Final book in my #SIAM Wicked All Night By Jeaniene Frost

 

January is almost over and I am ending the month with the third and final book in the Night Rebel series. I'm happy to report, yes I can read a series in a month! (#SIAM) 

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!

Like book two, I did the audio version of the book and if you ask me to rate the narration I give it a 5, I think Talia Gilbert does a wonderful job with all the different voices and accents. 

As far as I know, this book wraps up Ian and Veritas/Ariel. This book was a fast listen and again we get scenes with other characters from the Night Huntress Universe.

Overall this three-book series would have worked better for me if Veritas had been in stasis for a larger portion of her life. I say this because she says she is nearly 5,000 years old. I had a very hard time reconciling her age and experience with her behaviors and lack of knowledge. She is very gullible. Good thing her dad kept raising her from the dead. You can say it's due to her first time experiencing love with Ian, but that falls flat for me. Now if she'd been in a coma for like 4,800 of the years, then it makes much more sense to me. 

I like her brother, he came in clutch in the series, because unlike Veritas and other characters, he is able to read people (people and supernatural characters). Marie the Queen of the Ghouls also continues to be an excellent character. 

Okay, I'm going to leave the review on that positive note!  

Shades of Wicked #SIAM Book One of 3!

 

Happy #SIAM review day!  Today I'm sharing my thoughts on Shades of Wicked  by Jeaniene Frost --along with other participants in Anne's Read Along

Here is the schedule of the review posts where you can read everyone's review of this book. There is always a wide range of opinions! 

Jan 8:    Shades of Wicked              –  Review from Carole @ Carol’s Random Life in Books

Jan 22:    Wicked Bite                        –  Review from Robin @ Books of My Heart

Feb 5:       Wicked All Night             –   Review from Anne @ Books of My Heart

**************Spoilers**********************

Shades of Wicked is the first book in Jeaniene Frost's Night Rebel series and it's a spin-off from her very popular Night Huntress series.  If you have read the Night Huntress you'll appreciate some of the cameos and side characters in the book and you'll have more general knowledge of events prior to this book, but it's a stand-alone. 

The beginning of the book has lots of Veritas, our MC, talking to herself, We are in her head and along for the ride. For me, it was too much exposition. Give me the action. I enjoyed the action portions of this book--and the demon dog Silver. Ian is in the Night Huntress books and I am sure many readers pick up this book to read his story. His personality is based on a persona of a vampire is loyal to friends and likes sex and violence, which is pretty typical for a vampire. 

Veritas is a half-vampire half-demigod that is usually in a glamour around others to hide her actual appearance--so she looks unassuming but of course very attractive and slim. Veritas works as a law guardian but for this book, she is basically on leave to try and kill a Demon she's been trying to kill for thousands of years. 

Ian and Veritas start as enemies, and then there is a fake marriage and then they are lovers. All good stuff, all stuff I enjoy.  Here is the thing though.  Veritas is a demi-god, she's been around for 4,000 years. She should be more interesting and both she and Ian should have worked through their issues by now--guilt over people they lost, how to communicate effectively, etc. They have the maturity of humans in their early 20s. It's like the old man on the porch in It's a Wonderful Life said: (and I'm paraphrasing) "Ah, eternal youth is wasted on the wrong people."

3.0 Stars  It's alright.