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Miss Misery #1
Wicked Misery
It s all quasi-legal fun until somebody gets framed for murder.
Jessica Moore thrives on misery. Literally. Thanks to a goblin's curse, she gets a magical high from humanity's suffering. A shameful talent like that could bury a girl in guilt, so to atone, she uses her dark power to hunt murderers, rapists and other scumbags until one of them frames her for his crimes.
In desperation, Jessica seeks refuge with the one person she trusts to not turn her in, a satyr named Lucen. Like every member of his race, Lucen uses his lusty magic to control Boston's human population, and Jessica isn't immune to his power. But the murder victims belonged to a rival race, and when they discover Lucen is harboring Jessica, dodging the cops becomes the least of her problems.
With only five days to find the real killer, Jessica faces a danger far more serious than the brewing magical war. The danger of succumbing to Lucen's molten seduction.
Warning: Contains a heroine with a lust for misery, creepy murders, and creepier goblins, satyrs so hot you'd sell your soul for one, and scaly sewer rats masquerading as dragons. Who said magic was all sparkles and tiaras?
Jessica Moore thrives on misery. Literally. Thanks to a goblin's curse, she gets a magical high from humanity's suffering. A shameful talent like that could bury a girl in guilt, so to atone, she uses her dark power to hunt murderers, rapists and other scumbags until one of them frames her for his crimes.
In desperation, Jessica seeks refuge with the one person she trusts to not turn her in, a satyr named Lucen. Like every member of his race, Lucen uses his lusty magic to control Boston's human population, and Jessica isn't immune to his power. But the murder victims belonged to a rival race, and when they discover Lucen is harboring Jessica, dodging the cops becomes the least of her problems.
With only five days to find the real killer, Jessica faces a danger far more serious than the brewing magical war. The danger of succumbing to Lucen's molten seduction.
Warning: Contains a heroine with a lust for misery, creepy murders, and creepier goblins, satyrs so hot you'd sell your soul for one, and scaly sewer rats masquerading as dragons. Who said magic was all sparkles and tiaras?
306 pages, Paperback
First published October 8, 2013
21 people are currently reading
1753 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
April 3, 2018
Unlike most Urban Fantasy books I’ve found lately with the traditional vampires, werewolves, and some sort of ruling council, Wicked Misery actually has a unique world! The world building was easily the best part of the book! (You all know how I am about world building)
There are humans with magic and they all work for the Griffins, a sort of police organization. And then there are the Preds; Satyrs, goblins, furies, harpies and Sylphs. These people have to feed off negative human emotions to live. (Satyrs lust, goblins greed, furies wrath, harpies jealously and sylphs vanity) They addict people to their powers and feed off of them.
Jessica is a human, but she has a power that is similar to that of a pred. At eighteen she was kicked out of the school preparing her for the Gryphons and told her gift had dried up, but it didn’t, it changed. She’s made the most of a bad situation, using her gift to find people who are truly evil and trading their souls to the preds. People make deals with preds in exchange for becoming an addict and Jessica trades a blood sample from a rapist or pedophile to the preds to save people who have come to her for help.
Jessica was a likable enough main character, if a bit abrasive at times. I liked her best friend Steph, sassy and unique, a computer expert and transsexual. Lucen was also a mysterious and sexy love interest. He’s been her friend for ten years, but she doesn’t really trust him because he’s a Satyr. The other Satyrs were cool too. (I personally have a bit of a crush on Devon.)
The way Jess could taste negative emotions was a nice addition. Like she doesn’t like anxiety because it tastes like spearmint to her and suspicion tastes like chocolate, which usually gives her a craving for cake.
The plot was quick and well paced. The murder mystery was obvious from the beginning, but I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the preds and Jessica’s powers.
The book was written in a lighter tone which was supposed to be funny, but wasn’t really. (It wasn’t bad funny though.) Okay I realize I need an example since I’m not making much sense. This paragraph pretty much sums up her humor.
I was also a twenty-eight-year-old waitress who carried a chip on her shoulder for having her dreams crushed at the age of eighteen. Who was I kidding? The thing I had the most of was not mojo. It was issues. Enough to keep your average psychiatrist employed for years, probably.
The Bad:
I was annoyed when Jess acted recklessly. In my opinion such a heroine is only a weak plot device. I hate it when she says, ‘this is stupid, this is suicidal’ and then does it anyway. If she wasn’t the main character she’d so be dead!
Point of View: First (Jessica)
Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)
Source: Goodreads First Reads
My Rating: 7/10 Stars
There are humans with magic and they all work for the Griffins, a sort of police organization. And then there are the Preds; Satyrs, goblins, furies, harpies and Sylphs. These people have to feed off negative human emotions to live. (Satyrs lust, goblins greed, furies wrath, harpies jealously and sylphs vanity) They addict people to their powers and feed off of them.
Jessica is a human, but she has a power that is similar to that of a pred. At eighteen she was kicked out of the school preparing her for the Gryphons and told her gift had dried up, but it didn’t, it changed. She’s made the most of a bad situation, using her gift to find people who are truly evil and trading their souls to the preds. People make deals with preds in exchange for becoming an addict and Jessica trades a blood sample from a rapist or pedophile to the preds to save people who have come to her for help.
Jessica was a likable enough main character, if a bit abrasive at times. I liked her best friend Steph, sassy and unique, a computer expert and transsexual. Lucen was also a mysterious and sexy love interest. He’s been her friend for ten years, but she doesn’t really trust him because he’s a Satyr. The other Satyrs were cool too. (I personally have a bit of a crush on Devon.)
The way Jess could taste negative emotions was a nice addition. Like she doesn’t like anxiety because it tastes like spearmint to her and suspicion tastes like chocolate, which usually gives her a craving for cake.
The plot was quick and well paced. The murder mystery was obvious from the beginning, but I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the preds and Jessica’s powers.
The book was written in a lighter tone which was supposed to be funny, but wasn’t really. (It wasn’t bad funny though.) Okay I realize I need an example since I’m not making much sense. This paragraph pretty much sums up her humor.
I was also a twenty-eight-year-old waitress who carried a chip on her shoulder for having her dreams crushed at the age of eighteen. Who was I kidding? The thing I had the most of was not mojo. It was issues. Enough to keep your average psychiatrist employed for years, probably.
The Bad:
I was annoyed when Jess acted recklessly. In my opinion such a heroine is only a weak plot device. I hate it when she says, ‘this is stupid, this is suicidal’ and then does it anyway. If she wasn’t the main character she’d so be dead!
Point of View: First (Jessica)
Predictability: 3 out of 5 (Where 1 is totally unpredictable and 5 is I knew what was going to happen way ahead of time.)
Source: Goodreads First Reads
My Rating: 7/10 Stars
November 21, 2013
I stumbled on this book on one of the Goodreads ads and said what the hell, it seems right up my alley so i got it. Spoilers below, so you can't say you haven't been warned.....
The general concept of it is more then good, a solid background for a pnr series. But there were some really big issues throughout the novel that just brought it down. Lets start with Jess our leading character. So she is cursed, right? Right. Well by the end of the novel you come to a revelation that she is half satyr, or whatnot. So satyrs in our authors world use lust (as well they should) to gain power, or feed. They even have addicts to sustain them. Then why the Misery? Our leading lady uses negative emotions to get a charge. She can belt out lust like a bad breath on someone, bespell them for a while and let them go when she's done. I just don't see how misery has anything to do with it. In fact the life of a satyr couldn't be more removed from our leading lady and that is her heritage.
So the satyrs can control up to a degree how they can affect someone, but not shut their power off completely; so when in the midst of a burning city the satyr Dom, Lizzy grabs jess by the wrist, nothing happens, she is unaffected. And this is their Dom we're talking about, the most powerful one. But every other encounter with random satyrs had some kind of sexual awareness going trough our heroine, so much so that she made a solid point of not touching any of their kind. See what i mean? Small things in general, but meaningful.
The very last thing about this novel was the one that makes me doubt i will buy the next one out is....
That cliffhanger, of all the things possible, why in the hell that one? See it's the very first novel, with so many things left unexplained, throw in something that will make everyone's jaw drop to the floor and drool to find out what happens next.Her heritage, parents, murder, a million other things. Not sex. NEVER SEX. Of all the things possible, the cliffhanger is Lucen and her sayin' lets do it.
Shoot.Me.Now.
In PNR you either layer sexual tension, culminating in a fantastic display of sweat and writhing bodies, either in the same novel or trough a series. That is the reward for the MCs, and the reader combined. But this, THIS, just destroyed the entire thing for me. One can only imagine the next book, mind this will get published later. You fall out of the world of Wicked Misery and you need a startup again. Imagine the shock to the system when in the first five pages you wind up in Lucen's bedroom. In an even worse, more crappy scenario they are going to get interrupted by another paranormal urgency that needs their undying attention. And they are left unfulfilled...Yet again.... Spanish soap opera, move the hell over.
