Siren Song

You may recall that I was pretty enthusiastic about the first book in the Blood Singer series, Blood Song, when I wrote about it last week. Well, Siren Song is even better. There are fantastic action sequences, lots of world building with the focus on siren culture, and some truly interesting new characters, plus tight plotting, excellent pacing, and unexpected developments. What more could I ask for?

Cat Adams' take on sirens is traditional in the sense that the basics are all there: they're attractive to heterosexual men, they're repellant to women of a certain age and reproductive capacity, and they're borderline immortal. The added bonus: Celia is part siren but never knew it until after her transformation and the sirens aren't too show more sure what to do with her. As a result, Celia is forced to learn about her new world rather quickly, which introduces the reader to a whole new set of characters, some of whom I quite liked, such as Okilani and Hiwahiwa. Sirens have a cool matriarchal society and I really liked the Polynesian/Oceanic overtones that the culture has, from naming practices to lavalavas.

Another great aspect of Siren Song is that we also get to know more about some of the characters introduced in the first book, like Bubba (one of Celia's officemates) and John Creede, who was bodyguarding in the last book but is more central in Siren Song. It's neat to see how Celia's transformation is affecting both her new and old relationships.

There's also some development on the romantic front, not all of it positive. Celia's in a very odd position with her old lover, Bruno, and she's attracted to John so it makes for a delicate love triangle. What's nice, though, is that the romantic side is only one component of the story and, in fact, the emphasis of Siren Song is on discovering the plot and staying alive.

We also get a lot of information about Celia's past, stuff that puts all of her life events in a new perspective. I don't want to say too much about this part of things since it's important to the plot of Siren Song so I'll just say that I can't wait to read Demon Song!

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I really, really wanted to love this book, since I was thoroughly entertained by Blood Song, the first installment in the series. Most of my issues with this book revolve around the plot. The pacing was just not very well balanced. Majority of the story moved along rather slowly. At somewhat random parts, brief moments of action were introduced, but were soon followed by rather mundane scenes that were far more detailed than they needed to be. Then abruptly towards the end, the action was kicked ...more I really, really wanted to love this book, since I was thoroughly entertained by Blood Song, the first installment in the series. Most of my issues with this book revolve around the plot. The pacing was just not very well balanced. show more Majority of the story moved along rather slowly. At somewhat random parts, brief moments of action were introduced, but were soon followed by rather mundane scenes that were far more detailed than they needed to be. Then abruptly towards the end, the action was kicked into high gear and careened into a rather quick conclusion. Significant developments/events felt rushed and not as explored as they should have been.

I was also disgruntled and disappointed by the plot twists. As a reader, I generally like to be surprised. I like a good mystery and unexpected revelations. I even like the occasional red herrings thrown into the mix. However, these tactics need to be effectively incorporated into the story, make sense, and be justified. A couple of big twists in Siren Song made absolutely no sense to me. They seemed like forced plot devices with no natural progression or cohesion with preceding events. Both twists involved people Celia holds dear, who completely acted out of character. In Blood Song, Cat Adams built these characters up to have important roles in Celia's life and hinted at even greater involvement in the future. Sadly, that was basically thrown out the window. In this book, these characters very briefly pop in, trample on everything they were setup to represent, and pop back out just as abruptly. I was left feeling perplexed and frustrated.

Honestly, the main thing that kept me reading was Celia's character. I still very much liked her in this book. She is well written and easy to connect with. As in the first book, I found myself drawn into her multifaceted struggle. Celia is faced with a lot of challenges, threats, and heartaches, and she just keeps on fighting and pushing ahead. She is strong but vulnerable, and she is very smart and resourceful. I like the fact that her being a bodyguard is actually believable. Too often, urban fantasy heroines are setup to be private investigators, police officers, bodyguards, etc. and they act in ways that make you very skeptical of their qualifications and capabilities. So, I was very happy that this was not the case with Celia's character. show less

Review courtesy of AllThingsUrbanFantasy.blogspot.com

Celia Graves, bodyguard turned half-vampire/half-siren is back in this follow up to the truly excellent Blood Song that finds her once again hunted at every turn by mages, sirens, demons and even humanity. Unlike in most urban fantasy books, vampires in The Blood Singer series aren’t sexy love interests, they are the scourge of the earth. Feared and loathed by almost everyone, Celia has to navigate this story filled with lots of action, betrayal, and fragile romance--all without getting staked.

