Review: I've been SUMMONED!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 28, 2014
Don't Read If: You only like cute fluffy things and unicorns and rainbows; are offended by characters with colorful language and delicious snark; dislike the occasional steamy sex scene; are looking for a sweet young man to sweep an innocent damsel in distress off her feet.Do Read If: You are awesome and love other awesome things. Because this is epicly awesome, completely unique Paranormal Thriller that hits all the right buttons.I will start my review by saying I’m SOLIDLY in the reading audience on this one! Don’t get me wrong, I like fluffy bunnies and unicorns, but that’s not ALL I like, and when it comes to books, I want it dark, gritty, and mysterious! I would probably hate this book if I only liked sunshine and rainbows. So, reader beware, if fluffy pink marshmallow slippers are the only thing in life that makes you happy, then pass on this book. You are looking for a cup of hot cocoa and this book is a shot of vodka. I freaking loved it. Onto the actual review…First of all, what I loved most about this book is that there is nothing else like it! I have read a LOT of books in my time, but a serial killing djinn/genie, bound to unlimited wishes by a paranormal familiar bond? Yeah, that’s new to me. Add to that that this book flies by at about the same pace as someone skydiving, and you’ve nailed exactly what I look for in a book. Fast paced, exciting, intriguing, and unique. I’m sold.Rainy Kaye writes with raw, unfiltered honesty, and Dimitri and all the other characters in the book immediately came to life on the page. I couldn’t put it down, couldn’t stop reading, and still can’t get the characters out of my head. The writing was smooth and not bogged down with the flowery writing that plagues some writers. This book is awesome for what it says, not because it reads like poetry (seriously WTF is up with that, if I want a book of poetry, I will buy a book of goddamn poetry). The writing is professional and natural and doesn’t get in its own way. So yeah, total win there, too.One of my FAVORITE parts of the book was all the missions and trying to figure out what they had in common. (I’m a gal who loves a good mystery!) Sometimes I would get the feeling that something was important, and I would be excited when I was right, though this story was anything but predictable. I can almost always figure out the plot twists in a novel and yet this book was full of reveals and surprises that I sensed were coming, but didn’t know what they would be. Talk about suspense and tension!Dim I think is one of my FAVORITE male characters ever, too. Like, okay, I have NEVER had a crush on a fictional character before now. The author made him SO real though. He was awesome and sexy, but also flawed! PLEASE shoot me before I have to read another book where the hero can do no wrong. The human traits in Dim made him all the more real to me. He was prone to panic and oversights, which created plenty of delicious conflicts for him to have to claw his way out of. Seriously TEN stars for character development. And Rainy Kaye manages to pull it off WITHOUT pages and pages of a character sitting around thinking. I got to learn about Dim through his actions and reaction; his choices, the things he said; and yes, the occasional thought. I really loved his voice in the story. Did I mention I want to lick him?This story is action packed from the first page all the way to last, and my eyes were glued to the page. You know when you are reading the best book ever (this one) and you can’t read fast enough to find out what happens next, but at the same time you simply can’t allow yourself to miss a single word? Yeah, that’s this book for me. I want to marry this book.One of the BEST parts of this book is that Dim spends a good part of the book in denial. You know he’s a good man and he’s forced to do these AWFUL things, so he lies to himself about the people he has to kill so he could cope with what he had to do. To be honest, I thought it was fudging brilliant. So realistic and yet something I would not have thought to make a character attribute in a million years. Dim is one of a kind.Adding to the conflict in this book is that Dim is pretty much a ticking time bomb once a wish is made, which creates distractions for him and a panicked urgency to hurry up and just do whatever and hope it works because if he doesn’t do something—ANYHTING—right away, then all hell breaks loose. I feel bad for the guy, who really doesn’t even get a chance to come up with a plan before he has to react, otherwise he might be tortured by his curse and not able to physically carry out what he needs to do (thus making it worse). I kind of think of it like a car accident where someone is badly hurt and you aren’t sure if you should move them or leave them or do something to stop the bleeding and you don’t have time to think about it. You need to do SOMETHING NOW or they are gonna die. Only in Dim’s case “something” is kill someone and if he doesn’t HE’S gonna die, too. Which he might have even preferred prior to meeting Syd, except for the pure torture that he would endure before he could