The general concept of it is more then good, a solid background for a pnr series. But there were some really big issues throughout the novel that just brought it down. Lets start with Jess our leading character. So she is cursed, right? Right. Well by the end of the novel you come to a revelation that she is half satyr, or whatnot. So satyrs in our authors world use lust (as well they should) to gain power, or feed. They even have addicts to sustain them. Then why the Misery? Our leading lady uses negative emotions to get a charge. She can belt out lust like a bad breath on someone, bespell them for a while and let them go when she's done. I just don't see how misery has anything to do with it. In fact the life of a satyr couldn't be more removed from our leading lady and that is her heritage.
So the satyrs can control up to a degree how they can affect someone, but not shut their power off completely; so when in the midst of a burning city the satyr Dom, Lizzy grabs jess by the wrist, nothing happens, she is unaffected. And this is their Dom we're talking about, the most powerful one. But every other encounter with random satyrs had some kind of sexual awareness going trough our heroine, so much so that she made a solid point of not touching any of their kind. See what i mean? Small things in general, but meaningful.
The very last thing about this novel was the one that makes me doubt i will buy the next one out is....
That cliffhanger, of all the things possible, why in the hell that one? See it's the very first novel, with so many things left unexplained, throw in something that will make everyone's jaw drop to the floor and drool to find out what happens next.Her heritage, parents, murder, a million other things. Not sex. NEVER SEX. Of all the things possible, the cliffhanger is Lucen and her sayin' lets do it.
Shoot.Me.Now.
In PNR you either layer sexual tension, culminating in a fantastic display of sweat and writhing bodies, either in the same novel or trough a series. That is the reward for the MCs, and the reader combined. But this, THIS, just destroyed the entire thing for me. One can only imagine the next book, mind this will get published later. You fall out of the world of Wicked Misery and you need a startup again. Imagine the shock to the system when in the first five pages you wind up in Lucen's bedroom. In an even worse, more crappy scenario they are going to get interrupted by another paranormal urgency that needs their undying attention. And they are left unfulfilled...Yet again.... Spanish soap opera, move the hell over.
August 14, 2014
I gave it 3.5 stars
What a fun new series. There was a little bit of romance, a whole lot of supernatural with danger and drama in between. Jessica has what she believes is a goblins curse where she thrives on misery. She uses her 'curse' to hunt down the dregs of society but one night she ends up framed for murder. Jessica had dreams of being a part of something else but ended up with this curse that she can not stand. WICKED MISERY follows her as she learns more about who she is while trying to keep herself out of custody and searching for the real killer.
When Jessica turns to Lucen for help she has no idea what will happen. She thinks it is Lucen's gifts that make her want him but you can tell she likes him for other reasons as well. They dance around each other constantly and there were points I wanted to hit both of them over the head and be like, hey get over yourself. The plot was pretty fun to follow. There was a particular action part of the book that got a little confusing because I felt like we were thrown into the situation out of nowhere but other than that I enjoyed every other part of the story. There are many paranormal creatures introduced in WICKED MISERY. They are not looked well upon by normal humans but I liked what they have made of the slice of world they live in. Walking the streets with Jessica was never boring.
WICKED MISERY was a pretty descent start to a new fun and fast paced Urban Fantasy series. I look forward to seeing what happens next and what might happen between Jessica and Lucen in book 2.
What a fun new series. There was a little bit of romance, a whole lot of supernatural with danger and drama in between. Jessica has what she believes is a goblins curse where she thrives on misery. She uses her 'curse' to hunt down the dregs of society but one night she ends up framed for murder. Jessica had dreams of being a part of something else but ended up with this curse that she can not stand. WICKED MISERY follows her as she learns more about who she is while trying to keep herself out of custody and searching for the real killer.
When Jessica turns to Lucen for help she has no idea what will happen. She thinks it is Lucen's gifts that make her want him but you can tell she likes him for other reasons as well. They dance around each other constantly and there were points I wanted to hit both of them over the head and be like, hey get over yourself. The plot was pretty fun to follow. There was a particular action part of the book that got a little confusing because I felt like we were thrown into the situation out of nowhere but other than that I enjoyed every other part of the story. There are many paranormal creatures introduced in WICKED MISERY. They are not looked well upon by normal humans but I liked what they have made of the slice of world they live in. Walking the streets with Jessica was never boring.
WICKED MISERY was a pretty descent start to a new fun and fast paced Urban Fantasy series. I look forward to seeing what happens next and what might happen between Jessica and Lucen in book 2.
October 18, 2013
4.5*s
Sooooo good :)
review posted her...
http://bookpassionforlife.blogspot.co...
Wicked Misery is the first book in the new Miss Misery series and what an opener it was, I loved it!
In a very different world, the supernatural is commonplace, filled with humans that can be used for the pleasure of various supernaturals known as Predators (preds) of which there are a few species. Jessica Moore is human with magic in her bloodstream, which usually means that you get a chance to become a Gryphon, the police of her world. Jess was on her way to becoming one, only her magic didn’t develop as hoped, no, Jess’s magic is something else and made this way because she was cursed by an unknown. So ten years after being kicked out of the Gryphon program, Jess has made her own semi hidden identity as the Soul Swapper – when a good person is left with no other choice than to bargain with a ‘pred’ for their soul, without fully understanding the consequences…Jess finds a soul from the dregs of society to swap and return the soul of the person who hired her. Only now, someone has worked out who she is and she is unwittingly dragged into a serial murder case. Finding herself accused of the murders & with no one to turn to, she turns to the one man who was there for her when her world came crashing down – a satyr named Lucen- she has always tried to keep him at arms-length for fear of becoming a ‘lust addict’ – hooked on a satyrs magical power – but he makes a big stand on her behalf and now Jess must join up with the satyr people to clear her name, she has 5 days…..
So, I really enjoyed this book. The author has created quite a different scenario to the usual paranormal UF I have read and although at times it was puzzling, it was a great read. Jess was a good character, easy to connect too and feel for. I always like a strong heroine with a bit of attitude and Jess fit the bill nicely. In the beginning, I found it hard to get a grasp on her powers, how they worked etc. but that got easier as the book went on. I liked her relationship with Lucan, you could tell from the get go that they had feelings for each other and could feel the sexual tension between them. I totally got why Jess was apprehensive and doubted her own feelings incase they were ‘lust magic’ induced so it’s understandable how she behaves around him. It’s hard to know whether she was in fact being lured or if they were really her feelings, I think they are hers but will enjoy reading about it unfolding some more. Lucan was great too, I can’t say I like his magic and what he has to do for the addicts he has, I can see problems arising because of this but I’m willing to see where it will go.
The storyline was good, who doesn’t like a good old whodunit? Especially when our leading lady is put in the frame and needs to prove her innocence to everyone, including the authorities. I like the whole set up with different areas of the city being for either humans or different supernaturals, sort of segregated because of the humans fear of the Preds and the preds distrust of the other species. We have a few Pred species like Satyrs, Sylphs, Harpies, goblins, Magus, Furies… all of course have their own kind of magic which brings human addicts and all lead by a Dom & their council. I had a little trouble grasping their power, I didn’t get the whole ‘addict/master’ scenario, the same with Jess’s power but it didn’t interfere with my enjoyment of the book and I guess as the series goes on, I will understand it more. I liked the pacing and how everything unfolded, it was definitely one of those books where it keeps you on your toes and guessing who actually committed the crimes right up until the reveal and I loved the who, what & why when we eventually get the answers. I’m left curious about a few things - I would like to find out more about Jess & her powers, would love to see what develops between Jess & Lucen and wondering what’s next for her too but I thought it was an excellent beginning to a new series, full of potential and I will definitely be looking out for the sequel.
Sooooo good :)
review posted her...
http://bookpassionforlife.blogspot.co...
Wicked Misery is the first book in the new Miss Misery series and what an opener it was, I loved it!
In a very different world, the supernatural is commonplace, filled with humans that can be used for the pleasure of various supernaturals known as Predators (preds) of which there are a few species. Jessica Moore is human with magic in her bloodstream, which usually means that you get a chance to become a Gryphon, the police of her world. Jess was on her way to becoming one, only her magic didn’t develop as hoped, no, Jess’s magic is something else and made this way because she was cursed by an unknown. So ten years after being kicked out of the Gryphon program, Jess has made her own semi hidden identity as the Soul Swapper – when a good person is left with no other choice than to bargain with a ‘pred’ for their soul, without fully understanding the consequences…Jess finds a soul from the dregs of society to swap and return the soul of the person who hired her. Only now, someone has worked out who she is and she is unwittingly dragged into a serial murder case. Finding herself accused of the murders & with no one to turn to, she turns to the one man who was there for her when her world came crashing down – a satyr named Lucen- she has always tried to keep him at arms-length for fear of becoming a ‘lust addict’ – hooked on a satyrs magical power – but he makes a big stand on her behalf and now Jess must join up with the satyr people to clear her name, she has 5 days…..
