Yvonne NavarroCritiques

I really wanted to love this book. I really love willow, but I did not love wicked willowed in the book. I really loved the arc on the t.v because it was short. I liked that it was not bound my cannon but it was not my favorite. I will eventually finish the series but it was rather slow read.

i like this the different version of events of evil willow if her path and time as evil went longer. I did like how we got into all the lead characters heads and really see how the lack of willow would effect them. I also like the role of tara in the book and am curious to see where the book series goes next!

I really wanted to love this book. I really love willow, but I did not love wicked willowed in the book. I really loved the arc on the t.v because it was short. I liked that it was not bound my cannon but it was not my favorite. I will eventually finish the series but it was rather slow read.

i like this the different version of events of evil willow if her path and time as evil went longer. I did like how we got into all the lead characters heads and really see how the lack of willow would effect them. I also like the role of tara in the book and am curious to see where the book series goes next!

I'm a sucker for the Aliens franchise so I'll always enjoy these collections. I thought these two stories were a cut above the usual however. Interesting ideas, well drawn sympathetic characters, and visceral action. Damn good fun.

Apparently one of those books that Arkham House was supposed to release before they joined the choir eternal...

Pretty good creep anthology with a lot of names I didn't know. Ugly cover and dj. There were a handful of really good disturbing stories and no real stinkers, which I hate in an anthology (Why include one really bad story, harkening back to the rotten apple analogy?). Too many damn typos!

I liked it, anyway.

I absolutely loved it. Brynna is such a unique character!
It's a rushing storm carrying you along. Twisting, far from simple, very compelling.
It thrilled me to the bones - and left my surprised at seeing last page of the book.

4/5 because as much as I liked it, I would not sit pouring over it again and again.

For me Ultraviolet works best as the action movie I saw before reading this, but I was able to understand more of the world and it's characters by reading the book so I like it.

This was an interesting premise that could be more intriguing in subsequent novels, but took quite a bit of world-building here to lay the groundwork. Don't be fooled by the cover art. The heroine of this novel isn't some streetsmart badass woman who has it all together and uses her special powers to fight crime. .... Well, she does do that, but she's also basically like a newborn. Brynna is a demon and has just landed in Chicago straight from hell. Normal, everyday things confuse her and she doesn't act like a human would act about anything. Everyday sounds and smells are foreign to her and the things that humans are consumed with and the things that trigger her emotions are all things that she needs to learn if she wants to hope to fit in.

Her first day on earth, she witnesses a gruesome murder and nonchalantly walks away. The blood and gore and people screaming don't seem odd to her at all. Naturally, this reaction draws the attention of a police detective who wants to find out more about Brynna.

Honestly, I could have done without any romance here. Not everything needs to include a love connection. The story is a different construction of the fallen angel/demon/devil trope and it's interesting. I'd be interested in reading the next novel in the series, but I don't think this series lasted for long.

AFTERAGE was a whole lot of freaking fun!

The vampire apocalypse has already occurred and entire cities have been decimated. With isolated survivors cut off even from each other-how could a premise this good go wrong? The good news is, it didn't.

What I liked most was the...I guess I'll put it as...different levels of vampire. They have differing levels of energy and power. I won't even get into the Queen. (That's what I'm calling her.)

I also liked how the story of each survivor, (or surviving group), was introduced. I think it takes a special skill and confidence to jump into a story with a large cast and Yvonne Navarro did it deftly and with panache. I never felt that the story was lost or unwieldy. It all came together in a most satisfying way.

With a lot of strong female characters populating the landscape of vampire-ridden Chicago, how could I not enjoy this book? I especially liked Louise and her little dog, Beau, and of course, I had a fondness for Jo as well. (Though I could not help being reminded of Swan, a character in another GREAT post apocalyptic tale. Bonus points if you know what character and/or book I'm talking about.)

AFTERAGE was written in the 90's but it doesn't feel dated. I think that's because there's no electricity in this world, so phones and the internet would be out of the picture anyway. Even though decades have passed since this was written, the characters and themes involved are timeless. They still worked their way into my heart, and perhaps if you let them, they'll work their way into your heart as well.

Highly recommended!

