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The Black Parade #1
The Black Parade
Jordan Amador. 21. New Yorker. Waitress. Mild alcoholic. Murderer.
Two years ago, Jordan accidentally shot and killed a Seer: a person who can see, hear, and talk to ghosts with unfinished business. Her crime came with a hefty price, too. She has two years to help a hundred souls cross over to the afterlife or her soul is bound for hell. Tough break.
As if that weren’t bad enough, two days before her deadline a handsome pain-in-the-ass poltergeist named Michael strolls into her life. His soul is the key to her salvation, but the cost just might be more than she can handle. Solving his death puts her right in the crosshairs of Belial: a vain, bloodthirsty archdemon who won’t rest until she’s his slave. Can she rescue Michael and save her own soul, or will they both be dragged down into the clutches of the eternal black parade?
Two years ago, Jordan accidentally shot and killed a Seer: a person who can see, hear, and talk to ghosts with unfinished business. Her crime came with a hefty price, too. She has two years to help a hundred souls cross over to the afterlife or her soul is bound for hell. Tough break.
As if that weren’t bad enough, two days before her deadline a handsome pain-in-the-ass poltergeist named Michael strolls into her life. His soul is the key to her salvation, but the cost just might be more than she can handle. Solving his death puts her right in the crosshairs of Belial: a vain, bloodthirsty archdemon who won’t rest until she’s his slave. Can she rescue Michael and save her own soul, or will they both be dragged down into the clutches of the eternal black parade?
346 pages, Paperback
First published July 19, 2013
307 people are currently reading
1275 people want to read
About the author
Kyoko M.
23 books400 followersKyoko M is a USA Today bestselling author, a fangirl, and an avid book reader. She has written the Amazon bestselling Black Parade urban fantasy series as well as the Of Cinder and Bone science-fiction dragon hunting series. The Black Parade has been reviewed by Publishers Weekly and New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews. Of Cinder and Bone placed in the Top 30 books for the 2021 Hugh Howey Self Published Science Fiction contest. She is also a contributor to Marvel Comics Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda (March 2, 2021). Kyoko M has appeared as a guest and panelist at such conventions as JordanCon, Geek Girl Con, DragonCon, Blacktasticon, Momocon, and Multiverse Con. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Lit degree from the University of Georgia, which gave her every valid excuse to devour book after book with a concentration in Greek mythology and Christian mythology. When not working feverishly on a manuscript (or two), she can be found buried under her Dashboard on Tumblr or chatting with fellow nerds on Twitter. Like any author, she wants nothing more than to contribute something great to the best profession in the world, no matter how small.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews
April 11, 2018
carol.'s guideline for identifying sub-optimal YA books:
1) Everyone is supermodel attractive, even the villains.
2) They all 'smirk.' (36 times, to be exact).
****
I don't really like to leave a less than raving review on a new author's work, but since there isn't much out there, I'll share my thoughts. Though this does fall into paranormal territory, I picked it up because Ilona Andrews raved about it on a blog post. Of course, Andrews also recommends her BFF Jeanie Frost, who wrote Halfway to the Grave, so I knew there was potential for suck. But the free didn't hurt, either.
Divided into three parts, I found myself experiencing diminishing returns. First section was very good, the second decent, and the third pretty much resulted in skimming. It follows a woman working as a waitress as she frees ghosts from the issues anchoring them to the earth. One night she runs into a ghost that has a more solid presence but still suffers from typical ghost amnesia. It turns out he and her angel chaperone recognize each other, which ends up being the basis for the first section.
Overall, the book was decent but still notable for genre tropes. Hot men everywhere. A female BFF that is largely in the background. Speshul powers. Insta-attraction that can't be consummated. The first book is interesting enough to mitigate some of those issues, but by the time the battle in the third comes around, I had lost interest. TSTL mistakes in the second and third sections moved it into 'vaguely annoying' territory. Regarding world-building, it bothered me that
For me, the story leading up to the start of the book has the potential to be the most interesting: how did she escort almost 200 souls on to their final destination? I certainly wouldn't rule Kyoko out in the future, but as it is, parnormal is just not my genre. In that sense, Ilona is right: Kyoko probably would have hit it big had it been written 7 years ago when paranormal was at a peak.
1) Everyone is supermodel attractive, even the villains.
2) They all 'smirk.' (36 times, to be exact).
****
I don't really like to leave a less than raving review on a new author's work, but since there isn't much out there, I'll share my thoughts. Though this does fall into paranormal territory, I picked it up because Ilona Andrews raved about it on a blog post. Of course, Andrews also recommends her BFF Jeanie Frost, who wrote Halfway to the Grave, so I knew there was potential for suck. But the free didn't hurt, either.
Divided into three parts, I found myself experiencing diminishing returns. First section was very good, the second decent, and the third pretty much resulted in skimming. It follows a woman working as a waitress as she frees ghosts from the issues anchoring them to the earth. One night she runs into a ghost that has a more solid presence but still suffers from typical ghost amnesia. It turns out he and her angel chaperone recognize each other, which ends up being the basis for the first section.
Overall, the book was decent but still notable for genre tropes. Hot men everywhere. A female BFF that is largely in the background. Speshul powers. Insta-attraction that can't be consummated. The first book is interesting enough to mitigate some of those issues, but by the time the battle in the third comes around, I had lost interest. TSTL mistakes in the second and third sections moved it into 'vaguely annoying' territory. Regarding world-building, it bothered me that
For me, the story leading up to the start of the book has the potential to be the most interesting: how did she escort almost 200 souls on to their final destination? I certainly wouldn't rule Kyoko out in the future, but as it is, parnormal is just not my genre. In that sense, Ilona is right: Kyoko probably would have hit it big had it been written 7 years ago when paranormal was at a peak.
ebooks-tbr
August 3, 2017"the black parade" ok, you have my attention.
owned-unread
March 20, 2018Angels and demons are not my thing and I am generally a bit tired of UF, but Ilona Andrews recommended this and it‘s for free on kindle...
