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A review by jezzebelljc
Owl and the Japanese Circus by Kristi Charish
4.0
I was very pleasantly surprised by this gem. Alix, or Owl, is a purveyor of antiquities and as such gets on the bad side of a bunch of people. She happened across some vampires in a previous job and has to go on the run. Enter the dragon that whisks her away for a job and the story starts. Again I say, dragon. He's mostly in a human form, but that doesn't make him any less scary. Since Owl has sworn off having anything to do with the supernatural, she's not thrilled to find herself thrown smack dab in the middle of it for the rest of the story.
I was drawn to Owl. She's absolutely flawed. She's judgmental and sees what she wants to see. She's got a lot of walls built up and I'm not sure that she truly trusts anyone. Her friends in this story were some of my favorites. Nadya was both the quintessential best friend, yet she had no trouble standing up for herself when Owl is in the wrong. Rynn was charming and patient and most often the voice of reason. Captain is Owl's vampire hunting cat. Yes, he's incredibly intelligent, and yes, he is obsessed with eating vampires. He was quite fun.
My ABSOLUTE favorite thing about the story though was all the supernatural critters Charish gave us, and this is only the first one! There were vampires and incubus as well as lesser known creatures like naga. But the kicker was that there were some I hadn't heard of before, which was amazing! I loved the take on these creatures that Charish provides as well as this fresh look at magical beings I hadn't heard of yet.
The setting is a lot of fun as well. Owl jumps all over the place from her Winnebago in the beginning to a Las Vegas casino and many points around the globe like Bali and Tokyo.
The Bad
My main gripe is something that others will probably quite love. Owl is an online gamer and one of the characters in the books is someone she knows strictly through that gaming. Therefore, this gave the reader a way to meet this character. However, the game was brought into the story quite often and I became bored with these parts.
The Romance
Like I said, Owl is not the most trusting, so dating would require her to take down quite a few of those walls. She does get rather close to Rynn which was fun, he's a character that I love, but this will be a hard relationship with quite a few ups and downs. I'm interested to see where this goes.
Conclusion
Owl and the Japanese Circus is a fantastic start to this series. It's got fun, adventure, great characters, supernaturals galore, and a vampire killing cat. I will definitely be continuing with the series. Recommended.
“I have a strict policy. No magic, no monsters, no supernatural clients. Ever.”
I was drawn to Owl. She's absolutely flawed. She's judgmental and sees what she wants to see. She's got a lot of walls built up and I'm not sure that she truly trusts anyone. Her friends in this story were some of my favorites. Nadya was both the quintessential best friend, yet she had no trouble standing up for herself when Owl is in the wrong. Rynn was charming and patient and most often the voice of reason. Captain is Owl's vampire hunting cat. Yes, he's incredibly intelligent, and yes, he is obsessed with eating vampires. He was quite fun.
My ABSOLUTE favorite thing about the story though was all the supernatural critters Charish gave us, and this is only the first one! There were vampires and incubus as well as lesser known creatures like naga. But the kicker was that there were some I hadn't heard of before, which was amazing! I loved the take on these creatures that Charish provides as well as this fresh look at magical beings I hadn't heard of yet.
The setting is a lot of fun as well. Owl jumps all over the place from her Winnebago in the beginning to a Las Vegas casino and many points around the globe like Bali and Tokyo.
The Bad
My main gripe is something that others will probably quite love. Owl is an online gamer and one of the characters in the books is someone she knows strictly through that gaming. Therefore, this gave the reader a way to meet this character. However, the game was brought into the story quite often and I became bored with these parts.
The Romance
Like I said, Owl is not the most trusting, so dating would require her to take down quite a few of those walls. She does get rather close to Rynn which was fun, he's a character that I love, but this will be a hard relationship with quite a few ups and downs. I'm interested to see where this goes.
Conclusion
Owl and the Japanese Circus is a fantastic start to this series. It's got fun, adventure, great characters, supernaturals galore, and a vampire killing cat. I will definitely be continuing with the series. Recommended.
“I have a strict policy. No magic, no monsters, no supernatural clients. Ever.”