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Undertow: Expanded Second Edition
Expanded Second Edition
Have you ever been seriously strung out over a guy?
Think about the worst boyfriend you’ve ever had. Think about the way he used to make you feel—exhilarated, sexy, stupid, then miserable. Think about the things you did to turn him into The One. The money you loaned, the lies you told yourself, the sacrifices you made only to watch him walk away.
Now imagine that all that heartache is killing you. Literally.
The meet-cute, the disappointments, your determination to make him into the man you need him to be—all of it powered by instincts grafted into your body when you were too young to say no, and nourished with pieces of your soul. A living thing that feeds on your worst instincts and rewards you with bliss—enough to keep you happy…and bleeding.
Now imagine that you can’t stop.
That’s Dragon.
She can see what people could be and make it real. Fix them up to be newer. Stronger. Brighter. Worth loving. A convenient bit of craft that mysteriously appeared when she was a child. Back then, she used it to save her life. These days she uses it to “fix” the men she dates.
Neat trick. Well, it would be if it wasn’t killing her.
Because the power fueling these transformations isn’t passive. It’s watching. Waiting. And it wants her body for itself.
Then she meets Fel.
A banished fae warrior suffering from PTSD, with an addiction to undertow—a drug that is heaven for the non-human citizens of Hollow City, and hell for everyone else. Around him, Dragon can breathe again. The urge to fix goes quiet. That should’ve been her first warning.
Instead, it gives Dragon all the permission she needs to dive right into an affair—love optional. Or so she tells herself.
As their connection deepens, rumors spread of a cache of magic stolen during a brutal fae war between the Queen of Sun and Prince of Shade—magic hidden to keep the world from tearing itself apart. Some say it was buried in a broken soldier. Others believe it was stitched into a woman who keeps surviving things she shouldn’t.
Before Dragon can figure out who she is without the hunger driving her, painful truths come to light. Old lies catch up to Fel demanding their pounds of his flesh. As ancient powers circle closer and the living thing inside her grows impatient, ready to reclaim what it believes is rightfully its own, Dragon and Fel must decide what they’re willing to lose to stay themselves.
Because love won’t save them.
Magic always comes with consequences.
And hunger—once fed—never stops dragging you under.
A dark romantasy featuring a monstrous fae prince, found family, demons, addiction, and a heroine whose gift is slowly destroying her.
dark romantasy
found family
monstrous fae prince
demon possession
urban fantasy romance
emotionally complex heroine
Have you ever been seriously strung out over a guy?
Think about the worst boyfriend you’ve ever had. Think about the way he used to make you feel—exhilarated, sexy, stupid, then miserable. Think about the things you did to turn him into The One. The money you loaned, the lies you told yourself, the sacrifices you made only to watch him walk away.
Now imagine that all that heartache is killing you. Literally.
The meet-cute, the disappointments, your determination to make him into the man you need him to be—all of it powered by instincts grafted into your body when you were too young to say no, and nourished with pieces of your soul. A living thing that feeds on your worst instincts and rewards you with bliss—enough to keep you happy…and bleeding.
Now imagine that you can’t stop.
That’s Dragon.
She can see what people could be and make it real. Fix them up to be newer. Stronger. Brighter. Worth loving. A convenient bit of craft that mysteriously appeared when she was a child. Back then, she used it to save her life. These days she uses it to “fix” the men she dates.
Neat trick. Well, it would be if it wasn’t killing her.
Because the power fueling these transformations isn’t passive. It’s watching. Waiting. And it wants her body for itself.
Then she meets Fel.
A banished fae warrior suffering from PTSD, with an addiction to undertow—a drug that is heaven for the non-human citizens of Hollow City, and hell for everyone else. Around him, Dragon can breathe again. The urge to fix goes quiet. That should’ve been her first warning.
Instead, it gives Dragon all the permission she needs to dive right into an affair—love optional. Or so she tells herself.
As their connection deepens, rumors spread of a cache of magic stolen during a brutal fae war between the Queen of Sun and Prince of Shade—magic hidden to keep the world from tearing itself apart. Some say it was buried in a broken soldier. Others believe it was stitched into a woman who keeps surviving things she shouldn’t.
Before Dragon can figure out who she is without the hunger driving her, painful truths come to light. Old lies catch up to Fel demanding their pounds of his flesh. As ancient powers circle closer and the living thing inside her grows impatient, ready to reclaim what it believes is rightfully its own, Dragon and Fel must decide what they’re willing to lose to stay themselves.
Because love won’t save them.
Magic always comes with consequences.
And hunger—once fed—never stops dragging you under.
