Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I read this on a friend’s recommendation. I like UF and I’m good with kick ass females (though they can be so stereotypical and generic that I get bored). SB has a lot to recommend it with decent amount of action, a love triangle, lots of hellish demons that you can’t help but root for and a relatively smooth writing style. I found the book very easy to listen to though I never quite connected to the characters. I definitely am not invested in the book or series but I like it enough to continue.
SB introduces Georgina Kincaid, ancient succubus by night and bookseller by day. She sold her soul to the devil to pay for cheating on her then husband. Now she has to seduced men, corrupt their souls, and steal their life energy to survive. It’s a hell of a job. She has a few close friends, namely a couple of vamps, a demon, and an imp, and several humans that revolve in her world – all men. In this book, Georgina must contend with a few suitors while trying to figure out who’s attacking her immortal friends and killing off her enemies.
The plot itself holds the book but is largely predictable. I guessed what was going to happen pretty easily – and much faster than the sharp leaps Georgina took to figure it out – but that didn’t bother me so much. It’d be nice if the story had been more subtle or nuanced but for a quick, light, fluff UF romance read it’s fine. The writing helps with a slick style that moves easily and quickly from scene to scene , introducing new men at a rapid pace but never overwhelming the reader.
What really kept me from engaging and loving this story is the sole female – Georgina. She’s flawed, very much so, and I found it hard to root for her. She clearly loves and craves the attention she gets from men and needs that attention even separate from her succubus duties/needs. She tries to “be good” and stay away from good men but she purposefully plays a thin line that teases the men. She shapeshifts and dresses in such a way to attract their attention but then laments for chapters about how she doesn’t want to hurt them. She’s inherently selfish and that, above all, is what I found hard to really like about her. The ending regarding Seth and her deal with Jerome is entirely selfish on her part, while understandable, I found her dislikable because of it.
She’s not without charm though as her initial meet-cute with Seth is adorable and likable. Her inability to find a good balance with him at the beginning helped me overcome some of her flaws, as did her behavior regarding Roman. I thought the men in her life gave her too much credit/forgiveness given her actions but then again I guess that’s her charm/succubus wiles at work.
Overall I liked this well enough but I don’t particularly care for the lead female. She’s too selfish and attention seeking. I think Carter (who’s definitely my favorite character next to Seth) said it best when he questioned why she chose such a provocative shape if she wanted the good guys to leave her alone. There was never a good answer to that. I’ll read the next book and see if I like her anymore.
three am 