Review: Spider Wars by Angela Carlie

Spider Wars by Angela Carlie

Release Date: March 2012
Publisher: Darkside Publishing
Pages: 250
Reading level: Young Adult

Jess' life has never been ordinary. After all, life on the road with an immortal family of gypsies is hardly predictable. Living in the small town of White Salmon, Washington has brought some normality to her life. But when her cheating, sometimes boyfriend, Nicu, gets involved with a group of arachneshifters, life gets a little sticky. Will she be able to save him from the web he's spun? More importantly, how much is she willing to risk to get him back?

-- from Goodreads.com

I am a huge fan of Angela Carlie's writing & this book did not disappoint. I enjoyed getting to see Jess's point of view through the events of the story which was first told from Lora's point of view. Jess's family is fascinating, including those who are not related by blood but by other bonds. The history of how they came to be immortal, the process they must follow, was intriguing and I sort of wished there was a little more history there.

Without fail, Angela has created fully realized characters who seem to live on the pages of their own volition. I really loved that they were multi-faceted & that even the villains had subtleties which Jess picked up on here and there throughout the book. Jess is snarky & full of attitude. Her inner thoughts are often very acerbic & just as often hilarious. She is completely a teenager & completely real in the moment.

Jess's relationships with both Nicu & Johnny were confusing -- and they were supposed to be! These guys pull at her for differing reasons but seemingly with just as much force at times. And while Jess may have gone back and forth over which of them she felt most attracted to at the time, it was not the focus of the story which is rightly focused on evil chicks who can turn into spiders & do some pretty nasty things. *shiver*

I felt the story meandered a little in places, but that could have been because Jess was only going through the motions for parts of the story due to things she had experienced. There was quite a bit of hot & heavy sensuality & some kind of gross descriptions of violence & injury laced throughout the story which I don't personally mind too much but I would recommend this book to older teens & true young adults.

All in all, I would definitely say that anyone who enjoys paranormal, shape-shifty goodness should pick this one up & if you haven't read Loramendi's Story (the first book in the Lords of Shifters series) -- what are you waiting for? Get that one too!

My Rating: