March 21, 2009

Review: Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells




Half vampire, half mage Sabina Kane is an assassin working for the Dominae vampire council. Her latest job is to infiltrate the renegade group of vampires led by Clovis Trakiya who is recruiting vampires and other paranormal beings to ultimately overthrow the Dominae.

Raised by her grandmother, a powerful leader in the Dominae council, Sabina has always been required to suppress the mage side of her abilities. In the midst of infiltrating Clovis’ group she’s approached by a mage who has some interesting information for her. Unsure of who to trust she tentatively listens to what he has to say and learns quite a few things that rock her to the core and changes her life forever.

I’d been anxiously awaiting the arrival of this book ever since I first read about it a couple of months ago. Initially the first few chapters had my head spinning with the different names, beings and groups but once I got the hang of who and what everyone was the rest of the story fell into place.

I love that it was a darker type of fantasy tale but still had a lot of humor and plenty of sarcasm from the characters. Sabina is a kick-ass heroine who’s been lied to for most of her life. You kind of feel sorry for her in a way but can’t help admiring her for the way she soldiers on. Throw in a demon who’s addicted to infomercial shopping and you have the makings of an excellent read.

This is the first book in a new series about Sabina but this story arc is tied up nicely in the end. The only downside of reading this is that I’m going to have to wait so long for the next book. Highly recommended for all urban fantasy and paranormal lovers.

6 comments :

Wrighty said...

Great review! I've been hearing about this one a lot lately but haven't read many reviews yet. Yours listed everything I like - paranormal, humor, sarcasm - can't wait! I'm anxious to get my hands on it!

Anonymous said...

Oh, another vampire story! This looks really interesting! I'll have to watch for this one too :) Thanks for the review!

Shooting Stars Mag said...

I saw this in Romantic Times and the cover/title jumped out. I wanted to read it once I heard the summary, but now i want to read it even more. Sounds amazing.

-Lauren

Ladytink_534 said...

I've heard so much about this one and I really want to read it! My library really needs to get it in already.

LibraryGirl said...

I hadn't heard of this book but it is definitely going on my 'to read' list now. Sounds just perfect for me!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the review. I actually might get this one because I like the darker type of fantasy and paranormal.