Sunday Book Soundtrack #8: Spider's Web by Jennifer Estep

Sunday Book Soundtrack is a weekly feature at Ruby's Books, where I share some of my bookish soundtracks. Since I discovered my passion for reading years ago, I've discovered that more and more of the songs I loved remind me of certain books. So I thought I'd share my playlists with you. If you want to listen to the songs, I'll post a link to a Youtube videos for each and every title. No copyright infringement intended! I'll try to find the official videos for each song. There's no set number for each playlist, sometimes I might have 10, sometimes 5, sometimes if I'm one of my moods I'll have 15. If you want to read more about this feature, click the "show more" button below. 

I read with music. If there's no music, I can't read. And not just read, but almost anything, like studying of cooking or doing chores around the house. The only time I don't have music is when I sleep. And during exams, but that's a different story.

Sometimes it happens that a certain song and a book or a scene from the book I'm reading sort of... click. It's like they were made for each other. At least for me. And so I will almost always think of that particular book when hearing that song. I thought I'd share my book soundtracks with you.

Keep in mind that I have a very... weird taste in music. You'll find mostly rock music, country or the 80s-early 90s music in these lists. I might use some "contemporary" songs from now and then, but don't bet on it being something other than those particular genres. Also, not always the songs will be in English. If I have a link to a translation for the lyrics, I'll post it. If you like a song I'm using, that's fine. If not, that's fine too, just don't say I didn't warn you.

The songs aren't always on a book's playlist for their lyrics. Sometimes they're there for an instrument or for a feeling I get when hearing them. Also, I won't always mention what scene I used them for. If it's not a spoiler, I'll share the scene, if it is a spoiler, I'll let you guess.

Anyway, I hope you like my playlists :)

This week's book soundtrack is for Spider's Web by Jennifer Estep

1. Kid Rock - So Hott
2. Creedence Clearwater Revival - Jambalaya - This is the song I think fits the Pork Pit. For some reason, whenever I picture that bar, I hear this song.
3. Evanescence - Call Me When You're Sober
4. Nickelback - Burn It To The Ground 
5. Alice Cooper - Welcome To My Nightmare

Book Review: Venom by Jennifer Estep

Author: Jennifer Estep
Series: Elemental Assassin #3
Publisher: Pocket Books
Release Date: September 28th 2010
My Rating: 4 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):

What kind of assassin works pro bono?

It’s hard to be a badass assassin when a giant is beating the crap out of you. Luckily, I never let pride get in the way of my work. My current mission is personal: annihilate Mab Monroe, the Fire elemental who murdered my family. Which means protecting my identity, even if I have to conceal my powerful Stone and Ice magic when I need it most.

To the public, I’m Gin Blanco, owner of Ashland’s best barbecue joint. To my friends, I’m the Spider, retired assassin. I still do favors on the side. Like ridding a vampire friend of her oversized stalker—Mab’s right-hand goon who almost got me dead with his massive fists.

At least irresistible Owen Grayson is on my side. The man knows too much about me, but I’ll take my chances. Then there’s Detective Bria Coolidge, one of Ashland’s finest. Until recently, I thought my baby sister was dead. She probably thinks the same about me. Little does she know, I’m a cold-blooded killer . . . who is about to save her life.

The first thing that comes to my mind when thinking about this book is the lack of Donovan Caine. *does a happy dance* When I finished reading Venom I actually felt like singing Hallelujah for not having that idiot representative of the male species in the book. Yes, I was happy he was gone. (Can you tell I hated him??).

No Mr. Idiot means more Mr. Hottie a.k.a Owen Grayson. I like him a lot. He's very hot, very considerate, he helps Gin when she needs it, even if she doesn't ask for it. And he is mysterious. While reading this book I kept thinking there's something we still don't know about him. Something rather big. I'm waiting to discover what.

