Dangerous Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
♦publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
♦release date: May 20th, 2014
♦hardcover, 368 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series:Dangerous Creatures, book 1
♦source: from publisher via SF Book review
Ridley Duchannes will
be the first to tell you that she's a bad girl. She's Dark. She's a
Siren. You can never trust her, or even yourself when she's around.
Lucky for her, Wesley "Link" Lincoln can never seem to remember that;
quarter Incubus or not, his heart is Mortal when it comes to Ridley.
When Link heads to New York City to start a music career, Ridley goes
along for the ride-and she has her own reasons. As if leaving small-town
Gatlin for the big city, trying to form a band, and surviving life with
a partially reformed Siren isn't hard enough already, Link soon learns
he has a price on his head that no Caster or Mortal can ever pay.
Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthors of Beautiful Creatures, are back and casting another magical spell. Their signature mixture of mystery, suspense, and romance, along with a dash of fun and danger, will pull fans in and leave them begging for more.
Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthors of Beautiful Creatures, are back and casting another magical spell. Their signature mixture of mystery, suspense, and romance, along with a dash of fun and danger, will pull fans in and leave them begging for more.
Review: While I admittedly didn’t finish the Beautiful Creatures series (I read the first two, but somehow lost interested half-way through the third), I couldn’t resist the temptation to pick up this spin-off featuring two of my favorite characters. Link and Ridley have run off to New York to follow Link’s dream of success in a band. What Link doesn't know is that Ridley already has a gig lined up for him---one involving a dark caster that will hold both their lives in his hands.
With these two huge personalities constantly bantering and flaring up with their own biting humor, the entertainment is pretty non-stop. But aside from the battle of snark between them, we also get a long overdue look into a different side of their personalities. Link is not just the goofy cocky best friend of Ethan, and Ridley has more going on in her head that being the sultry dangerous siren. We get a glimpse into their on-again-off-again relationship and their deepest well-hidden insecurities. There’s also a few peeks at Ridley’s memories that lead to one really heart-wrenching twist to the story.
They encounter some great new characters in their move to New York. The new band is made up of a heavily pierced Necromancer, an illusionist with eyes for Link, and a Darkborn with a seriously icy shell. Also introduced is Lennox Gates, a seemingly sinister character who definitely took me by surprise. I personally hope to see him in the next books of this series.
Though it’s a pretty straight-forward plot of revenge with just a few slows in pacing after their arrival in NYC, the danger steadily builds as it careens toward an explosive climactic scene and a shocking cliffhanger ending. As I suspected it would be, Link and Ridley’s first solo adventure proved to be one wild ride!
I wish I had the chance to read this one Becky! I finished the series and really enjoyed how Ridley and Link got together in the first place.
ReplyDeleteOoooo, I want to read this. I too kind of lost interest in the first series and never read the last book. I think I have it somewhere, I'm just not sure where. Sounds like this one is a winner though and I love the two main characters... so!
ReplyDeleteI also didn't finish the Beautiful Creatures series, but then started again with this one. I had a hard time getting into the story, maybe even because of this. Still, Link is just amazing and I#m excited to see that they made a spin off for him:)
ReplyDeleteI've not gotten around to reading the Beautiful Creatures books, I did see the movie, and I remember liking Link and Ridley. :) The premise of this one sounds like a lot of fun, and I'm glad you really enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteI.. don't think I would enjoy this book :p Though I loved the first three Beautiful Creatures books when I read them two years ago. Hm. Think I would dislike them now, though :p BUT ANYWAY. I am glad you mostly loved this one :D I do think it sounds interesting. And I did like Link. Just not sure I would enjoy it, lol. Thank you for sharing and being honest. <3
ReplyDeleteOoh, nice WoW pick!
ReplyDeleteI have yet to finish the series myself. I stopped at book 3. I have book 4 but haven't gotten to it just yet. My book schedule is pretty chaotic right now. What I do know is that I want to read this spin-off series soon because it sounds awesome! :D Thanks for sharing your thoughts and giving us your honest opinion!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get the chance to read this one, too! These two characters are so fun!
ReplyDeleteI hear this so often...maybe the BC series just ran on a bit too long, but so many people didn't finish it! So glad they decided to spin off with LInk and Ridley, though!
ReplyDeleteI agree, there was definitely a bit of a drag at the beginning---like right after they got to NYC, just a bit of a lull. I always like Link, too. He definitely deserved his own spin off!
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