For What It's Worth


Thursday, July 1, 2010

Paranormal Pfunk.......OVER. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Moon Called (Mercy Thompson)

I don’t really think it necessary for me to review Moon Called since all of you were the ones to convince me to read it in the first place to get me out of my Paranormal Pfunk.

First I will say I’m ashamed to admit I never read this series because I thought it sounded cheesy. A tough talking coyote mechanic?? Puhleeze. And the cover? I know this is a selling point to most but again I am soooo done with the badass girl with the tattoo book cover.

I’m sorry. I was wrong.

So instead of a review I’m just going to thank everyone who bugged me relentlessly to start this series.

And I’m going to thank Patricia Briggs for writing a story about a girl that really is tough. Not just tough until something bad happens. Not tough just because she’s willing to put herself in ridiculously stupid and dangerous situations. She knows when she needs help and isn’t afraid to ask even if it hurts her pride a little.

Thank you for laying the groundwork for a love triangle (quadrangle??). There are three potential suitors and ALL of them are valid choices. THIS is what I’m talking about when I say I like triangles that are done right! I’m stressed about it but in a good way!

Thank you for developing the side characters instead of merely using them as plot devices to get from point A to point B.

Thanks for surprising me and making me cry. (page 59)

For the first time in months I cared about every character, wanted to know what was going to happen next (tried to send DH back to work so I could read longer) and thought about this book and what will happen in the next one once I put it down.

And most importantly to me….I did not want to throttle even one person in this book!!

Was it perfect? No. And a big negative was that I read the Alpha & Omega series first so there was a lot of set up for a story I already knew about…not the author’s fault though.

But I am excited about reading again for the first time in a long time – so thanks again to all of you who recommended the series and tweeted the title to me in under 5 minutes so I could find it at the bookstore!! (What did I do before Twitter??) and thanks again to Patricia Briggs for making me want to read again!!

Check out Bella's review of the series at Obsessed! complete with adorable coyote photos. She was in a reading slump also and this series got her out of it too and hers was the final recommendation to convince me to jump in and read it already!!

9 comments:

  1. Awesome review! I totally could have written this myself. This is one of the few paranormal books I would recommend to people.

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  2. Yay! Moon Called was, I beleive, my first ever urban fantasy. Yep. It hooked me on an entire /genre/ when I first read it in 2007, and i'm so glad you enjoyed.

    Mercy is real! If she gets a scrape or bruise, it doesn't heal in 5 minutes. She has an actual job, and if she doesn't pay her light and power bill, it doesn't get paid. Realism in fantasy fiction--I loves it.

    Incidentally, I could swap the name 'Mercy' for 'Kate' in the above paragraph and use the same terms to describe the Magic Bites series by Ilona Andrews... *whistles innocently*

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  3. *curiously flips to page 59* That made me sad, too :(

    I'm so happy that you enjoyed Moon Called - it's awesome when people read something you absolutely loved, then totally *GET* why you couldn't stop talking about it :) And, honestly, the series only gets better! When I was finished Moon Called, I could still have walked away without finding out more, had I REALLY wanted to ... it's the rest of the books that left me desperate to keep reading. So you've definitely got some great novels to look forward to!

    @ Tiger I started Magic Bites the other day and it just didn't capture my interest ... but I keep reading about how *AmAziNg* the series is ... there must be something I'm missing, hehe. Think I'd better pick it up again and give it another go ... here's to reading until a book sucks you in!!! :o

    There's only one thing left to be said, really - Patricia Briggs is a heck of a talented author! (",)

    *an eerie whisper that, for some reason, you think might be the Darkfever book lazing on your e-reader* Read me, Karen! My awesomeness will blow your mind :o Read me! ;)

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  4. Just goes to show you can never judge a book by its cover. Looking at this cover I can understand you not being impressed - I don't like it either.

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  5. so glad you liked it! i think everyone agrees about the cover. i had heard great things about too, but the cover didnt intrest me. when hurricane ike hit, we stayed up in Dallas for a week, i was so bored @ the hotel that i went to B&N for something to do. picked this up, and read books 1-3 while we were stranded. sooo glad i did! it really does get better and better!

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  6. Glad you enjoyed it! And personally, I think the books get better as the series goes along.

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  7. This was one of my first series, and I wasn't to impressed with the cover either. I'm glad your out of your funk Karen. :) Love me some Patty Briggs.

    @Bella - Stay with it! Get to the second book, Magic Burns, before you make your judgment. This series IS *AmAziNg* A lot of women I know, including myself, had a real issue with the first.

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  8. Yay!! This is such a great book!! I was actually misled into thinking that I would like ALL adult paranormal romances after I read this one!! Hehee, i'm not a fan of the entire genre after all, but I LOVED this book!!

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  9. I keep meaning to get to this one... Just never have had a chance. I'll give it a shot,sometime. Thanks for the great review, Karen!

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