Amber Benson (1) (1977–)

The zombie apocalypse came and humans retaliated with AI robots. Consuela, the daughter of a robot scientist, is hidden on an island with a Warbot to protect her. The Warbot, which she mispronounces and calls Rabbit, sets out to protect her from everything up to and including herself. And so she proceeds to live a Rapunzel life, locked away in a lighthouse tower with no word from the outside. Until one day, she sees other humans.

I didn't really like this much. The lack of emotion from Rabbit might have made him a realistic robot but it made it kind of a boring story. I'm also not sure I really understood what happened at the end. Was she raped? I thought she was, but then she said to shoot him [Rabbit] so...? Overall it was alright, about what you expect from a short story. 2 stars.… (mer)

I liked this book--the audiobook was read by the author, who did a nice job with the narration. It was cute and sometimes funny, although the main character was occasionally annoying and a bit mercurial--although most of us probably are, from time to time. ;) I liked the idea--Death is kidnapped and his daughter must reluctantly take up the job. Other characters were interesting and fun. The plot was convoluted (not in a bad way) but sometimes seemed to wander off-track. Very much a mixed-bag for me. If you like light urban fantasy and quippy dialogue, give it a try!… (mer)

This is the first book in a new series and most of the book is bringing the heroine up to speed on the coven her great aunt wants her to join before she dies of cancer. Lyse has been kept in the dark about all things magic by her great aunt Eleanor while she was growing up and moved across the country to attend college. When Eleanor is diagnosed with cancer she calls Lyse, who flys home and is dropped into an entire world she has never seen before. And before she can do much to figure out everything Eleanor dies suddenly and more secrets come out including someone is hunting down the blood sisters of the coven.

The book reminded me a bit of Waking the Moon by Elizabeth Hand. The plot does suffer from being the first book in the series and there isn’t much of any resolution to the plot since there will be more books in the series. I’ll pick up the next one.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edeleweiss… (mer)