Review: Descendant

Title: Descendant
Author: Lesley Livingston
Series: Starling
Volume: 2
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal

Why I Read It: It is the second book in the Starling trilogy (I think it is a trilogy?). Which is the sequel to the Wondrous Strange trilogy, which I really enjoyed.

A Quick Summary: Mason has crossed the bridge into the underworld, and Fennrys is determined to get her back, for both himself, and to stop her from becoming a pawn in causing Ragnarok (and by pawn I mean the trigger). Of course he as to recover from being shot in the shoulder followed by the train he was on exploding as well as a sea monster, but, details. He's not going to fight on the right side this time.

What I Thought: I enjoyed this book in a yelling-at-the-book sort of way. I sometimes got a little frustrated. I annoyed my roommate by being announcing what was going on in the book (she hasn't read any of the series, so I gave a super abbreviated version).

Okay first things first. Cameos. I miss the old cast (as in the Wondrous Strange trilogy cast) a lot, so when Maddox and Chloe showed up I was pretty happy. (We did get a couple of cameos in the last one, but this time we got Madd and Chloe. Who actually played significant roles as a part of the good guys last time.) And they (well Maddox, at least, Chloe seems to not like conflict- unless you hurt Maddox. Then she's kind of scary) actually stick around for some action scenes.

Moving on. I've never been huge on the romance in this one. I don't know... I guess, I'm not typically huge on romance in general sometimes, so it isn't altogether surprising. That said, I do feel like the romance was a weaker point in the book. (I'm not entirely sure how to explain it.) It still managed to be a driving force, but I just wasn't that interested in hearing about it non-stop.

I enjoyed the fight scenes and as always, the humour. I love dry humour, so most of these characters are right up my alley in that respect. I've always found there's something really enjoyable about how Lesley Livingston writes her fight scenes. I can picture them, but the words don't seem cumbersome, which can be a difficult balance to achieve.

So far I haven't love these as much as the Wondrous Strange trilogy, probably in part because I miss the fae world. It's always described wonderfully, so I miss that. And our heroes, seeing as I think they were a little more my personal preference. That said, I'm still looking forward to the next (pretty sure it is last) book in this series as well.