La Malédiction Du Corbeau (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
Realistically this is more like 4 1/2 stars, but I'm going to err on the side of overly-critical this time. This is a solid 4th book in an ongoing series, but I feel like it does suffer a bit from "4th book problems" as a whole. I'm not sure if that's a technical term but I usually find that the first 3 books of a series are super tight, and than the 4th serves as a bridge when the author realizes this world is going to have to stretch out longer. Symptoms of "4th book" include - introducing way too many plot points, a feeling of forced conflict towards the end that wasn't foreshadowed and feels out of nowhere in a not good way, a feeling of rushedness about new details, and more. While this book doesn't suffer severely at the hands of these symptoms, they are all definitely present. This is the first book also where I had to have read short stories to know fully what was happening (and I'm talking major character placement occurring between books 3 and 4). I'm not really a fan of things happening outside the main series that matter SO MUCH to the core series, but I understand why it happens and it's not like it's entirely difficult to figure out so I'll SORT OF let that slide. It's not nearly as jarring as the confusion I had in that matter with Kim Harrison's series. Jane is in North Carolina serving as the bodyguard to a parley happening between a master vampire of Louisiana, and one of Leo's favorites at that, and a master vampire of North Carolina, vying to become a Master of City in his region. His petition has been denied for 60 years but Leo has suddenly had a change of non-beating heart to hear the guy out. Jane finds this a bit odd, but she finds most things about vampires odd so she rolls with it. Her security team consists of the former marines Derek & crew, and the returning appearance of the "B-Twins." Rick LeFleur, the newly turned were-cat after the events of Mercy Blade, is also in NC along with the were-cat Kemebi who, as a short story informs us, now serves as Jane's beta while on US soil and has grudgingly agreed to assist Rick through his first attempts to shift into his new were-cat form. It's not going well. Kem is abusive, Rick isn't able to shift, Jane has her hands full at every possible angle with vampire politics and local protests, and on top of all this there's problems brewing with her least favorite witch-sister, Evangelina. There is a TON going on in this book. Cold cases, old cases, new cases, and even new species. Most of it is presented in Faith Hunter's usual pragmatic, systemic writing style full of detail. Other parts come at you like a freight train with the same amount of finesse. The entire story line involving Evangelina could have been a very creepy book of its own, particularly involving the rest of the witch-sisters. Her back story is presented very quickly, and to my knowledge had not been explored before. Since this is a character Jane has NEVER liked or felt comfortable around it would have been nice to explore that more. Furthermore we get introduced to demons & angels (whatever that means to this universe). Apparently Jane has a guardian angel that Angelina can see and speak with. OK... Demons had been mention in previous books but only in passing. I had less issue with the demons and more with the add-on to Angelina's powers and the entire fight scene that ensues between these powers that slaps on a function to the blood-diamond from the previous book felt rushed. It took a long time to get to the demon-reveal and it felt anticlimactic when it was resolved so quickly. It also felt hollow of true details. My last nitpick is an issue resolved too quickly regarding Jane & Beast towards the end that could have served as a real cliff hanger into the next book but instead felt a cheap tug at emotions on top of already heavy things going on. It lost its necessary impact and of all of the things, Jane didn't seem to take what happens hard enough - the first time I've EVER felt that way in the entire series. Otherwise there were a ton of awesome parts in this book and I will definitely be devouring the rest of the series. Jane does some serious soul searching after a few key events and her observations about her profession, her personal faith, her guilt, etc. feel so human you just want to reach in and hug her. Jane is such a lonely soul who places so much burden on herself. Shes's serious all the time, and you just want to see her catch a break. You can see when she represses things she's not OK with, or becomes an angrily passive recipient of behavior she doesn't agree with and you hate it FOR her. There's one scene where she has a chance to make a new female friend that really resonated with me. It was so genuine and really showed off Jane's personality.All in all, another quality installment that accomplishes its mission - to leave lot of hanging threads to carry into future books. A good book 4 for its few hiccups. Realistically this is more like 4 1/2 stars, but I'm going to err on the side of overly-critical this time. This is a solid 4th book in an ongoing series, but I feel like it does suffer a bit from "4th book problems" as a whole. I'm not sure if that's a technical term but I usually find that the first 3 books of a series are super tight, and than the 4th serves as a bridge when the author realizes this world is going to have to stretch out longer. Symptoms of "4th book" include - introducing way too many plot points, a