So, I really enjoyed this book. The author has created quite a different scenario to the usual paranormal UF I have read and although at times it was puzzling, it was a great read. Jess was a good character, easy to connect too and feel for. I always like a strong heroine with a bit of attitude and Jess fit the bill nicely. In the beginning, I found it hard to get a grasp on her powers, how they worked etc. but that got easier as the book went on. I liked her relationship with Lucan, you could tell from the get go that they had feelings for each other and could feel the sexual tension between them. I totally got why Jess was apprehensive and doubted her own feelings incase they were ‘lust magic’ induced so it’s understandable how she behaves around him. It’s hard to know whether she was in fact being lured or if they were really her feelings, I think they are hers but will enjoy reading about it unfolding some more. Lucan was great too, I can’t say I like his magic and what he has to do for the addicts he has, I can see problems arising because of this but I’m willing to see where it will go.
The storyline was good, who doesn’t like a good old whodunit? Especially when our leading lady is put in the frame and needs to prove her innocence to everyone, including the authorities. I like the whole set up with different areas of the city being for either humans or different supernaturals, sort of segregated because of the humans fear of the Preds and the preds distrust of the other species. We have a few Pred species like Satyrs, Sylphs, Harpies, goblins, Magus, Furies… all of course have their own kind of magic which brings human addicts and all lead by a Dom & their council. I had a little trouble grasping their power, I didn’t get the whole ‘addict/master’ scenario, the same with Jess’s power but it didn’t interfere with my enjoyment of the book and I guess as the series goes on, I will understand it more. I liked the pacing and how everything unfolded, it was definitely one of those books where it keeps you on your toes and guessing who actually committed the crimes right up until the reveal and I loved the who, what & why when we eventually get the answers. I’m left curious about a few things - I would like to find out more about Jess & her powers, would love to see what develops between Jess & Lucen and wondering what’s next for her too but I thought it was an excellent beginning to a new series, full of potential and I will definitely be looking out for the sequel.
December 21, 2014
http://badbirdreads.com/review-wicked...
At A Glance
A really exciting and unique urban fantasy, but the beginning was confusing/boring.
The Good
Wicked Misery had such a unique concept and exciting story. After the slow beginning, I was enthralled by the rest of the book to the point that I could not put it down. Stupid bathroom breaks! Anyways, I loved all the supernatural beings crammed into this story. Some you will recognize, some you may not. These creatures were all interesting and each brought something fun/scary/exciting to the table.
Jessica is a human cursed with the need to ‘feed’ on human suffering. She has tried to make due with her crappy life but it gets worse when someone frames her for murder. Jessica loved misery, and she was misery. She was not a very happy person because of her circumstances and you couldn’t help but fell bad for her. I loved how she took action and tried to solve her situation any way she could. She never sat and waited for people to fix it for her. And even though she often let fear drive her, she also would beat it down any time she could and faced the monsters head on. She was a great kickass heroine.
Lucen was both sweet and spicy. (Mmm, now I want some orange chicken) He obviously has true feelings for Jessica, even if she keeps denying them. But his way of life is scary. He feeds off lust and can addict people to his touch. I would be leery of him too, honestly. But I loved the lengths he went to help Jessica. He just kept endearing himself to me with each kind (and sexy) action so that in the end, I loved him.
The action was great, as was the suspense. Each character felt authentic and the dialogue had me laughing. I definitely want to continue this series, especially with that sorta but not really cliffhanger!
The Bad
In the beginning, I was so bored out of my mind I almost didn’t finish this book. There was so much background and world building slabbed into those first few chapters I could barely keep up. I was confused and jumbled for a good portion of the front of the book.
The Snuggly
Sexual tension galore! And oh was it yummy. But we never got the big bang. I really expected all this sexual tension to go somewhere, but no, we get a cliffhanger for that part. How cruel!
Final Thoughts
I am happy to find another fun and exciting urban fantasy series to read. I just don’t want to see confusing info-dumps in the beginnings of the other books. I can’t wait to see where Jessica and Lucen go! Very recommended.
Quotes
I was wicked tempted to keep goading him to see which of us would break first. Me, no doubt. But that would be okay because I could imagine the make-up sex.
And imagine and imagine…
He kissed my forehead. ” Last time before I become the leper again.” He pried himself off me and put on his pants.
“You know that’s not it.” He didn’t answer, so I sat up. “I want to trust you, really, but the fact is you can hurt me. Easily. Badly.”
“Just because someone can do something, doesn’t mean they will.”
At A Glance
A really exciting and unique urban fantasy, but the beginning was confusing/boring.
The Good
Wicked Misery had such a unique concept and exciting story. After the slow beginning, I was enthralled by the rest of the book to the point that I could not put it down. Stupid bathroom breaks! Anyways, I loved all the supernatural beings crammed into this story. Some you will recognize, some you may not. These creatures were all interesting and each brought something fun/scary/exciting to the table.
Jessica is a human cursed with the need to ‘feed’ on human suffering. She has tried to make due with her crappy life but it gets worse when someone frames her for murder. Jessica loved misery, and she was misery. She was not a very happy person because of her circumstances and you couldn’t help but fell bad for her. I loved how she took action and tried to solve her situation any way she could. She never sat and waited for people to fix it for her. And even though she often let fear drive her, she also would beat it down any time she could and faced the monsters head on. She was a great kickass heroine.
Lucen was both sweet and spicy. (Mmm, now I want some orange chicken) He obviously has true feelings for Jessica, even if she keeps denying them. But his way of life is scary. He feeds off lust and can addict people to his touch. I would be leery of him too, honestly. But I loved the lengths he went to help Jessica. He just kept endearing himself to me with each kind (and sexy) action so that in the end, I loved him.
The action was great, as was the suspense. Each character felt authentic and the dialogue had me laughing. I definitely want to continue this series, especially with that sorta but not really cliffhanger!
The Bad
In the beginning, I was so bored out of my mind I almost didn’t finish this book. There was so much background and world building slabbed into those first few chapters I could barely keep up. I was confused and jumbled for a good portion of the front of the book.
The Snuggly
Sexual tension galore! And oh was it yummy. But we never got the big bang. I really expected all this sexual tension to go somewhere, but no, we get a cliffhanger for that part. How cruel!
Final Thoughts
I am happy to find another fun and exciting urban fantasy series to read. I just don’t want to see confusing info-dumps in the beginnings of the other books. I can’t wait to see where Jessica and Lucen go! Very recommended.
Quotes
I was wicked tempted to keep goading him to see which of us would break first. Me, no doubt. But that would be okay because I could imagine the make-up sex.
And imagine and imagine…
He kissed my forehead. ” Last time before I become the leper again.” He pried himself off me and put on his pants.
“You know that’s not it.” He didn’t answer, so I sat up. “I want to trust you, really, but the fact is you can hurt me. Easily. Badly.”
“Just because someone can do something, doesn’t mean they will.”
July 25, 2014
Jessica hungers for misery. She feeds on it. She thrives on it. In some ways it’s fortunate that she is so very miserable herself. Refused by the Gryphons after her magical talent was so badly cursed, she now makes a living trading souls – helping desperate people out of the deals they make with the Preds – supernatural beings that feed on vices – by trading their souls for the most evil humans she can find. And making a prophet along the way
It’s legal, just. It’s debatably moral – but it gets her by.
Unfortunately it also brought her to the attention of the wrong people – and she is now being framed for a crime she didn’t commit. She is forced to seek sanctuary in the last place she wants to be – among the Preds. Worse, these crimes are pitting the most powerful factions in the city against one another – and the whole city may soon burn
The first thing that struck me reading this book was the world building. This world is rich, it has a lot of non-human, mystical elements in a human setting and there is a lot of effort to ensure that they meld seamlessly. And they do – it’s a really believable, well thought out setting where everything works together and nothing feels jarring and out of place
Which deserves more praise because this world is really unique. The mages are entirely different than I’d expect, the different kinds of Preds feeding on human emotion and vices. The whole new take on demonic pacts and supernaturals preying on humanity and even a magic system that seems to be quite unique. There’s a lot there – and, in some ways, I think not enough of it is explained entirely… but at the same time I think if there were more explanations the whole book would evolve into one incredibly long info dump that would have to be convoluted just because of the sheer amount of information that would need to be conveyed. As it stands, I love this world and would really like to read more, though have a slight feeling of not quite knowing enough to truly absorb the plot. There was a hole there and I think some things fell through. But what was there was epic and generally easy to follow
I also loved the plot. A nice murder mystery with twist after twist after twist. And the twists made sense, the alternate theories made sense, the distractions made sense. Even the people who were causing problems and scapegoating or blaming Jessica made sense. I loved that you had all these groups that were either hurting and looking for someone to blame or implicated and looking for someone to scapegoiat and by the end it wouldn’t even matter who was responsible to many of these groups so long as they could blame someone. And on that we have the authorities floating around, causing problems and generally not being involved anywhere because the world really does convey the very essence of the subcultures here – there is a great sense of both the Preds and the mages being part of society but still very much separate, especially when law enforcement is around; it’s a hard balance to strike (other books make law enforcement so distant.
