Book Review

Blood Smoke and Mirrors by Robin Bachar

C+

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Archetype: Witch/Wizard

For a debut book, this story has an incredibly strong and funny main character – it is first person, for those who abhor the I, me & myself – and a strange and interesting world of characters. Even though it had some flaws in characterization and evenness, I had some difficulty extracting myself from the book. It’s fun and different and the narrator is bizarre and goofy and doesn’t take herself too seriously – which I adore in an over-emo-paranormal-flooded market.

First, look at the old cover. Holy SMACK was that a good looking cover. If this were on a shelf, I’d totally pick that up. The only problem: the heroine is not that thin according to the description – but when does the cover exactly match the book inside? Rarely, if ever.

Everything otherwise about the cover references the story, and looks good doing it. I freaking love this cover. The artist, Kanaxa, did a bang-up job.

Book Cover

Now, on to the story. Catherine Baker has been outcast from among the witches in her world after defending herself through magic. Witches are bound quite tidily in this world to the “harm none” thing, and turning a would-be rapist’s actions and evils back against him in defense counted as harm – and Catherine’s boyfriend, Lex, a Guardian among the paranormal world, turned her in. So when the story begins, she’s alone and nursing a major hurt, outcast because of her actions and because of the sins of her father, and barely scraping by financially.

If I had to grab one word to describe this book, it would be refreshing. Not like a diet Coke or something that’s saccharine and only satisfying in the short term, but refreshing like thinking to yourself, “Oh, that’s new, that’s different” while reading a plot that could have turned on a dime into well-trod cliche-land. Bachar keeps the story firmly in the present with a quick and witty narrator, and I kept reading.

Cat is not rich – which is kinda spiffy considering how many affluent paranormal creatures there are in Romanceland. She’s a waitress, she lives in a plain and small apartment, and she’s trying to figure out what to do next. She’s been in a holding pattern when the story opens, and she reports to work one night to learn that the last Titania, the de facto ambassador for her area representing the Faerie of her region, has been murdered, and had not named an heir.

Her boss, Mac, the owner of the cafe, which serves a neutral ground location for the creatures in their world, thinks she ought to submit her name as a candidate. The Titania, or Oberon if the person is male, serves as a representative for the Faerie in their region for the inter-species politics that inevitably cause angst and drama. To Cat’s great surprise, Lex, the ex boyfriend of much betrayal, thinks so, too, and promises to protect her as she faces the other candidates in a series of tests to determine her worth as a representative for the Faeries. Her opponent? I’m not sure if that’s a plot twist or surprise or what, so I’m not going to reveal it, but the competition adds a whole layer of emotional ouch to the plot.

Cat is kinda awesome. She’s a lot awesome, actually. I know that many of you really dislike the first person narrators, but they never bother me. She’s unique and sets herself apart in a flamboyant fashion among her kind. Even when she doesn’t know what she’s going to do next, she knows herself, and her relentless adherence to her own moral code and her own sense of fair play and values made me respect her, especially as she faced mounting tests to prove her worth to the Faerie. Cat is also a narrator very well connected to the present world, and she had a sharp ability to explain her world in terms of human reality:

The blood drained from my face at the idea of wearing an even fancier gown, and I nodded as Tybalt walked off. Deciding I’d better pick something before she did, I made my way through the castle and tried to ignore the fact that the noise level had raised a few decibels with general excitement at the prospect of a party. Faeries love to party—they love food, they love booze, they love music. Wine, women and song is a nicer way to phrase it, but the plain truth is faeries are as rowdy and fun-loving as the Greek community on a Big Ten campus.

Lex is powerful and conflicted. He’s from Louisiana, and at times his written dialect was irritating (yes, I get it, he drops his g’s) but his skills and ability to fight and protect Cat are fun to read about. Plus, there’s a lot of dialogue between him and Cat, and they bicker marvelously:

“Why do you own a sword if you have no idea how to use it?” Lex asked as I missed stabbing the practice dummy by at least three feet.