July 13, 2014
After what felt like slogging through an endless series of colorist-fail IR's in which every heroine had light skin, good hair, gray/green eyes and a body like Lil' Kim (before all the scary surgeries), I was close to throwing the towel in on the genre when I came across this first novel. Bear in mind I'd long since grown disenchanted with the paranormal genre as well, so I was actually surprised that I ended up really liking this first novel from author Kyoko M.. She's definitely a talent to watch.
For one thing, it was nice to read about an Afro-Latina heroine with dark skin, though she says lack of sleep from her nightly paranormal duties has lightened it unhealthily. Jordan Amador has a hell of a life--as a Seer she helps ghosts cross over and it's definitely NOT The Ghost Whisperer. She's also a waitress and her best friends/guardians just so happen to be angels.
The REAL ones. With wings.
Jordan's acerbic, anti-social and skirting the edge of functional alcoholism just to deal with all the spirits (no pun intended). I like heroines who are complex and imperfect. I really don't know how many damn times I need to say this to some paranormal authors, but a heroine who cannot or is not willing to learn to handle herself in the midst of beings with fur, fangs, claws, snouts or breathe fire, is asking to be food. Frankly, any heroine like that deserves to be vamp/were bait and I'm going to gleefully cheer her demise.
There were instances Jordan made me want to smack her for putting herself in danger, though she was more than capable of handling herself. And she's going to need not just her physical skills, but help from on high as she finds herself right smack in the midst of the ongoing war between Heaven and Hell.
Honestly I was rather ambivalent about the romance between her and Michael--guardian angel in the truest sense of the world. The sexual tension was definitely there and that part I liked. The banter between Jordan and Michael was fun; she never seemed to let his angelic status get in the way of bad puns and sexual innuendo. The romance read strangely to me. It felt like a distraction or that it was tossed in because readers expected that payoff. I don't always want romance in my urban fantasy because the heroine tends to lose her autonomy. I did like Michael as a character, but just like the series Moonlighting or the 60's BBC series The Avengers, what makes a relationship feel actualized for me is that tension and the banter. The will they or won't they
I had never read anything from this author and I love when I discover those gems who really have a passion for great storytelling. This was an interesting read, well-edited and better still, featured a diverse cast in the real world of New York and New Jersey. No whitewash here.
For one thing, it was nice to read about an Afro-Latina heroine with dark skin, though she says lack of sleep from her nightly paranormal duties has lightened it unhealthily. Jordan Amador has a hell of a life--as a Seer she helps ghosts cross over and it's definitely NOT The Ghost Whisperer. She's also a waitress and her best friends/guardians just so happen to be angels.
The REAL ones. With wings.
Jordan's acerbic, anti-social and skirting the edge of functional alcoholism just to deal with all the spirits (no pun intended). I like heroines who are complex and imperfect. I really don't know how many damn times I need to say this to some paranormal authors, but a heroine who cannot or is not willing to learn to handle herself in the midst of beings with fur, fangs, claws, snouts or breathe fire, is asking to be food. Frankly, any heroine like that deserves to be vamp/were bait and I'm going to gleefully cheer her demise.
There were instances Jordan made me want to smack her for putting herself in danger, though she was more than capable of handling herself. And she's going to need not just her physical skills, but help from on high as she finds herself right smack in the midst of the ongoing war between Heaven and Hell.
Honestly I was rather ambivalent about the romance between her and Michael--guardian angel in the truest sense of the world. The sexual tension was definitely there and that part I liked. The banter between Jordan and Michael was fun; she never seemed to let his angelic status get in the way of bad puns and sexual innuendo. The romance read strangely to me. It felt like a distraction or that it was tossed in because readers expected that payoff. I don't always want romance in my urban fantasy because the heroine tends to lose her autonomy. I did like Michael as a character, but just like the series Moonlighting or the 60's BBC series The Avengers, what makes a relationship feel actualized for me is that tension and the banter. The will they or won't they
I had never read anything from this author and I love when I discover those gems who really have a passion for great storytelling. This was an interesting read, well-edited and better still, featured a diverse cast in the real world of New York and New Jersey. No whitewash here.
March 30, 2019
** mild spoilers **
Hells yes. After all these depressingly bad books (admittedly they are free, but still) I've finally hit another jackpot with this book. Wonderfully written with a shit-ton of humour, some sly and well done romance and impressively strong and brilliant characters, I loved this book. I'm considering making it 5 stars. This was so good!
Kyoko M is a wonderful author. She has created a world where a hilarious woman, Jordan, helps ghosts in exchange for killing someone - while also being a part time waitress with her best friend, a hilariously forward and wonderful Korean woman. That type of wonderful best friend that threatens to bring over relatives from Korea to hunt down and murder Jordan's mugger at the start of the book. God, I loved her so much. Anyway, as well as these 2 wonderful women there was also Michael. A strange poltergeist guy who created wonderful banter with Jordan - I loved him instantly. And the best thing was that Jordan didn't! Because you all know how I don't do insta-love in books.
A clever book involving Christianity, with God, the archangels, Satan, the archdemons and many other clever references - this was wonderful. Now I'm not Christian (I'm atheist) and so I appreciated how references were often spelled out throughout the book, and how the author didn't try to talk up Christianity too much.
Highly recommended for YA, paranormal, fantasy, kick-ass heroine fans!
