chelseavbc's review against another edition
5.0
This review was originally published at Vampire Book Club.
The more I read the Dark Mission series, the more apparent is is: Karina Cooper does paranormal romance/urban fantasy crossover right. In the third book All Things Wicked we’re brought back into the bowels of Old Seattle. The dilapidated and crumbling buildings. The damp and the cold. The dark secrets buried amid the earthquake ruins a city just built over.
It’s dirty, violent and cut-throat for Caleb. He suffers the scars from burning the majority of the Coven of the Unbinding back in Blood of the Wicked. It’s been a year, he’s avoided the other witches. A year since he lost his gift. A year with Juliet’s sister’s memories. And then the one girl he promised to save — Juliet — shows up wanting to kill him, to turn him in to as a traitor. This is a man who wants to be punished. He’s aware of the horrible acts he’s committed and promises keep him from telling anyone his real motivations. He thinks it better that others hate him, than be allowed to bring destruction to more lives.
Basically, he’s an egotistical asshole who wants to take care of everyone but does it in the most asinine ways purposefully making others angry. He’s that guy. I’m sure if you remember Caleb from the earlier book, you’re thinking: “This guy is the hero? WTH, Karina?” Within 50 pages I was sold. Tortured soul types work for me, and honestly Juliet needs it. She’s lost, too.
Both want to feel in control and purposefully push the other’s buttons just to get the emotional reaction. Their relationship isn’t built on trust, but mutual prodding. And that’s the big hurdle for the two to cross in order to reach a happily ever after. Getting inside your significant other’s head is difficult if they won’t communicate. Imagine if that person flat-out lied. Caleb has no problem saying he just wants Juliet’s body. Telling her this even when his mind is calling her his Juliet. Life-and-death stakes force these two to move forward and forge a real relationship instead of one built on how others perceive them.
The hero/heroine character development in this one gutted me. I flitted from “I will punch you, Caleb” to “kiss him! Kiss him!” to “You asshole” to “Really, Juliet? You’re the smart one.” back to “Kiss him! Kiss him!” It’s not a straight line to love. It’s painful and complicated and oh so worth it. (And angry sex is hot. We all know it.)
Big secrets including details on the Coven of the Unbinding, Jessie, Juliet, the Mission, even Matilda are revealed in this one. Not everything can stay buried in that trench.
I give credit to any author who can make a murderer into a hero. Cooper does this beautifully in All Things Wicked while staying true to her characters. It’s certainly my favorite of the three Dark Mission novels, and a must-buy.
Sexual content: Sex scenes, including a borderline dubious consent scene
The more I read the Dark Mission series, the more apparent is is: Karina Cooper does paranormal romance/urban fantasy crossover right. In the third book All Things Wicked we’re brought back into the bowels of Old Seattle. The dilapidated and crumbling buildings. The damp and the cold. The dark secrets buried amid the earthquake ruins a city just built over.
It’s dirty, violent and cut-throat for Caleb. He suffers the scars from burning the majority of the Coven of the Unbinding back in Blood of the Wicked. It’s been a year, he’s avoided the other witches. A year since he lost his gift. A year with Juliet’s sister’s memories. And then the one girl he promised to save — Juliet — shows up wanting to kill him, to turn him in to as a traitor. This is a man who wants to be punished. He’s aware of the horrible acts he’s committed and promises keep him from telling anyone his real motivations. He thinks it better that others hate him, than be allowed to bring destruction to more lives.
Basically, he’s an egotistical asshole who wants to take care of everyone but does it in the most asinine ways purposefully making others angry. He’s that guy. I’m sure if you remember Caleb from the earlier book, you’re thinking: “This guy is the hero? WTH, Karina?” Within 50 pages I was sold. Tortured soul types work for me, and honestly Juliet needs it. She’s lost, too.
Both want to feel in control and purposefully push the other’s buttons just to get the emotional reaction. Their relationship isn’t built on trust, but mutual prodding. And that’s the big hurdle for the two to cross in order to reach a happily ever after. Getting inside your significant other’s head is difficult if they won’t communicate. Imagine if that person flat-out lied. Caleb has no problem saying he just wants Juliet’s body. Telling her this even when his mind is calling her his Juliet. Life-and-death stakes force these two to move forward and forge a real relationship instead of one built on how others perceive them.
The hero/heroine character development in this one gutted me. I flitted from “I will punch you, Caleb” to “kiss him! Kiss him!” to “You asshole” to “Really, Juliet? You’re the smart one.” back to “Kiss him! Kiss him!” It’s not a straight line to love. It’s painful and complicated and oh so worth it. (And angry sex is hot. We all know it.)