Dusting myself off, I raised my chin indignantly and glared at him. “Because it’s a ritual tool, and it’s not meant to spill blood other than mine. It’s a symbol, not a weapon.”

Lex and Tybalt turned to each other and sighed, both muttering, “Witches,” in the same disappointed tone of voice.

Bachar’s writing also employed descriptions that I really liked:

A slight breeze brushed my face and I caught the scent of vampire magic. It’s a peculiar but memorable scent, the smell of the last dying ember clinging to a candle’s wick, refusing to be snuffed. Really, that’s all vampires are, that last spark of life clinging like hell to this world, terrified to give in to what lies beyond.

Unfortunately there were a few areas of significant emotional absence that undermined the strength of the story elsewhere. First, when something happens to one of Cat’s very good friends, her grief is immediate, stormy, and over like nothing. She’s smart and cunning and a relatively good decision-maker, but her emotional complexity in other areas, such as her existence as an outcast, contrasted too sharply with the complete lack of grief in this area. It was as if she was over it way too quickly or never had any emotions to begin with – and I thought less of the story because of that lack.

Moreover, one of the characters and her relationship with him is trite, cliched, and flimsy, so when she pretty much turns herself inside out to help him, it makes no sense. It was impossible for me to gauge how important he was in her life, or how important other figures were, when Cat’s behavior was genuine and real at some points, and utterly artificial, plastic, and unreal in others. If anything, Cat needs much more realistic and emotional reactions to grief, as it’s a theme in the book and Cat’s lack of reaction, or what little reaction she had, was disappointing and jarring.

That unevenness of the portrayal of the relationships, coupled with a few HUGE leaps in plot development (I about slammed into the ending not expecting it and felt like I needed a seatbelt on the final page because ow) kept this book from totally blowing my mind. Cat is surrounded by people who lover her: you can tell by their actions and the way they embrace, protect, and defend her. But you can’t tell much from Cat’s reactions to them because they’re absent or muted. She says they are important and she cares, but her actions don’t support it.

But there were times I snorted at Cat’s thoughts, empathized with her predicaments, and could almost hear her voice in my head. It’s rare for a character to be so vivid in my brain, and I enjoyed that part immensely. This book was at times silly, fun, fast, light, and amusing, and since I know from the setup at the end that there will likely be more, I will look forward to the next edition with the hopes that Cat develops emotional depth equal to her strength and sense of humor.

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Blood, Smoke and Mirrors by Robyn Bachar

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  1. PK says:

    That cover IS seriously gorgeous!

      Thanks for the review, Sarah.  I’m a sucker for witches and especially smart-mouth, smart ones so I’ll just toddle on over to the Amazon link and read for myself.

  2. DianaW says:

    Sounds great! And I agree, I love the cover. This, though:

    Cat is not rich – which is kinda spiffy considering how many affluent paranormal creatures there are in Romanceland.

    Rich heroes, yes. But poor, middle-class, or working heroines are a dime a dozen in paranormal romance and UF.

  3. Robyn Bachar says:

    The only problem: the heroine is not that thin according to the description – but when does the cover exactly match the book inside? Rarely, if ever

    I like to think that’s because you only see her from the front on the cover. She’s clearly hiding her Sir Mix-A-Lot worthy booty…okay maybe not. 😉

    I’m actually starting the next Cat book now, so I promise to work on the emotional angle.

    And thanks for the review! This is pretty awesome. 🙂

    (Heh, my code word is “book44”. By book 44, all these problems will be solved.)

  4. SherylNantus says:

    The cover art was done by Kanaxa, who also did the cover for my Samhain book “Blaze of Glory” and my upcoming steampunk romance, “Wild Cards and Iron Horses”.

    The woman is an Art Goddess.

    Just had to be said.

    🙂

  5. Robyn Bachar says:

    Oh, wait, yes, I should also say that Kanaxa is made of awesome.

