Gwen lives in a world where vampires, werewolves, water sprites, dryads, pookas, centaurs, and many more "Others" live openly among humans. Tolerated, but not accepted, Gwen keeps the fact that she's a pooka to herself. Even her human boyfriend doesn't know. This isn't the only dilemma Gwen faces. When Others are murdered, Gwen finds herself embroiled in a mystery. With the help of her new Other friend, Tavian, Gwen sets out to find the killer before he/she finds her.
What I thought: This book has a most interesting premise. I liked all the different types of "Others" that people the book. It's a nice change from the standard vampires and werewolves. I liked the fact that Gwen is pooka. It reminds me fondly of the Jimmy Stewart movie Harvey. Gwen's struggle with having a human boyfriend reminded me a little of Vivian in Annette Curtis Klause's Blood and Chocolate. Ultimately, they both find it won't work.
Tavian is a most interesting character. As is his relationship with Gwen. (I learned about fox spirits in the Japanese History class I took in college. It's kind of nice to have them turn up here.) The mystery was well done. I didn't have a clue until it was all revealed. On the whole I enjoyed Other.
However, I don't feel this would be a honest review unless I mention a couple of things I object to personally. Kincy's portrayal of Christians in the book seemed a bit skewed. While I acknowledge that such fanatics do exist, there is another side of Christianity that's not touched on at all. I also found the language some of the characters used to be a bit excessive.
I don't mention these objections to deter you from reading Other. Despite my objections, I did like the book and find it a promising start to a new paranormal series.
For information on Other and the sequels, visit Karen Kincy's website.
(Flux, 2010. Review copy provided by publisher.)
No comments:
Post a Comment