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31 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gutsy and action-packed, May 14, 2009
This review is from: Strange Angels (Strange Angels, Book 1) (Paperback)
Dru Anderson and her father live an unconventional life; they travel across the continent, tracking and killing dangerous supernatural things. Thanks to her father, Dru is a physically strong, and due to her time spent with her superstitious grandmother, psychically strong as well. At first, this new town in the Midwest is nothing new, and her father's unwillingness to allow Dru accompany him on his hunts familiar. But when he doesn't come home alive, Dru is forced to face reality. She's not as capable as she once thought, nor as smart. There are things about the night and the Real World that her father never revealed to her. And if she hopes to make it until morning, she'll have to draw upon everything her father and grandmother ever taught her and learn to trust. Strange Angels is a fresh take on a popular subject in YA literature, showcasing a heroine that is strong, gutsy, and fallible. Fans of the TV show Supernatural will be happy to dig into this Pandora's Box of creepy-crawlies, blood-suckers, werwulfen, hexes, and many other assorted paranormal creatures and enchantments. Each supernatural creature possesses its own unique characteristics within the novel which makes Strange Angels stand apart from the mundane. St. Crow's writing is solid and wonderfully descriptive, and she skillfully balances out the novel with action-filled scenes and memories from Dru's past, transforming her world into a tangible and comprehensive one. Though she has a tendency to repeat herself in suspenseful scenes, St. Crow does an admirable job creating and building fear and apprehension. Her characters are well-rounded, the setting vivid, and the action scenes suspenseful: the perfect makings for a stellar new series that will spellbind readers and leave them begging for more.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fast-Paced Action In Sharp-Edged World, June 20, 2009
This review is from: Strange Angels (Strange Angels, Book 1) (Paperback)
Under her "adult" name (Lilith Saintcrow), Lili St. Crow has written two adult series involving paranormal heroines (Dante Valentine and Jill Kismet). But when the author turns her sights on the YA market, she brings the same kind of fist-in-your face action and briskly moving plot with constant life or death stakes. I really like the heroine in this series. Dru Anderson is a girl I could have known and liked back in high school. She knows the real score and is tough but vulnerable. A girl who's able to take care of herself in a smashmouth situation, but still thinks and acts feminine. Even down to the way she gets mad at the two guys working with her in this book. The set-up is familiar, of course. All of these paranormal-girls-against-the-dangerously-weird are going to run close to the same source, but St. Crow proves herself over and over as a storyteller with a lot to say and a way of moving a story along. Dru has a lot of mysteries in her life. The foremost is what happened to her mother all those years ago, and how she got to be chosen as one of those hunters that chase the dark things through the night and the shadows. And there's the matter of those strange "hex" powers that get stronger and stronger nearly every day. I'm not giving anything away by mentioning that Dru's ex-Marine dad gets zombified at the beginning of the book because readers get that from the back cover copy. But I do wish I'd gotten to hang out with him more. The father/daughter relationship seems really solid and I can't help feeling I missed out on a lot of great adventures and family stuff. The loss of Dru's dad is just the tip of the iceberg, though. Apparently all of the stuff Dru never learned about herself is coming home to roost all at once. The magnification of her powers and abilities is a magnet to everything evil creeping around the city. Graves, the cool homeless kid who befriends her and takes care of her, is a good character and I can't wait to see him develop with all the changes (literally) that he'll be going through. Christophe is equally interesting, and he has at least as many secrets as Dru has. St. Crow has done a good job of world-building as well. I like the idea of "wulfen" and "suckers," although these are just substitutes for werewolf and vampires. But there are other weird things lurking out there that's she's only now giving us a peek at. I also like the fact that the book takes place in the middle of winter with snow all around instead of the typical balmy summer day. The weather provides great atmosphere. I will say that the language is full on adult. Several f-bombs get dropped along the way, and the 9-12 crowd needs to know that this isn't a gentle read. The young teens to early twentysomethings (as well as several adults) will hunker down and read this one practically in one sitting. And be anxiously awaiting the second in the series coming in November - not soon enough!
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15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Description of Graves, March 22, 2010
This review is from: Strange Angels (Strange Angels, Book 1) (Paperback)
As a half-Asian (or would the author prefer I use the term half-breed), I found the descriptions in this book to be malicious, whether it was intended or not. I don't know if the author believes that the average American 'Angry-teenage-girl' has such a negative view towards Asian physical attributes or she is just venting her own opinions through her character - either way it's hard to ignore as a half-Asian reader. "At least he hadn't drawn the really slit-eyed card a lot of half-breeds have to play, where they look like they're squinting to beat Clint Eastwood the whole time." Am I supposed to read this as 'At least he didn't have the stereotypical squinty eyes that Asians, and therefore most half-Asians, tend to have.' Wow, so incredibly flattering to both Asians and half-Asians. Too bad "He had the type of baby face most guys would curse at in the mirror [...] the kind of face half-breeds get stuck with if they don't draw the pretty card." And why exactly would half-breeds get often stuck with such a face more than any other race?? Because of their Asian ancestry? I have no idea what the author is trying to describe here..but it comes off as racist. There is no doubt that Dru is a incessantly vindictive narrator. And even though she has her reasons, she is so much the exaggerated hateful teenage girl that it makes her not only unrelatable, but unbearable. Whether it is poor characterization or the author's own twisted views towards half-Asians/Asians leaking in.. it is offensive and frankly, the novel is not that enjoyable to read as a whole. I hate to be the whiney half-kid. I usually don't like the automatic 'victim' mindset that some Asians (and many other people) take whenever something could be interpreted as prejudiced..but this book did bother me and I'm glad that a few other people feel the same. I don't recommend it.
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