Second Grave on the Left

After the initial chapters, which are heavy with exposition and previously... moments, Second Grave on the Left hits its stride with a clever mystery at the core.  I managed to forget about what I hated in Jones' previous offering First Grave on the Right and enjoyed reading Darynda Jones' second offering about a female Grim Reaper.  Then that moment was spoiled with a cliched passage centering around a family in crisis.  Another thing I found frustrating were contradictions to the lore that Jones had established in the first book.  Charley's impeccable memory, which means she remembers being born and meeting Reyes for the first time, is re-mentioned within the first few chapters of SGOTL and then completely forgotten by page 156.  I understand that authors often contradict themselves within their own series, but for it to happen in the second book of a planned series is worrying.
 Overall, it is a improvement.  I would perhaps recommend Second Grave on the Left without the "it has to be read to be believed" warning, and I may even pick up the next book, Third Grave Dead Ahead, which was released at the end of January.

The Awakening

 The second book of Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers series, The Awakening, sees fifteen year-old necromancer Chloe plotting her escape from the Edison Group.

I can't say too much without giving both the plot of the first book, but The Awakening is definitely a slightly weak bridge between The Summoning and The Reckoning, which is the final instalment in the series.  The first book definitely had a stronger story, this one tended to get a little repetitive in places, but The Awakening wasn't any less enjoyable.  I noticed the hints that Chloe will probably have to make a choice between the charismatic Simon or his grouchy but protective older brother Derek, but these possible romantic feelings were still a side note to the main plot.  Questions left from The Summoning about the Edison Group were answered, but enough were unanswered so that hopefully all can be revealed in what should be an interesting finale.   

Spell Bound

Starting directly after the events of Waking the Witch, Savannah Levine has lost her most powerful asset - her magic.  With a witch hunter after her, and something much bigger brewing in the supernatural world, now is not the best time for her to feel powerless.


Kelley Armstrong's penultimate Women of the Otherworld series did not disappoint.  If anything I grew sadder that the series is about to end when she can deliver a novel like this.  It was filler, tying up loose ends and setting up the endgame, but proper filler with a core story: Growing Up.  Yes Savannah is 22, and she's an adult in a literal sense but emotionally she's still been that cocky twelve year old girl I first read about in (book 2) Stolen.  Nearly everyone from the series makes a cameo of sorts, but it never felt forced or unnecessary, each meeting was helping the story edge along.

I was getting to the end and was like, hang on, I want more!  Which is always a great feeling.  I hope Armstrong can wrap up the Otherworld, not neatly or too mushily, but with the amazing flair that has kept me hooked for 12 books.