Hells yes. After all these depressingly bad books (admittedly they are free, but still) I've finally hit another jackpot with this book. Wonderfully written with a shit-ton of humour, some sly and well done romance and impressively strong and brilliant characters, I loved this book. I'm considering making it 5 stars. This was so good!
Kyoko M is a wonderful author. She has created a world where a hilarious woman, Jordan, helps ghosts in exchange for killing someone - while also being a part time waitress with her best friend, a hilariously forward and wonderful Korean woman. That type of wonderful best friend that threatens to bring over relatives from Korea to hunt down and murder Jordan's mugger at the start of the book. God, I loved her so much. Anyway, as well as these 2 wonderful women there was also Michael. A strange poltergeist guy who created wonderful banter with Jordan - I loved him instantly. And the best thing was that Jordan didn't! Because you all know how I don't do insta-love in books.
A clever book involving Christianity, with God, the archangels, Satan, the archdemons and many other clever references - this was wonderful. Now I'm not Christian (I'm atheist) and so I appreciated how references were often spelled out throughout the book, and how the author didn't try to talk up Christianity too much.
Highly recommended for YA, paranormal, fantasy, kick-ass heroine fans!
December 29, 2021
Pretty good/interesting book involving angels and seers. Of course there's a love story woven in. I recommend it if you enjoy paranormal romance.
September 28, 2022
Okay, in what is probably a first for me, I think this book would really benefit from being broken up into 2 or possibly 3 novelettes. To me there seemed to be distinct "parts" of the story. Apart from that I absolutely loved this paranormal, urban fantasy read!
January 7, 2018
I do not really care for paranormal books: I like them even less when the characters are drawn from Judeo/Christian lore and the writers do not remain true to what the characters should be.
The angel Michael is supposed to be the general of God's army... perhaps it's just me, but I would expect him to be able to fight his way out of a wet paper bag.
And how many times will that idiotic heroine go off on her own? What a darn basket case of stupidity. Then again, having Michael accompany her wouldn't amount to much anyhow - given he can't fight.
Why in books and movies are demons always at least nine steps ahead?
Why are there always some idiotic, asinine attempts to try to explain why God doesn't get involved? The attempted reasoning makes no sense, and hence the main reason why drawing on these characters will always be a problem.
The angel Michael is supposed to be the general of God's army... perhaps it's just me, but I would expect him to be able to fight his way out of a wet paper bag.
And how many times will that idiotic heroine go off on her own? What a darn basket case of stupidity. Then again, having Michael accompany her wouldn't amount to much anyhow - given he can't fight.
Why in books and movies are demons always at least nine steps ahead?
Why are there always some idiotic, asinine attempts to try to explain why God doesn't get involved? The attempted reasoning makes no sense, and hence the main reason why drawing on these characters will always be a problem.
Want to read
March 20, 2018Because the IA gods recommended it.
August 21, 2018
This started out interesting enough but by the 25-30% mark it was hitting so many horrible paranormal romance cliches that there was literally no chance of me enjoying it. A woman who helps ghosts with unfinished business is an interesting concept to me [even if the way she came into said job is flimsy at best], but an incredibly cliched romance between a ~super speshul~ heroine and a [mild spoilers] archangel is not, especially when these adults / immortal entities are written to act like teenagers. I love the diverse cast but unfortunately it's not enough to make up for my complete lack of interest in anything that's actually happening in the book. If you want a good urban fantasy book featuring a female protag who can see ghosts and also ends up tangling with angels and demons then I would recommend the Niki Slobidian series instead.
December 29, 2013
Wow.
This book started in a totally different place than where it ended up...I loved this!
Jordan is our main character that we follow. We're pretty much thrown in to the story and feel our way around, but its not hard to catch up with everything as its explained really well through the pages.
Its technically split into 3 small books, each with its own storyline, but following the same people with the story running almost like they're NOT separate books.
Jordan has to find 100 souls to help to heaven to repent her tragic mistake before the book begins.
Angel Gabriel is often in her kitchen looking at the Repenting Book (as she calls it!), and is impressed with her quick work with collecting souls.
Her 100th comes in the form of a poltergeist......or seemingly so....
Hes called Michael, and has no memory of how he died or why....
Between Jordan and Michael they resolve this mystery ( i don't want to give the storyline away!).
The next 2 books follow Jordan and Michael closely. It turns into the ever going battle between demons and angels, and Jordan is caught in the middle and refuses to stand by and let these demons win.
There is a strong, physical and emotional attachment between Jordan and Michael but for reasons that will become apparent when you read, their love is forbidden....or is it?
A great book to read. A good twist on angels and demons and their existence, and makes you think as well.
Really enjoyed it, recommend it.
Reviewed on behalf of BEWITCHING TOURS for an honest review
This book started in a totally different place than where it ended up...I loved this!
Jordan is our main character that we follow. We're pretty much thrown in to the story and feel our way around, but its not hard to catch up with everything as its explained really well through the pages.
Its technically split into 3 small books, each with its own storyline, but following the same people with the story running almost like they're NOT separate books.
Jordan has to find 100 souls to help to heaven to repent her tragic mistake before the book begins.
Angel Gabriel is often in her kitchen looking at the Repenting Book (as she calls it!), and is impressed with her quick work with collecting souls.
Her 100th comes in the form of a poltergeist......or seemingly so....
Hes called Michael, and has no memory of how he died or why....
Between Jordan and Michael they resolve this mystery ( i don't want to give the storyline away!).
The next 2 books follow Jordan and Michael closely. It turns into the ever going battle between demons and angels, and Jordan is caught in the middle and refuses to stand by and let these demons win.
There is a strong, physical and emotional attachment between Jordan and Michael but for reasons that will become apparent when you read, their love is forbidden....or is it?
A great book to read. A good twist on angels and demons and their existence, and makes you think as well.
