The book this time is Written in Read by Anne Bishop
Overall, though it is a slightly slow read, it is by no means boring and I can't wait to continue reading the series.
Written in Red is set in an alternate universe in America I think. The premise is that other supernatural creatures (vampires, werewolves, etc...) called terra indigene were the natives of America, not Native Americans like here (this is what I got out of this, so I'm not positive on this). These terra indigene (I'll just call them ti's) believe that humans are nothing more than slightly smart prey, so when humans from Europe landed in America, they were almost wiped out. The reason they weren't is because humans knew how to make things that the ti's liked. Fast forward to present day and there is an uneasy agreement between the two species. Humans got to settle in America and trade with the ti's. The ti's still had the most control however, and in major human cities, they set up courtyards where they ran business between the two species and basically send a reminder about who's really in charge.
The book opens up with the main character Meg Corbyn, running. She is a cassandra sangue, or a blood prophet, and when her skin is cut she sees the future (much more complicated than this, but that's the gist of it). She is running from the Controller, who has custody of a bunch of blood prophets and uses them in a lucrative and obviously illegal business. When she reaches the city of Lakeside's Courtyard, she applies for a job as a human liaison (helps to ease communication between human and ti, because most humans don't like being around ti's) because she knows that human law doesn't apply in courtyards and she'll be safe from the Controller there. Simon Wolfgard, leader of the courtyard, though highly suspicious of her, gives her the job.
And this is how the story opens up. Basically a lot of people want access to either Meg or the courtyard (and sometimes both) and as time passes Meg comes to actually like being in the courtyard, the ti's actually come to *gasp* like her even though she's a human, and come to accept her as one of their own.
Lets start with the bad bits (which aren't necessarily bad, but just stuff that needs improvement). First of, this book is over 400 pages long. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's also feels long to read. It's not one of those "action around every corner" books, it has all these little seemingly non-essential subplots that slowly but surely come together into one big action filled scene. That's not bad either, but I almost gave up on the book because I thought I might not finish in time. Yet at the same time I was so intrigued by the plots that I would read for hours and I did finish the book.
Another issue with the book is that it doesn't explain everything right away, and was a little bit contradictory. I didn't understand the concept of this alternate world (and I might still not understand quite yet). The terra indigene are also confusing creatures overall. Their supposed to be terrifying and uncontrollable in the eyes of humans. And they can be. The parts where they have to hunt people, or when some of their bestial side shows through their human skin (all ti's can shape-shift between human and animal forms, and their last names show what animal they really are like "wolfgard" "crowgard" or you've got the "sanguinati" blood=sanguine=vampire). But then there are times when they act, very... domesticated. The corwgards love shiny things, and Meg while working, has to barter with them to get her stuff back sometimes. Meg befriends the ponies by giving them food (though I later learned that their not actually ti's but belong to some elementals). And though the wolfgard are supposed to be really feral, and they try not to show this, but they love playing games, and they just seem more... dog-like to me than wolves at times. Especially when I read through encounters between Meg and Simon.
In other news, I have another OTP now.
I also wanted more backstories of specific characters, like Jester the coyote person, or the elementals. The pov's of the people Bishop did show were good, but I would rather hear more about some of the ti's than someone like *shudder* Asia Crane (stupid human who thinks that spying for a living will get her into their version of Hollywood called "Sparkletown").
Bad stuff aside, I loved the book.
Meg was especially a cool character to hear her side of the story. Being owned by the Controller possibly since birth, all that she knows of life and society is from the brief and inadequate clips and pictures that she and other blood prophets were shown to help them decipher the prophecies. Because of this she has a different perspective of the world than ordinary humans, and is seen as having a more childlike mindset. She also defies the ti's stereotypes of humans, and starts to change them and make them more accepting of other humans without even trying. Her mindset makes me like her more as a character.
Also, because of the slow pace of the book, it allowed more pages to be dedicated to seeing the daily life inside the courtyards. It made me fall in love with the world and the characters, and made the change in the mindset of the ti's more evident, especially in Simon.
Simon's character is... different. He has to be a leader not just for the ti's, but for people too, so when he has official stuff going on, whether he's with the police or the business association of the courtyard, he has this... almost disguise as knowing exactly what to do, and being extremely tough. But in personal relationships and conversations I really got to see his personality. He starts to show the wear and tear of leadership show, and the pressure he feels caring for his orphaned nephew Sam (who was traumatized after witnessing his mom's unsolved murder). So when Meg enters his life and starts to change it, I saw his fears over the change, and his elations. And it became really obvious that he was slowly getting attracted to her. He literally thought that he was attracted to her, then immediately denies it to himself. He is also very nit-picky. His first complaint about Meg was because her "hair smelled bad" (she had died it to disguise herself from the Controller while still on the run).
And then there's Sam. He was perhaps the cutest character ever. He couldn't grow up (both physically and emotionally) for 2 years because of his mom's death, and it wasn't until Meg had met him that he showed any sign of recovery. Both characters were restricted, confined by the events that terrorized them and, though it is much more obvious for Sam, their relationship is very much a codependent one. They relied on each other and helped each other recover from their past; and through each other were able to trust other people again. This also results in Meg's acceptance in the courtyard.
So overall I loved the book. You should read the book and love it too, so I can have someone to love it with.
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