Well, another series has come to an end. I give the entire series 2-stars and left me wondering why I continued with a series I rated 2-stars. I find this author confusing. Ms Harper is able to keep me hooked and wanting to know what happens because the premise of her stories, they are action packed, and the characters are interesting enough to make me want to know how it all ends. I always find myself wanting to try her next series. However, I did a lot skimming, or fast forwarding if we want to get technical, and just basic half-assed paying attention to the audiobook until I’d realize I was missing what I was waiting to hear in this series, more so than in her prior books.
I love the narrator of this series, I discovered this author due to the narrator, honestly. Even a great narrator cannot make up for all that was missing for me.
I know Bo is 5 foot nothing, and that she has curly hair. I do not recall being told any other physical attributes, like the color or even length of said hair. Nor are we really given much in way of her life before our story starts other than the life insurance investigating (to introduce Rogue), and a fledgling PI career. Her age is vague, but sounds like maybe mid 20s? We hear a brief bit about her parents, but other than her dad is dead and her mom is off somewhere, nothing more. We know Bo and her grandfather have a strained relationship but they love each other and he supposedly has this vast and illustrious career where non-humans fear him, but that is so thin through the entire series that it barely passes muster even when MI-7 is dropped in the story. Plus, is he Bo’s maternal or paternal grandfather? Who would know?
Next, the connection with Michael started off promising, but as is normal for the author, the main characters supposedly have this love of a lifetime connection we just have to accept. Bo and Michael are together here and there, and most of the time it is antagonistic, then when they finally get together I was left feeling like it was from out of nowhere. I get people can have immediate chemistry, but i feel the author is expecting a lot of the reader, I wanted to see more interactions. Why was Bo so special? Maybe if we heard a bit more about how she was raised, other than her grandfather expected perfect manners, and were told she was precocious and memorized maps of the city or something like that which seems to be really a stretch. What would have helped more was that she took martial arts (which would explain how she was such a good fighter), or excelled in academics like maybe matriculating at an early age (to explain how she could figure things out others couldn’t). Also, why was she able to survive outside of a vampire family home, when NO ONE else had EVER done it before, SOMETHING that might make Bo a more vibrant and realistic character, I would have enjoyed this more. Heck, we seem to know more about Maria’s background, a character introduced in the 5th book, than we do about Bo’s.
There is also the matter of world building, it seems to be half assed as well. I mean, I realize we get some history of the vampires by way of the treaties or laws in place with the British Government, but there are other “races” of beings out in the world we’re told are there or briefly meet, but other than who is afraid of whom, or who is good or bad we don’t get much else. I do think the author is smart in interweaving these otherworldly being with humans, as it makes it seem more realistic.
Also, there were other characters, specifically Beth and Matt, in the 1st book that I wanted more of throughout the series, only to have them enter again to add really very little to the story. I did like most of the characters and their relationships, I just feel the author needs to spend more time building these characters and relationships to allow it to seem more realistic, give us some reason WHY Bo was the way she was, or did the things she did like pushing Michael away. As it was, this was entertaining enough for me to read the entire series, but I do not like it as much as the other series I’ve read by her and I feel a little annoyed I continued on because the story ultimately wasn’t as fulfilling as I thought it might be.