A dark romantasy featuring a monstrous fae prince, found family, demons, addiction, and a heroine whose gift is slowly destroying her.
dark romantasy
found family
monstrous fae prince
demon possession
urban fantasy romance
emotionally complex heroine
681 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 13, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 1, 2017
I actually have two copies of this book. The one in the picture which I got this through the AXP Read and Review site.The other one is Undertow: Complete Novel. I have read the latter but the one in the picture is the former. I don't know what's the difference between these two. The blurb seems to be the same.
I thought this book is about mermaids. This is probably the second time that I thought the book was about mermaids. I don't know what's with me and mermaids. I love Ariel of Disney's Little Mermaid, that's for sure. I don't think I read the blurb for this book carefully or read it at all. I admit the title is so intriguing. I think I signed up for this one thinking this was a mermaid story. Well, the notion was not so far out because this is a paranormal story but no mermaid though. This involved characters with magic and monsters.
This is a story about Dragon. A girl who was modified with supernatural gifts. She is the only modified human or mutant to survive. Speaking of mutant, this reminds me of X-Men. That is doubtlessly the closest thing I could describe the characters in this story. Only the characters.
I find the characters very fascinating. A mix of mythical and magical creatures from all over the world. Most fascinating is of course, Dragon. Half-human. With her special ability, I think anyone could use her help. Unfortunately, in this story, the people she helped only caused her misery. They became better versions of themselves but didn't want to stay with her any longer. In turn, broke her heart.
Other than the fascination for the characters, I don't think I was so engrossed with the story. I am not even sure if I fully grasp the plot. I mean, I get it--a civil war between a ruthless queen and a dark prince. Both have powers and the rest of the characters of this story are pawns. I just could not see where the story is going and how the rest of the characters are going to play into it. The queen has not made an appearance yet in this story. This book centered on Dragon's obsessive search for love. I am also unsure how that will play into the whole scheme of things in this tale. I hope how the characters are interconnected and how the events will play out that will eventually lead to the heart of this story will be done flawlessly. I am so wishing for it.
With that said, I am still curious as to what happens after this story. Obviously, this is a series, so I am wondering what will happen next. I hope the storyline would be clearer this time. And I am hoping the next book will actually shed more light to the whole story.
I give this book 2/5 tablets of sleeping pills. It felt like I needed to sleep it off after reading this story. The story is dark with a lot of deaths and the theme overall was not so hopeful. It was not clear where the story was going or what it was striving for. That was how it appeared to me.
Pride like love, made fools of us all.
- Joss Dey, Undertow: The Complete Novel -
I thought this book is about mermaids. This is probably the second time that I thought the book was about mermaids. I don't know what's with me and mermaids. I love Ariel of Disney's Little Mermaid, that's for sure. I don't think I read the blurb for this book carefully or read it at all. I admit the title is so intriguing. I think I signed up for this one thinking this was a mermaid story. Well, the notion was not so far out because this is a paranormal story but no mermaid though. This involved characters with magic and monsters.
This is a story about Dragon. A girl who was modified with supernatural gifts. She is the only modified human or mutant to survive. Speaking of mutant, this reminds me of X-Men. That is doubtlessly the closest thing I could describe the characters in this story. Only the characters.
I find the characters very fascinating. A mix of mythical and magical creatures from all over the world. Most fascinating is of course, Dragon. Half-human. With her special ability, I think anyone could use her help. Unfortunately, in this story, the people she helped only caused her misery. They became better versions of themselves but didn't want to stay with her any longer. In turn, broke her heart.
Other than the fascination for the characters, I don't think I was so engrossed with the story. I am not even sure if I fully grasp the plot. I mean, I get it--a civil war between a ruthless queen and a dark prince. Both have powers and the rest of the characters of this story are pawns. I just could not see where the story is going and how the rest of the characters are going to play into it. The queen has not made an appearance yet in this story. This book centered on Dragon's obsessive search for love. I am also unsure how that will play into the whole scheme of things in this tale. I hope how the characters are interconnected and how the events will play out that will eventually lead to the heart of this story will be done flawlessly. I am so wishing for it.
With that said, I am still curious as to what happens after this story. Obviously, this is a series, so I am wondering what will happen next. I hope the storyline would be clearer this time. And I am hoping the next book will actually shed more light to the whole story.
I give this book 2/5 tablets of sleeping pills. It felt like I needed to sleep it off after reading this story. The story is dark with a lot of deaths and the theme overall was not so hopeful. It was not clear where the story was going or what it was striving for. That was how it appeared to me.
Pride like love, made fools of us all.
- Joss Dey, Undertow: The Complete Novel -
June 11, 2018
Once again my proclivity for pretty book covers led me astray.
I saw this at the WOC in Romance website and like a packrat collecting shiny things, glommed onto the cover.
