Originally I had no intention of reading Embers. I'm a little burned out from Urban Fantasies, at least starting new series, and had resolved to take a break. Best laid plans and such found me buying Embers and then reading it in relatively quick order.

The tone of the novel was much darker than I expected, exploring several deeper emotions such as lust, guilt and personal responsibility in slightly uncomfortable ways (for me at least). Anya is a conflicted young woman with deeply rooted guilt issues and a problem with forming personal connections, not particularly uncommon in today's UF heroines, but Bickle takes it a step forward with Anya's growing fear that one unwary step will burn her life down. Uncertain about the exact nature of her power as a Lantern (spirits are attracted to her like a moth to flame and she has the power to devour them, burning them to nothingness), Anya fights her nature. Meeting the firebug with an oddly do-gooder mentality, confirms her worst fears, but also opens her up to exploring who and what she could be.

The cast surrounding Anya, both supernatural and otherwise, all have distinct personalities. Sparky, her 'hellbender' elemental protectors; Brian, tech geek who cares for her; Katie, organic baker by day, witch by night; Ciro, demonologist and one tough old man; Jules, group leader and fond of slapping Mike upside the head; Mike, the newbie on the crew with a whole lot of enthusiasm and then Captain Marsh, her boss at the Fire department. The firebug, who becomes more important for a variety of reasons as the story goes on, was oddly appealing. He was doing bad things, but I couldn't tell if he was a sociopath, warped from his experiences or genuinely believed he was doing the right thing for the city.

I had a growing fear, as the way to stop Sirrush from rising became more and more clear, about what would happen in the end. And it came true. And despite everything that had happened I got misty-eyed and sad. It seemed appropriate, but still.

Book 2, Sparks, is due out at the end of August though there isn't a whole lot out about what it will be about and the end of Embers gives nothing away to give us clues. I am however looking forward to it and have great anticipation for Laura Bickle's alter-ego, Alayna Williams's debut UF Dark Oracle due out in June! ( )

this may have been the first urban fan5asy I have read that was set in Detroit. It made me miss college, since like half of them came from there ( )

This book was loaned to me due to my love for Detroit, in which the story is set. The author did a wonderful job describing both Detroit and Hamtramck. The plot was excellent, in that I could not predict the twists and turns. There were nothing easily predictable about this story, and I appreciated that.

However, I was completely unable to connect with the main character. It seemed as though she was a passive participant in her life, whether due to her self-imposed isolation, or her personality, I don't know. Things happened TO her, and then more things happened TO her, and then some more things happened TO her. There was nothing that she did to influence the world around her. She did not achieve anything, she did not grow (except in deciding to no longer be a shut-in), and she did not invest herself in her city, her friends, or herself.

I cannot forget, my favorite thing about the book was, surprisingly, not that it was set in Detroit. I absolutely loved the mythology of the world that was just beginning to be constructed and understood. I thought that it was revealed subtly; measured out in tantalizing morsels.

This book is worth a read. ( )

Ok so this review is rated a 1 raven because I didn't finish it. I just could not drag myself through the pages. I stopped at about 80 but couldn't go further. I apologize for this but, I am not going to make myself read a book that I just can't get in to. I felt that Anya was a bit whiny and she just didn't grab my attention. I like the ideas of this author though, the whole elemental thing is pretty sweet. ( )

eh. Firefighter/fire investigator heroine, who is a "lantern" and eats ghosts and stuff. Found her annoying and angsty and not quite bright. I may try one more. ( )