Led by the ruthless Randolph Coin, the Invisible College harnesses demon spirits for their own ends of power and domination. Jayné finds it difficult to believe magic and demons can even exist, let alone be responsible for the death of her uncle. But Coin sees Eric's heir as a threat to be eliminated by any means -- magical or mundane -- so Jayné had better start believing in something to save her own life.
Aided in her mission by a group of unlikely companions -- Aubrey, Eric's devastatingly attractive assistant; Ex, a former Jesuit with a lethal agenda; Midian, a two-hundred-year-old man who claims to be under a curse from Randolph Coin himself; and Chogyi Jake, a self-styled Buddhist with mystical abilities -- Jayné finds that her new reality is not only unexpected, but often unexplainable. And if she hopes to survive, she'll have to learn the new rules fast -- or break them completely....
Comment: This is yet another of the books that was on the TBR pile for the longest time. I still have others that have been there for longer (more than 9/10 years) but I'm saving those for desperate times or when my taste goes back to classics at a more frequent pace.
I got this at a time I was very fond of UF and PNR and as I've said before, I've "collected" many books which are the first in a series with the hopes of liking them so much that I'd feel ecstatic with the possibility of having tons of things to look for!
Sadly, the most likely scenario is for me to regret the time it took to pick them because they no longer appeal...
In this new world, the author created a reality where demons take over humans by entering their bodies as spirits and controlling the host's mind. The story begins with heroine Jayné discovering she's the heir of her late uncle and now, after years of some misery she finds herself with the funds to do what she wants. The problem is that at the same time she realizes her uncle was a ghost hunter of sorts and wanted to help humans get their personality back. For that he was at odds with a consortium, a group that worked by getting more demons to come to our reality and enslaving humans that could add to the consortium's power and influence.
Battling this group and getting a payback for her uncle are just secondary outcomes to help humanity and Jayné has the help of a bunch of guys that used to work with her uncle, including fascinating Aubrey. Will Jayné succeed?
For some time now, years actually, I've considered the idea of DNFing books. I've held on to my personal dedication to a book and kept telling myself it was only fair, especially if I had purchased the book. Sometimes I'd push myself forward because I felt I had to even though I wasn't enjoying the book. Other times I liked only a few elements and I'd think about giving up but still managed to finish even if to just justify my low grading.
However, I did sort of promise myself this year I'd start to be more picky in what I'd read. I just felt I had to join those readers who, having huge TBR lists, need to be more selective.
This brings me to this book again. I think this might be the same old case of wating too long to read certain things. This book is labeled urban fantasy, a genre that no longer appeals to me much and that, when I read one, I find more things to annoy me than to entertain me. Generalizing, I just don't have as much patience to read about worlds where gritty and drama are hand in hand and the protagonists need to be almost superheros to accomplish something. Often UF stories don't have romance nor lighter scenes to balance things out.
I still follow some beloved series of course, where the writing and familiarity with the characters way overcompensates for some minor issues.
This probably isn't a bad book overall. I've remembered reading things I disliked more but I just didn't feel like this was being appealing to me. It would be a task, a duty, a forced situation to read this. When I out this thought aside, I could just et go and I've only skimmed the rest of it. I've read 222 pages before giving up. Of the pages I've read, despite the interesting take on the world, of course the idea is that demons are bad and how they "take over" humans is icky. Coming from enjoying PNR where demons can be the heroes, this felt annoying to read about.
I also had issues with the heroine's place in all this. She is a student who admits not having had many goals, who seems to not have too many apparent worries and she suddenly gets a lot of money. I really didn't like knowing this heroine and I didn't feel she was special enough like other UF heroines to the point I felt I had to root for her.
The author did insert some interesting elements here and there but I completely overlooked those after a while because nothing much was happening, nor in terms of action, nor in how the characters interacted or were developed. I assume this might happen in the following books but I don't think I'll be interested in reading them (even if they are graded better, according to GR). I also didn't like how Jayné and Aubrey were labeled as a couple.
I wasn't really feeling this so I've decided to just stop. I skipped a few pages, just read a sentence here, another there and the way the story ends didn't make me think twice about trying again.
I do feel slightly sad I did this but I also feel a little relived it's one less unappealing book I had to go through until the end. Of course, having not worked out for me it still can for others, so for readers of UF, I'm certain there is something about it.
I'm dreading the fact I still have many UF (and other types of books) to try so having bad experiences does put me off but there is something about the liberation of telling oneself we are not really being forced to read something we got for leisure just because.
Grade: DNF
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