It seems that these Elemental Assassin novels just get better and better. I am enjoying the build as we slowly get through Mab's underworld. I really love Gin's close circle of people, the family she has created. Even as things are getting more and more complicated, more and more dangerous, I like how she is able to keep balanced. Gin is really going through a change, I can see it. I like how she is changing and wonder what is next. The overall plot arch has me hooked, but I enjoy the sub plots throughout each novel. The voice of Gin and the writing flows and grips me all the same. This is really a great urban fantasy series! Actual rating: 2 ½ going on 3Ok, the recaps and repetitions have to stop or I’ll just give up on this series. I’m actually beginning to doubt whether someone edits these books. The repetitions were a minor quibble in book 2, got quite annoying in book 3 but the whole thing becomes downright ridiculous in Tangled Threads. So many phrases, names and events are repeatedly mentioned it felt like reading the same chapter (yes, chapter, not book) over and over again. Yes, we got this: Gin is “the assassin the spider”, Mab murdered her mother and older sister, Gin keeps describing her spider rune and explaining its meaning, keeps repeating she takes her little white pills (and that condoms are extra protection)… Should I go on? Mab’s rune is a ruby with wavy rays, Gin always carries five (or more) silverstone knives on her (their location on her body is rehashed repeatedly)… Oh and the thing with the eye colour: grey on violet, grey on hazel, grey on green or whatever. This is all getting very old now. Take the recaps and repetitions out and there is little left. One other problem with the recaps is that it sometimes feels like the facts mentioned happened differently than they actually did. For example, the whole Gin-Donovan thing: in this instalment Gin keeps talking of the "relationship" she had with Donovan as if he were a man she had dated for months on end. Did I miss something here? Since when having sex twice (as far as I remember: once in a closet during a “mission”, the other one in the backseat of a car) is considered a relationship? Gin and Donovan interacted little beside the times they had sex and/or fought the bad guys so I don’t understand how this could be seen as being “involved” with someone. That is just one example of how the story arc is sometimes altered in the recaps. Annoying to say the least.Talking about the Gin/Donovan/Owen thing, here is another repetition that bothered me to no end: the fact that Gin keeps saying over and over again that she expects Owen to be disgusted by her and turn her back on her just like Donovan did. She keeps repeating that she hopes her relationship with Owen won’t end in disaster like that thing she had with Donovan, blah blah blah, yeah yeah yeah. We heard you the first time. No need to rehash it.Until now I kept reading this series only because of Gin’s character, hoping the writing (and editing!) would get better but now I just don’t know what to do. I still want to find out what will become of Gin and the rest of the characters but I’m not sure if I can stand yet another instalment like this one. Especially since the plot wasn’t particularly exciting here. Just go get Mab and get it over with so we can all move on!I think the strength of this series lies mostly in its characterization. The cast grows with each new instalment and old characters are developed as new ones are introduced. I love the good guys, the bad guys, everyone really. If it weren’t for the characters I probably would have given up on this series two instalments ago. I’m thinking of giving Spider’s Revenge a try, mostly because it’s supposed to feature the final showdown between Gin & Mab. Still, if it is anything like Tangled Threads, it will be the last book I read in this series.
What do You think about Tangled Threads (2011)?
It was not as good as the previous books. I have the next in the series and hope it is better.
—HESS