You can get your copy here, (but read my 2nd note below first!): https://www.amazon.com/AfterAge-Yvonne-Navarro-ebook/dp/B004J17GTO/chashorcor-20

*I read this book because of THE HORROR SHOW WITH BRIAN KEENE podcast. (They're doing an online book group and this is the second book they're reading.) I probably wouldn't have made time to read it otherwise, so thanks to the HORROR SHOW crew for bringing it to my attention. *

**This is not the edition I read. I read the copy included in [b:A Haunting of Horrors: A Twenty-Novel eBook Bundle of Horror and the Occult|23995027|A Haunting of Horrors A Twenty-Novel eBook Bundle of Horror and the Occult|Chet Williamson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1437541338s/23995027.jpg|43595795]. The individual novels therein do NOT come up in a search of one's Kindle library, but luckily I pulled up the book and happily discovered AFTERAGE was in there. I only mention this in case you have this volume as well. **

Review copy

Husband and wife writing team, Weston Ochse and Yvonne Navarro, have produced something very special with Ghost Heart. At the center of the story is a very cool kid, a couple of ghost/imaginary friends and his German Shepherd, Kubla Khan.

Ghost Heart is a YA novel and is truly geared to that younger audience. I enjoyed this so much that by the time I was half-way through, I knew I was going to add this to my ten-year-old grandson's Summer reading list. I think he'll really like this foray into the world of ghosts and witches.

The story begins with Matt Cady playing cowboys and Injuns with his constant companion, Kubla Khan. The interaction is playful and real and is watched over by Jacket, his Guardian Spirit and Raison who is the Guardian Spirit of the teenage girl next door, Reggie, who now longer believes in such things.

When Reggie runs away, Matt joins her and it's the start of a great adventure involving bikers, fortune tellers, a giant, the Christmas Witch, vampire kittens and the ghosts of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane and a quest for the War Shirt of Crazy Horse. All in the hopes of keeping his parents from getting a divorce.

In addition to a rip roarin' adventure there are some solid life lessons mixed in with this story that make it perfect for the Young Adult reader and anyone who wants to feel young again.

Ghost Heart is available in both paperback and for the Kindle from Dark Regions Press through Amazon.com. If you have Amazon Prime, you can read it for FREE through the Kindle Owner's Lending Library.

Definitely recommended.

The fact that this slim book contains three episodes from the tv series kind of says it all. hardly enough words to tell the whole story.
for what it, it is quite good. it takes as long to read as an episode does to watch (almost). I did like the diary portions supposidly from willow.

This was a slightly different take on a fallen angel needing redemption. The book starts just before the fallen angel, demon, left hell. We are shown a tiny bit about what it was like in a prologue then the book jumps right in at Chapter One within a few minutes of her arriving on Earth. The action begins there, too, as she is running for her life. We never quite find out how she got to the mortal plain but Navarro does a great job of presenting this nonhuman's first few days in Western Society.

Brynna is basically a sociopath at first. She knows (or remembers) nothing of love or friendship or selflessness. She does what makes sense for her at that moment. Even her quest, to gain redemption so she can reenter the kingdom Heaven, is based on selfish reasons. She isn't evil anymore in that she doesn't try to hurt anyone but it doesn't occur to her to protect, either. She has no emotion when someone is murdered in front of her, just considers the situation. She does try to catch the perpetrator but when she is blocked by a locked door she stops and moves on with her own business.

It's a process as she figures out how to function in this society and what is appropriate behavior and finally how to feel. This is a really important part of her redemption, learning to be human, learning to understand that her side of the war in Heaven was wrong for thinking God shouldn't hold these human closer to His heart than the angels.

The religion wasn't over the top at all, quite appropriate given the subject matter, but I did find myself thinking again about how the JudeoChristian faiths are so obsessed by the idea that we are so important and number one in the eyes of our ideas of our creator(s). Kind of egotistical, actually. But I digress.

I never quite feel that Brynna really is seeking to be redeemed. I never really see that she is sorry for what she did in Hell (she was not an innocent by any means and does remember it) or thatshe does good because it's the right thing to do. I do believe she has appropriate feelings eventually but I never really felt any deep emotion until the very very end. There is supposedly this connection between her and the love interest but I never felt it either. They were just words telling me what I should see but don't.

