It's been a while since I posted a review (sorry), so here goes:
Green-Eyed Demon (Sabina Kane #3) by Jaye Wells
Sabina Kane’s To Do List:
1. Perform voodoo ritual on evil owl;
2. Find out who sold us out to the anachronistic
cast vampires;
3. Make amends with lesbian werewolf;
4. Rescue twin;
5. Murder grandmother.
The clock is ticking for Sabina Kane. She has to save her sister from her mysterious captors. And in order to do that, she has to broker a deal between the mages and the vampires before all hell breaks loose.
But as much as Sabina is focused on surviving the present, the past won’t be ignored. Before she can save those she cares about, she’s got to save herself from the ghosts of her past. Because the past is haunting her. Literally.
This is a hard one. It took me way too long to finish it (hence the late review) and I had mixed feelings about it, so I'm not really sure how to rate it. I know a lot of people love this series, and I did like it, but not as much as I wanted to.
Half-mage, half-vampire kick butt assassin Sabina Kane spent all her life killing for the Dominae, the head of the vampire race. But everything changes when she finds out she has a twin sister and the people she trusted, her family, kept other things from her too. So she turns her back to them and go to find her sister, Maisie, who lives with her mage family and is known as the Mage Oracle. Step by step, she finds out more things about her past and her mage heritage and that she's been just a tool for her Grandmother Lavinia, the vamps leader. But her life really turns upside down when her sister announces a prophecy: Sabina will reunite all the dark races. Of course, not everyone is happy with this all peace and quiet idea, the Dominae want power, so they want to start a war and to bring back the gods of the past. They plan to do this on the Halloween night, so they kidnap Maisie.
At the beginning of Green-Eyed Demon, Sabina plan to go and find her sister, no matter what. So she, her lover mage Adam and their demon cat friend Giguhl head over to New Orleans to rescue Maisie. And so it all begins.
One of the things I liked about this book is that the action kicks off right from the start. I can't tell much about what happens in New Orleans without spoiling the book, but it's all a wild ride full of action, danger, suspense, twists and turns that create a fast-paced story.
Sabina learns what having real friends and counting on their help means, but also what their loss would do to her. She's fun and definitely grew as a character, but... I just couldn't connect with her as a main character. There's always something bugging me about her. And although I like witty, snarky characters, she has too much of an attitude, she's too angsty. I really wanted to shake her a few times!:)) And she's also a bit confusing, because she doesn't seem to be sure what she feels and what she likes. And whom to trust. But I guess I had a problem with her even from the first book, when she killed David, who supposedly was her friend. Of course, I understand the necessity of that act for the plot development and for the continuity of the story, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. And maybe they were not close, but it made me wonder: what exactly is a friend for her? Is she really capable of caring about someone? Will her temper and assassin side stay in her way forever? She kind of answered these questions in this third installment of the series, but I wasn't convinced. Not to mention that here she, makes some decisions that seem a bit silly to me. (again, I can't say more about this without spoiling the book.) So I understand that she's in a rough spot and dealing with a lot of dangerous, difficult and even sad situations, but I still think she should look around her, be more open minded and willing to change, because that's not all it is out there.
But I really liked the other characters and the way they developed. I love Adam, he's strong, caring, respectful and everything you need from a male lead character. He definitely loves Sabina and wants the best for her and to protect her. Giguhl is just as adorable and hilarious as ever, I love his lines!:)) And he turned out to be a good, reliable friend too. Even Pussy Willow grew on me in this book. She's stronger now and a good addition to the gang. I also think Zenobia and Rhea are very important for the story. I really needed to see some wise, calm grown ups around. And the author portrayed Lavinia very well, she's creepy as hell! :)) She must be the scariest family member I ever read about - and this is a good thing, it kept me on the edge of my seat every time she was around. *shudders*
But what I liked the most about this book is the unique take on vampires myths and the mix of vamp power and magic, which are my favorite elements in paranormal books.
So, back to the rating. I would give this book 4 of 5 stars because overall, it's a good book, very well written, fast-paced and easy to follow and there certainly are improvements over the previous books in the series. We also can learn more about the mage world, and that' s great. But my issues with Sabina make me want to give it 3 stars at most, so I'll give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
And this is just my personal, honest opinion. As I said, I know a lot of people love this series and I can see why, but it didn't work for me the way I wanted it to. I still recommend it and I will keep reading the following books, hoping for the best. :)
* This book was provided to me by Orbit via NetGalley in exchange of my honest review. Thanks!
Previous books in the series:
Red-Headed Stepchild (Sabina Kane #1)
The Mage in Black (Sabina Kane #2)
Phew! *wiped forehead*
xoxo
