Review: Excellent Atmosphere. Unfinished Story.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 25, 2014
This was a weird book.Not weird in a bad way, but just one of those head-scratchers that succeeded on some levels and failed on others. It ended on an odd note and felt claustrophobic and unfinished.There's definitely a southern gothic/horror vibe happening (with a bit of the original V.C. Andrews tossed in) plus an interracial storyline, but this is NOT a romance. It's pure paranormal horror.The characters really didn't resonate for me. Pop star Rick and object of interest club-singer Song (yes that's her name; I facepalmed too) just seemed "there". All these crazy family secrets and supernatural things happening around them and then *to* them and they seemed rather passive in the face of it all.Especially Rick. World-famous sybaritic pop star be damned. Seriously, you find out your mom (who has serious boundary issues bordering on incest) has been messing with some very bad juju in order to make you successful but said bad juju has already killed women you've had sex with as payment, you don't just sit on your a** or run away. Especially when said bad juju may jeopardize the life of the woman (Song) you're actually interested in getting to know. Not to mention, maybe letting your mom know that walking into your bedroom while you're half-naked or her checking your cell phone for women is totally off-limits.I never understood why Song's mother never told her daughter what was going on. Hints yes, but hints won't save you from a ovary-devouring succubus. And Song's best friend Reagan...a hot mess that. Word to the wise: a groupie moment is just that-A MOMENT! Enjoy it and don't hate that your girl has caught the attention of the pop star you claimed was freaky (and he was, but in a much darker way) but you had sex with anyway.Yes, you read that right--ovary devouring succubus. You've been warned.There were also some editing hiccups like character's names changing (minor but still). This really needed to be a longer book. The bare bones are all there and the story drips with that mysterious, haunted bayou atmosphere that makes for great stories, but I just felt there was a lot missing. And the ending was rather unsatisfactory. Still Caddell Brown has storytelling chops and I look forward to more of her work.