In her acclaimed Women
of the Otherworld series, Kelley Armstrong has created a scintillating
realm where the supernatural and the human coexist on the edge of
darkness, romance, and eternity. Now Armstrong tells the captivating
tale of a young woman with an insatiable lust for danger. She can’t help
it. It’s in her blood.
Tabloid reporter Hope Adams appears to live the life of an ordinary working girl. But in addition to possessing the beauty of a Bollywood princess, Hope has other unique traits. For she is a half demon—a human fathered by a demon. And she’s inherited a hunger for chaos. Naturally, when she’s chosen by a very dangerous group for a very dangerous mission that will take her through Miami’s hot spots, she jumps at the chance. But Hope is a little too good at this job. And soon she’s in a little too deep. To save herself, she’ll have to unleash her most primal instincts—and open herself, mind and body, to everything she most fears . . . and desires. |
“Remember when we met? Before you left, you said you were going to make a fool of yourself over me. That's still what you're worried about. That you'll find yourself doing things you never dreamed of doing, things you laughed at in others, and you'll make a fool of yourself.”
I'm iffy on character head jumping within a series in the first place, but it's been working well so far. Hope was introduced in Broken, but takes the center stage in Personal Demon. Unusually, Armstrong divides a little of the book into another POV (Lucas). It all ties into the same storyline and wouldn't have worked as well otherwise. The book is better off for it, and Luca's chapters primarily take place in the second half.
Hope just isn't as sympathetic and likeable a character. She wants to do well and be better, and I don't dislike her, but she's not someone I want to sit in the head of or warm up to much. Not her fault, but she basically gets off on chaos, whatever that's supposed to mean. What it shows if when her friends are about to be killed, she can't help but get excited in a good/bad way. She craves something bad happening to people, even those close to her. Chaos strums from stealing from people, killing them, attempted violence, fighting, anything extreme. She gets these weird visions I can't fully understand when something is about to happen.
Karl is...I know a lot of fans seem to dig Karl. I don't much. It rubs me the wrong way how he kills lone werewolves when he goes to a new town. They were there first? It doesn't matter to Karl. He acts like a douche like that. I enjoy Armstrong's pack building in the series but I never got the eltist attitude of the pack, which he's new to, even in the derogatory way non-pack members are called 'mutts.' Some are violent, some not, and even though his father was a mutt who was killed, Karl doesn't seem to care when he randomly kills other mutts he runs into.
Romantic wise I like the protective vibe and the age difference doesn't bother me, but there relationship just doesn't hold the same oomph and chemistry. I don't see the strong bond that's hard to break and genuine mating of Elena and Clay, the sweet personality matching of Lucas and Paige, or the understandable and fun bond between Jaime and Jeremy. I skimmed through any bedroom play since I don't care much about them in general. Again not hating, but indifferent.
Plot-wise, there's nifty structure. Hope is put into an undercover situation that makes good scenes of over the top characters, and the mystery involved in finding out who is killing who and why was a puzzler. The ending was cleverly done, bringing up a creative new villain.
Free Online Fiction from the Author's Website (Including of this series)
Demonology 101 from author's website
Book Quotes:
“I didn’t say it was a rational fear. But the worst fears aren’t, are they?”
Cover Gallery:
Trailer:
Reviews of the Series:
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