I do like the characters well enough and I think Navarro is good at making each a unique recognizable individual. The characters are multicultural and gender equal for the most part (but still no glbti folks). The world the author built works for me and is rife with possibilites.

Navarro has written a lot of Buffy comics and it shows. There is plenty of action and suspense and drama here and the pacing is great. The women are strong and complex and the men allow them to be. Brynna is special and really kick ass and she doesn't do dumb things, probably because she has little emotion. The men are strong, too, although the detective is appropriately but stupidly macho and does understandably do dumb things because he just doesn't get that he is useless against demons.

But there are a number of holes and major problems. Like they find a hit list and they never deal with it past the plot of the book. Hopefully it will be handled in the next book. At another point, the detectives find the scene of the crime for a missing person's case, and there is at least one major clue, but they say that it's nothing and one even asks, "What are we doing here?" Brynna also hides evidence that would solve the case from Eran and when he finds out he's mad for about two seconds then gets over it.

There are small things like in the beginning she sleeps behind a dumpster and is wearing the clothes she found and put on after climbing out of a marsh, two days ago, but no one notices that she stinks or suspects she doesn't have any other clothing, at least not at that point. Also, Eran gets a cell phone for her when he doesn't know her and has just met her and he signs up for a 2 year contract, not a prepay? She also won't eat "flesh" but fish is okay. UGH. Fish is flesh!

Okay, this is probably a dumb complaint but the hispanic names are all excellent, uncommon but believable, but Eran instead of Aaron? and she comes up with Brynna on the spot, a modern name with no meaning she mentions, but an appropriate last name? And a priest is Father Paul Murphy.' Really. No stereotyping there. Apparently no originality either.

So I'm torn. On the one hand I enjoyed the book and couldn't put it down but on the other, I just didn't care enough about the characters and I didn't quite get why they cared about each other so much. I think I would probably enjoy the next book but I am now drawn to it. That's unusual when I finish a book in a series. Usually, even if I didn't like it that much, I do really want to know what happens next. Here, whatever.

BUT there is a wonderful, believable kick ass dog so that brings the star rating from 2.5 to 3. Yes, I am easily pleased by dogs in books.

So I don't necessarily recommend it but I don't not recommend it either. Read someone else's review because this is probably no good to you at all.

This was a slightly different take on a fallen angel needing redemption. The book starts just before the fallen angel, demon, left hell. We are shown a tiny bit about what it was like in a prologue then the book jumps right in at Chapter One within a few minutes of her arriving on Earth. The action begins there, too, as she is running for her life. We never quite find out how she got to the mortal plain but Navarro does a great job of presenting this nonhuman's first few days in Western Society.

Brynna is basically a sociopath at first. She knows (or remembers) nothing of love or friendship or selflessness. She does what makes sense for her at that moment. Even her quest, to gain redemption so she can reenter the kingdom Heaven, is based on selfish reasons. She isn't evil anymore in that she doesn't try to hurt anyone but it doesn't occur to her to protect, either. She has no emotion when someone is murdered in front of her, just considers the situation. She does try to catch the perpetrator but when she is blocked by a locked door she stops and moves on with her own business.

It's a process as she figures out how to function in this society and what is appropriate behavior and finally how to feel. This is a really important part of her redemption, learning to be human, learning to understand that her side of the war in Heaven was wrong for thinking God shouldn't hold these human closer to His heart than the angels.

The religion wasn't over the top at all, quite appropriate given the subject matter, but I did find myself thinking again about how the JudeoChristian faiths are so obsessed by the idea that we are so important and number one in the eyes of our ideas of our creator(s). Kind of egotistical, actually. But I digress.

I never quite feel that Brynna really is seeking to be redeemed. I never really see that she is sorry for what she did in Hell (she was not an innocent by any means and does remember it) or thatshe does good because it's the right thing to do. I do believe she has appropriate feelings eventually but I never really felt any deep emotion until the very very end. There is supposedly this connection between her and the love interest but I never felt it either. They were just words telling me what I should see but don't.