die. Poor Dim is often ill-prepared . . . and you know what? His master doesn’t give a crap! Why should he? Dim has to get it done or Dim suffers until he does. That’s Dim’s problem, not his masters. Really Karl is a cruel selfish SOB and I loved to hate him. This book is basically conflict left right upside-down inside-out and sideways.One of my other favorite characters in book is Syd. She hides a lot of her emotions, just like Dim hides a lot of who he is. I found it interesting how they both hid behind sex, and I liked how Dim was in denial about her, too. About not wanting a relationship with her at first. Deep down, I think he never wanted to be alone. Syd was just the woman that made him realize that. These two were meant to be. And yet, in a way, they were star crossed lovers and never even knew it! The interaction between these two brought some really fun and steamy scenes to the book. Mature audiences only need apply ;) I liked that the author wasn’t afraid let her characters be who they are. No toning it down. If people not being Mary Sues and Gary Stu offend your senses, TURN BACK NOW! This is not a fluffy romance with two kids who hold hands and play eye contact games. Thank god. Because really, does EVERY couple in fiction have to be like that. This just goes back to what I was saying earlier. These characters are awesome, this plot is awesome, and despite the paranormal and fantastical elements, it’s easy to suspend disbelief and forget this is just fiction because it’s these characters are too imperfect to not be real!There is romance in this book and it definitely added to the appeal for me, but take note! The romance is NOT the plot. And thank goodness because how many books focused SOLELY on falling in love can a person read? I’ve read plenty but I wanted something different. Something unique with a PLOT that goes beyond two people falling in love. This book has it ALL. A mystery run by Karl’s devious plot AND a dash of romance. If you like action and adventure and mystery and suspense immersed in a paranormal theme, you will love this. If you are hoping for Jane Austen . . . well . . . I refer you to the cover that very obviously indicates this is not one of those sugary romance books.I really loved the Walker family, too! Well, loved to hate them. OMG, Sylvia is SO messed up. You know how child celebrity stars get all nuts from growing up so far outside of normal? That’s Sylvia. Growing up with that kind of power and riches and attention . . . there was a scene where I was like OMG she’s fudging nuts! I won’t post a spoiler but when you hit that part, you will know. Trust me, you’ll know. Karl, meanwhile, is selfish, sexist, and sadistic. I was gonna say greedy, too, but I liked those 3 s’s together like that. I love it when bad guys are actually BAD and not WATERED down. Rainy Kaye was not afraid to keep pushing things to the limits, making the conflicts worse and worse, bigger and more dangerous. It just built and built to the climax, with things always getting worse. This is what I look for in a book. Starts off with a bang and yet manages to get MORE and MORE intense with each chapter!This book is high concept fiction. Very simple ideas, but in the best way possible. It wasn’t confusing or hard to follow. It didn’t need bells and whistles and a tambourine to make it intense. This is because the concept alone was enough to carry the story and the characters strong enough to make it shine. I really enjoyed the development of the idea! Part of what made this exciting is Dim’s history as a Djinn is NOT what he thinks, and the reveal at the end really takes the story to a whole new level! I enjoyed learning about what the Djinn are in Kaye’s world she has created here as well. The whole master bond concept was AWESOME and it’s totally sick how it works. In a way, there are even some parallels to American and World History, just this is more of a paranormal approach. I loved learning about how Dim’s family became Djinn and I especially loved the lore about the creation of Djinn’s. It reminds me of those old folklore stories.Dim spends the course of the story trying to figure out exactly how it is that this master bond works so that he can put it to an end, and let’s just say anything he could have guessed was way off base from what is revealed in the end! The author did an amazing job of weaving some of these details into the story so that it wasn’t dumped all at once, but I found the end especially interesting when you find out how much of what Dim thought is actually true and how much of what he didn’t know changes EVERYTHING. And I mean everything.This book is my new favorite! From plot, to characters, to the cleanly edited and concise writing, this book hit all my buttons! Face-paced and exciting, just read a sample for yourself and you’ll see immediately what I mean! Like I said, no fluffy bunnies here, but if you’re brave enough to try a little moonshine, this book will show you an unfiltered good time. Oh, and the cover rocks. Seriously. This novel is professional quality from the packaging to the content right down to the editing. I expect big things to happen with this book. Let’s see if I’m right.