Review: Awesome start to a different series!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 15, 2014
from pagetrotter.blogspot.com4.5 stars!!First, can we take a second to appreciate the absolute ingenuity of this idea? The afterlife is run like a low level corporate paper company...if you're thinking Dunder Mifflin than my imagery is working! It's incredible, really, and absolutely hilarious. The idea that there's different departments for the Jinxes, Lady Luck, Murphy's Law, Cupid (who sounds fascinating), Death as a counselor and the Cat Lady! Who's the Cat Lady? Oh, just the woman who send blacks cats into your path as bad omens. Donna's always been great at world building so I never had to worry that would be lacking with Karma.Now if you are reading Karma after Donna's Alchemist series, like I am, then you will notice that this story seems to be a little bit more plot driven rather than character, as opposed to how it was in the Alchemist series. This could be because it's the first novel and everything will be revealed as if peeling an onion. You do have a large sense of mystery throughout the book (I mean, look at the minimal blurb). You immediately pick up on the fact that nothing and no one is what they seem. Not even our main character. And this does, sometimes, offer a bit of disconnect between us and our Ms. Karma. Again, this could be the whole "setting the stage" for the series.I don't want to give too much of the plot away since it does feel very mysterious; I want y'all to enjoy that! I will talk a little about Camilla/Karma because you can see a certain consistency with Donna's female leads: strong minded, independent, conflicted, witty, honorable, and a bit broken. It's basically a recipe for superb character evolvement and these types of women are always badasses. With as much as we've learned about Camilla/Karma, I still feel like I'm a little in the dark about her. I do believe this is done intentionally. I know I want to read more because of it! Ohhh and Fate. Hmmm, did anyone else get a Jericho Barrons (Fever series) kind of feel to him, minus the whole "I might murder you at any moment" vibe Barrons gives off? Fate is like a calmer, more stable Barrons. He's got the mystery and underhandedness in spades. He also has this lazy sex appeal. Yes, I'm loving me some Fate. I believe Mr. Fate has been pulling Camilla/Karma's strings for a while now. Or at least he's kept his eye on her. Basically, what I'm saying, is hurry up and write the second book! I NEED IT!!The only negative thing I can say is the pacing was odd. Sometimes we were in hyper-speed and I had to backtrack and reread a section because I got lost for a second, and other's were a little slower. This is a very minor detail in the scheme of things, people! It's a fantastic read and a great promise for another awesome series from Donna! Check it out, I fully recommend it!