I do like the characters well enough and I think Navarro is good at making each a unique recognizable individual. The characters are multicultural and gender equal for the most part (but still no glbti folks). The world the author built works for me and is rife with possibilites.

Navarro has written a lot of Buffy comics and it shows. There is plenty of action and suspense and drama here and the pacing is great. The women are strong and complex and the men allow them to be. Brynna is special and really kick ass and she doesn't do dumb things, probably because she has little emotion. The men are strong, too, although the detective is appropriately but stupidly macho and does understandably do dumb things because he just doesn't get that he is useless against demons.

But there are a number of holes and major problems. Like they find a hit list and they never deal with it past the plot of the book. Hopefully it will be handled in the next book. At another point, the detectives find the scene of the crime for a missing person's case, and there is at least one major clue, but they say that it's nothing and one even asks, "What are we doing here?" Brynna also hides evidence that would solve the case from Eran and when he finds out he's mad for about two seconds then gets over it.

There are small things like in the beginning she sleeps behind a dumpster and is wearing the clothes she found and put on after climbing out of a marsh, two days ago, but no one notices that she stinks or suspects she doesn't have any other clothing, at least not at that point. Also, Eran gets a cell phone for her when he doesn't know her and has just met her and he signs up for a 2 year contract, not a prepay? She also won't eat "flesh" but fish is okay. UGH. Fish is flesh!

Okay, this is probably a dumb complaint but the hispanic names are all excellent, uncommon but believable, but Eran instead of Aaron? and she comes up with Brynna on the spot, a modern name with no meaning she mentions, but an appropriate last name? And a priest is Father Paul Murphy.' Really. No stereotyping there. Apparently no originality either.

So I'm torn. On the one hand I enjoyed the book and couldn't put it down but on the other, I just didn't care enough about the characters and I didn't quite get why they cared about each other so much. I think I would probably enjoy the next book but I am now drawn to it. That's unusual when I finish a book in a series. Usually, even if I didn't like it that much, I do really want to know what happens next. Here, whatever.

BUT there is a wonderful, believable kick ass dog so that brings the star rating from 2.5 to 3. Yes, I am easily pleased by dogs in books.

So I don't necessarily recommend it but I don't not recommend it either. Read someone else's review because this is probably no good to you at all.

The back cover explains that the new vampire in town was a slayer. Not just a mindless thriller, it deals with some issues.½

Before reading Highborn, I was familiar with Yvonne Navarro only as she had written a few of the Buffy, the Vampire Slayer novels. I had enjoyed her writing based on one of my favorite shows of all time (no small thing, that) and was definitely interested to see what she would do with characters and a world of her own creation.

Highborn was a deeper, more developed story than a lot of the urban fantasy coming out today. Brynna had a nice fish-out-of-water thing going for her that helped make her hardened demon personality understandable and humorous at times. Her character was the highlight of the novel, but almost equally enjoyable was the way the story always had a surprising wist just as things were starting to settle down. Every time it seemed like the story was wrapping up, something other, completely plausible, thing happened to continue the tale. Obviously, all those unread pages at the end of the book should have been my first clue, but it was so easy to get wrapped up in the story that I wouldn't even notice I was no where near the end.

I don't have much interest in reading about demons living in hell and because of this, Highborn's prologue made me wary of the story to come. Luckily, the prologue was short and gave just enough information for the reader to get an idea of Brynna's previous life without giving too much of that information up front. As the story progressed, we learned more about Brynna's experiences, but in bits and pieces as they related to the current plot progression. This did wonders for keeping me fully interested in the modern, Earth-based story.

I never go out of my way to read books about demons, angels, fallen angels or any of the other Heaven/Hell flavors, but I plan on doing just that with the Dark Redemption series. Brynna is a character that I need to follow, need to know more about and need to see how life works out for her. Highborn is a great book.