Undertow isn't awful. Point of fact, certain aspects of it are marvelous. It calls to mind novels like Perdido Street Station where the reader is dropped--splat!--into the midst of an imaginative, almost phantasmagorical world with little explanation. And where the approach works because the writing, the descriptive prose and voice are so strong. The setting is dark and dangerous and bears little resemblance to the usual "our world, but with some magic" urban fantasy trope.
In the world of Undertow, the magical reality of fairies and other fabled beings has collided with ours. The fey and their kin now live among us, and humanity exists in a kind of second class status. Which is aggravated by the ongoing war, now a cold war, between the rival Sun and Shade courts.
Dragon is a young human woman who, thanks to "alterations" done to her as a baby, has the ability to "fix" other peoples' flaws. Fel is a disgraced and banished prince of the Sun. Both are addicts, with Dragon's craving the bliss derived from saving lost causes (a long string of boyfriends), and Fel coping with PTSD and loss of magical power via the drug Undertow.
The story is dominated by their relationship. Romance readers might find this a bit more tolerable, but absent a strong non-romantic plot, my attention span wondered. It's a shame, really, because the world building has so much potential; almost, but not quite, enough to offset the roh-man-cey angst.
Violence, some of it sexual, is present in the story, and while I didn't find it offensive (not much offends me), at times it grew tiresome and crass. A sex scene at the beginning of the novel was awful in its combination of vague non-consent and crudeness and I nearly bailed at that point.
Even with the abundance of angst and violence, however, there is nothing at stake; tension is absent. The world of Undertow fascinated me, but that wasn't enough to counter the absence of plot.
I made it as far as the 81% mark before wandering off to read something else.
I saw this at the WOC in Romance website and like a packrat collecting shiny things, glommed onto the cover.
Undertow isn't awful. Point of fact, certain aspects of it are marvelous. It calls to mind novels like Perdido Street Station where the reader is dropped--splat!--into the midst of an imaginative, almost phantasmagorical world with little explanation. And where the approach works because the writing, the descriptive prose and voice are so strong. The setting is dark and dangerous and bears little resemblance to the usual "our world, but with some magic" urban fantasy trope.
In the world of Undertow, the magical reality of fairies and other fabled beings has collided with ours. The fey and their kin now live among us, and humanity exists in a kind of second class status. Which is aggravated by the ongoing war, now a cold war, between the rival Sun and Shade courts.
Dragon is a young human woman who, thanks to "alterations" done to her as a baby, has the ability to "fix" other peoples' flaws. Fel is a disgraced and banished prince of the Sun. Both are addicts, with Dragon's craving the bliss derived from saving lost causes (a long string of boyfriends), and Fel coping with PTSD and loss of magical power via the drug Undertow.
The story is dominated by their relationship. Romance readers might find this a bit more tolerable, but absent a strong non-romantic plot, my attention span wondered. It's a shame, really, because the world building has so much potential; almost, but not quite, enough to offset the roh-man-cey angst.
Violence, some of it sexual, is present in the story, and while I didn't find it offensive (not much offends me), at times it grew tiresome and crass. A sex scene at the beginning of the novel was awful in its combination of vague non-consent and crudeness and I nearly bailed at that point.
Even with the abundance of angst and violence, however, there is nothing at stake; tension is absent. The world of Undertow fascinated me, but that wasn't enough to counter the absence of plot.
I made it as far as the 81% mark before wandering off to read something else.
March 21, 2017
Quit at 31%. Too much swearing and too much explicit sex. I don't need to read that. It's ok to leave something to the imagination.
Read
February 9, 2017I really enjoyed this book.
Sharon Wadeson
Sharon Wadeson
February 3, 2017
I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily chose to review it.
This book is definitely a dystopian urban fantasy world full with dark and dangerous creatures. To be honest, I found it hard to get hooked into the story. There was just a lot of information in a short amount of time. Once in the story, I found it a lot easier to read and understand. Other than that, I thought Dragon and Fel were perfect main characters. They both had their inner conflicts which paired nicely together. Plus, fast-paced scenes were especially fun to read ;) Overall, I thought it was a good read.
This book is definitely a dystopian urban fantasy world full with dark and dangerous creatures. To be honest, I found it hard to get hooked into the story. There was just a lot of information in a short amount of time. Once in the story, I found it a lot easier to read and understand. Other than that, I thought Dragon and Fel were perfect main characters. They both had their inner conflicts which paired nicely together. Plus, fast-paced scenes were especially fun to read ;) Overall, I thought it was a good read.
October 7, 2016
A highly complex world and addictive story with all things magical and problems that are too real. Joss Dey has created a new urban fantasy that will pull you in and hook you in the first few pages. Looking forward to the part two.
January 23, 2017
I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily reviewed.
Slow start, but took off after a while. By the end, I was rooting for Dragon & Fel's love. The end left me wanting more.
Slow start, but took off after a while. By the end, I was rooting for Dragon & Fel's love. The end left me wanting more.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews