lynseyisreading's review against another edition
3.0
I have to confess to finding this a slightly disappointing entry to the series after the strong start of book one: Urban shaman. Essentially, the main problem for me was that for the first three quarters of this book, there just wasn't enough going on. I didn't feel engaged in the mystery element of the story, which is unusual for me because I'm normally keen to pick up on any clues left for the reader, and often, (sometimes annoyingly so) work out who the "bad guy" is way ahead of the big reveal. But in this case, when there was a big ta-da! moment, I was completely taken by surprise, but I think this was more to do with there not actually being any breadcrumbs left for me to follow prior to this, than me just not observing them. I hadn't been looking in that direction for anything untoward. So on the one hand it was nice to be surprised for a change, but on the other hand, my inner smug know-it-all missed out on being able to say "Ha! I knew it!"
Joanne also spent a large portion of the book bemoaning her new shamanic abilities or wishing them away all together, which I found very contradictory to the way she'd accepted them without question in book one. What she really needs is to learn how to properly use her abilities instead of just bumbling around, but unfortunately, her spirit guide and mentor, Coyote, was noticeably absent for most of the book. Something Joanne barely seemed to register.
I did, on the plus side, really enjoy seeing more of the great characters I had met in book one. For me- at this point in the series, anyway- the best thing about this series is the strong characterization. Her secondary characters are exceptionally well written and I'm developing a big old soft spot for a couple of them in particular. And Joanne herself is growing on me as well. Aside the girlie whining about her magic in this book (which I hope was simply added to show character growth later on and that I won't have to suffer too much more of in subsequent books), she is mostly a cool and collect, dry-humoured kind of gal, and I love her tom-boy nature and her deep love for her car, Petite. She's also taken up fencing (she might as well since she stole an immortal warrior's sword, right?) so I'm hoping this means she'll become even more of a badass without her magic, as she is with it.
The last quarter of the book was very exciting, although it can get very confusing at times when Joanne is out of her body or on another plane of existence. I'll confess to only just barely following what was going on during these end scenes, but they were fascinating nonetheless. I'm hoping as the series progresses I'll be able to wrap my tiny brain around the different realities Joanne can exist in and it will all make way more sense to me.
Here's hoping!
Joanne also spent a large portion of the book bemoaning her new shamanic abilities or wishing them away all together, which I found very contradictory to the way she'd accepted them without question in book one. What she really needs is to learn how to properly use her abilities instead of just bumbling around, but unfortunately, her spirit guide and mentor, Coyote, was noticeably absent for most of the book. Something Joanne barely seemed to register.
I did, on the plus side, really enjoy seeing more of the great characters I had met in book one. For me- at this point in the series, anyway- the best thing about this series is the strong characterization. Her secondary characters are exceptionally well written and I'm developing a big old soft spot for a couple of them in particular. And Joanne herself is growing on me as well. Aside the girlie whining about her magic in this book (which I hope was simply added to show character growth later on and that I won't have to suffer too much more of in subsequent books), she is mostly a cool and collect, dry-humoured kind of gal, and I love her tom-boy nature and her deep love for her car, Petite. She's also taken up fencing (she might as well since she stole an immortal warrior's sword, right?) so I'm hoping this means she'll become even more of a badass without her magic, as she is with it.
The last quarter of the book was very exciting, although it can get very confusing at times when Joanne is out of her body or on another plane of existence. I'll confess to only just barely following what was going on during these end scenes, but they were fascinating nonetheless. I'm hoping as the series progresses I'll be able to wrap my tiny brain around the different realities Joanne can exist in and it will all make way more sense to me.
Here's hoping!
bookwife's review against another edition
3.0
I have exactly zero idea about what happened in this book but I effing love the characters so much I don’t care.
pjonsson's review against another edition
2.0
I thought the first book in the Walker Papers series was okay enough for me to give the second book in the series a go. Unfortunately I was not impressed by Thunderbird Falls. One might even go so far as to say that I was disappointed.
The book follows a pattern common pattern to many urban fantasy books. Main character discovers that he/she has some form of magic/supernatural powers and gets dragged into a world where there are things that go bump in the night. After the initial introduction the books in the series pits the character against a series of bad guys one after another while the character develops as we go along.
However Joanne does not really seem to develop. If anything she almost regresses not wanting to use or learn about her shamanic powers. Worse, she walks around like a sleepwalker moaning about how tired she is or how unfair the world is and so on. She is duped more or less from the first page and continues to be played up until the ending where she somehow manages to avoid disaster despite the total mess.
When Joanne actually delves into her powers it is in surrealistic dream sequences which are more confusing than being a good read. I could perhaps have lived with that if Joanne would have developed along the way but she behaves like a less than intelligent wimp most of the time. In the first book she was a bit hot mouthed and showed some spunk but I did not get any feeling of such traits in this book.
Bottom line is that I was rather disappointed and I am in doubt whether I will read the next book in the series.
The book follows a pattern common pattern to many urban fantasy books. Main character discovers that he/she has some form of magic/supernatural powers and gets dragged into a world where there are things that go bump in the night. After the initial introduction the books in the series pits the character against a series of bad guys one after another while the character develops as we go along.
However Joanne does not really seem to develop. If anything she almost regresses not wanting to use or learn about her shamanic powers. Worse, she walks around like a sleepwalker moaning about how tired she is or how unfair the world is and so on. She is duped more or less from the first page and continues to be played up until the ending where she somehow manages to avoid disaster despite the total mess.
When Joanne actually delves into her powers it is in surrealistic dream sequences which are more confusing than being a good read. I could perhaps have lived with that if Joanne would have developed along the way but she behaves like a less than intelligent wimp most of the time. In the first book she was a bit hot mouthed and showed some spunk but I did not get any feeling of such traits in this book.
Bottom line is that I was rather disappointed and I am in doubt whether I will read the next book in the series.
bunnerz's review against another edition
book_whispers's review against another edition
2.0
“Let me guess.” Was pretty much the only thoughts I had while reading Thunderbird Falls. OK, clearly not the only thoughts. But they were pretty much on replay the whole way through. Lot's of readers complained about how much Jo pisses and moans about her new powers. Which I'll talk about. My main complaint was how terribly predictable this book was.
Each new character, plot point, or anything introduced was so glaringly obvious I had this mental image of myself beating my head against a school desk! The fact that I had to forcibly sit myself down and finally just get finish this book killed this most of the enjoyment. The only reason I didn't simply walk away from Thunderbird Falls is the fact that I love Jo and I bought all of the books. All right, I really enjoyed the first one. Plus, Jo’s denial about her crush on Morrison . . .
Jo is great to follow in this book. She reminds me of myself on many levels. Talking out loud to myself. Check. No mind to mouth filter. Check. Car lover. Check. Shirks at the idea of huge cosmic responsibility. Check. Admittedly Jo immediately whining about how she doesn't want her new powers and her denial annoyed me. After everything in the last book she should know better. She's taking fencing lessons on the off chance that she might need to sword fight again. Why wouldn't she want to better herself on the magic playing field? That's where the battles are really going to take place. Then a dear book friend of mine stated that denial is the only thing that keeps us sane sometimes. Then there's Jo's dark and sad past. It clicked. Honestly in Jo’s place I would not want those powers and would run too.
In the end the real saving point of the book isn't that everyone is asking for Jo to want her powers, but to accept her place with them and to help. Because denial does not make the problems go away. Another beautiful thing is that no one out right laughs at Jo for her beliefs and it actually shows a Seattle full of a lot of people willing to accept and believe in the magical side of the world. While I find it highly unlikely, it is nice. At some point I'm sure Jo, and readers, will have to deal with some prejudices about it later. This book is a necessary step for character development, a lesson that hits close to home that Jo needs. It's just a shame the book had to be so freaking predictable.
Sexual Content: Sexual humor.
2/5- Average/disappointing, library check-out
Originally reviewed at Book Whispers.
Each new character, plot point, or anything introduced was so glaringly obvious I had this mental image of myself beating my head against a school desk! The fact that I had to forcibly sit myself down and finally just get finish this book killed this most of the enjoyment. The only reason I didn't simply walk away from Thunderbird Falls is the fact that I love Jo and I bought all of the books. All right, I really enjoyed the first one. Plus, Jo’s denial about her crush on Morrison . . .
Jo is great to follow in this book. She reminds me of myself on many levels. Talking out loud to myself. Check. No mind to mouth filter. Check. Car lover. Check. Shirks at the idea of huge cosmic responsibility. Check. Admittedly Jo immediately whining about how she doesn't want her new powers and her denial annoyed me. After everything in the last book she should know better. She's taking fencing lessons on the off chance that she might need to sword fight again. Why wouldn't she want to better herself on the magic playing field? That's where the battles are really going to take place. Then a dear book friend of mine stated that denial is the only thing that keeps us sane sometimes. Then there's Jo's dark and sad past. It clicked. Honestly in Jo’s place I would not want those powers and would run too.
In the end the real saving point of the book isn't that everyone is asking for Jo to want her powers, but to accept her place with them and to help. Because denial does not make the problems go away. Another beautiful thing is that no one out right laughs at Jo for her beliefs and it actually shows a Seattle full of a lot of people willing to accept and believe in the magical side of the world. While I find it highly unlikely, it is nice. At some point I'm sure Jo, and readers, will have to deal with some prejudices about it later. This book is a necessary step for character development, a lesson that hits close to home that Jo needs. It's just a shame the book had to be so freaking predictable.
Sexual Content: Sexual humor.
2/5- Average/disappointing, library check-out
Originally reviewed at Book Whispers.
jewelzbooks44's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book and so far the series too!
amyiw's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars
This was just not as good as the first. It is important to the series and character development or I would say skip it and go to the next. It is obvious who the "bad" guy is almost from the beginning, yet we get dragged into the spirit realm into a quest that is just pull your hair out boring... several times. Jo is struggling with accepting her powers to the point of... joining a witch's circle? Um... can someone say, inconsistent. So she is "investigating" but you cannot do worse things than the crime you are investigating and not realize that you are the issue here.
So there were parts that I loved like, Morrison, Gary, Billy,... but I didn't feel that there were enough of them to save the poor plot line, which you can see coming from a mile away and takes forever to get there. I felt that she really messed up in this book and needs to start looking into what she is doing. She needs to find and research like minded people. Instead she falls upon people and unluckily most people are not like Gary. I still want to see her and Morrison more and get more relationship build there. This had satisfying moments but they seemed to be pulled back from.
So I liked the book. And reality check, I read right through it in a day, so it kept my attention. I was just frustrated much of the time. And after reading it, I even forgot that I had read it. It took a while for me to remember what I read between two other books. I knew I had read something but just couldn't remember what. It just didn't make a big impact.
This was just not as good as the first. It is important to the series and character development or I would say skip it and go to the next. It is obvious who the "bad" guy is almost from the beginning, yet we get dragged into the spirit realm into a quest that is just pull your hair out boring... several times. Jo is struggling with accepting her powers to the point of... joining a witch's circle? Um... can someone say, inconsistent. So she is "investigating" but you cannot do worse things than the crime you are investigating and not realize that you are the issue here.
So there were parts that I loved like, Morrison, Gary, Billy,... but I didn't feel that there were enough of them to save the poor plot line, which you can see coming from a mile away and takes forever to get there. I felt that she really messed up in this book and needs to start looking into what she is doing. She needs to find and research like minded people. Instead she falls upon people and unluckily most people are not like Gary. I still want to see her and Morrison more and get more relationship build there. This had satisfying moments but they seemed to be pulled back from.
So I liked the book. And reality check, I read right through it in a day, so it kept my attention. I was just frustrated much of the time. And after reading it, I even forgot that I had read it. It took a while for me to remember what I read between two other books. I knew I had read something but just couldn't remember what. It just didn't make a big impact.
tyrshand's review against another edition
4.0
This wasn't quite as good as the first book, but Joanne Walker is an interesting enough and well fleshed out character that I'm tempted to pick up book three right away! I was disappointed that the description on the back cover spoils some of the surprises from the latter half of the book. Yes, I was uneasy about certain events before I read the back of the book... But that tension is gone when it's confirmed.
srchief's review against another edition
4.0
In Thunder Falls, Joanne continues to struggle with the idea that she is a shaman. In this story, she has to deal with illness close to home, a witch coven and some interesting bad guys. It is fun to follow Joanne on her journey to understanding her new world. Recommend this series to all UF fans.