Flight from Death
Author: Yasmine Galenorn
Reviewer: Gikany & Una
Rating: C+
What We’re Talking About:
Flight from Death is the debut novel in a new spin-off series, Fly by Night, from Yasmine Galenorn. Although the premise was promising with a fascinating world, it just did not deliver for Gikany and Una.
First, we need to say that we did not read the original series. If we had, the story might have made a little more sense, and we may have been more invested in the story. There are several flashbacks during the story that takes us from the action and mystery of the ‘now’ and throws us back to learn more of Shimmer’s back-story. We would have preferred having all of Shimmer’s back-story at the beginning of the novel so once the story commenced we could have been nicely immersed in it without the repeated distractions. The back-story was useful in learning more about Shimmer (especially for those of us who did not read the founding series), but it really interrupted the flow of the story and would have been better to have all at once at the beginning as more of a prologue.
The story is intriguing. The nature of the big bad and the ghost story element were fascinating and well woven. The variety of supernatural creatures was interesting. However, the story meanders quite a lot. It felt as if it took a long time to get to the final conflict with lots of unnecessary twists. There are scenes that were not really necessary.
One of the aspects that truly bothered us was the relationship between Alex and Shimmer. Although Shimmer has been attracted to Alex since she arrived Earthside, Alex was in a relationship. However, Alex felt the same attraction and ended his relationship so he could have Shimmer (which he does right at the beginning of the novel). Two things that are deep strikes against Alex:
1 – If the relationship is over, don’t just hang around waiting for the next great thing (stringing along your girlfriend) – break it off now, don’t wait to break it off until you have something better to go after. Be an adult.
2 – Break it off honestly – don’t cheat on your girlfriend to drive her away so you can be rid of her.
Shimmer seems completely fine with this. Their love scene is early in the novel and in a strange point in the storyline. It was very spontaneous and we did not like the “sex relationship for now and we’ll see if feelings follow” approach they are taking. Maybe this is something that is normal for some, but we could not swallow this arrangement. This element really drove the point home for us that Shimmer isn’t a strong character in her own right, but rather just goes along with the flow. Maybe her character development will be the over-arching plot line in this series.
We did love the supporting characters, however. Chai, a djinn, was absolutely lovable and wonderful and he added not only humor to the story but a truly intriguing character to the team. Degoba was fascinating and we thought he was a wonderful addition, once he finally was involved. His nature was intriguing and we liked the story of Brother Bear. In fact, we were quite surprised that Brother Bear did not go home with Alex seeing the connection they had. Tonya, the witch, was also a great character; her personality was an enjoyable addition. In some ways we felt these supporting characters outshined our main characters.
Overall Flight From Death was interesting. The supporting characters were diverse and fascinating. However, we were disappointed with our main characters and the slow, meandering pace of the novel. We are not sure if we will pick up the next book in the new Fly by Night series.
Our Rating: C+ Liked It, but we had issues
About the Book:
I’m Shimmer, a blue dragon shifter. Thanks to a mistake, I was exiled from the Dragon Reaches and sentenced to work for Alex Radcliffe, a vampire who owns the Fly by Night Magical Investigations Agency. Now, not only do I have to adapt to Earthside culture, but every time I turn around, somebody’s trying to kill us. And worse, Alex is as gorgeous as he is exasperating. But you know what they say: All’s fair in love and bounty hunting…
When an old friend of Alex contacts him about a haunting at the High Tide Bed & Breakfast in Port Townsend, Washington, we think we’re on a simple ghost hunt. But our investigation quickly transforms into a deadly fight as we uncover an eighty-year-old murder, a cursed house, and a dark force trapping the spirits within. To stop impending disaster we must break the curse and lay the angry spirits to rest.
Release Date: July 7, 2015
Publisher: Berkley
Series: Fly by Night #1
ISBN: #978-0425272152
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Format(s): Paperback (336 pages), e-book
Book Source: Publisher/NetGalley
Purchase Info:
Flight from Death (Fly by Night #1)
I just started this and was a little bit leery about it being a spin off. I’ve run into problems with this before. I hope I can get past it without it driving me nuts!