I thought the fight scenes in Blood Song were cool (and I don’t often find myself impressed with detailed fight scenes), but SIREN SONG is packed with fast and fun fights that had my show more adrenaline slamming through my system. Celia is believably capable and resourceful, yet she is still acclimating to both her vampire and siren abilities. She never gets easy victories (getting jumped outside a grocery store with nothing but baby food jars as weapons, for example) and she never emerges unscathed.

Another high note in SIREN SONG is the romance. It is much less overt in this book as opposed to Blood Song (and there is a significant reason for that), but the new romantic lead in Celia’s life is a surprise to both her and the reader, and yet by the end of the book, I couldn’t imagine a better match.

As with the previous book, Adams laces SIREN SONG with subtle details in the early part of the book that tie together later on for a truly robust ending. Sadly, I thought that those details contributed to SIREN SONG being a little slow out of the gate. A number of side plot elements needed to be tied up, which I appreciate, but Blood Song ended with Celia being summoned to Siren Island for a trial and that storyline didn’t pick up until halfway through SIREN SONG. From then on, the story races along at much more satisfyingly pace. Demon Song will be out sometime in early 2011 and I’m already anticipating another action packed blast.

Sexual Content: References to sex. References to homosexuality. A scene of sensuality. show less

Reviewed by Breia "The Brain" Brickey for TeensReadToo.com

Celia Graves survived becoming an Abomination. She continues to work as a bodyguard in the same town where she was attacked. The vampire attack awakened a part of Celia that she knew nothing about - she's part Siren. Summoned to the Sirens' island for reasons unknown, Celia must fight off many enemies if she wants to find out about her heritage.

I thoroughly enjoyed book one in this series, BLOOD SONG, and book two is no different. Just when you think you have Cat Adams' world figured out, they throw more surprises at you. It seems Sirens have more than the average power. They're not only able to seduce men and alienate women, but they also have several surprises up their show more sleeves.

The author has created a paranormal fantasy world that leaves the reader wanting more. Interesting characters, wonderful world-building, and a mythology that gets more interesting with every character they throw into the mix. Many authors try to pull the reader in from the beginning of the story - Cat Adams succeeds.

Fast-paced, twists and turns, excitement galore, SIREN SONG does not disappoint. With this second book, I am even more sure that this will be one of the best series that I will read this year. You never know what is going to happen, but you definitely know that whatever it is it will be exciting and hard to put down. show less

Celia is now trying to save her life - over and over again. It's really hard to say much about this book without spoiling it for anyone. But, you would highly recommend reading the first book before you dive into this one. Celia is starting to deal with her vampirism and while some others are starting to accept it, others just can't (they feel she should be put down). But, a lot of things are answered in this book - why her sister died so young, why she's been having such bad luck all of her life, why her mother has gone the way of the bottle, that her friends aren't always what they appear and others surprise her with their genuine selfless-ness.

Her character kind of grows - she's learning to sensor her mouth, just a little. But, I'm show more still frustrated with some of her choices. I think my favorite characters are John Creede and Dottie. I would like to see them play a bigger role.

My biggest frustration were simple editing errors. They just kept distracting from my reading.

But, I will be reading the next book. Not sure when. I enjoy this series, but not enough to race out to the store and buy the next one just today. Over all - I would tell others to read this book/series. show less

This book starts just as slowly as the first in the series did. Adams though is well practiced in the art of foreshadowing. This is a really big plus with me. I always think this is fan-freaking-tastic. Pitfall though is that it seems that a lot of the chapters are dry, and there is no action. You either have an action packed chapter, or you have an inner reflection chapter. You've been warned.
Cheers Pretties!

Fun filled and action packed. The drama never seems to stop for Celia!!! Going from a normal human, to a vampire and now she is a siren too! Geez, life is just filled with surprises for our main character. But this has made the book really fun and different to read. I've never read a book about sirens so it was pretty interesting to get into the story behind the sirens.

Now in this book, the king from the previous book is back and needs Celia's help. Her boyfriend has just left her for some strange reason and things aren't looking too bright for this court case she has to face. But on the bright side, she may have a new partner if things go right with the court case.

The book has a lot of twists and turns, it seems that she is wanted in show more front of the Queens of the sirens, but first she has to make sure that she doesn't spend the rest of her life in the state institute for the fear of being a danger to everyone around her because she's a vampire. She goes to her best friends will reading and someone tries to kill her. What a minute, what is going on here?

But in the end. everything turns out okay and even though her love life is slightly different, I believe that it turned out for the best! show less