Unpredictable Magic by Faith Hunter (ARC)

This is Angie Baby's story and wow was it a shock to go from a baby Angie in one book to a full-grown adult in the next. I began this book thinking that no one in baby Angie's life wanted this for her, but didn't they? Didn't they prepare her for just this and didn't many people (an angel even) in her life use her for her power? Similar for her brother EJ, who was a target since he was born.

I understand why they aren't living with Clan Yellowrock, I understand why they wanted to make a life of their own. That's a tribute to Faith Hunter who made me love Jane as her own person and allowed me to see the control she can exert under the guise of protection. I also see how they're making a family just like Jane did, and gathering their own people around them. Which is sort of heartbreaking given that's what they should have had in both the coven and the clan.

For me, this book firmly established Angie and EJ as adults who have survived some terrible things since we last saw them. In story it's also established them as powerful people in their own right, not just the princess and prince of the land.

The one thing I wanted more of but didn't get from this book was EJ. (And also maybe Cassey, who is a teenager now.) EJ's background with magic during the war fascinates me and I hope we get a chance to see him become more of who he wants to be, just like we saw Angie in this book.

Advanced reader copy provided by NetGalley.

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Clean Slate (Olive Hunt Book 1) by Brianna Labuskes (ARC)

This is the first of a new series and I am already fascinated. This time our narrator is a crime scene cleaner (aka bodily fluids cleaner). She has a strong support system, her own business, contacts both lawful and shady, and everything is going as usual until she finds something weird at the crime scene. Something maybe only she could find. Something maybe she was meant to find.

This book is about betrayals, large and small, and about vengeance mistaken for justice. It's also about traumas and their effects, starting with Olive's and including each person the murders touched.

Advanced reader copy provided by NetGalley.

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