  6. Diana says:

    I almost brained myself lunging at my phone to text Robyn about this. Whee!

  7. Love the cover! Glad somebody named the artist! As a painter myself, I know that you cannot please everybody ( as a writer, same-oh). Don’t want to dis other cover artists, but I suspect corporate group think is responsible for all those insane to inane covers…nice to see publisher-author-artist on the same, uh, page.

  8. SheaLuna says:

    I luuurve me some first person witchy awesomeness, so I’m adding this to the TBR queue.  Sounds like my kind of book.

  9. Kristina says:

    Wishlisting and previewing now.  Thank God, I needed something fresh.  I’m in a serious book rut right now.

  10. Dangitall, with a fabulous cover like that, I wanted the book to be about awesome magic-flavored duels.

    Now somebody needs to write me that book.

  11. Val says:

    Love Witches! . . . Can’t wait to read it, especially since 1st person doesn’t bother me.  Thanks for the review!!

  12. Laurel says:

    Yay! Something new to read. Thanks for the review.

  13. Shae says:

    @Marie I thought the same thing!

  14. Beki says:

    I just added it to my to-buy list for the week.  If this is Robyn’s debut offering, I’m excited to see how she continues!

  15. mary frances says:

    oh, too bad it only in ebook. It sounded like a “faerie” novel I’d actually enjoy. That’s too bad, good luck to the author though.

    mary

  16. Angela James says:

    Love this cover! Samhain has some astounding cover artists.

  17. hapax says:

    I wanted the book to be about awesome magic-flavored duels.

    PRIVILEGE OF THE SWORD by Ellen Kushner. (SWORDSPOINT also, but this would be a great cover for PotS.)

    Well, not really magic magic, nor romance per se, but they’re all about the duels and the awesome.

    Just sayin’.

  18. Robyn Bachar says:

    @mary frances It will be in print in March.

  19. hapax—love those books.  But I want magic fencing in ripped-up jeans!  We need a Western answer to Revolutionary Girl Utena.  (Creepy Rose Bride thing optional.  You can keep it, so long as you understand that it is creepy, and act accordingly.)

  20. Robyn Bachar says:

    @Marie Brennan She does fence with elementals, demons and other bad guys in the book, if that helps. Hmm… Does it count as fencing if your opponent doesn’t have a sword? More like stabbing maybe.

  21. Nat says:

    I hope that book flies off the shelves, man. And thanks to the author for sending such an AWESOME cover request. I had a riot creating that cover!

    Special Word: period63…noooo, please noooo!

  22. Kristina says:

    @Nat – OMG, I just clicked through your galleries and I would pick up just about every single book there if I saw those covers.  Amazing work.  I’m lusting for that “The Better To Eat You” book.  In fact I’m puting you in my favorites folder so I can research some of those titles when I get home from work tonight.

    Spam word = new48 – great now I have 48 new books to put on to Mount TBR.

  23. Brigit says:

    @ Nat:

    Those covers are wonderful! Why don’t we see that kind of awesomeness on mainstream books? Instead, we get loads of books with the same cover model (see Laurenston’s The Mane Squeeze, Knight’s Master of Fire, Liu’s Soul Song, Taylor’s Legacy of Stone…).

  24. Amanda Blair says:

    It’s not in print until March?  AS IN 2011?  Hmmmm…I might possibly buy my first ever e-book…

  25. hapax says:

    Western Utena?  Hmmm.  Jane Yolen’s FOILED?  Sherwood Smith’s ONCE A PRINCESS? 

    @Nat—OMG, I want every single one of those books on my shelves.  Face out.  (Verification word:  hot99.  Yes, indeedy)

  26. Sally says:

    I saw this cover several days ago. I was arrested by it, then looked and LOOKED at it in wonder. It is sheer perfection. Color, composition, attitude…a work of art.

