Another good book. I like the characters well enough that the shortcomings didn't bother me too much. Celia was still great, smart and brave, strong without being too pushy, and just likable. And the rest of the characters, large and small, continued to be vividly portrayed in this book. I have a terrible memory, but as an example, even now I can remember the names of her officemates (Ron and Bubba) because they were so well-described, even though they were minor characters. It adds a lot to the story. I really liked John, of course. He was intriguing when he was introduced in book one and I'll be disappointed if he isn't in book three. And Dottie is quite the treat.
There was a bit more of a plot to this one than the first book. It was still a bit random, especially at the beginning. The first section was more about what was going on in Celia's life than an overall story arc. But it was an improvement. And I didn't mind the random parts too much, I like Celia's journey. I actually like it more than the siren stuff. I like Celia's work and friends more than the siren adventure, and the emotional issues are really the heart of this story.
The other thing I liked was the revelation about the death curse. While the eventual reason behind it didn't thrill me, it did make all of the trouble Celia got into make sense, always a good thing for a series heroine. Otherwise we're shaking our heads and wondering if she's just drama queen, as many people who know her apparently have done as well.
As for shortcomings, there were a few. The authors took the easy way out sometimes, like having Vicki the psychic ghost assure Celia that she could trust John. That felt like lazy storytelling. I prefer a story where the character uses her experiences to make up her own mind, not having an easy decision handed to her.
Also, Celia drank a lot at the wrong times and it didn't make any sense for her character. She downed three drinks not long after being shot at, saw that she was in danger, picked up a drink and downed a few last sips and then got ready for the confrontation? She was too drunk to drive to her next appointment, yet she was drinking again at dinner. It didn't make her seem cool, it made her seem stupid, and it wasn't consistent with the careful, controlled character the authors had built up. And because of other inconsistencies in the book, but consistency with her character, strangely it actually seemed more like the authors' fault than Celia's.
OK, here was a weird little thing - on page 175 Celia's friend Emma suddenly announced that she had had a tubal last week because she doesn't want kids, so now she and Celia should be able to be better friends than in the past because the siren thing shouldn't matter anymore. Who does that? Just has their tubes tied for no medical reason without even having a boyfriend or husband? No one. Unless there was some extreme reason for not wanting children they'd use long-term birth control. It was just so dumb, just thrown in to answer the siren question when no one would have cared, they had been friends for years. Yes, the siren thing happened, maybe that would have changed things. But would the fans have cared? Or why write a whole plot around this person if you have to put in something dumb like that to make it work? It was another small but irritating thing that just wasn't necessary and felt lazy.
Anyway, there were a bunch of things like that, some pretty stereotypical storytelling when it come to character motivations and plots in the big siren story but it was generally entertaining. And Celia was great and her emotional journey still has a few extra layers that make the rest of it a bit more special.