When you have frustration and twists and red herrings it’s easy for the story to feel like it’s not going anywhere or that the pacing is off – but the excitement kept going, I kept being pulled in and I never felt it was dragging or slogging
My only complaint, plot wise, is that when the bad guy was finally revealed they’d been so tangential by that stage in the plot that it felt almost anticlimactic. It’s like of like watching an Agatha Christie movie and learning the kitchen maid did it. Sure, you can see why she did it – but when the character has only held a tea tray and delivered scones it feels a little off that she turns out to be the murderer. Because of that, a lot of the motivation and reasoning behind the mystery seemed to be packed in at the end.
Now, on to Jessica, our protagonist. I don’t think I like Jessica as a person, but I like her as a character., I don’t like her for good, solid character reasons. I like her power, I like that she is unique in a way that isn’t massively over powered – so we can have a unique, different protagonist without the usual trappings of Chosen One specialness. I like the moral conflict she lives with, trying to live with her power, feed off the misery of others, revel in that misery and try and find a morally acceptable way to deal with that; trading souls to make her living but, again, trying to find a way to do it that isn’t reprehensible. She draws lines and worries about crossing them. She’s angsty and does, at times, indulge in in some self-pity. But it’s never over the top and her unique abilities and history give her strong reason for it. And it’s a strength – her ability to be able to cannibalise her own misery is a really unique spin on an angsty character. She’s also not perfect – she envies people, she resents them, she has a streak of bitterness 10 miles wide, she relies on her friends a lot without giving much in return. Her attitude towards Lucen and other Preds is based far more on (not entirely unreasonable) prejudice than on their actual behaviour and she’s often extremely unfair. Her selfishness and unwillingness to trust leads her into foolish, reckless situations and puts a large number of people at risk
Because she’s very human. Does she threaten the future stability of the satyrs and the Preds in general? Yes. But she does it for her own survival, she doesn’t like the Preds – is she supposed to be a noble, self-sacrificing hero or something? Her actions are reasonable even if not always likeable, her mistakes are human, her dislike understandable even when it is unfair. It’s not always likeable, but it is realistic, it is human.
This also has the side effect of making the romance a slow burning one – yes we can clearly see where it’s going, but it’s going to go there through a long rocky road built on interaction and character building before Jessica and Lucen become an actual item.
Read More
It’s legal, just. It’s debatably moral – but it gets her by.
Unfortunately it also brought her to the attention of the wrong people – and she is now being framed for a crime she didn’t commit. She is forced to seek sanctuary in the last place she wants to be – among the Preds. Worse, these crimes are pitting the most powerful factions in the city against one another – and the whole city may soon burn
The first thing that struck me reading this book was the world building. This world is rich, it has a lot of non-human, mystical elements in a human setting and there is a lot of effort to ensure that they meld seamlessly. And they do – it’s a really believable, well thought out setting where everything works together and nothing feels jarring and out of place
Which deserves more praise because this world is really unique. The mages are entirely different than I’d expect, the different kinds of Preds feeding on human emotion and vices. The whole new take on demonic pacts and supernaturals preying on humanity and even a magic system that seems to be quite unique. There’s a lot there – and, in some ways, I think not enough of it is explained entirely… but at the same time I think if there were more explanations the whole book would evolve into one incredibly long info dump that would have to be convoluted just because of the sheer amount of information that would need to be conveyed. As it stands, I love this world and would really like to read more, though have a slight feeling of not quite knowing enough to truly absorb the plot. There was a hole there and I think some things fell through. But what was there was epic and generally easy to follow
I also loved the plot. A nice murder mystery with twist after twist after twist. And the twists made sense, the alternate theories made sense, the distractions made sense. Even the people who were causing problems and scapegoating or blaming Jessica made sense. I loved that you had all these groups that were either hurting and looking for someone to blame or implicated and looking for someone to scapegoiat and by the end it wouldn’t even matter who was responsible to many of these groups so long as they could blame someone. And on that we have the authorities floating around, causing problems and generally not being involved anywhere because the world really does convey the very essence of the subcultures here – there is a great sense of both the Preds and the mages being part of society but still very much separate, especially when law enforcement is around; it’s a hard balance to strike (other books make law enforcement so distant.
When you have frustration and twists and red herrings it’s easy for the story to feel like it’s not going anywhere or that the pacing is off – but the excitement kept going, I kept being pulled in and I never felt it was dragging or slogging
My only complaint, plot wise, is that when the bad guy was finally revealed they’d been so tangential by that stage in the plot that it felt almost anticlimactic. It’s like of like watching an Agatha Christie movie and learning the kitchen maid did it. Sure, you can see why she did it – but when the character has only held a tea tray and delivered scones it feels a little off that she turns out to be the murderer. Because of that, a lot of the motivation and reasoning behind the mystery seemed to be packed in at the end.
Now, on to Jessica, our protagonist. I don’t think I like Jessica as a person, but I like her as a character., I don’t like her for good, solid character reasons. I like her power, I like that she is unique in a way that isn’t massively over powered – so we can have a unique, different protagonist without the usual trappings of Chosen One specialness. I like the moral conflict she lives with, trying to live with her power, feed off the misery of others, revel in that misery and try and find a morally acceptable way to deal with that; trading souls to make her living but, again, trying to find a way to do it that isn’t reprehensible. She draws lines and worries about crossing them. She’s angsty and does, at times, indulge in in some self-pity. But it’s never over the top and her unique abilities and history give her strong reason for it. And it’s a strength – her ability to be able to cannibalise her own misery is a really unique spin on an angsty character. She’s also not perfect – she envies people, she resents them, she has a streak of bitterness 10 miles wide, she relies on her friends a lot without giving much in return. Her attitude towards Lucen and other Preds is based far more on (not entirely unreasonable) prejudice than on their actual behaviour and she’s often extremely unfair. Her selfishness and unwillingness to trust leads her into foolish, reckless situations and puts a large number of people at risk
Because she’s very human. Does she threaten the future stability of the satyrs and the Preds in general? Yes. But she does it for her own survival, she doesn’t like the Preds – is she supposed to be a noble, self-sacrificing hero or something? Her actions are reasonable even if not always likeable, her mistakes are human, her dislike understandable even when it is unfair. It’s not always likeable, but it is realistic, it is human.
This also has the side effect of making the romance a slow burning one – yes we can clearly see where it’s going, but it’s going to go there through a long rocky road built on interaction and character building before Jessica and Lucen become an actual item.
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April 17, 2015
You can find this review and more on my blog.
I'm always apprehensive when I start a new series, because you never know if you will like the world and the characters. And I usually try to stick with the series for at least 3 books or so before I decide to drop it, because the first book has the difficult and thankless task of introducing the reader to a brand new world. So even if I am not particularly trilled with book 1, I am more than willing to discount some of my misgivings and give the series another chance by reading book 2… That is if I like the protagonist enough to stick with him / her for another book.
Unfortunately, that is not the case with Wicked Misery.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I loved the worldbuilding for this series. The fact that we have a different kind of supernatural beings than vampires or werewolves is rather refreshing. It's also interesting to read about a world where the preds and other supernatural beings are known and more or less integrated into society.
My problem with this series is the protagonist, which is a deal breaker when you are stuck observing the whole story through her eyes. Jessica Moore is a classic case of how the character has to constantly do stupid sh@t to drive the story along. I mean, I understand that the protagonist has to make mistakes, get burned and rise to the challenge, but a good protagonist also has to LEARN from those mistakes and get better, or at least not repeat them over and over again.
In Jessica's case, she doesn't seem to learn. AT ALL. And while this might be endearing the first time or two, it gets extremely annoying by the end of the book. She is in deep trouble, framed for a series of gruesome murders, wanted by all sorts of powerful people because of that. Yet, she absolutely refuses to listen to the people who try to help her with this problem. People whom he ran for help in the first place, I might add. It's like she landed this whole mess on the satyr's lap, then can't seem to manage to stay put and let them deal with it. They tell her to hide and lay low, but she runs off to meet with a goblin who might or might not have pertinent information for her instead… without telling anyone where she is going. Ok, that might work once as a plot device, but later on in the book she pulls the same trick again and goes barging into a Fury bar on her own without telling anyone about again, in the middle of a Griffon raid designed to find her btw.
That's not endearing anymore, that’s called having a death wish. The fact that she seems to emerge from those encounters unscathed and with no consequences at all indicates poor planning on the author's part. The fact that Jessica's little escapades are the only thing that drives the story forward also makes me want to put the book down.
My other problem with this book is the romantic relationship between Jess and Lucen, or what will probably become a romantic relationship between them in later books. It doesn't work, at least not how it's written. He is a satyr, so a pred whose whole nature is to incite lust in humans. Jess feels that and despises him for it. In fact, even though she run to him for help, all she does during the whole book is belittle and denigrate him, at least in her head (and since we are in her head, we get to read all of it). Then by the end of the book, after a plot twist I won't tell you about, her ability to sense preds is dampened and she realizes that she still lusts after Lucen. Light bulb moment for our protagonist - so that wasn't entirely him, I really want him! So it's okay to finally be with him. News flash, honey, the fact that you want to jump his bones does not a strong relationship make. Especially since you haven't really changed your opinion on what he is and what he does.
I think that's my biggest problem with this book - Jess hasn't really evolved by the end of it. As a person, I mean. Sure, she learned a bit more about her powers and decided that she would use them for good rather than evil, but that's as far as the character development went. And since she wasn't a character I was particularly interested in following at the beginning, it doesn't make me want to follow her into the next book.
So my verdict for Wicked Misery is - interesting world building, but the protagonist is not my cup of tea. I wouldn't recommend this series to my friends. There are plenty of other excellent series to read instead.
I'm always apprehensive when I start a new series, because you never know if you will like the world and the characters. And I usually try to stick with the series for at least 3 books or so before I decide to drop it, because the first book has the difficult and thankless task of introducing the reader to a brand new world. So even if I am not particularly trilled with book 1, I am more than willing to discount some of my misgivings and give the series another chance by reading book 2… That is if I like the protagonist enough to stick with him / her for another book.
Unfortunately, that is not the case with Wicked Misery.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I loved the worldbuilding for this series. The fact that we have a different kind of supernatural beings than vampires or werewolves is rather refreshing. It's also interesting to read about a world where the preds and other supernatural beings are known and more or less integrated into society.
My problem with this series is the protagonist, which is a deal breaker when you are stuck observing the whole story through her eyes. Jessica Moore is a classic case of how the character has to constantly do stupid sh@t to drive the story along. I mean, I understand that the protagonist has to make mistakes, get burned and rise to the challenge, but a good protagonist also has to LEARN from those mistakes and get better, or at least not repeat them over and over again.
In Jessica's case, she doesn't seem to learn. AT ALL. And while this might be endearing the first time or two, it gets extremely annoying by the end of the book. She is in deep trouble, framed for a series of gruesome murders, wanted by all sorts of powerful people because of that. Yet, she absolutely refuses to listen to the people who try to help her with this problem. People whom he ran for help in the first place, I might add. It's like she landed this whole mess on the satyr's lap, then can't seem to manage to stay put and let them deal with it. They tell her to hide and lay low, but she runs off to meet with a goblin who might or might not have pertinent information for her instead… without telling anyone where she is going. Ok, that might work once as a plot device, but later on in the book she pulls the same trick again and goes barging into a Fury bar on her own without telling anyone about again, in the middle of a Griffon raid designed to find her btw.
That's not endearing anymore, that’s called having a death wish. The fact that she seems to emerge from those encounters unscathed and with no consequences at all indicates poor planning on the author's part. The fact that Jessica's little escapades are the only thing that drives the story forward also makes me want to put the book down.
My other problem with this book is the romantic relationship between Jess and Lucen, or what will probably become a romantic relationship between them in later books. It doesn't work, at least not how it's written. He is a satyr, so a pred whose whole nature is to incite lust in humans. Jess feels that and despises him for it. In fact, even though she run to him for help, all she does during the whole book is belittle and denigrate him, at least in her head (and since we are in her head, we get to read all of it). Then by the end of the book, after a plot twist I won't tell you about, her ability to sense preds is dampened and she realizes that she still lusts after Lucen. Light bulb moment for our protagonist - so that wasn't entirely him, I really want him! So it's okay to finally be with him. News flash, honey, the fact that you want to jump his bones does not a strong relationship make. Especially since you haven't really changed your opinion on what he is and what he does.
I think that's my biggest problem with this book - Jess hasn't really evolved by the end of it. As a person, I mean. Sure, she learned a bit more about her powers and decided that she would use them for good rather than evil, but that's as far as the character development went. And since she wasn't a character I was particularly interested in following at the beginning, it doesn't make me want to follow her into the next book.
So my verdict for Wicked Misery is - interesting world building, but the protagonist is not my cup of tea. I wouldn't recommend this series to my friends. There are plenty of other excellent series to read instead.
March 20, 2022
Fast-paced action, fantastical world building, and a bad-ass heroine makes Wicked Misery a gritty and fun - and dare I say "wicked good" - read.
Set in Boston, humans share the world with a variety of pred races and magical creatures that addict people with their particular flavor of power. Jessica is a human with a weakness for bad boys who flunked out of magic corps and now uses her talents to hunt down horrible people to barter for the release of good souls. Straddling the line between the pred and human worlds, Jessica gets caught in a war between magic races that threatens to take out everything and everyone she loves.
This is the first in an updated and re-released Urban Fiction series and I can't wait to read the rest of the Wicked books!
Set in Boston, humans share the world with a variety of pred races and magical creatures that addict people with their particular flavor of power. Jessica is a human with a weakness for bad boys who flunked out of magic corps and now uses her talents to hunt down horrible people to barter for the release of good souls. Straddling the line between the pred and human worlds, Jessica gets caught in a war between magic races that threatens to take out everything and everyone she loves.
This is the first in an updated and re-released Urban Fiction series and I can't wait to read the rest of the Wicked books!
June 18, 2017
Wicked Good
There were many, many things I liked about WICKED MISERY. Of them all, I think the worldbuilding was my favourite.
Imagine a world filled with all manner of supernatural creatures living out in the open for all to see (albeit confined, mostly, to their own shadowy little corner of the city). Each race has a particular human energy/emotion it needs to feed on. In this book, the secondary character and love interest, Lucen, was a Satyr, for example. As you sly sleuths might have already guessed, that means the emotion he needs to feeds from is lust. Others races feed from rage, doubt, vanity, that kind of thing. In order to feed, however, the supernatural races - or "Preds" as they're called here - have to first turn the humans into addicts. This basically means the humans give their life energy to the Pred in exchange for the feel-good factor they receive in return, which they become addicted to and therefore keep coming back for more. So, it's kind of a two-way street, except an unscrupulous Pred could easily take that feeding too far and then you'd be left with only a husk of a person remaining; a ghoul with nothing left to give. So it's a risky business for the human. But, as we all know, the world is never short on fools willing to do stupid shit for a quick thrill.
Now, this is all very good, and while I thought this concept was awesome and really clever and interesting, it brought with it a slight problem for me. Okay, make that a HUGE problem. Because Lucen, being a Satyr, has to feed from his addicts, and from time to time, engage in sex with them to keep them all happy and hunky dory. Thus making it simultaneously my favorite and least favourite thing about the whole book all in one. Because I, as a reader, will never ever be okay with my love interest sleeping with other people. Of both sexes. It's just not in my nature to share. So unless the author has something amazing up her sleeve to "fix" this situation, maybe by giving him another way to get what he needs, I'm always going to be unhappy about it. Given the twists and turns in the plot towards the end of the novel, it has to be said that that last statement is well within the realm of possibility. So I'm not without hope. Yet.
Aside from that, there were a lot of other things I liked too. I liked the protagonist, Jessica, for example, who, by the way, also feeds on people, though she is not a Pred, only a magical human. She feeds on their misery (hence the title). So anyone feeling miserable will do; the crappier the better. Also, she's currently using her ability to sense negative emotions to track down would-be rapists, killers etc., and swap their soul contracts for some quick cash. Earning her the nickname Soul Swapper. Though Jessica was a bit judgy where the Preds were concerned in the beginning, I enjoyed watching her growth and acceptance.
Other things of note - Jessica's cross-dressing friend Steph was a riot. The plotting was good and the mystery well set up. I liked the mix of races and the fact that they were mostly mythical creatures as opposed to more modern supernatural beings like vamps, werewolves, etc. Martin's worldbuilding does perhaps rely on a bit of familiarity with these kinds of creatures, however, since there isn't much exposition provided aside from her own new spin on them. Surely you've heard of Satyrs, Sylphs, Goblins, Harpies, Furies and Magi, though? I mean, what self-respecting UF nut hasn't? Pft.
All together, this book had a lot of good, and really just one major personal roadblock that I am willing to overlook for now in the hopes that it just... goes away in the next instalment. Go on, away with you! Shoo! Shoo!
