Review: Great Hero, Lame Heroine...This Tends to Happen A Lot
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 5, 2013
It's true that even death metal gods need love too...just not with *this* heroine.I am a metalhead, and pretty much everyone who's breathing knows it. I can talk your ear off about Khan-era Kamelot versus Tommy-era Kamelot and why I think Europe is light-years ahead when it comes to powerful female metal vocalists. So when this book came to my attention, I had to have it. Like yesterday. I was so stoked for a book like this because I love long-haired rocker guys and having one paired with a black woman is always icing on the proverbial cake. Also, I'm that IR reader who craves those quirky type characters.Which is why I really should have liked this more and am bummed that it just didn't live up to what I'd hoped it would be. I think I'm a little dismayed that it's going to be a part of a series, which to me is totally unncessary. Once again the awesome and swoon-worthy hero is paired with a weakling of a heroine (whom, despite the cover, I had no idea was of color until late into the narrative. The description was of light skin and red hair, which could be any ethnicity frankly).Also, when writing about one of my passions--heavy metal--I want to feel as if I'm immersed in the world. I want the concert scenes to be vivid, as if I'm right there in the pit with hundreds or thousands of crazy fellow headbangers. I also need to know what the band sounds like. Death metal is kind of an umbrella term and there are differences between American and European styles. So I decided since the band in this book is called 'Blood Reign' and they wear corpse paint, they would sound like Dimmu Borgir with some Cradle of Filth mixed in. For some reason I keep seeing either Shagrath (Dimmu Borgir) or Alexei Laiho (Children of Bodom) as Del (though Alexi is a blonde...but hot).Okay, onto the story. It's only seventy-five pages so not a lot of time to pack a lot in. I do know that I loved Del and his bandmates. Behind the corpse paint is a man who's been through the rock and roll treadmill, which we learn and which makes his need for normalcy understandable. He doesn't make excuses for his past behavior but has grown up considerably, and he's a perfectionist. I disliked Evie. I tried to find something likeable but she was just too wimpy for a metal chick. She's got the greatest job in the world as a photographer/writer for a major Chicago paper and she gets to go to metal shows for free. What is there to be angsty about, sheesh? She gets to be right in front, where the action is, taking pictures and doing interviews with bands. Cool job in my book. Anyway, Evie's got major hots for Del, the lead guitarist of her favorite band, Blood Reign, but she's afraid it's one-sided. She just waffles way too much whereas her best girlfriend keeps telling her to go for it. What she doesn't know is he's noticed her as well. When they finally meet after a series of near-misses (and a jealous fellow photographer/groupie), everything happens in a rush. Okay, it's all part of a rock n' roll fantasy (to quote Bad Company) but still.I really want more of this, and I hope Evie grows a pair since she's now going to be linked with a famous metal guitar god. Take lessons from Pamela Des Barre, my girl. And let's find out about the rest of thee band, since they sounded like a lot of fun. And more detail about their sound and backstory. And none of this seventy-five page stuff either. A story this cool deserves time and attention. I want to see Evie and Del fall in love and fight to keep it strong in the world of metal.