Book Review - Green-Eyed Demon (Sabina Kane, book 3) by Jaye Wells

Title: Green-Eyed Demon

Author: Jaye Wells

Publisher: Orbit

Publication Date: February 22, 2011

Format: e-galley

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Other Books in the series:

Red-Headed Stepchild, book 1

Mage in Black, book 2

Silver-Tounged Devil, book 4 (released 2012)

How I Got It: NetGalley

Summary:

The clock is ticking for Sabina Kane. She has to save her sister from her mysterious captors. And in order to do that, she has to broker a deal between the mages and the vampires before all hell breaks loose.

But as much as Sabina is focused on surviving the present, the past won’t be ignored. Before she can save those she cares about, she’s got to save herself from the ghosts of her past. Because the past is haunting her. Literally.

Review:

***This is a little long because I'm giving you some background info on the first two books - 

So I guess that's a SPOILER warning, too***

At first I didn't really like Sabina in Red-Headed Stepchild.  Yes, she'd grown up isolated and emotionally abused by her evil grandmother... Sabina had loads of baggage.  Loads.  But it was her growth as a character throughout Red-Headed Stepchild (and her demon minion Giguhl and the mage Adam) that made me pick up book two, The Mage in Black.  Sabina's character arc continued at a natural pace.  She wasn't perfect, readjusting her life and her entire world view was hard.  Sabina and her sister Maisie are half mage, half vampire.  Their vampire mother and mage father broke the law (no breeding between the races) because the fell in love.  It is believed that Sabina's powerful grandmother, Lavinia, murdered their father before the twins were born.  Their mother died after childbirth and in order to keep the peace, the girls were divided between their two races.  Maisie was raised in a loving environment among the mages.  Sabina was raised to be a lonely assassin always trying to get her grandmother's approval but always failing to do so.  She never knew she had a sister and was taught all her life to hate mages (which meant she had quite a bit of self-hate going on, too).  

Sabina was willing to make these drastic life changes because of her relationship and attraction to Adam (though she wouldn't admit it) and her need to be a part of her twin sister's life.  Finding out that her sister Masie even existed, but also wanted to get to know Sabina, was life altering.   In addition to all of this, there is a mysterious group called the Caste of Nod.  Made up of various dark races, its members seek to bring Lilith back to the mortal world and they think Sabina is part of a prophecy that will thwart them.  Lavinia is working with the Caste because she believes Lilith will help her wipe out the mage race.  Sabina wrecked their plans in book two, but the story ended with Lavinia kidnapping Maisie.

Green-Eyed Demon picks up a few days after The Mage in Black.  Sabina is trying hard to get her sister back.  This requires that she work as part of a team, occasionally swallow her pride and take orders, control her temper, and develop general social skills.  Their search and rescue operation is complicated by politics and a pissed off fairy queen.  Orders change, blame is placed, and Sabina rolls with it all if it means that Maisie will be saved.  She is forced to work with a part mortal (she's not pleased with this), gets to know a werewolf and her girlfriend (not always a good thing), learns about recreant mages, and befriends a cross dressing fae.  The fear of losing these people to the Caste and Lavinia's evil frightens her horribly.  She's also trying to deal with her feelings for Adam, will she end their romantic relationship before it begins because she feels she doesn't deserve it or will she take a chance?

I enjoyed Green-Eyed Demon so much.  Sabina's growth and the secondary characters were wonderful.  I loved that she faced up to her fears and finally made a decision about Adam (and it wasn't an easy one to make).  Sabina is a well rounded character, she seemed so much more like a real person, and this due to her character evolution in all three books.  Giguhl was fabulous and became more of a three dimensional character.  He was sassy, funny, tough, and caring.  He calls Sabina a "trampire" and refers to the trio as Team Awesome.  It's weird that a seven foot tall mischief demon is Sabina's softer side, but he's exactly what she needs.  Adam is a bit more fleshed out too.  Instead of being the perfect Pythian Guard, his beliefs and understandings challenged.  There was also a character that I was really enjoying and then he was beaten and ritually tortured.  In order to cope with his assault he had to "kill off" part of his personality.  I found this very sad.  This character had been happy and secure with himself, this loss hurt.  I would hope to see more of him in future books, hopefully getting help - because that's how much I liked him, I want him to be happy again.

Green-Eyed Demon was humorous and action-packed and I had a hard time putting it down.  (Seriously, the family doesn't need to eat dinner every night, do they?)  There is a final ending to this particular story, but events and choices in this book will continue to affect Sabina, her family and friends.  The story is a definite thumbs up!   I love Wells' writing style: the humor, the snark, the tension!  

I want a Team Awesome shirt, must have it.  

Verdict:

This series really should be read in order, so I don't recommend reading Green-Eyed Demon until you've read the first two books.  The character development is really what stood out for me (as if you couldn't tell already) but the story is a fast, tense, and a wonderfully snarky read.  If you've read the first two books, don't stop now, you've got to get Green-Eyed Demon.  If you haven't read this series, give Red-Headed Stepchild a try (and stick with it!) because this series just keeps getting better.  I got a free review copy through NetGalley and I'm still pre-ordering this one, I give it 5 stars.

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My Bookish Ways review

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