4 Stars ★★★★
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
There were many, many things I liked about WICKED MISERY. Of them all, I think the worldbuilding was my favourite.
Imagine a world filled with all manner of supernatural creatures living out in the open for all to see (albeit confined, mostly, to their own shadowy little corner of the city). Each race has a particular human energy/emotion it needs to feed on. In this book, the secondary character and love interest, Lucen, was a Satyr, for example. As you sly sleuths might have already guessed, that means the emotion he needs to feeds from is lust. Others races feed from rage, doubt, vanity, that kind of thing. In order to feed, however, the supernatural races - or "Preds" as they're called here - have to first turn the humans into addicts. This basically means the humans give their life energy to the Pred in exchange for the feel-good factor they receive in return, which they become addicted to and therefore keep coming back for more. So, it's kind of a two-way street, except an unscrupulous Pred could easily take that feeding too far and then you'd be left with only a husk of a person remaining; a ghoul with nothing left to give. So it's a risky business for the human. But, as we all know, the world is never short on fools willing to do stupid shit for a quick thrill.
Now, this is all very good, and while I thought this concept was awesome and really clever and interesting, it brought with it a slight problem for me. Okay, make that a HUGE problem. Because Lucen, being a Satyr, has to feed from his addicts, and from time to time, engage in sex with them to keep them all happy and hunky dory. Thus making it simultaneously my favorite and least favourite thing about the whole book all in one. Because I, as a reader, will never ever be okay with my love interest sleeping with other people. Of both sexes. It's just not in my nature to share. So unless the author has something amazing up her sleeve to "fix" this situation, maybe by giving him another way to get what he needs, I'm always going to be unhappy about it. Given the twists and turns in the plot towards the end of the novel, it has to be said that that last statement is well within the realm of possibility. So I'm not without hope. Yet.
Aside from that, there were a lot of other things I liked too. I liked the protagonist, Jessica, for example, who, by the way, also feeds on people, though she is not a Pred, only a magical human. She feeds on their misery (hence the title). So anyone feeling miserable will do; the crappier the better. Also, she's currently using her ability to sense negative emotions to track down would-be rapists, killers etc., and swap their soul contracts for some quick cash. Earning her the nickname Soul Swapper. Though Jessica was a bit judgy where the Preds were concerned in the beginning, I enjoyed watching her growth and acceptance.
Other things of note - Jessica's cross-dressing friend Steph was a riot. The plotting was good and the mystery well set up. I liked the mix of races and the fact that they were mostly mythical creatures as opposed to more modern supernatural beings like vamps, werewolves, etc. Martin's worldbuilding does perhaps rely on a bit of familiarity with these kinds of creatures, however, since there isn't much exposition provided aside from her own new spin on them. Surely you've heard of Satyrs, Sylphs, Goblins, Harpies, Furies and Magi, though? I mean, what self-respecting UF nut hasn't? Pft.
All together, this book had a lot of good, and really just one major personal roadblock that I am willing to overlook for now in the hopes that it just... goes away in the next instalment. Go on, away with you! Shoo! Shoo!
4 Stars ★★★★
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
February 2, 2023
This just didn’t grab me. I had a couple of major issues with the book which I think lessened my rating. First, since this is the first in the series, I think it could have been best to have a little bit of background or world building to make me feel like I have my feet planted before shit hits the fan. I found myself completely lost the first couple chapters and wishing there was more. Second, along the lines about wishing for more, I LOVED all of the different creatures. Like another reviewer mentioned, it was refreshing to have something different than your usual vampire/witch/werewolf. So that was cool. But, let’s maybe explain what some of these creatures are first before assuming we know what all of the powers are? I feel like the author could have done such an amazing job with this and it just fell flat unfortunately. Last, going along again with the theme of wanting more, I feel like (besides the slow burn/lack of spice) I was wanting to really root for our main character but I found myself not really caring? I mean she is a badass babe who doesn’t take shit, and I love that. But maybe adding that background at the beginning or more character development at the beginning could help readers really understand our main character—maybe some glimpses into her past more frequently, family memories, etc could make the reader more inclined to feel as though they are in her head or can anticipate her next move.
Things I did like though: strong female protagonist, interesting plot, unique types of creatures.
*I won this one from a goodreads giveaway.*
Things I did like though: strong female protagonist, interesting plot, unique types of creatures.
*I won this one from a goodreads giveaway.*
April 13, 2014
Action packed urban fantasy from Tracey Martin!
Jess has a power that could get her in big trouble with the magic-wielding "police" force known as the Gryphons. As a vigilante crime fighter she uses her gift/curse to hunt bad guys and swap their souls. When she picks the wrong bad guy, she gets in over her head and seeks help from the sexy, lust-inducing (literally) satyr, Lucen. The two have serious chemistry and a ten-year tease that heats up. It'll be great to see how their relationship evolves over the course of the series. A five star hit!
Jess has a power that could get her in big trouble with the magic-wielding "police" force known as the Gryphons. As a vigilante crime fighter she uses her gift/curse to hunt bad guys and swap their souls. When she picks the wrong bad guy, she gets in over her head and seeks help from the sexy, lust-inducing (literally) satyr, Lucen. The two have serious chemistry and a ten-year tease that heats up. It'll be great to see how their relationship evolves over the course of the series. A five star hit!
November 22, 2013
Loved this book! Fresh new voice in urban fantasy. Tracey Martin's storytelling style and unique worldbuilding had me hooked from page 1. I think Jessica Moore is one of my new favorite characters. I can't wait to read the rest of this series!
March 10, 2022
Tracey Martin's Miss Misery Series isn't new. You can find the first title, Wicked Misery, as far back as 2013/014. The Misery series is being reissued by City Owl Press however, and Wicked Misery at least got a fresh cover. Since the author and her work is new to me I can't tell you if anything has been done to the contents (though it seems not), but here's my review for Wicked Misery 2022 edition.
A fresh start for this series and a very good beginning for a book, if you ask me. If there's one thing I truly appreciate from an author, it is when they don't need a long introduction into a world or a person's powers (f.e). Just throw me into the thick of things within pages. Or, you know, the very first one.
Such a beginning often bodes well for the rest of the story; rarely does such an author have too much fillers, slow sections or lack of excitement. And often the world-building is strong. Tracy Martin, unknown to me until this week, can label herself as such. Even though there were a few things that did not grab me from page one, this is a page-turner for sure.
As indicated, Tracey Martin's Wicked Misery has action from the very first page and that action continues until you close the book. Or in my case turn of the e- reader. The second chapter, a tad more than 10 pages in, already sets us on course for the plot and by the time the reader is on page 50 Martin has our spidey senses tingling. We've not just gotten insight into an array of emotions Jessica, Miss Misery herself, is struggling with – the type of emotions important for the story and future books I'm sure – but met important antagonists and heard enough about the murders Jessica is supposed to solve to know they're going to be center stage in more ways than one. Oh, and the world we're reading about is unique and original to boot.
These are all “checks” for a possible “full marks” review conclusion. And several parts definitely get those, even though the plot was a bit simple; at the first hint given I was no longer surprised at the final disclosure of the murder mystery unfortunately. But what I liked most were the fast paced action and well-written tense or violent moments. As well as the clear and original world-building you get to enjoy as reader. Plus, the author had an interesting surprise for us that relates to Jessica's curse- one I definitely did not see coming. All plusses for an urban fantasy slash paranormal romance.
Alas, the book didn't fulfil its promise entirely. It is Jessica herself, our gifted – or cursed depending on who you ask – human that made me throw a 'meh' into the mix. The MC has a lot of self hatred and this surfaces quite frequently. In some ways that annoyed me a bit, especially as I considered it an emotion I had not expected to be the front-runner. She is cursed -not her own fault she did not get her dream job and a weird gift. Anger or even fear would've been more justified, logical. For me it was therefore harder to connect with her.
I did like the fact that despite her lack of investigation into her new gift all these years Jessica did immediately try to make use of her gift's possibilities once her life was truly on the line. Not to mention, owning up to her mistakes and feelings. And therein she redeemed herself in my eyes, becoming the all-round bad-ass she actually can be. More importantly: it redeemed this book and the entire series. The heroine of a story should be relatable, likable in whatever way, or an inspiration of sorts. If not at least one of the 3 a character falls flat or becomes annoying. While I initially had her in the latter category, the last few chapters of the book turned that around. Actually have me look foward to the reissue of the 2nd title in the Miss Misery series.
Since I had some issues with our love-interest as well I hope that these will be sorted in a next book. Other than hearing he has horns and a great body we don't get much of an image of lusty predator Lucen in Wicked Misery. Could be that Jessica's disgust for preds influences that image for the reader and perhaps that's what the author wants, but I'm not sure. So far, I'm not rooting for more than anything above friendship. He helped her in a time of need, any vicarious butterflies are absent...yet.