Big secrets including details on the Coven of the Unbinding, Jessie, Juliet, the Mission, even Matilda are revealed in this one. Not everything can stay buried in that trench.
I give credit to any author who can make a murderer into a hero. Cooper does this beautifully in All Things Wicked while staying true to her characters. It’s certainly my favorite of the three Dark Mission novels, and a must-buy.
Sexual content: Sex scenes, including a borderline dubious consent scene
beth_dawkins's review against another edition
3.0
Juliet has lost her sister, and the coven she was a part of. She finds the man responsible for destroying her coven, Caleb, and decides that she is going to destroy him. When she manages to corner him, she calls what is left of the coven, only they are not as happy to see her as she thought.
This is the third book in the series, and there may be a couple spoilers from the first two books. After this book, I definitely encourage readers to start at book one. There is a great amount of back story that has been building in the first two novels that comes out in this one. The biggest issue is that the story’s hero was not the nicest guy in the books before this. In fact Caleb has been known to torture witches and steal their powers. He wasn’t on my good side, and I thought it would be impossible for me to like him. I was very glad to be wrong, he is a little dense, but I actually found myself enjoying his POV far more than Juliet’s.
Juliet has found ways of being sheltered. Caleb describes her often in the book as being soft, and he is right, she is very soft. I had a hard time with her because of her constant freak outs. Her knees often buckle, and she shuts down into fits of tears, or screams until she is not just soft, but weak. At the start of the novel her magic is described really well, and she is easy to identify with, but as the novel goes on this side of her does not come off as strong. Her character draw backs were not enough to deter me from the conflict and attraction she has with Caleb. The steamy scenes were not as steamy for me as the ones before it, but still enjoyable.
This book took the series in a direction I didn’t see coming, and introduced some new characters. There is a lot of action going on, and the story is very fast paced, but the action itself lost me. I found myself rereading more than once, and wondering how much of the novel before this one I forgot. That being said, I did enjoy this one a little more than the installment that came before it. It took away from the church vs. witches theme, and landed it somewhere else.
I hope this isn’t the last book. There are some characters that seem like they might take the next book, and the story isn’t finished. They have more to do. Freedom for the witches, saving the world, or just changing it would make me a happy camper. It leaves off with a mystery solved, but the world is not all better, there is still a mean evil Church, and witches to save. I have not yet heard anything about another book, so if this is it I am left disappointed in the overall scope. If not then I still look forward to the next mix of romance, post-apocalyptic and magical installment
This is the third book in the series, and there may be a couple spoilers from the first two books. After this book, I definitely encourage readers to start at book one. There is a great amount of back story that has been building in the first two novels that comes out in this one. The biggest issue is that the story’s hero was not the nicest guy in the books before this. In fact Caleb has been known to torture witches and steal their powers. He wasn’t on my good side, and I thought it would be impossible for me to like him. I was very glad to be wrong, he is a little dense, but I actually found myself enjoying his POV far more than Juliet’s.
Juliet has found ways of being sheltered. Caleb describes her often in the book as being soft, and he is right, she is very soft. I had a hard time with her because of her constant freak outs. Her knees often buckle, and she shuts down into fits of tears, or screams until she is not just soft, but weak. At the start of the novel her magic is described really well, and she is easy to identify with, but as the novel goes on this side of her does not come off as strong. Her character draw backs were not enough to deter me from the conflict and attraction she has with Caleb. The steamy scenes were not as steamy for me as the ones before it, but still enjoyable.
This book took the series in a direction I didn’t see coming, and introduced some new characters. There is a lot of action going on, and the story is very fast paced, but the action itself lost me. I found myself rereading more than once, and wondering how much of the novel before this one I forgot. That being said, I did enjoy this one a little more than the installment that came before it. It took away from the church vs. witches theme, and landed it somewhere else.
I hope this isn’t the last book. There are some characters that seem like they might take the next book, and the story isn’t finished. They have more to do. Freedom for the witches, saving the world, or just changing it would make me a happy camper. It leaves off with a mystery solved, but the world is not all better, there is still a mean evil Church, and witches to save. I have not yet heard anything about another book, so if this is it I am left disappointed in the overall scope. If not then I still look forward to the next mix of romance, post-apocalyptic and magical installment
larisa2021's review
3.0
Like being dropped down a rabbit hole, once again, into a dystopian, ravaged Seattle.
Good enough I may have to read the first two books...I thought this was the first and instead got the wrap up of all the dangly, dark twisty bits.
Good enough I may have to read the first two books...I thought this was the first and instead got the wrap up of all the dangly, dark twisty bits.
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