  27. Janet says:

    Sounds like my kinda witch. Thanks for the review, I’m adding this to my TBR list

  28. Laurel says:

    Based on this review, I bought this on my Kindle…text to speech enabled…for my Looooooong drive for college friend’s wedding, So glad I did. I an half way through and thoroughly enjoyin it. Especially during the hour and a half I spent in park on the INTERSTATE. Just north of Nashville, who the good Lord knows did not need any more inclement weather.

    Have to say, though, so far I’m looking for a little more grovel from Lex.

  29. Linnae says:

    Great cover and great title, too!  I’m going to nominate it for next year’s 2010 Cover Cafe cover contest.  Thanks for the artist credit, too.  It makes our job easier if we know who created the cover.  BTW – The 2009 cover contest is still open for public voting until May 28th, 2010.

  30. Laurel says:

    Finished it! I agree…really good with many happy unexpected twists. Awesome characters. Hit the ending at 60 miles an hour.

    I am hoping for another book with these characters. I would definitely read it. Go Robyn!

  31. Mezza says:

    I read it on the weekend and it was a ‘C’ without the plus for me.  I began by liking the heorine but agreed with the review that found little to differentiate her relationships/responses with others.  Also there is a severe TSTL thing when she demonstrates that she doesn’t have a thinking or strategic bone in her body when she tells someone something that just adds to his power over her.  I just felt that the mechanics of the story were very apparent at that point as she was set up for happens next in the story. it seemed to me that characters did things so the author could advance the plot not because it was true to who they were.

  32. kelasher says:

    I would give it a B. It’s sooooo close to being great. Some of it felt contrived, too much repetition (I get that she loves coffee already). But I love the characters, the banter, the plot lines. As the book went on it became more and more difficult to put down to the point that I was almost late for work this morning.

    I will definitely be looking for the next book in the series.

  33. Steph Slinger says:

    I actually read the book before I saw the review, but I backtracked and read it anyway to see if we were in agreement, apparently so!  I couldn’t put the thing down!  I lost an entire day, in fct.  The mc felt familiar (in a best friend/sister way, not in an argh-how-mang-times-have-I-seen-this way) and the story was fun. 
    I enjoyed it, thanks Ms/Mrs Bachar!

  34. I want to read this and even if I didn’t, I covet the bejeezus out of this cover. I asked my Samhain editor if I could have Kanaxa for my next cover, and she didn’t promise, but she made it sound like she’d try. Now I’m thinking about having my heroine dress like this cover, even though it would make absolutely no freaking sense. And I want her to carry a sword. Again, with no possible relation to the plot. 

    (Back in the 80s, I wanted to dress like Adam Ant, but my best friend wouldn’t let me. I’d still do it today, but I still have the same best friend and she still won’t let me, the tasteful bitch.)

    Also: Kanaxa is an author herself, as Nathalie Gray (http://www.nathaliegray.com/Welcome.html – “Nathalie Gray, author, goof chocoholic”) She looks and sounds fun.

  35. Jessica says:

    Bought it for my Kindle last week after reading this review and just finished it – a great reading experience.  Thanks for recommendations! 

    I thought it was very good for a debut and definitely a strong new voice in the urban fantasy world.  And the review is right on – there a few points where the characters are a little thin or their reactions underwhelming, but otherwise very good.  Loved the world – like the Dresden Files which is another favorite, but unique enough to be refreshing. 

    If anyone is looking for similar reads, Seanan Maguire’s Toby (October) Daye series has a similar feel and character and is set in and around San Francisco.  Toby is half human, half faerie, and not fully a part of either world. 

    I’ll definitely be recommending this and I can’t wait to read more of the series.

  36. SB Sarah says:

    @Jessica: Ooh, thank you for the recommendation. I love hearing the reactions from readers after I’ve reviewed a book. Robyn totally has a massive voice in her narration, which I enjoyed.

    @Kinsey: I will dress like Adam Ant with you. No question.

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