The recipe for a follow-up book can at least be spicy. Jessica is slowly discovering who and what she is – and what that means for any special abilities. Unfortunately she's no longer alone in those discoveries. In a unique world where speciesm, addiction and violence are part of the course Jessica will have to deal with the consequences. And see where her true friends are. I'll definitely read about it when I can.
A fresh start for this series and a very good beginning for a book, if you ask me. If there's one thing I truly appreciate from an author, it is when they don't need a long introduction into a world or a person's powers (f.e). Just throw me into the thick of things within pages. Or, you know, the very first one.
Such a beginning often bodes well for the rest of the story; rarely does such an author have too much fillers, slow sections or lack of excitement. And often the world-building is strong. Tracy Martin, unknown to me until this week, can label herself as such. Even though there were a few things that did not grab me from page one, this is a page-turner for sure.
As indicated, Tracey Martin's Wicked Misery has action from the very first page and that action continues until you close the book. Or in my case turn of the e- reader. The second chapter, a tad more than 10 pages in, already sets us on course for the plot and by the time the reader is on page 50 Martin has our spidey senses tingling. We've not just gotten insight into an array of emotions Jessica, Miss Misery herself, is struggling with – the type of emotions important for the story and future books I'm sure – but met important antagonists and heard enough about the murders Jessica is supposed to solve to know they're going to be center stage in more ways than one. Oh, and the world we're reading about is unique and original to boot.
These are all “checks” for a possible “full marks” review conclusion. And several parts definitely get those, even though the plot was a bit simple; at the first hint given I was no longer surprised at the final disclosure of the murder mystery unfortunately. But what I liked most were the fast paced action and well-written tense or violent moments. As well as the clear and original world-building you get to enjoy as reader. Plus, the author had an interesting surprise for us that relates to Jessica's curse- one I definitely did not see coming. All plusses for an urban fantasy slash paranormal romance.
Alas, the book didn't fulfil its promise entirely. It is Jessica herself, our gifted – or cursed depending on who you ask – human that made me throw a 'meh' into the mix. The MC has a lot of self hatred and this surfaces quite frequently. In some ways that annoyed me a bit, especially as I considered it an emotion I had not expected to be the front-runner. She is cursed -not her own fault she did not get her dream job and a weird gift. Anger or even fear would've been more justified, logical. For me it was therefore harder to connect with her.
I did like the fact that despite her lack of investigation into her new gift all these years Jessica did immediately try to make use of her gift's possibilities once her life was truly on the line. Not to mention, owning up to her mistakes and feelings. And therein she redeemed herself in my eyes, becoming the all-round bad-ass she actually can be. More importantly: it redeemed this book and the entire series. The heroine of a story should be relatable, likable in whatever way, or an inspiration of sorts. If not at least one of the 3 a character falls flat or becomes annoying. While I initially had her in the latter category, the last few chapters of the book turned that around. Actually have me look foward to the reissue of the 2nd title in the Miss Misery series.
Since I had some issues with our love-interest as well I hope that these will be sorted in a next book. Other than hearing he has horns and a great body we don't get much of an image of lusty predator Lucen in Wicked Misery. Could be that Jessica's disgust for preds influences that image for the reader and perhaps that's what the author wants, but I'm not sure. So far, I'm not rooting for more than anything above friendship. He helped her in a time of need, any vicarious butterflies are absent...yet.
The recipe for a follow-up book can at least be spicy. Jessica is slowly discovering who and what she is – and what that means for any special abilities. Unfortunately she's no longer alone in those discoveries. In a unique world where speciesm, addiction and violence are part of the course Jessica will have to deal with the consequences. And see where her true friends are. I'll definitely read about it when I can.
February 20, 2023
(FYI I tend to only review one book per series, unless I completely change my mind on a series, so want to change my scoring down a lot. -- I tend not to read reviews until after I read a book, so I go in with an open mind.)
Interesting premise, though the world building needed more explanation of species abilities.
I didn't like the MC, she was too much of an idiot for me, nor did I like the love interest. Secondary characters also did not appeal to me.
First time read the author's work?: Yes
Will you be reading more?: No
Would you recommend?: No
------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)
All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked
Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)
Interesting premise, though the world building needed more explanation of species abilities.
I didn't like the MC, she was too much of an idiot for me, nor did I like the love interest. Secondary characters also did not appeal to me.
First time read the author's work?: Yes
Will you be reading more?: No
Would you recommend?: No
------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)
All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked
Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)
April 9, 2022
Book 1 and I'm already addicted to this world.
This is allllllmost a dystopian paranormal book, but is still in a magical land that I find slightly more palatable. In this world, magic is normal and people with magic are sent to become guardians of a sort until their powers either fizzle or solidify. Jessica was one of the "chosen" until she suddenly wasn't. When her powers didn't materialize, they shifted into something more unexplainable. She assumes she was cursed somehow to feed off misery instead of doing normal "magic" things. This classifies her very close to "preds" which in this world feed off "addicts" in various forms. Lucen is one such pred that has somehow found his way (reluctantly) into Jessica's very small inner circle.
With such a black and white moral world, Jessica is shaken up when she is suddenly accused of murder, possibly hoping to start a war between the paranormal races. This puts her in a position where she has to either accept herself, grow, and learn to trust other people, or perish as some sort of misunderstood martyr. It was really wonderful to watch a person who is pretty terrible at making decisions make a comeback by the end. I went from cringing to rooting for her, so hang in there!
This is allllllmost a dystopian paranormal book, but is still in a magical land that I find slightly more palatable. In this world, magic is normal and people with magic are sent to become guardians of a sort until their powers either fizzle or solidify. Jessica was one of the "chosen" until she suddenly wasn't. When her powers didn't materialize, they shifted into something more unexplainable. She assumes she was cursed somehow to feed off misery instead of doing normal "magic" things. This classifies her very close to "preds" which in this world feed off "addicts" in various forms. Lucen is one such pred that has somehow found his way (reluctantly) into Jessica's very small inner circle.
With such a black and white moral world, Jessica is shaken up when she is suddenly accused of murder, possibly hoping to start a war between the paranormal races. This puts her in a position where she has to either accept herself, grow, and learn to trust other people, or perish as some sort of misunderstood martyr. It was really wonderful to watch a person who is pretty terrible at making decisions make a comeback by the end. I went from cringing to rooting for her, so hang in there!
June 12, 2022
Our heroine is saddled with quite the curse, but they say that misery loves company. Of course, our hero provides company with its own blend of trouble. The two of them just might be a potent mix.
This is book one of the series, so no issues there.
This is an urban fantasy story, but it is rather unique in my experience. The mix of races in the story makes it quite different on its own, but our heroine's curse takes it to an entirely different level. The story is well written, although not always easy to read. We get introduced to a lot of people and things here and it occasionally gets difficult to keep it all straight. The flip side of that is that there is plenty of action, mystery and intrigue to keep things going. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to seeing what comes next.
Highly recommended.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout for review purposes.
This is book one of the series, so no issues there.
This is an urban fantasy story, but it is rather unique in my experience. The mix of races in the story makes it quite different on its own, but our heroine's curse takes it to an entirely different level. The story is well written, although not always easy to read. We get introduced to a lot of people and things here and it occasionally gets difficult to keep it all straight. The flip side of that is that there is plenty of action, mystery and intrigue to keep things going. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to seeing what comes next.
Highly recommended.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout for review purposes.
March 6, 2022
I came across this book, and I thought it sounded interesting, so I requested it. I then realized I had read it over 5 years before, but I decided to reread it. I just finished it, and I loved it all over again. Jessica is a wounded soul, and she’s been fighting herself for a long time. She is such a great character, and I love how patient and caring Lucen has been for her since they ran across each other. Add to that an intriguing plot and other great side characters, and this is a great, well-written book. I can’t wait to read the next in the series even if I have read it before. Highly recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.
March 7, 2022
I really enjoyed this story. I liked the world building as I was introduced to a Boston with humans and other magical creatures living together but not easily. It is the story of Jessica and what happens where her life is turned upside down and wanted for murder. She now has 5 days to figure out what is going on to save herself and stop a war between all the races. It was a hoot to read although I did want to slap her a few times and tell her to stop being an idiot and take the help she is given and stop causing trouble for herself. But it was fun and entertaining to read and glued to the end to see what was really going on and how it would end.
March 12, 2022
Jessica and Lucen . . .
Because of a goblin’s curse, Jessica Moore benefits from human suffering. She doesn’t want to do that, so she instead bargains to hunt bad guys for their soul to save a good person. But a serial killer frames her for the murders, and she runs to the satyr Lucen because she trusts him. However, his power is lust which she is not immune to.
With time running out to prove her innocence, Jessica cannot let herself fall for Lucen’s seductive power. Will she have to give him up? Or can they somehow let their relationship continue? Will she get her name cleared? Can they find the real killer?