Really enjoyed it, recommend it.
Reviewed on behalf of BEWITCHING TOURS for an honest review
Want to read
October 6, 2017Free on Amazon today!
August 12, 2022
I was excited about this one because it sounded like a mash-up of one of my favourite k-dramas; Mystic Pop-Up Bar (where she has to save a certain number of souls to make up for the death of someone important) and one of my other favourite long-running tv shows; Supernatural (though in this case only the use of angel lore is similar).
Jordan is a seer. She has had a pretty rough life. Orphaned young and sent to live with an aunt; who wasn’t the most maternal woman on the planet. Jordan has built herself up a pretty crusty outer-shell to deal with the crap life has thrown at her. So, when things go from bad to worse, and her penance for the death of a rather important person, is to help in escorting lost souls to cross over to the other side; she takes it in stride as just another day of her kind of luck.
The story is separated into three books and picks up near the end of Jordan’s sentence. In each book we learn a little more about Jordan and her past; how she landed this current side-job as ghost escort and what happened to her mom and how it all ties together with the events in the present.
The plot moves along quite quickly and occasionally can feel a little predictable- this is partly because of the shortness of the stories as we get a mini crash-course learning about Jordan and what she does (this does get better as it starts delving into the lore more, and the what’s and why's of what was going on) and partly because of a whole lot of years of reading, television, and of angel lore on my part. Your mileage may vary here- depending on how familiar you are with angel lore etc.
Some key information to do with the mystery around Jordan’s mother gets told/explained in “bad guy” speeches or letters which I wasn’t a big fan of, but I really liked how everything tied-together with the past events with her mom being interconnected with the now stuff (trying to stay vague here for spoilers).
The cast is relatively small but diverse.
I really enjoyed Jordan- she is funny; a mix of dry and self-deprecating humour. I found her to not be too over the top, and I enjoyed the banter and the tension/attraction between her and Michael.
There were some neat histories and relics (I love stuff like that) that are being searched for and I enjoyed all the lore that was built around the angels.
I liked the little touches that helped to flesh-out the world and make it more unique to this story; like ghosts having no feet, the seers being the only ones able to see the true eyes of the demons- which look like snake eyes (creepy creepy), and how her seer-blood opens a channel to inhabit an angel.
This is not an overly-complicated story but it is a fun one; easy to understand, lots of action, great character interactions, and a nice little mystery to keep you interested.
spfbo score 6.4 or 3.5 stars (4.5-6/10)
Learn more about the contest here-
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
Phase one is here-
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
Jordan is a seer. She has had a pretty rough life. Orphaned young and sent to live with an aunt; who wasn’t the most maternal woman on the planet. Jordan has built herself up a pretty crusty outer-shell to deal with the crap life has thrown at her. So, when things go from bad to worse, and her penance for the death of a rather important person, is to help in escorting lost souls to cross over to the other side; she takes it in stride as just another day of her kind of luck.
The story is separated into three books and picks up near the end of Jordan’s sentence. In each book we learn a little more about Jordan and her past; how she landed this current side-job as ghost escort and what happened to her mom and how it all ties together with the events in the present.
The plot moves along quite quickly and occasionally can feel a little predictable- this is partly because of the shortness of the stories as we get a mini crash-course learning about Jordan and what she does (this does get better as it starts delving into the lore more, and the what’s and why's of what was going on) and partly because of a whole lot of years of reading, television, and of angel lore on my part. Your mileage may vary here- depending on how familiar you are with angel lore etc.
Some key information to do with the mystery around Jordan’s mother gets told/explained in “bad guy” speeches or letters which I wasn’t a big fan of, but I really liked how everything tied-together with the past events with her mom being interconnected with the now stuff (trying to stay vague here for spoilers).
The cast is relatively small but diverse.
I really enjoyed Jordan- she is funny; a mix of dry and self-deprecating humour. I found her to not be too over the top, and I enjoyed the banter and the tension/attraction between her and Michael.
There were some neat histories and relics (I love stuff like that) that are being searched for and I enjoyed all the lore that was built around the angels.
I liked the little touches that helped to flesh-out the world and make it more unique to this story; like ghosts having no feet, the seers being the only ones able to see the true eyes of the demons- which look like snake eyes (creepy creepy), and how her seer-blood opens a channel to inhabit an angel.
This is not an overly-complicated story but it is a fun one; easy to understand, lots of action, great character interactions, and a nice little mystery to keep you interested.
spfbo score 6.4 or 3.5 stars (4.5-6/10)
Learn more about the contest here-
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
Phase one is here-
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
March 21, 2018
***2.5***
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did.
Let's start with the good: I found the Judeo-Christian framework to be interesting, the way that it didn't exclude other religion (in the few parts that it touched on other religion) but rather treated them all as ... almost metaphors for what is. A very unitarian perspective. The angels were also interesting. Very human, really. As were the demons.
But it was outweighed, for me, by the bad. Primarily, that the heroine was just horribly TSTL. I can't ever connect to a heroine who will just bull her way through situations without even a moment of thought. She makes the wrong choice in pretty much every circumstance, and is weirdly bitter about the angels helping her, even though she's needed to be healed from the brink of death. Like, take the help asshole. There aren't strings attached - the angels are literally just forces of help/aid, and not even a little judgey. They are kinder than I've seen angels portrayed in UF before.
Further, she's a Seer, and I feel like ... she gets info in her dreams that make an upcoming twist so obvious that she feels like a moron for not seeing it coming. In some books you expect to know more than the hero. In this book, we are sharing her perspective, so we don't see any more than she does. For the reader to see the whole plot coming from a mile away because of (somewhat heavy-handed) dream visions, and her not to see it at all, makes her feel really stupid.
