After defeating an evil wendigo, a man and his pooka lover deserve a little quiet. Unfortunately, Diego and Finn's hard-won peace is disturbed when Diego, in a jealous rage, unwittingly rips a hole in the impenetrable Veil to the Otherworld.
Separated, stuck on the other side of the Veil where Finn has to face old conflicts and Diego is the only human in a land of fae, the two of them navigate rocky waters between huge egos and ancient feuds. Worse still, some of the fae are dying of a mysterious illness and everyone believes Diego is the key to a cure. Things can't possibly get any worse, can they? Oh, yes - they can when the US government gets involved.
If you recall, I thought Finn and Diego's relationship relied heavily upon telling rather than showing in Finn, so seeing them together and growing as a couple was primarily what I was after in Diego. Two things: (1) I would hazard a guess that 10-15% of this book is endearments spoken between them which was both dull and excessive particularly when couple with… (2) they spend more time apart than together! Apparently, telling someone every five seconds how much you love them doesn't equate to trust and stability or reliability, for that matter.
Finn leaves. He comes back. They have make-up sex. They're in love again for always. Until a leaf falls in the forest and he must go. He must leave his "hero" because he's not worthy!!!
It wore me out. Clean out.
In all honesty, I probably could've overlook all the back and forth antics because the Otherworld is fantasy catnip. Fae queens, water spirits, a battle between the fae factions… I mean, I was chomping at the bit. There's even a mysterious sickness that seems to be targeting the males, plus we find out there is more to Diego than meets the eye. All of which I was sinking my teeth into. Naturally, many eyes are on Diego in the Otherworld which was the source of several conflicts between our protagonists.
Fine. Fine. I'm still moseying along thinking, 'There's still 40%?'. Yeah, in my opinion, the last 30-35% should've never happened. What was a good fantasy novel got turned into a Michael Bay flick complete with a covert government agency who's headquarters are in a mountain, throw in some nauseating experiments and a gun fight and…
In addition to the BAYHEM, shoehorned in are some sociopolitical musings on how the ole U.S. of A. has screwed the pooch repeatedly. Lookit, I'm not wholly opposed to references to current or political events, but this stuck out like a sore thumb, struck me as indulgent and completely derailed the story for me. Again, I probably could've overlooked it had it not gone on for a third of the book! THEN the BAYHEM got an injection of True Blood which took me from stunned to talking to my kindle as though it were to blame for this mess.
One word:
Exactly.
The story bogged down in the mundane when they weren't involved in some sort of battle and I still don't feel as though I really know either one of these characters. I can't fathom how either of these two could feel insecure enough in their relationship given the density of the love fog they shroud themselves in when they are together, which begs the question, why keep separating? Then the BAYHEM… *sniffles* and the True Blood… I don't even want to go there again. The Otherworld was the crowning achievement of Diego. I liked several of the secondary characters introduced and I am somewhat tempted by the ending to continue with the series. Dragons were introduced. Sucker-punched me right in the Achilles' heel.
DAMMIT!
*torn*
*shakes fist*
I'd recommend the first 70% to those who enjoy fantasy and the last 30% to those who enjoy action flicks.
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