Because of a goblin’s curse, Jessica Moore benefits from human suffering. She doesn’t want to do that, so she instead bargains to hunt bad guys for their soul to save a good person. But a serial killer frames her for the murders, and she runs to the satyr Lucen because she trusts him. However, his power is lust which she is not immune to.
With time running out to prove her innocence, Jessica cannot let herself fall for Lucen’s seductive power. Will she have to give him up? Or can they somehow let their relationship continue? Will she get her name cleared? Can they find the real killer?
April 20, 2022
I thought this was a really cool urban pnr! The writing was really well done in my opinion and the storyline flowed really well. One of the things is you do have to pay attention to what’s going on because a decent amount is thrown at during the book but it’s all important information that comes together. This is definitely a slow burn romance, the characters, or mainly Jess, finally realizes her feelings by the end of the book. Jess is a bit naive with her feelings towards Lucien but I think it has to do with essentially being an outcast within the society and things generally disappointing her.
Arc provided by Netgalley
Arc provided by Netgalley
June 7, 2022
I really loved this book. I thought this was a great start to a series, with interesting world building and lots of well developed characters. It was easy to follow and I loved following all of the twist and turns and finding out about each race and what the MC was going to do next. She was so erratic in her own stick to her guns sort of way, I loved her. I felt like she made real decisions, a real person would make in her situation, instead of plot development decisions, which infuriate me. lol. I read this book in two sittings, only because I fell asleep in the middle of the night during the first.
March 8, 2022
A big thank you to NetGalley and City Owl Press for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is the first in a new series. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in the world building. I had no idea what was going on half of the time. New terms were not defined. I was confused and lost. I did find the book interesting though. I wanted to like Jess, but I found her a bit whiny. Get over it and be strong! Kick some butt. 3.5 stars I may or may not pick up the 2nd in the series.
April 20, 2022
This first book i have read by this author it didnt disappoint. Human can have what they desire t the price of their souls. Jess are main mc. Help those in need by offer the soul of bad guy instead of the person in need. when she accused of murder she get help from the person she try avoiding. This world is once of a kinda that i found my self suck in. It slow when it comes to the relationship between the two MC but all action and suspense make it so worth. And i really cant wait for the next book to see what going to happen next.
March 22, 2022
An original and entertaining urban fantasy that I thoroughly enjoyed. The world building is original and well developed, the characters are interesting, and I had fun in reading the story.
I look forward to read the next stories.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I look forward to read the next stories.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
June 4, 2022
It’s not often that I read the book preview at the end of a book and decide I absolutely need to read it right now. This was one of those books, and I am happy to not be disappointed. The mystery was great, the characters were well developed and complex, and the pace drove the story to a satisfying end. Excited to read the next book!
March 12, 2022
Within this world there are creatures other than humans. After Jess is cursed, she helps protect the innocent souls by using the bad souls as the payment/collateral. It is an interesting story concept and I'm interested in what the next book will have.
December 1, 2024
Wicked Misery by Tracey Martin is a book that I just couldn’t read beyond the second chapter. I found it a little bit confusing and hard to understand.
August 16, 2022
The book was good and fast paced, I enjoyed the writing style. I do wish there was a bit more in terms of world building, but a lot of the important questions that are left unanswered at the end are there because Jess doesn't know the answers. The back and forth between wanting Lucen and hating him gets a little repetitive, however the ending leaves you wanting more as the first book in a good series likes to do.
April 3, 2022
Full disclosure - I won a Kindle version of this book from a Goodreads giveaway.
Enjoyable urban fantasy. The metaphysics are unique, and seem to be consistent and logical. There are some questions I have about the word building (why do humans seem to have the most political/legal power considering how most of them have NO magical power, when all the other races have some...) but there is a reveal late in the book which seems to shed some light on it. I'll have to mull it over a bit to see if it holds up, but it certainly might.
I hope to come back to this series some day. It's a really good start!
Enjoyable urban fantasy. The metaphysics are unique, and seem to be consistent and logical. There are some questions I have about the word building (why do humans seem to have the most political/legal power considering how most of them have NO magical power, when all the other races have some...) but there is a reveal late in the book which seems to shed some light on it. I'll have to mull it over a bit to see if it holds up, but it certainly might.
I hope to come back to this series some day. It's a really good start!
February 15, 2014
I went on a mad Samhain publishing spree a few months ago and WICKED MISERY was one of the purchases. I wasn’t entirely certain about it but I though the concept was quite original so I figured I’d give it a shot. Overall, I did enjoy it. Here’s why.
Let’s start with my favourite part: Martin has created a very compelling world. People know about preds like satyrs, sylphs, furies, magi, and goblins, and humans aren’t overly fond of them. In fact, there’s a police force called the Gryphons consisting of humans with magical abilities. Jess, our lovely leading lady, was on track to become a Gryphon but her magic never matured in the expected way, so she was let go. Despite this, her abilities are quite strong, if unusual — she can feed on people’s negative emotions, especially misery. She’s turned it into an unlikely career path, as the Soul Swapper, trading with goblins to give them the souls of bad people in place of good people who made deals they can’t get out of. I’ve seen lots of books with empaths or people who thrive on misery but I think Martin’s created her own unique spin on the ability, which is awesome. I love it when an author can bring something original to the table, especially in genre fiction, which sometimes feels over saturated with sparkly vampires and broody werewolves.
Martin also does a great job with her cast of characters. Jess is a strong protagonist and she’s surrounded by compelling friends and enemies. Lucen is great. As a satyr, his magic is alluring to Jess but she doesn’t want to be an addict, which is what people hooked on any magics are called in WICKED MISERY. Most preds have addicts, which Jess finds disgusting. I’ll admit, it is a bit off-putting when you see how some folks use their humans but it makes sense in the world that Martin has created and it’s a very practical business arrangement for a lot of the characters. It adds an interesting dimension to the world, as do the pred communities that exist in Martin’s Boston, like Shadowtown.
Plot-wise, WICKED MISERY is also fairly strong. Jess is facing off with an unnamed foe who shares her ability who gets her accused of serial murder. This turns most of the world against her, and I’m definitely a sucker of seemingly unbeatable odds. I also really enjoy stories that have the countdown-to-doom element in them because it adds so much suspense to the story. WICKED MISERY didn’t feel super suspenseful to me in this respect, though, which was a bit disappointing. But Martin has created a well-paced novel with some surprising ups and downs so the loss isn’t too major, and may not be a big deal to other readers.
As I said at the start, I did enjoy WICKED MISERY. It’s my first dance with Martin’s work but I’ll definitely be back for WICKED MISERY’s sequel.
http://ireadgood.wordpress.com
Let’s start with my favourite part: Martin has created a very compelling world. People know about preds like satyrs, sylphs, furies, magi, and goblins, and humans aren’t overly fond of them. In fact, there’s a police force called the Gryphons consisting of humans with magical abilities. Jess, our lovely leading lady, was on track to become a Gryphon but her magic never matured in the expected way, so she was let go. Despite this, her abilities are quite strong, if unusual — she can feed on people’s negative emotions, especially misery. She’s turned it into an unlikely career path, as the Soul Swapper, trading with goblins to give them the souls of bad people in place of good people who made deals they can’t get out of. I’ve seen lots of books with empaths or people who thrive on misery but I think Martin’s created her own unique spin on the ability, which is awesome. I love it when an author can bring something original to the table, especially in genre fiction, which sometimes feels over saturated with sparkly vampires and broody werewolves.
Martin also does a great job with her cast of characters. Jess is a strong protagonist and she’s surrounded by compelling friends and enemies. Lucen is great. As a satyr, his magic is alluring to Jess but she doesn’t want to be an addict, which is what people hooked on any magics are called in WICKED MISERY. Most preds have addicts, which Jess finds disgusting. I’ll admit, it is a bit off-putting when you see how some folks use their humans but it makes sense in the world that Martin has created and it’s a very practical business arrangement for a lot of the characters. It adds an interesting dimension to the world, as do the pred communities that exist in Martin’s Boston, like Shadowtown.
Plot-wise, WICKED MISERY is also fairly strong. Jess is facing off with an unnamed foe who shares her ability who gets her accused of serial murder. This turns most of the world against her, and I’m definitely a sucker of seemingly unbeatable odds. I also really enjoy stories that have the countdown-to-doom element in them because it adds so much suspense to the story. WICKED MISERY didn’t feel super suspenseful to me in this respect, though, which was a bit disappointing. But Martin has created a well-paced novel with some surprising ups and downs so the loss isn’t too major, and may not be a big deal to other readers.
As I said at the start, I did enjoy WICKED MISERY. It’s my first dance with Martin’s work but I’ll definitely be back for WICKED MISERY’s sequel.
http://ireadgood.wordpress.com
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