Book Review: Armed and Magical by Lisa Shearin

Woohoo! 1 down, 156 to go :D

Quick Stats
Genre - Urban fantasy, with a street detective-esque bent
Length - about 300 pages
Author - Lisa Shearin

Overview
This is book 2 in the Raine Benares series. Raine has arrived at the Isle of Mid, and the Saghred has been placed in the Guardians' most secure containment rooms - only they're not terribly containing, not for the Saghred with its seemingly limitless power. But that's not Raine's real problem. The real problem is that there are about a bazillion different factions on the Isle, and they all want a piece of her - or her in pieces. Some of them aren't fussy.

First Impressions
Fun! Oh yes, this stands up to my expectations well :) Just like Magic Lost, Trouble Found, the action starts right on page one, setting in place a chain of events that's exciting, dangerous, and above all, fun. I love Raine and her snarky, street-smart attitude :D

High Points
The general snarkiness of Raine, and the awesome, action-filled plot! She has a truly loveable cast of characters, from the rogue pirate Phealan to the sweet and not-quote-so-innocent-anymore Piaras, to the dreamy Guardian Michael, steamy badboy Tam... Ya know. The works B-)

And the plot just never stops; the pace is relentless from page one, and you're never quite sure what's going to blow up next. Lovely. Just the way things should be.

Low Points
The only minor qualm I have with this series of books is that, essentially, they are 'fluff'. I love and adore these books, and they have had a huge impact on my own writing - but they are ultimately there for entertainment. There isn't really any 'deeper meaning' behind them, and thus far in the two books I've read, there isn't a whole lot of character growth in Raine.

Some days, though, you just gotta have something that's entertaining, and easy on the brain... So there's nothing quintessentially wrong with fluff :)

Rating
So, because five stars, or marks-out-of-ten, or whatever, are boring, I'm going to rate my squillions of TBR books by where they're most suitable to read. I know, I'm a little odd, but work with me here...

So, this one has quite literally been my bathroom book for the last week %-) (Just fyi, my bathroom includes the bath, the toilet, the sink and the shower). I haven't really had time to read, but I started it in the bath last week and couldn't bear putting it away until I had time to finish it. So I've been reading it in snatches every time I'm in the bathroom.

It's a pretty good bathroom book, because it's so action-packed you can get a great deal of entertainment out of each chapter, while the plot is linear enough that you don't forget what was happening between times. The strong voice helps to keep the story fresh in your memory, too. The single only problem with it being a bathroom book is the carried-away factor, where someone bashes on the door and you realise you've been there for fifteen minutes O:)

And I confess, as I got to the climax, the book became a never-leave-my-side book until I finished it :D