My other point of criticism is ... the angels seem kind of weak-ass. They get their asses beat by the demons a lot. I mean, like, in every encounter. I don't understand why the demons feel the need to go to some elaborate lengths in a grand and complex plan at all, given that in a head-on fight, they pretty simply take down even the Commander of God's Army. I am just not that impressed. I don't see the angels as a threat to the demons at all.
I have some general curiosity about where the overall plot is going, but honestly not enough to counterbalance how ridiculously annoying I find the main character, so ... meh. This is probably as far as I go.
I wanted to like this a lot more than I did.
Let's start with the good: I found the Judeo-Christian framework to be interesting, the way that it didn't exclude other religion (in the few parts that it touched on other religion) but rather treated them all as ... almost metaphors for what is. A very unitarian perspective. The angels were also interesting. Very human, really. As were the demons.
But it was outweighed, for me, by the bad. Primarily, that the heroine was just horribly TSTL. I can't ever connect to a heroine who will just bull her way through situations without even a moment of thought. She makes the wrong choice in pretty much every circumstance, and is weirdly bitter about the angels helping her, even though she's needed to be healed from the brink of death. Like, take the help asshole. There aren't strings attached - the angels are literally just forces of help/aid, and not even a little judgey. They are kinder than I've seen angels portrayed in UF before.
Further, she's a Seer, and I feel like ... she gets info in her dreams that make an upcoming twist so obvious that she feels like a moron for not seeing it coming. In some books you expect to know more than the hero. In this book, we are sharing her perspective, so we don't see any more than she does. For the reader to see the whole plot coming from a mile away because of (somewhat heavy-handed) dream visions, and her not to see it at all, makes her feel really stupid.
My other point of criticism is ... the angels seem kind of weak-ass. They get their asses beat by the demons a lot. I mean, like, in every encounter. I don't understand why the demons feel the need to go to some elaborate lengths in a grand and complex plan at all, given that in a head-on fight, they pretty simply take down even the Commander of God's Army. I am just not that impressed. I don't see the angels as a threat to the demons at all.
I have some general curiosity about where the overall plot is going, but honestly not enough to counterbalance how ridiculously annoying I find the main character, so ... meh. This is probably as far as I go.
April 24, 2015
Is it possible to find light in the darkness?This is one of many questions posed in this high energy paranormal book. I’ve never read anything like this before. I cannot speak highly enough of The Black Parade. This is a well written interracial read where the heroine, Jordan is a strong, witty, quick tongued, woman of Spanish and African American heritage. She is also a waitress that happens to be a kick ass seer. The story incorporates archangels Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, & Uriel making elements reminiscent of the TV show and movie Ghost Whisper & Constantine but better. Other seers and demons round out the cast of characters making for an epic battle of good vs. evil.
The Black Parade is one of those stories where it’s engaging from page one until the end. Quickly revealed is Jordan’s gift of seeing dead people. She has been charged with the task of assisting 100 roaming souls cross over from Earth to the afterlife as retribution for killing a man. Adding to the stress of this task is a completion date of two years or her soul is guaranteed a spot in hell and falling head over heels for one of the archangels . I appreciated author Kyoko M. writing style that focused on storytelling and not romance even though Jordan and her archangel engage in amusing banter and sexual innuendos.
I liked all the characters even demons, Belial and Mulciber. Characters were well developed and placed appropriately throughout the read. Every angel had an interesting specialty:
to heal
to defend
to attackThere is no review I could write that would accurately express how much I loved this book and all the revelations that are discovered. I will be continuing this series and am anxious to read the remaining books The Deadly Seven, She Who Fights Monsters, & The Holy Dark. If you like funny reads on Heaven/hell, good vs. evil, angels vs. demons then The Black Parade is for you.
My Black Parade series reviews
Book 2: The Deadly Seven
Book 3: She Who Fights Monsters
Book 4: The Holy Dark
October 27, 2020
The start of this book had me wondering if I would continue. I don't get into stories about ordinary people who get up, make coffee, etc. Then suddenly she was talking to a ghost. That's okay then, carry on.
The premise (from the blurb) is Jordan accidentally shot and killed a seer and for two years she has to help a hundred souls cross over to the afterlife or her soul is bound for Hell. We get Archangels and all sorts in this one, which makes it rather original and interesting, though the cliche feel grew as I went along.
One thing that confused me was that Jordan referred to herself as a black girl, then later Latino references came in. She's from New York, so maybe she's Puerto Rican or mixed, that wasn't quite clear. In any case, Yay diversity!
The demons were different than the usual and the story is episodic. I thought it could do without the romance but at least Jordan kept her independent spirit and didn't go all gooey over a man. Not a bad first book, but I think targeted at a young audience.
The premise (from the blurb) is Jordan accidentally shot and killed a seer and for two years she has to help a hundred souls cross over to the afterlife or her soul is bound for Hell. We get Archangels and all sorts in this one, which makes it rather original and interesting, though the cliche feel grew as I went along.
One thing that confused me was that Jordan referred to herself as a black girl, then later Latino references came in. She's from New York, so maybe she's Puerto Rican or mixed, that wasn't quite clear. In any case, Yay diversity!
The demons were different than the usual and the story is episodic. I thought it could do without the romance but at least Jordan kept her independent spirit and didn't go all gooey over a man. Not a bad first book, but I think targeted at a young audience.
Read
January 3, 2019DNF at 52%
Why? From my status update:
Part 1 was interesting. But her kissing/getting intimate one of the guys that featured heavily in my childhood bedtime prayers felt kinda disgusting and oh so gross.