One of the best things in this book was Gin helping Roslyn. If you've read the books, you know that these two women aren't exactly on the best of terms. Even so, I always liked Roslyn and I hoped Gin would see her as the good friend she might become if only she'd allow it. I was right. This relationship and the way Gin helps Roslyn makes the situation with Mab a lot more dangerous than before.

I feel like a bad record here, but I have to say this: the repetitions killed me. We know Gin carries 5 daggers made of silverstone, we know Fletcher trained her to be an assassin, even though his son in older than Gin, we know a loooot of things. By heart. A friend of mine suggested that I should just skip over those parts. But that's even worse, because it would pull me away from the story even further. Anyway, I just hope these repetitions will stop as the story progresses.

I am still waiting for Gin to do something about Bria. She's putting off the inevitable and I believe this will make things even worse for her cop sister.

In the end, I enjoyed reading this book, even with those pesky repetitions. It was a good book.

Book Review: Web Of Lies by Jennifer Estep

Author: Jennifer Estep
Series: Elemental Assassin #2
Publisher: Pocket Books
Release Date: May 25th 2010
My Rating: 3.5 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):

Curiosity is definitely going to get me dead one of these days. Probably real soon.

I'm Gin Blanco.

You might know me as the Spider, the most feared assassin in the South. I’m retired now, but trouble still has a way of finding me. Like the other day when two punks tried to rob my popular barbecue joint, the Pork Pit. Then there was the barrage of gunfire on the restaurant. Only, for once, those kill shots weren’t aimed at me. They were meant for Violet Fox. Ever since I agreed to help Violet and her grandfather protect their property from an evil coalmining tycoon, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m really retired. So is Detective Donovan Caine. The only honest cop in Ashland is having a real hard time reconciling his attraction to me with his Boy Scout mentality. And I can barely keep my hands off his sexy body. What can I say? I’m a Stone elemental with a little Ice magic thrown in, but my heart isn’t made of solid rock. Luckily, Gin Blanco always gets her man . . . dead or alive.

This was an interesting continuation of Gin's story. I'd really like to start by showing the middle finger to a certain annoying character. But more on that later.

I like that we learn more about Fletcher's past. We start to understand more about him. I have a feeling it would have been nice to have him around, to have more time with him. I'm still pretty sad that he had to die *pout*

Finn is always such an entertaining character. He's very funny and I like how he's constantly flirting with each and every woman around him. I kind of want to see if he'd have what it takes to flirt with Mab Monroe. That would be an interesting scene, right? Anyway, he's always fun and easy going and I love him to death.

I want to know more about the Devereaux sisters. I think there's a big mystery behind them and I want to find out what that is. But I like how Jo-Jo always has advice for everyone. And she always gave me the impression of... the wise old lady. Not that she's old (at least in the series) but she's very wise. Her sister is still a big mystery to me. I'm waiting for that to be unveiled.

Here comes the not so fun part of my review. First, I said I wanted to show the middle finger to a character. That would be Donovan "Spineless" Caine. I hate him. It's really difficult to actually hate a character, but I do. I don't want to ever, ever, ever read about him again. Ever!

One thing that bugged me a little while reading this book was that there were so many repetitions. I understand the need to remind readers of what happened in the previous books, but there is such thing as too much reminding. It did pull me a little from the story. I know what you're going to say, "skip those parts". I've had some other people say that to me many times. But you see, it's the same thing, really, because I know why I'm skipping a paragraph. It still pulls me out of the story and it still kind of ruins the moment if it makes sense. I would be so much happier without the repetitions.

The last thing that I'm still waiting to happen is for Gin to "look" like the big, bad-ass assassin she claims to be. I didn't feel like this was shown as much as it was told. Like we should take it for granted that she is one of the best assassins out there. She might be a bad-ass assassin, but I want to see her being one. I hope that makes sense.

