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: 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.