863 and counting …

• Posted in Books I've Read

Finished Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs. It’s the second in her Mercy Thompson urban fantasy series about a car mechanic who can shapeshift and become a coyote.

In this book, Mercy’s friend, the vampire Stefan, asks her to help him deal with a demon who has possessed another vampire/sorcerer. The demon is killing people, and Stefan needs it to stop, so the local group of vampires are not exposed to the human population. Mercy agrees to help, and the demon comes after her and her loved ones.

I liked Moon Called, the first book in the series, but I enjoyed Blood Bound even more. Maybe it was because I was familiar with Briggs’ world this time around. Or maybe because Mercy has a lot more to do in this book. She decides to go after the demon herself, and she takes logical, appropriate steps to hunt it down — something she has only a few hours to do before the demon starts killing her friends. I enjoyed the faster pacing in this one, and I thought the emotional stakes were a lot higher for Mercy.  

I’m also interested to see exactly what Mercy’s powers as a “walker” or shapeshifter are. So far, she can talk to ghosts and certain magics don’t affect her like they do werewolves and other creatures. Everyone keeps telling Mercy how powerful she is, but nobody will tell her what her powers are — they only give her small nuggets of information at a time. A little annoying, but I get that Briggs is doing that to keep people hooked on the series. Slow reveals really are the best, but as a reader/viewer, I hate waiting for them. I want all the books/secrets to be out right now. :rolleyes:

One thing I didn’t particularly care for was the love triangle between Mercy, Sam, and Adam. I know a lot of people love the interaction between the characters. It’s well done and realistic, but as a general rule, I just don’t like love triangles. Supposedly, the triangle gets resolved in the third book, Iron Kissed, which was recently released. I’ll be reading it — after I whittle down my TBR pile some more.

So, thumbs up.

Up next: Not sure. Something from the aforementioned TBR pile.

13 Responses to “863 and counting …”

  1. Chasity says:

    I love this series.

    I think you’ll be ok with the way the love triangle it handled. I was semi disappointed in the fact that there’s such a major build up, and then with how it’s handled. A few pages later though, I was ok with it.

  2. Jennifer Estep says:

    Chasity — I like the series, too. :joecool:

    Even if I didn’t know who she picks (and I do because of all the reviews out there), I’d still root for Adam. I think he really loves/wants her, whereas Sam wants kids more than he wants Mercy.

    I am a little hesitant to read Iron Kissed, though, because I’ve heard a lot about the rape scene. What did you think about that?

  3. Chasity says:

    My pick was Adam as well. I just didn’t like Sam. And like you, I feel that Sam just wanted a babymomma, or w/e.

    The rape scene was a bit harsh and unnecessary in my opinion. I’m sure Ms. Briggs has her reasons for including it. At least that is my hope. I sludged through the rape scence, cringing the whole time, but Mercy has her revenge, whether you can count is as being a good revenge or not, it made me feel a tad bit better.

    Of course this is coming from the girl who absolutely loves the movie Death Proof, so…

  4. Jennifer Estep says:

    Hmmm … thanks for answering my question. People seem pretty divided over the rape scene. Some thought it was gratuitous; some didn’t. It will be a while before I read Iron Kissed, though. I made a New Year’s resolution — no new books until there are less than 10 in my TBR pile.

    Haven’t seen Death Proof, but I did enjoy the first Kill Bill movie. 😎

    BTW, I finished Working for the Devil by Lilith Saintcrow. I’ll be reviewing it next week, but I liked it a lot. Thanks for the recommendation!

  5. Chasity says:

    :biggrin: You actually liked a book I recommended? Sweet. That makes me very happy. I can’t wait to see the review.

    You should watch Death Proff. Pulp Fiction/Kill Bill were my 2 favorite Tartino movies, but Death Proof just topped them.

  7. Jennifer Estep says:

    Yeah, I liked it a lot, especially the demon character. He was the best part of the book.

    If you’ve got any more recommendations, send ’em my way, and I’ll post them on the blog. BTW, if you haven’t read Warlord by Elizabeth Vaughn, you should. I’m almost done with it, and it’s a great fantasy romance. A find from Mr. K’s. 😉

    I also have Bitten by Kelley Armstrong to read sometime …

  8. Chasity says:

    Bitten is my favorite Kelley Armstrong. I’ve read all the way through the Magic series. After that, I semi lost interest. It may just have been my mood though. I’ve been spending a lot of time gaming lately, and not nearly enough time reading.

    Let me go through my notes, and see what books I rated the best. I’ll post back with some recommendations for you 🙂

    I so need to go to Mr. K’. But I’ve got a pile of about 40 categories to finish before I buy any more. My mom literally had stacks and stacks of books stored away, and I just came across them. Since they are taking up valuable space, I promised to read them first instead of buying new (with the exception of a few I have on my autobuy list)

  10. Jennifer Estep says:

    I don’t read much category. Probably because I like the fantasy/paranormal elements too much, and there’s not a lot of those in category (although I haven’t tried any of the new Nocturne paranormals by Harlequin).

    Oh, yes, Japh. Loved his character. 😉

  11. Chasity says:

    I really don’t like most of the categories that I read. However, I’ll read just about anything you put in front of me. I may not enjoy it, buy once I’ve started reading, I have to finish. I believe there’s only 1, maybe 2 books that I’ve read some and never finished them. I have yet to try any of the Nocturne either. My mother adores category romance, and I usually end up with them after she’s done.

    The one book I can recall not finishing was Wired by Liz Maverick. The concept was great, but the heroine was so wishy washy, that I was disgusted. I will eventually finish it, but as for now, I’d prefer to forget I even read part of it.

    I prefer paranormal/fantasy. I lean more toward paranormal though. I’ve always loved me some vampires and superheroes.

    Most of my spare time is now spent online gaming, with a few exceptions reading. I am addicted to Star Wars Galaxies. I can’t seem to get enough of it.

  12. Jennifer Estep says:

    I’m like you. Once I start reading something I have to finish it, no matter how bad I think it is. There’s only one book I recall not finishing in the last five years.

    I’ve heard a lot of split decisions on Wired. Some people liked it; some didn’t.

    I just started writing something new today, so that will take up all my spare time for a few weeks. :rolleyes:

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