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A review by caitybell
Death & Desire by Deborah Wilde
3.0
Book two in Deborah Wilde's cheeky Urban Fantasy is as fun and fast-paced as its predecessor. But while I loved the first book in this series, book two fell a little short for me.
Picking up where Blood and Ash ended, Ash is back with a new mystery. A murder mystery, well, sort of murder. It's complicated. Figuring it out takes her back to her ex-nemesis and fling, Levi, as well as the wicked Red Queen in Heathen. It's all very familiar ground, so familiar that I felt myself losing interest. While all the quirky humor, witty banter, and sexy romance from the first book are still prevalent in this sequel, Death and Desire offers very little more. Perhaps I expected the story and world to evolve more, and there are new revelations both of Ash's past and of magic itself, but they all felt lackluster. Ash tends to ALWAYS be the snarky sarcastic girl in the room. I wanted more depth from her, I wanted some kind of growth and vulnerability or just . . . something else. Something more. Unfortunately, I didn't get it. The vibe and feel of the book remain the same the entire time, making the high stakes of the plot not ever feel that high.
Overall, while it was fun, Death and Desire fell flat with its lack of growth as a series. I do plan on continuing the series, however. It is a fun take on the genre and I do like the characters as a whole! Hopefully, in the next book, we get a little more depth to the world-building and character development.
Picking up where Blood and Ash ended, Ash is back with a new mystery. A murder mystery, well, sort of murder. It's complicated. Figuring it out takes her back to her ex-nemesis and fling, Levi, as well as the wicked Red Queen in Heathen. It's all very familiar ground, so familiar that I felt myself losing interest. While all the quirky humor, witty banter, and sexy romance from the first book are still prevalent in this sequel, Death and Desire offers very little more. Perhaps I expected the story and world to evolve more, and there are new revelations both of Ash's past and of magic itself, but they all felt lackluster. Ash tends to ALWAYS be the snarky sarcastic girl in the room. I wanted more depth from her, I wanted some kind of growth and vulnerability or just . . . something else. Something more. Unfortunately, I didn't get it. The vibe and feel of the book remain the same the entire time, making the high stakes of the plot not ever feel that high.
Overall, while it was fun, Death and Desire fell flat with its lack of growth as a series. I do plan on continuing the series, however. It is a fun take on the genre and I do like the characters as a whole! Hopefully, in the next book, we get a little more depth to the world-building and character development.