Why? From my status update:
"I am not sure what to say or how to feel. The MC has kissed Archangel Michael and there are feelings involved. I want to reading this but its feeling a bit compulsive." — Dec 13, 2018 10:59AM
Part 1 was interesting. But her kissing/getting intimate one of the guys that featured heavily in my childhood bedtime prayers felt kinda disgusting and oh so gross.
November 22, 2021
This was a fun first episode of an Urban Supernatural series with a slightly different take on being a Seer charged with helping the spirits of the dead pass over. Perhaps the oddest thing about the premise of the book is that our Seer/Heroine has been coerced into her role helping souls by the threat of hell if she misses her quota for the year. Her work is an atonement for having killed the last Seer (whole backstory on how that happened). Her work is supervised by an angel (confused, attractive and not quite available).
The storytelling was light and easy on the ear. I liked the main character. She felt real. She wasn't too kick-ass but she wasn't a pushover either. I was amused by the trope twist on Milton's angels, complete with quotes from Paradise Lost. The plot was a nice mix of tension, action and mostly unresolved sexual tension.
Unfortunately, I couldn't let go of my reaction to the God that threatened this young woman with Hell. I found the whole 'unknowable father' at the top of the hierarchy hard to accept. I mean, what's with this guy? An omnipotent, omniscient being with a policy of non-interference who also threatens people with Hell if they don't deliver the numbers he asks of them? I found it difficult to accept that as real without having the follow-up thought that working to bring him down wouldn't be such a bad idea.
Perhaps I should avoid Urban Fantasy that draws heavily on Christian myths.
Anyway, If the Grumpy Daddy God thing doesn't bother you, you can have some fun with this book and its sequels.
March 23, 2018
DNF at 67%
I never quit books unless they offend or piss me off extremelly. This book did neither, it was just boring. It was like reading fanfiction, and not the good kind. I just couldn't care anymore. I wanted to like it, I really tried, but it was just bad. Promising story and characters but very poor development. The angel was a doormat, if angels are this useless no wonder humanity is doing so damn badly. I couldn't with the whole "Hey, I'm Michael, I'm the mighty archangel Commander of God's Army in Heaven but yeah, no, that hurts me, no, I can't do shit if they use that against me, no, I can't do that either, yeah, my feathers burn demon's flesh but no, I can't just like open my wings in the middle of a fight to hug them or something, I'm more the archangel Watcher of Humans Getting the Crap Beaten Out of Them, I can't basically do shit, but I look cool, don't I?" There were severe injuries that disappeared magically and were never mentioned again (I'm still wondering what happened with that super deep cut she got on her leg while fighting Mulciber), the conversations were either childish or completely unrealistic (like bad guys giving a whole speech about their motives and actions, present, past or future, apparently they're nice like that.) Jordan kept telling Michael not to flirt with her when she was the one constantly flirting. People giving them access and information like it was Christmas... I don't know. I just couldn't stand it anymore. I'm glad it was free. It was a waste of my time, though.
I never quit books unless they offend or piss me off extremelly. This book did neither, it was just boring. It was like reading fanfiction, and not the good kind. I just couldn't care anymore. I wanted to like it, I really tried, but it was just bad. Promising story and characters but very poor development. The angel was a doormat, if angels are this useless no wonder humanity is doing so damn badly. I couldn't with the whole "Hey, I'm Michael, I'm the mighty archangel Commander of God's Army in Heaven but yeah, no, that hurts me, no, I can't do shit if they use that against me, no, I can't do that either, yeah, my feathers burn demon's flesh but no, I can't just like open my wings in the middle of a fight to hug them or something, I'm more the archangel Watcher of Humans Getting the Crap Beaten Out of Them, I can't basically do shit, but I look cool, don't I?" There were severe injuries that disappeared magically and were never mentioned again (I'm still wondering what happened with that super deep cut she got on her leg while fighting Mulciber), the conversations were either childish or completely unrealistic (like bad guys giving a whole speech about their motives and actions, present, past or future, apparently they're nice like that.) Jordan kept telling Michael not to flirt with her when she was the one constantly flirting. People giving them access and information like it was Christmas... I don't know. I just couldn't stand it anymore. I'm glad it was free. It was a waste of my time, though.
August 6, 2014
The author was looking for reviewers for the next novel in this series, She Who Fights Monsters, and she sent me all three current books in the series for free in exchange for an honest review which was wonderful.
The story follows a young black and Latina woman named Jordan Amador. When we first meet Jordan, we learn she can see and communicate with ghosts. Her responsibility is to help these ghosts fulfill their final wishes on earth so that they can move on to the next stage of their existence. But it turns out she's much more than that: she's a seer who works with angels. To redeem her own soul (she killed a man), she has to save two hundred souls in two years. She “reports” to the angel Gabriel who is also like a big brother to her.
Jordan thinks she found the final soul to save in the form of an obnoxious poltergeist named Michael. It turns out that Michael is much more than a poltergeist, and together they try to figure out who he is and who caused his death. This sends them on a perilous journey that includes an encounter with an archdemon and finds them both fighting for their souls and their lives.
This is a wonderful story with an excellent premise. It is well written and engaging, and there is a great depth to all of the characters. Jordan appears to be an unlikely human to work with the angels as she is flawed, cynical, abrasive, hard on herself, and has alcohol dependence issues. These alcohol issues have a lot to do with her being able to sleep peacefully without ghosts visiting.
The plot is intricate with a lot of twists and turns – a thrill ride that is hard to put down. The book has a great combination of suspense, mystery, paranormal, sexual tension, and romance. There are numerous conflicts within the book, both internal and external, for all of the characters. I loved the portrayals of angels and demons and of good and evil.