Anyway, I'm starting to like this series. I know it doesn't seem like it, but I do. And (since I'm ahead with my reading) I am actually looking forward to what happens next in the series (can't tell you, because those are major spoilers ;) )

Book Review: Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep

Author: Jennifer Estep
Series: Elemental Assassin #1
Publisher: Pocket Books
Release Date: January 26th 2010
My Rating: 4 cups
Blurb (from Goodreads):

My name is Gin, and I kill people.

They call me the Spider. I'm the most feared assassin in the South — when I'm not busy at the Pork Pit cooking up the best barbecue in Ashland. As a Stone elemental, I can hear everything from the whispers of the gravel beneath my feet to the vibrations of the soaring Appalachian Mountains above me. My Ice magic also comes in handy for making the occasional knife. But I don't use my powers on the job unless I absolutely have to. Call it professional pride.

Now that a ruthless Air elemental has double-crossed me and killed my handler, I'm out for revenge. And I'll exterminate anyone who gets in my way — good or bad. I may look hot, but I'm still one of the bad guys. Which is why I'm in trouble, since irresistibly rugged Detective Donovan Caine has agreed to help me. The last thing this coldhearted killer needs when I'm battling a magic more powerful than my own is a sexy distraction...especially when Donovan wants me dead just as much as the enemy.

I have to admit I was a little torn with the rating. If I had to be honest, the "real" rating is somewhere between 3.5 cups and 4 cups. Not that I didn't enjoy the book, I did. A lot. But then there were the tweaks. But I'm getting ahead of myself, so let's start at the beginning, with Gin.

I liked Gin. There's this trend with Urban Fantasy: every female assassin is afraid, deathly afraid and scared spitless before and during a fight scene. I was SO glad Gin isn't like that. Yes, she has the healthy, normal dose of fear or apprehension. But it's not overwhelming, it's not constant and it's not paralyzing. She also kicks major ass, which I liked. And she's a smart girl. She's not what I'd call funny, but she is entertaining.

Speaking of funny, Finn is hilarious in my opinion. Or maybe my sense of humor is just that twisted. He's a great character and I have a feeling there are many, many great things he'll do in the future books. I sure hope he doesn't die by the end of the series *pouts**crosses fingers*.

Here's what makes my rating go down. First, Donovan Caine, detective and potential major hottie. While he's an ok character, he's not what I'd call hot. He has too many prejudices. He seems way too judgmental for my tastes. I like to think there's more than meets the eye. Some dark secret. Some childhood trauma that makes him the way he is. I'm not talking about his sense of justice, that's fine. But about his "criminals are bad, cops are good" thinking. I felt like up until the end, he tired so hard to keep thinking that all cops are good and that no cop can be corrupt, even when everything showed differently. And I think Gin proved that even though she's an assassin, she has morals, codes and lines she won't cross. But even so, Donovan kept thinking she's bad and ruthless and every target she ever had was innocent.

The second thing that bothered me (a lot I might add) was the repetition. I've noticed it in numerous scenes throughout the book. How certain expressions were identical and were being used in similar scenes. (I'll have a button at the end of this post if you want to read more and are not afraid of spoilers, so if you want to know what I'm talking about, push the button.) They just bugged me, enough to make me want to skip a few paragraphs. And I have a high tolerance for this things.

I also kept hoping we'd get a scene with the towns "bogey woman", Mab Monroe. I want to see what she can do, how bad can she get.


Bottom Line: I enjoyed reading this book and the good parts far outweighed the not so good parts. I'll keep reading the series, as I'm very curious if Gin will find out what happened when she was a kid and who killed her family.

When Gin and Donovan looked at each other, the same expression was used: "Gold on gray". Once, twice is enough. But every time? And what about when Donovan looked at Gin and she saw how the detective had this string of emotions flickering across his eyes. It was always something like "Desire, need, want, guilt". Oh, and Gin had this moments when she was referring to Donovan and she kept saying "detective Donovan Caine". We already established that the guy is a detective and we know his full name. I might have a short memory, but I don't need to be told the same thing over and over again.