Despite the torments of eons serving the Devil, fallen angel Brynna, holds on to a hope of redemption. She is determined to deserve the forgiveness of her Maker, and escapes her Hellish existence taking on the guise of a mortal with vague plans to earn her Grace. It is difficult for Brynna to assimilate in modern day America, she struggles to empathise with the concerns of humanity and understand everyday tasks. When a man is killed by a sniper in front of her, Brynna becomes involved in the investigation by Detective Eran Redmond for someone who is targeting Nephilim, those born of a human mother and angelic father, all the while hunted by the Devils minions, because He wants her back.Highborn is a strong start to this new urban fantasy series with interesting elements and characters. The fallen angel trope is becoming increasingly popular in the genre but Navarro gives it an original twist. Once an angel, and now a demon, Brynna is now hiding from Hell disguised as a human. It has been hundreds of years since she has spent any time on Earth and even though she finds astonishing beauty in the simplest of things, she is essentially removed from human emotions. She has to work to develop compassion and mercy given her natural inclination to violence. Brynna provides an unique perspective with her detached curiosity and I enjoyed the growth of her character as she becomes involved with different people and situations. There is the beginning of a relationship for Brynna and Eran, though it is not a dominant theme The pair face unusual challenges given Brynna's background and I will be interested to see how it develops. The storyline provides fast paced action and flows well. Navarro has firmly established the rules for her world without heavy handed tracts of text and combines the paranormal with the mundane seamlessly. The mystery surrounding the identity and purpose of the sniper is a little weak, but the author neatly weaves several disparate events together into a solid well written storyline. Highborn heralds an intriguing new urban fantasy series with a dark edge. I really enjoyed the strong characters and storyline and I'm looking forward to the second book,[b:Concrete Savior|9690825|Concrete Savior (Dark Redemption, #2)|Yvonne Navarro|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1293557633s/9690825.jpg|14578929],due for release early next month.

Synopsis: Brynna Malak is on the run. Not from any human dangers, but from Lucifer himself. Brynna is a fallen angel, which technically makes her a demon. After escaping Hell, Brynna is hiding out in Chicago, trying to avoid The Hunters that Lucifer has dispatched to return her to Hell. Brynna’s goal of keeping a low profile doesn’t last for long. She is a witness to a brutal killing and the police are swarming around her. As it turns out, the killing Brynna witnessed was the work of a serial killer. The police have no leads and see Brynna as the hottest tip they have had so far. Brynna is willing to help the police catch the killer, but not because it’s the right thing to do. Brynna is trying to earn God’s forgiveness and a place back in Heaven.

Review: I picked this book up on a whim in the library. The cover art was cool and the description seemed interested. That sort of sounds like I am preparing to say I didn’t like the book, which isn’t the case. I did like the book. I found Navarro’s writing to be incredible detailed and imaginative. Fallen angels are becoming quite the hot topic for novels right now, but I thought Navarro’s take on them was very creative and original.

I enjoyed the characters. It was hard to warm up to Brynna because she is eons old and straight from living in the bowels of Hell. This doesn’t make her your average protagonist. The more I read of her, the more I liked her. She was also a total badass, which I enjoyed.

The downside to this novel was that it felt like something was missing. This is the first book in a series, so a lot of groundwork had to be laid. I am not certain if that is the reason the book seemed to lack oomph or not. I just had a general sense of something being missing. While the story was compelling, I wasn’t on the edge of my seat.

I will definitely check out the second book in the series, Concrete Savior, which is due out in June of 2011.

You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2011/03/review-highborn-by-yvonne-navarro.html

4.5 Stars
I’d like to start by saying that I could not put this book down! Highborn opens with Astarte (Brynna) looking out of her window over the vast wasteland of Hell and pondering her past deeds. She is one of the Fallen, with only one perfect feather to remind her of her past Grace, and she is determined to make things right and return to her former glory. When she somehow escapes Hell and finds herself on Earth, in human form, she takes the name Brynna Malak and sets out to redeem herself. Brynna then finds herself caught in the crossfire of a serial killer that’s been terrifying the Chicago area, a sniper that seems to be targeting people that aren’t connected in any way, but she will soon find out they are connected, and have everything to do with her. Brynna will have to deal with her growing attraction to Detective Eran Redmond, the cop working the case, and the increasing protectiveness she feels for her newfound friends, in order to make her way on Earth. Not to mention the Hunters that could find her and drag her back to Hell…

Highborn was so much fun, and I absolutely love Brynna! She reminded me a bit of Rachel Caine’s Cassiel (Outcast Season), in that she is an otherworldly creature in an earthly body, having to learn to deal with very human emotions. The action is just about nonstop and it was just all and all a great read! I can’t wait for the next book!

