Review: Grave Matters by Lauren M. Roy
Grave Matters by Lauren M. Roy
Night Owls #2
Night Owls bookstore always keeps a light on and evil creatures out. But, as Lauren M. Roy's thrilling sequel continues, even its supernatural staff isn’t prepared for the dead to come back to life…
Elly grew up training to kill things that go bump in the night, so she’s still getting used to working alongside them. While she’s learned to trust the eclectic group of vampires, Renfields, and succubi at Night Owls bookstore, her new job guarding Boston’s most powerful vampire has her on edge—especially when she realizes something strange is going on with her employer, something even deadlier than usual…
Cavale isn’t thrilled that his sister works for vampires, but he’s determined to repair their relationship, and that means trusting her choices—until Elly’s job lands all of the Night Owls in deep trouble with a vengeful necromancer. And even their collective paranormal skills might not be enough to keep them from becoming part of the necromancer’s undead army…
This book and series is rather frustrating for me. There's so much potential there for an excellent story, but it's massively hindered by the constant switch in narrators and their subsequent different storylines. Due to this constant shift I was never able to settle into anyone's head as as soon as I started to get hooked on one character and their chain of events, it would all be ripped away and into the next. Sometimes the changes were so abrupt that I hadn't even started to get sunk in at all. It just made for a very frustrating read. That being said, considering all this frustration it does speak to the impressive skill and writing that I continued on and did enjoy as much as possible. I just feel like this book would have been so much better if the rotations and perspectives had been cut in half. There was just two much going on with too many characters getting the limelight.
Putting all that aside, I did enjoy the characters in this book/series as there is one heck of a cast. Each and everyone had a very unique personality and were fully fleshed out despite the short amount of page time featuring each one. I absolutely loved the extra backstory on each character that was filtered in throughout the book, and it only endeared me to the cast of characters more. The two succubi and Chaz probably were my absolute favorites, followed up shortly by Justin. And the rest of the cast was pretty interesting too, again I just wish there had been a bit more screen time with each.
Putting all that aside, I did enjoy the characters in this book/series as there is one heck of a cast. Each and everyone had a very unique personality and were fully fleshed out despite the short amount of page time featuring each one. I absolutely loved the extra backstory on each character that was filtered in throughout the book, and it only endeared me to the cast of characters more. The two succubi and Chaz probably were my absolute favorites, followed up shortly by Justin. And the rest of the cast was pretty interesting too, again I just wish there had been a bit more screen time with each.
I enjoyed this one more than the first one as I had more time with the characters to get to know them etc, but overall it was still frustrating. I just wanted to get more time with the characters and perhaps more focus on fewer storylines. Granted everything was tied together really well at the end, which was no small feat considering and impressive writing, but prior to that point it was just too much for me. That being said, there wasn't a dull moment and despite my frustration with the rotation, over all it was a decent read that kept my attention. So the end verdict is a bit flawed but still entertaining.
(Received a copy from the publisher)
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Other Reviews:
Gizmos Reviews
Badass Book Reviews
The Qwillery
Previous Books:
1. Night Owls
