I was provided a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

As a huge fan of Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin series, I was very excited to hear that she was writing a YA novel. I looked forward to being able to recommend an author whose work my students could enjoy now, and later expand into her adult novels as they mature. Fans of Estep's Elemental Assassin series will find this book a little slower to get into, but stick with it as it does get better!

Lila is seventeen, and makes her way by being a thief. Stealing comes rather easy for her, as she is magically Talented with a trio of talents. She has Sight (allowing her to magically perceive movement and detail), Soul-Sight (the ability to see into people and accurately judge their character), and Transference (the ability to absorb magics used against her). She is also a great fighter, having been trained by her bodyguard mother before her mother was killed by the Draconi Family.

Lila's talents are put to use when she steps in to protect Devon Sinclair, the son of the head of another powerful family. She is coerced into being Devon's bodyguard, and must discover who is trying to kill Devon before time runs out. While doing so, Lila must fight numerous hired killers, her own rage at the Draconi family, and her growing attraction to Devon.

As a middle school librarian, I would recommend this book for grades 7 and up. There is no harsh language, and the main characters have an attraction that goes no further. Violence and some gore would be the only issues of concern with this book, as Lila does kill several people in the course of protecting Devon, and a few people are killed by a monster. Lila is also cut several times in the course of her duties. Lila is a strong, independent female lead protagonist, and one that I will happily introduce to my students.

Share/Like this Review?

This is the first book in a new young adult urban fantasy series by Estep. Estep also wrote the Mythos Academy series (another young adult urban fantasy series which I enjoyed) and the Elemental Assassin series (an adult urban fantasy series which I enjoyed initially but have since dropped because of inconsistent quality). Lately Estep has been a bit hit or miss for me. This book was okay, but it reminds a lot of her adult Elemental Assassin series...in fact at points I felt like I was reading a book in that series.

Lila is struggling to make a living by working as a thief in a modern day small town. Things are a bit crazier than expected because this small town is the home to many monsters. When Lila interferes in the assassination attempt of one of the towns head Familys sons her life changes...a lot. Lila is offered (black-mailed into) the position of bodyguard to one of the head familys sons, Devon. Someone is trying to kill Devon and Lila is in the position of both trying to protect him and trying to figure out who is behind the attacks. As you can imagine this is not a safe position for her to be in.

I was really excited for this series. A modern day town full of monsters and a girl trying to survive in it sounds like an awesome premise. Unfortunately although the eerie monsters are constantly mentioned, they mostly stay in the background..you pretty much never see them. I found this incredibly disappointing. There is all this monster hype throughout the book and then you barely ever see them.

The story ends up being more mob-themed (very similar to the Elemental Assassin series) than anything. You have these different powerful families that are vying for power in this small magical and touristy town. The whole idea of a magical touristy town where the dangers are more real than expected reminded me of Jacqueline Careys Agent of Hel series, but was nowhere near as entertaining as that series was.

Lila is very similar to the character Gin from the Elemental Assassin series. Lila is super tough and has survived against the odds. However because of her tough upbringing she is slow to trust and tries to do everything herself. She is also slow to make friends and has a bit of a chip on her shoulder. That pretty much is the exact same character profile as Gin from the Elemental Assassin series.

Additionally the characters all have magical abilities this is incredibly similar to the Elemental ASsassin series as well. The only difference being that in this case the powers are not all Elements. I also thought the magic system presented here was a bit muddy and was never explained all that well. Half way through you find out that people can steal each others magical powers but that is never explained all that well either.

The plot was okay. Again is was mostly focused on solving the mystery of who was trying to kill Devon. The mystery was laid out okay but was mostly one of those quickly wrapped up aha! kind of mysteries.

Overall this was an okay urban fantasy. I am intrigued by the idea of a small town with monsters lurking outside and am curious about the magic powers these character wield. However the main character is a carbon copy of Gin from the Elemental Assassin series and many of the story elements are similar to that series as well (mob mentality, individual powers, etc). I was disappointed that so much of the story deals with fights between different Families and not with the monsters (which are mentioned again and again but never really seen).

I am not sure if I will keep reading this story or not. I am starting to feel like Estep can only write the same story over and over. This is the same problem I have had with her Elemental Assassin books; I was really hoping this new series would something exciting and fresh but its just more of the same.

Share/Like this Review?