Full review posted at http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blogspot.com/
Brynna has escaped from Hell and is looking for redemption. She is being hunted by Hells hunters right from the start. In the beginning she witnesses a murder and ends up being arrested by Detective Eran Redmond and he ends up helping set her out with clothes and a job and they slowly start gravitating towards being more than friends. Eran of course at first doesn't believe her when she tells him who she is and what exactly is killing people. Brynna is adjusting to the human world and pretty naive when it comes to modern things. She is so used to life in hell that she is very detached from human emotion. She really knows how to kick butt and ends up helping a lot more people then she probably planned to. Her big mission in this book is attached to the character Mireva who is a Nephalim (half angel/half Human) and 17 year old High School student who is trying to get a full scholarship to go to collage as her family cant afford to send her to the kind of collage she wants to attend. Brynna's character was great and defiantly not the typical heroine which was kinda a nice change from the norm. Concrete Savior, book two will be released in June 2011 and I defiantly plan to continue the series.

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

I generally love Craig White’s cover art (Carrie Vaughn, Adrian Phoenix, Jaye Wells have all had Craig covers) but I’m not a fan of the cover for HIGHBORN (or the description, for that matter). It completely fails to capture the character and tone of this book. It’s not about a polished, slick woman ready to dole out a supernatural butt kicking to whoever gets on her bad side (isn’t that what the cover implies?). Brynna couldn’t be further from how she is depicted here.

First of all, she’s a demon. She’s spent eons in Hell apathetic to the incessant screams of the myriads of souls damned for eternity. Hers is a bleak and callous existence until she begins to question her own damnation and the chance of redemption. She escapes to earth in order to save her demon soul.

Brynna is an amazing character. A far cry from the sleek and savvy cover model. She’s been so conditioned by her hellish life that her initial experiences on earth are first bliss at the physical sensations such mundane things as cool, wet water and the smooth sour smells of the dumpster she spends her first night under. Contrast that with her curious detachment as she is talking to her first human when his brains are literally blown out all over her. She simply walks away, oblivious to the horrified stares of everyone she passes:

"Brynna straightened, then realized someone was screaming. It was an older man in a white coat behind the counter at the end of the aisle, and the only reason she even noticed was because it was so odd to her senses that there was just one man screaming instead of thousands." –HIGHBORN

Brynna does have to fight against her natural inclinations for violence and corruption, but she also surprises herself by her newfound desires for compassion and mercy. It’s this dual nature that captures the attention of Chicago cop Eran Redmond.

As much as I was completely caught up in Brynna’s story as she sought to redeem her soul and elude Lucifer’s Hunters, the romance that developed between her and Eran never quite took off for me the way I had hoped. It remained too safe and staid. There was no real fire between them. I also could have done without all the supporting characters that Brynna had to help. Those storylines were where the book dragged.

Overall, HIGHBORN was a pleasant surprise. The character of Brynna was a refreshing change from the typical UF heroine with her alien-like curiosity and controlled strength. Her story to Hell and back is one I can’t wait to read more of. CONCRETE SAVIOR, book two in the Dark Redemption series is slated for release in June 2011 and I plan on being first in line.

Surprisingly good for a vampire-laden post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller with an implausible premise. Very well paced.

Follows the movie hand-in-hand.

Life can be rough when you're bigger than everyone else. And red, with horns and a tail. And you're supposed to protect humanity from evil. The clear lines of good and bad are a bit of a stretch, but the storyline is good enough to overlook that.

This is a retelling of three episodes from the TV series:
- "I, Robot...You, Jane" is episode 8 of season 1
- "Phases" is episode 15 of season 2
- "Dead Man's Party" is episode 2 of season 3

There is some framing text in the form of Willow's journal.

The episode retelling sections were clear, and some of the scenes between Willow and Oz and Willow and Buffy were very nicely written.

While the first two episodes are clearly focused on Willow, that last episode seems a bit of a stretch to include in an collection based on Willow's character growth.

Very good book for finding 'meaningful' names for characters; I use it a lot when writing.