By the end of the book, I was somewhat uncomfortable with how the sexual tension/romance between Jordan and an angel developed. The Black Parade is divided into three books. The romance seems to skip ahead at an odd rate in the third book of The Black Parade. Kyoko has a series of stories, The Seven Deadly, that take place between the second and third book of The Black Parade. These stories provided more depth into how this relationship developed. After reading this, I was much more comfortable with the state of the relationship at the end of The Black Parade.
This is an excellent series that I would recommend to anyone. This book is so much more than a paranormal/angel story. Even if you’re not a big fan of this genre, I still would recommend this series.
The story follows a young black and Latina woman named Jordan Amador. When we first meet Jordan, we learn she can see and communicate with ghosts. Her responsibility is to help these ghosts fulfill their final wishes on earth so that they can move on to the next stage of their existence. But it turns out she's much more than that: she's a seer who works with angels. To redeem her own soul (she killed a man), she has to save two hundred souls in two years. She “reports” to the angel Gabriel who is also like a big brother to her.
Jordan thinks she found the final soul to save in the form of an obnoxious poltergeist named Michael. It turns out that Michael is much more than a poltergeist, and together they try to figure out who he is and who caused his death. This sends them on a perilous journey that includes an encounter with an archdemon and finds them both fighting for their souls and their lives.
This is a wonderful story with an excellent premise. It is well written and engaging, and there is a great depth to all of the characters. Jordan appears to be an unlikely human to work with the angels as she is flawed, cynical, abrasive, hard on herself, and has alcohol dependence issues. These alcohol issues have a lot to do with her being able to sleep peacefully without ghosts visiting.
The plot is intricate with a lot of twists and turns – a thrill ride that is hard to put down. The book has a great combination of suspense, mystery, paranormal, sexual tension, and romance. There are numerous conflicts within the book, both internal and external, for all of the characters. I loved the portrayals of angels and demons and of good and evil.
By the end of the book, I was somewhat uncomfortable with how the sexual tension/romance between Jordan and an angel developed. The Black Parade is divided into three books. The romance seems to skip ahead at an odd rate in the third book of The Black Parade. Kyoko has a series of stories, The Seven Deadly, that take place between the second and third book of The Black Parade. These stories provided more depth into how this relationship developed. After reading this, I was much more comfortable with the state of the relationship at the end of The Black Parade.
This is an excellent series that I would recommend to anyone. This book is so much more than a paranormal/angel story. Even if you’re not a big fan of this genre, I still would recommend this series.
July 31, 2013
The Black Parade is a book that has what every top-notch novel should: a great premise, strong characters, great character development, powerful conflicts, and an excellent build up to the awesome climax. This is a story in which once you start reading, you won’t want to put it down until you’ve finished the book.
The main character Jordan Amador is a strong character who happens to be a woman of color-which is lacking in the world of novels. As a strong character, she has specific, detailed motivation for what she does. Jordan also has weaknesses and flaws, however, a good novel is a story of transformation and Miss Kyoko M. shows the reader how Jordan grows and change, and how she overcomes her problems and flaws from start to finish. Readers will be rooting for Jordan right from the start.
The novel also has powerful conflicts. The conflicts in this book will keep reader turning pages, and keep them wondering, “What’s going to happen next? There’s are lots of moments of tension, high stakes, and crackling disagreements. There are points in the story where readers will go “I didn’t see that coming!” The author creates great conflict, by giving her characters powerful, opposing goals. There’s also emotional impact throughout the novel. Readers will be able to feel what is happening in the story. There are lots of places to laugh, cry, and sigh. Miss Kyoko M. vividly writes her characters’ emotions which will make the readers feel the character’s emotions.
The Black Parade will keep readers invested in the story. There is never a dull moment, there’s action, tension, romance, and comedy in the almost 350 pages. I truly enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to the sequel She Fights Monsters. If you haven’t purchased this book please do so it’s an enjoyable read and you’ll won’t put it down until you finish the story.
The main character Jordan Amador is a strong character who happens to be a woman of color-which is lacking in the world of novels. As a strong character, she has specific, detailed motivation for what she does. Jordan also has weaknesses and flaws, however, a good novel is a story of transformation and Miss Kyoko M. shows the reader how Jordan grows and change, and how she overcomes her problems and flaws from start to finish. Readers will be rooting for Jordan right from the start.
The novel also has powerful conflicts. The conflicts in this book will keep reader turning pages, and keep them wondering, “What’s going to happen next? There’s are lots of moments of tension, high stakes, and crackling disagreements. There are points in the story where readers will go “I didn’t see that coming!” The author creates great conflict, by giving her characters powerful, opposing goals. There’s also emotional impact throughout the novel. Readers will be able to feel what is happening in the story. There are lots of places to laugh, cry, and sigh. Miss Kyoko M. vividly writes her characters’ emotions which will make the readers feel the character’s emotions.
The Black Parade will keep readers invested in the story. There is never a dull moment, there’s action, tension, romance, and comedy in the almost 350 pages. I truly enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to the sequel She Fights Monsters. If you haven’t purchased this book please do so it’s an enjoyable read and you’ll won’t put it down until you finish the story.
October 22, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. This girl can write! I loved the chemistry and banter between the two main characters, and yes, I admit that I am biased because our hero was an emo rocker, but it didn't make a huge difference in the long term.
I'm not what you would call a religious person, so I wasn't overly familiar with all the archangels in the story from before, but I liked that angle to the story. The plot was action-packed and constantly moving forward, with enough emotions to balance it.
I'm notoriously bad with follow-through when it comes to series, but I will try to grab the next book in the series, simply because this series deserves my attention.
I'm not what you would call a religious person, so I wasn't overly familiar with all the archangels in the story from before, but I liked that angle to the story. The plot was action-packed and constantly moving forward, with enough emotions to balance it.
I'm notoriously bad with follow-through when it comes to series, but I will try to grab the next book in the series, simply because this series deserves my attention.
December 29, 2023
Two years ago, Jordan accidentally shot and killed a Seer: a person who can see, hear, and talk to ghosts with unfinished business. Her crime came with a hefty price, too. She has two years to help a hundred souls cross over to the afterlife or her soul is bound for hell. Tough break. As if that weren’t bad enough, two days before her deadline a handsome pain-in-the-ass poltergeist named Michael strolls into her life. His soul is the key to her salvation, but the cost just might be more than she can handle.
An interesting novella.
An interesting novella.
March 28, 2019
I'm not sure how this book crossed my radar by it was time to give this one a try. I made it 20% before giving it up. The reason, I was bored while reading, things were moving very slowly. I'm not sure if it was due to being a first book, so things needed to be set up or just a slower book. I was sort of interested in Jordan and what she was doing, but when Michael showed up things just went over the top once he remembered who he really was. In the end this one wasn't for me.
January 15, 2020
I enjoyed this a lot more than I probably should have. It was cheesy in just my type of way. It was predictable, and filled with cliches, but man, I really enjoyed myself reading this and kept wanting to read more. I'm not sure if I'd say this is a good book, but I wouldn't mind reading it again sometime, and I'll look into reading more of Kyoko M. as well.
August 21, 2018
I read this for a review I was asked to do for I am Black Sci-Fi magazine. I'd never heard of the author, so I was excited to get started. The story started out a little "meh" for me, but the writing is brilliant, especially the dialogue. It's written in a very unusual way that I really dug. I ended up really enjoying this books, and am looking forward to moving on the next one in the series.
July 21, 2018
2 stars= ok. I just never really engaged with the lead Jordan - though I can't put my finger on why. Maybe part of the disconnect was all of the dreaded itemized sections used for multiple, dreams, letters and flashbacks - for me italics are jarring and pull me out of the story and here I was tempted to skip over them. Without my engagement, this just rolled along. Most telling for me is that there is a book two but I don't need to find out what happens next.
February 26, 2019
I have mixed feelings on this one. The story had potential to be great if the author explored other avenues. One of my pet peeves is when authors write the side characters sloppily it doesnt matter if they are not in the spotlight they should also be well developed. My other problem was that the dialogue felt very juvenile in my opinion. I do not think I will be reading the sequel
August 20, 2013
This is an urban fantasy that we are introduced to. I don't get to read much of these, but I have to say that the work put into this was incredible and rooted in Christianity, as noted by the appearances of the famed archangels Gabriel, Michael, Uriel, and Raphael. But our story is centered on the Seer Jordan-- shouldn't I explain what a seer is in this story? I definitely believe I should. In Black Parade, a seer is an individual who can see and communicate with the dead. Back on topic, Jordan is a seer with the task of saving 100 souls and helping them cross over to the afterlife within two years or her soul will be forever damned after taking the life of another Seer. Of course, Jordan was unaware of her powers and there's more to this story than that. Moving on, Jordan has met the 100th soul, a rock musician named Michael who happens to be a poltergeist who can't remember anything about himself. Jordan, who plays detective, digs deep into Michael's life and meets the archdemon Belial. Upon Michael and Jordan meeting Gabriel, Michael regains his memory as the famed archangel when Gabriel recognizes him. Of course, with the return of Michael's memory comes the revelation of a sinister plot: Belilal has stolen the Spear of Longinus. With the capture of the spear comes the demons' plan to arm themselves with cursed weapons in order to battle the angels and begin another War of Heaven. While there was a slowly-built romance between Jordan and Michael, I enjoyed the fact that it was not the center of the story. The action was well-written and Jordan showed that she was a very tough female protagonist. Luckily, she was a believable character: capable of handling herself in combat but easily bested by those of superior power and skill and conflicted by inner turmoil.
December 18, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. It had fantastic character development and a plot that just kept on coming at you. In fact, I really felt like I read an entire series by the time I got to the end. Not in a bad way, the book is divided into three different parts, and the author completely could have split the story into a trilogy and probably expanded and done a few short stories as well instead of selling it as all one novel, so this was actually a surprisingly good deal. Each part had fantastic build up, great world building, and characters that kept you invested. I loved Jordan and Michael and actually, now that I think of it, all the minor characters. The villains were suitably evil and scary, and the final resolution was epic.
My only complaint was something I actually liked most of the time. This book is full of pop culture references. The ones I got, I loved, but there were times when I felt like I was missing something because I didn't understand the reference.
Otherwise, a fantastic read. It's urban/Christian fantasy, but I at no point felt like I was being preached at. I don't think the book went as irreverent as Supernatural did with its angels, but it's more along those lines then say...a Peretti novel. In a bookstore it would more likely be found next to Kim Harrison (and let me tell you, it ranks right up there with the Hollows, seriously, if you enjoy Urban Fantasy, give this book a try.) And while it's not in the YA genre, I'm pretty confident any of my readers that enjoyed Persephone would enjoy The Black Parade. Give it a try. It's completely worth the read.
My only complaint was something I actually liked most of the time. This book is full of pop culture references. The ones I got, I loved, but there were times when I felt like I was missing something because I didn't understand the reference.
Otherwise, a fantastic read. It's urban/Christian fantasy, but I at no point felt like I was being preached at. I don't think the book went as irreverent as Supernatural did with its angels, but it's more along those lines then say...a Peretti novel. In a bookstore it would more likely be found next to Kim Harrison (and let me tell you, it ranks right up there with the Hollows, seriously, if you enjoy Urban Fantasy, give this book a try.) And while it's not in the YA genre, I'm pretty confident any of my readers that enjoyed Persephone would enjoy The Black Parade. Give it a try. It's completely worth the read.
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