feeling of forced conflict towards the end that wasn't foreshadowed and feels out of nowhere in a not good way, a feeling of rushedness about new details, and more. While this book doesn't suffer severely at the hands of these symptoms, they are all definitely present. This is the first book also where I had to have read short stories to know fully what was happening (and I'm talking major character placement occurring between books 3 and 4). I'm not really a fan of things happening outside the main series that matter SO MUCH to the core series, but I understand why it happens and it's not like it's entirely difficult to figure out so I'll SORT OF let that slide. It's not nearly as jarring as the confusion I had in that matter with Kim Harrison's series. Jane is in North Carolina serving as the bodyguard to a parley happening between a master vampire of Louisiana, and one of Leo's favorites at that, and a master vampire of North Carolina, vying to become a Master of City in his region. His petition has been denied for 60 years but Leo has suddenly had a change of non-beating heart to hear the guy out. Jane finds this a bit odd, but she finds most things about vampires odd so she rolls with it. Her security team consists of the former marines Derek & crew, and the returning appearance of the "B-Twins." Rick LeFleur, the newly turned were-cat after the events of Mercy Blade, is also in NC along with the were-cat Kemebi who, as a short story informs us, now serves as Jane's beta while on US soil and has grudgingly agreed to assist Rick through his first attempts to shift into his new were-cat form. It's not going well. Kem is abusive, Rick isn't able to shift, Jane has her hands full at every possible angle with vampire politics and local protests, and on top of all this there's problems brewing with her least favorite witch-sister, Evangelina. There is a TON going on in this book. Cold cases, old cases, new cases, and even new species. Most of it is presented in Faith Hunter's usual pragmatic, systemic writing style full of detail. Other parts come at you like a freight train with the same amount of finesse. The entire story line involving Evangelina could have been a very creepy book of its own, particularly involving the rest of the witch-sisters. Her back story is presented very quickly, and to my knowledge had not been explored before. Since this is a character Jane has NEVER liked or felt comfortable around it would have been nice to explore that more. Furthermore we get introduced to demons & angels (whatever that means to this universe). Apparently Jane has a guardian angel that Angelina can see and speak with. OK... Demons had been mention in previous books but only in passing. I had less issue with the demons and more with the add-on to Angelina's powers and the entire fight scene that ensues between these powers that slaps on a function to the blood-diamond from the previous book felt rushed. It took a long time to get to the demon-reveal and it felt anticlimactic when it was resolved so quickly. It also felt hollow of true details. My last nitpick is an issue resolved too quickly regarding Jane & Beast towards the end that could have served as a real cliff hanger into the next book but instead felt a cheap tug at emotions on top of already heavy things going on. It lost its necessary impact and of all of the things, Jane didn't seem to take what happens hard enough - the first time I've EVER felt that way in the entire series. Otherwise there were a ton of awesome parts in this book and I will definitely be devouring the rest of the series. Jane does some serious soul searching after a few key events and her observations about her profession, her personal faith, her guilt, etc. feel so human you just want to reach in and hug her. Jane is such a lonely soul who places so much burden on herself. Shes's serious all the time, and you just want to see her catch a break. You can see when she represses things she's not OK with, or becomes an angrily passive recipient of behavior she doesn't agree with and you hate it FOR her. There's one scene where she has a chance to make a new female friend that really resonated with me. It was so genuine and really showed off Jane's personality.All in all, another quality installment that accomplishes its mission - to leave lot of hanging threads to carry into future books. A good book 4 for its few hiccups.
What do You think about La Malédiction Du Corbeau (2014)?
The Jane Yellowrock series just keeps getting better and better. In this installment, Jane takes on werewolves, rogue vamps, a rogue witch, and a romance that is as compelling as it is complicated. There is plenty of action and excitement. But there are also more subtle moments when the depth and power of Faith Hunter's character work shines through. Jane is not only kick-ass, she's also emotional, vulnerable. All the books in this series have been great reads, but there is a maturity and richness to this installment that promises to take subsequent books in the series to a whole new level. Highly recommended.
—allstarsports1
My least favorite story of this series so far. It took a few chapters to figure out what the hey-ho was happening. Then, woven through the book was the never-ending mantra of "It's my fault." Nothing worse than a bad-assed fighting skinwalker that is whining how everything bad that is happening is her fault. The narrator was still 5 stars for me. The story was 3... I was hoping I could do 3.5, but nope... a firm 3 stars on this one.
—TayP
