By a Thread

Some of this book was awesome. The Bad Guy is fantastic, I think he was worse than even Mab and the tension built around this part of the story was so fantastic. I wasnt sure how Gin was going to win against what seemed like insurmountable odds. Owen and the ever growing relationship between him and Gin is great as well. I enjoyed their time together on page and didnt mind at all the Owen went a little alpha male in this book. These were the parts of the story I really lived for and carried it for me.

Some of this book was frustrating. There is Gin acting like a jealous lover over her sisters lifelong friendship with someone else. There is also the comeback of a character I didnt care if I even saw again and all the emotional angst that went with that. The problem with this was I never really bought into the relationship *cough* Booty call *cough* thing between Donovan and Gin. I get her wanting acceptance from someone who is deemed good by society but really they had sex like twice and not a lot of page time together at all. So I dont feel emotionally attached to him coming back around and putting Gin in the same spot she was in before with wanting him. Especially when Owen is so great.Im like Donovan who?. I just didnt buy into it at all and I just wanted to get to the crux of the story instead of read Gin whining about feeling rejected and not good enough by bother her sister and Donovan.

Still this holds pretty close to the last book for entertainment value. Gin still isnt my favorite Heroine in UF Im liking her a little more all the time.

Note: There is a ton of repetition in this series. I would say that at least 15% probably closer to 20% of the book I eyeskimmed through because it was just recaps and repetition.

I liked the book but unlike most of my books that I gave a 5 stars this one had a few flaws. Like when the vampire stolen Tim’s magic she said “he threw his magic-my magic” she melts saying it was her magic way to much. And when Gin and Bria were having the heart to heart chat bria said ” you didn’t save Clair because she was my friend” but all threw the book Gin made it clear she only saved Callie because she was her sisters friend. Those are only a couple but there’s plenty more

What bothers me the most is she keeps saying how’s she’s a great assassin, but she almost gets killed, walks into traps, and gets saved all the time. A great assassin doesn’t get caught, almost killed or needs to be saved a lot. Not only that Gin makes everyone else seem stupid when she’s the stupid bitch. I mean half her plans turn into smoke because honestly she didn’t think anything over.

I have to say that this book was a bit disappointing. It is not a bad book, I did enjoy reading it, but it is definitely the weakest of the books in the series that I have read so far.

Gin is still likable old, well not so old maybe, Gin the badass assassin. Her friends are still around and are equally likable. This time Gin and Bria get out of Ashland for a while and I had quite hoped that the change of scenery would bring a bit of freshness into the series.

Unfortunately it did not bring as much fresh material as I hoped. In some sense rather the inverse. Gin and Bria starts off with a rather strained relation with some nonsense Bria-the-cop cannot really deal with the fact that Gin is an assassin and are breaking the law. Then to make matters worse Donovan I brought back into the series. I was really happy when that self-righteous, must-not-break-the-law wuss leave. I though it was for good so I got really disappointed when he was brought back. Of course he was the same wuss this time and I quite disliked the pages where he was present and bitching about Gin and how she should just leave. Needless to say he was just as wrong this time as in the previous books.

The parts without him where much more pleasant to read even though the book as a whole still followed pretty much the same recipe as the previous ones. Gin just have to stupidly walk into a mess and get herself beaten up or otherwise half-killed half way through the book in order to later get back and deal out some pain and death the Gin style. For a seasoned assassin she is more than a little stupid and amateurish. This time she seemed to have forgotten all about staking out the victims and actually learning something about them before taking any dangerous actions.

Okay, enough of the complaining. The book is nevertheless enjoyable to read. I like Gin and her friends, I like the dialogue (bitching, bantering whatever) between Gin, Bria, Finn and Owen. I like the action and the no BS throat-cutting and skull-bashing when Gin gets going.

I will definitely continue to read the series despite this little dip in the series.

Well here I am writing a review for book 6 in a series about Gin Blanco the Elemental assasin after I’ve already finished all the way through book 16. That should give you some idea about the quality of Jennifer Estep’s storytelling. I’ve grown fond of Gin the Spider, who is this series main character. She’s much like a female James Bond. She’s fast, deadly, and each book is action packed with a little naughty sexiness thrown in. It’s all in good taste and I love that Ms Estep has captured the quaint culture of the southern charm in the most unlikely of characters, the dwarf healer Sophia who own a air elemental salon that not only removes wrinkles and restores beauty for the upper crust but removes bullets and repairs severe wounds for the assasin and her cohorts. The story keeps you hanging by a thread with a mystery to be solved but you’ll enjoy every minute of it.

It’s been a couple of months since Gin finally killed Mab Monroe but her life isn’t any easier, every Tom, Dick and Harry has their sights set on killing Gin for the street-cred alone. They all want to be the one who kills the Spider. It’s gotten so bad that she can’t even put the trash out at the Pork Pit without someone trying to kill her so for once she’s going to follow her step-brother Finns advice and take a vacation.

Of course nothing is as easy as that for Gin. She’s going with Bria to visit Bria’s old friends and the town that she grew up in after their family was murdered by Mab Monroe. Gin is feeling very unsure of her relationship with Bria, the fact that Mab is dead should make things easier but they aren’t. Bria seems to be holding in a lot of anger over being tortured by Mab and Gin thinks it’s all her fault.

Seeing how happy Bria is when they are back in Blue Marsh visiting her friend Callie only makes the strain between them more obvious. Despite being a bit of a bitch to Callie when they first meet, Gin is the first to offer help when the local bad guy tries to intimidate and then threatens Callie into selling her restaurant. Just to shake things up, Gin’s ex Donovan Caine is Callie’s fiance.

When the bad guy sends some men to kill Gin and Bria, Gin kills them and she and Bria move out of the hotel they were staying in. Gin decides to kill Deke’s, the Vampire bad guy who’s been gunning for Callie and her restaurant. She knows that he can use elemental magic but she doesn’t know if it’s his own power or if he absorbs it when he feeds.

When she is caught and Deke’s feeds off her, she fakes her own death to get away. When she finally gets back to the house she and Bria are staying at, she finds Jo-Jo and Sophia there. When she wakes after being healed, she is still determined to kill Deke’s.

Gin’s vacation is fast becoming a busman’s holiday but she’s got to contend with her own feelings of fear, she just hadn’t realized that after killing Mab there would be other bad guys who are just as evil.

Yet another great story with none-stop action all the way through.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member