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Wednesday, October 14, 2015

REVIEW: Reap the Wind by Karen Chance

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a review!


Expected publication: November 3, 2015

Reap the Wind is the seventh installment to Karen Chance's Cassie Palmer series. One would think being the all powerful Pythia would make Cassie Palmer's life a walk in the park. However, it is far from it.  Picking up where Tempt the Stars left off, Cassie's troubles keep escalating: 1) EVERYONE seems out to get her 2) she just can't get a handle on her powers 3) war is coming between just about all the supernaturals readers can imagine 4) Pritkin (Cassie's war mage, fey, incubus mentor aka used to be Merlin!) has been hexed and is lost in time and 5) her Court has been blown up, displaced and has infiltrated her all too small suite in Las Vegas. Oh, and her love life is a disaster too!

Readers just have to love Cassie. Despite all that's stacked against her, she never gives up and and tries to make the best of it all with her flare of sarcastic humor. Cassie knows she's a hot mess as Pythia but she's determined to fix her mistakes, take on the villains and save the world. If you're looking for closure, you won't get it with this book.  Major events are set in motion centering around the arc in the works for much of the series.  Pritkin fans get their fair share as do the Mircea lovers but nothing is resolved except Cassie having an 'ah-ha' moment as to what her powers and visions have been trying to tell her and how all these separate events are probably connected. I won't spoil it, but readers will be intrigued and its definitely worth it.

What I liked...

I adore Cassie--I have ever since I found the series way back in 2006 when Touch the Dark was published.  I love that Cassie isn't perfect and that despite having all this power she is pretty much bumbling her way through her crazy life.  I love her snark and attitude.  She's really growing as a character and learning from her mistakes.  I appreciated her anger during later parts of the novel and her realization that she's being manipulated by multiple parties who might respect her power as Pythia but not her as a person.  I can't wait to see how her character evolves because of these revelations. This series thrives too because of its secondary characters.  I'm a Pritkin shipper and this extended series of trials and tribulations for him has me on edge. I'm less a Mircea fan but we'll see what happens in the next book.  I want to see what happens with more of the characters, especially Rhea.

Another bonus for me is Chance's great action scenes.  There are plenty to choose from and they never disappoint.  I also love how she builds these with Cassie's ability to shift time and places. The boat chase in the beginning was exciting as was the pretty epic fey battle with Pritkin.

What I didn't like...

The book felt a bit too long and at times disjointed.  I suppose this mimics how Cassie must feel with all her false starts to try and save Pritkin. However, just when she gets to the time period where she needs to be, she's back in the present and seemingly dealing with some kind of unrelated issue. Looking back, these events do fit but the flow felt off somehow. I usually breeze through these books but it took me time to finish it because of the pacing. I still loved it but not as much. It did feel like an inbetween novel setting up for something bigger. I look forward to Ride the Storm in 2016.

Final rating 4 out of 5 stars

#cassiepalmer #reapthewind #karenchance #UF #netgalley #review #magic

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