Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

Kessler has a taut and somewhat tense writing style that makes for a fast and addictive read, and she employed a few devices that stuck with me even after I finished the book. For example, she made me think about use of popular music in contemporary romances. I used to think that the mention of a song or artist would immediately date the novel and render it stuck in a very specific range of time. But Kessler references a specific song, Marc Broussard’s “Home,” which I happen to love, and given the beat, the description of Jezebel’s dancing, and the scene itself, it worked and worked well. Referencing a song that isn’t chart-topping popular but interesting, clever and unique - the song itself is a kickass hybrid of Louisiana blues and funk - doesn’t date the book so much as add a layer to the story and the character. I understood more about Jezebel based on her association of the song: she is becoming something of a hybrid as much as the song already is.

My biggest problem, though, with the story rested on one aspect of Jezebel’s adjustment to human form. Does she have a memory? Does she have senses as a human that she didn’t have before? Is there some disconnect between senses, which she has, and a soul, which she does not? Every time she encountered something familiar - even if she’d only been in the human’s form for a day or two - that reminded her of something having to do with Hell, it would be right on the tip of her tongue, or tickling the edge of her brain, and I wanted to smack her with something heavy because OMG YOU WERE JUST THERE TWO DAYS AGO SURELY YOU REMEMBER. I was just there WITH YOU and I remember what it was. As far as a plot device to forward the suspense, it was frustrating, because I wasn’t sure if the protagonist/narrator was being a complete idiot, if she was unreliable, or if she wasn’t used to her human-limited senses. Ultimately it happened frequently enough that I wanted to bean her with her dancing pole.

Jezebel’s limitations as a human aren’t fully explained in terms of what it meant for the human whose body she copied. Clearly this is a series because there were some major pipe-sized loose ends left for the next book, but I find it frustrating when a large element isn’t revisited after for the beginning of the book, and while the character and storyline in question has to appear in subsequent books (I would hope!) I felt disappointed not to know even a little of what happened. Creating a first of a series that stands alone yet makes it clear there’s more story to be told is quite a balance, and it’s hard to accomplish. I’ve also heard from more than one author that publishers and editors want it OMG CLEAR that there is a sequel, hence big honking storylines left unresolved. Whatever the reason, it makes me a cranky panda. 

However, even picking up the book again a moment ago to get a fact or a detail straight for this review meant I lost a good ten minutes reading again, because the prose sucks you in and so much happens so fast that reading it is one what-happens-next after another. So I really, really want to find out what happens next - and I have to wait until November (*pout*).