants of the world and they pretty much eat us.
Simon Wolfgard doesn't know what to make of Meg, she doesn't smell like prey like other humans do, though she isn't Other either. Though he has many misgivings, he hires her on the spot and so our story begins...

My take on the book:
I absolutely loved it!!! For some reason I kept stalling to read this book so I've been smacking my head a tad for being such an idiot.

World-building is great! The world itself is near identical to our world, regions and geological locations are called differently (as are weekdays), but apart from the Others inhabiting (and ruling) the world, it's pretty much the same.
Locations and scenes were very well described, making it so easy to get drawn in.

Character development was good. We got to know a good amount of the cast. Though all pretty much in the here and now. We've only caught glimpses of the past from Meg, when she was being cut and some of her visions but nothing much about Simon or the other cast members. Hope we get plenty more info in the next instalments.

Pacing and flow were superb! There was a great mix between action and conversations, showing us how lethal and no-nonsense the Others are while on the other hand how clueless they are around humans, even how clueless poor Meg is (though she did know how to drive a car without ever doing it before). There was ample time to get to know everyone without it starting to get boring. There was always something going on. Very well done!

The book in itself is well written, I have found no (noticeable) errors. There is no sex described in the book, though we know some characters have had sex (if that is important to you).

All in all, yeah, I'm an idiot for waiting this long to start this series. I loved this book and recommend it to everyone enjoying a good long urban fantasy. The next is already loaded on my e-reader and ready to go!… (more)

I really enjoyed the first 2/3 of this book. Like, easily 4 stars. Some things were a bit dumb and unbelievable but the stuff was irrelevant at first so I could easily suspend disbelief.
In the last part, all those stupid shortcomings became crucial weaknesses that drove the core plot.
That's where the book lost me. I am fine with not so well fleshed out parts of the world-building if they only serve as a background but if those flaws become a crucial part of the plot I am out. Sorry "Written in Red", I really started to like you.
(This book had the most exciting and enjoyable mail delivery round I've read so far!)… (more)