Grave Visions (Alex Craft, #4)

by Kalayna Price

If you want to hear voices from the dead in Nekros City, you call Alex Craft. She’s a grave witch with reasonable rates and extraordinary powers who specializes in revealing the secrets of the dead. But she has her own secrets. She’s not human—and her newly discovered heritage is causing havoc for her both in the human realm and in Faerie. 
 
Fae can’t survive without a tie to Faerie, and now that Alex’s true nature has awoken, she’s no exception. She must align herself to a court and soon. To retain as much freedom as possible, she makes a deal to track the source of a new glamour-infused street drug which causes hallucinations that kill—and not just the user. Her investigation entangles Alex in a conflict brewing in Faerie, and she must find answers before she’s dragged so deep that she loses not only her freedom, but her life.

• ISBN10: 0451416570
• ISBN13: 9780451416575
• Publish Date: 2 February 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Ace Books
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 352
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451416575

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

After an insanely long delay, the fourth Alex Craft was released last month and as I've had it on pre-order for 3 years I wanted to finally read it, but was more than a little worried it would be a flop because 3 years is a long time to stall on a story.   

But I needn't have worried.  It wasn't the best book in the series, but it was a good solid story about Alex, a grave witch who can raise shades (pure memories - not ghosts).  She's got a whole mess of problems that culminate in this book and a sort of ongoing love triangle (it isn't, but it's complicated).   

This is definitely a series you want to start at the beginning with, because constant references are made in all the books to previous stories and character development (especially amongst her best friends).   

I knocked off 1/2 star because the mystery in this book was bleedingly obvious from the first; the author was just too heavy-handed with her clues.  But the mystery isn't why I read these - I like the friendships, and I like Death (the character, not the process).  The fae... eh.   

There's apparently a book 5 planned for next year and I'll definitely read it.  But I don't think I'm gonna pre-order...

[Berls]

About 1 year ago I wrote a Fun Questions post semi ranting, semi trying to understand what to do When Authors Just Stop. One of the books that motivated me writing that post was this one. Grave Visions had at least 3 different release dates that were then cancelled. At one point Amazon changed the release date to something ridiculous like 2099. As in, "it's never happening folks." Turns out we were all wrong. It happened. And for me, at least, it was worth the wait.

What Worked

• I continue to adore this world. The Fae are one of my favorite things to read about, even though I should admit I know very little about them. The way Kaylana Price has them mixed into our world is fantabulous in my opinion. We see a lot more of Faerie as Alex gets mixed up and forced into working with the Winter Queen and I loved every minute.


• An extension of the world is the magic. And I really love the magic in this world. I like that there are clear rules and penalties for magic use. I love that using grave sight hurts Alex's vision. I don't like worlds where people are all powerful. Alex is tough, but not without her handicaps.


• The relationships! I say relationships because this is one of those series that has some really great friendships, not just dating. I love how close Alex is to her friends and I love how involved they are in her life. I'm eager to see how the pressures to have Alex chose a court will impact her friends moving forward.


• Alex! She's smart, but makes stupid mistakes. To me, that means she's just so real and so human (well, fae, but human-esque). Her heart leads her down some dumb paths, but she's clever and solving mysteries that the Winter Queen herself is blind too. That makes her pretty kick ass in my book!


• Fallin :) I think I'm one of the few on team Fallin. What can I say... he just makes a hell of a lot more sense than Death, especially after Grave Memory. Well Grave Visions had a lot of Fallin, so that made me very happy.


• Oh and I can't forget to sing the praises of Emily Durante. I've always liked her as a narrator and she's just great for this series. She pulls off male and female voices equally well and her pacing does well with my 2x speed listening!

What Didn't Work

• Ummm.... why in the HELL are Death and Alex still dating? Considering what happened in Grave Memory that seemed like it should be 100% out of the picture for me


• I don't want to get spoilery, but I think Alex forgot an important detail when choosing courts, pertaining to Rhianna and her living situation... just saying and very worried.


• The wait of course lol

While I really hope the next book won't take near as long, I've decided not to complain too much. Some books are worth the wait and Grave Visions really was!


[bctt tweet="Berls says that Grave Visions was worth the wait! 4.5/5 stars!"]
gr

[Melanie]

My review and an extended sample of the audiobook are posted at Hotlistens.com.

It has been a long while since I have visited the world of Alex Craft and her friends. I was quite surprised with how quickly I was able to pick the story back up. I had originally planned to relisten to the third book in the series before listening to this one, but I didn’t have a copy. I thought I had bought a copy, but I must have gotten it from the library. Anyway, I did okay without the relisten to the previous book.

It has only been a few weeks for Alex since the end of the last book (seems like so much longer, since it was for me.) Alex is quickly drawn into a new case. Humans are taking a new drug that are bringing nightmares to life and killing them. Then when she goes to raise the shades, there isn’t much left of them, which is really weird.

Alex is also called to the Winter court by the Winter Queen, which is never good. Falin is forced to bring her. She is put into a position to help the queen, but Alex uses her smarts to quickly solve another issue that she’s having. She needs her independent status or join a court. If she joins a court, she could be forced to move when the courts shift (fae courts move separately from the mortal world). She quickly makes a deal with the Queen to get her independent status for at least a while if she can help the Queen, which is easier said than done.

There is some drama in the romance part of this book. There were issues with Alex’s current lover, Death, in the previous book. Falin is trying really hard to court her. Oh, and she finds out that there is a new player that she didn’t even know about. Personally, I’m still on team Falin. I think he is the best bet for her. However, as a member of the Winter Court, what will happen if the courts shift and he has to move and she doesn’t.

I will say I was very glad to be back in Necros. It was everything I remember that I loved about this series. Alex is a great character who is caring and is always trying to help her friends. She also has great friends. Even some of the cops who she works with who are not her friends are great characters. This is a fun urban fantasy series with great mysteries and crime drama. You do need to start with the first book in the series and work your way through the series without being lost.

Narration
This is the only series that I’ve listened to with Emily Durante. That is not because I don’t like her, I just haven’t come across her for anything else. I think she does a great job with her narration of this series. I was a little worried that with the long break between books that there might be a different narrator for this book. I was so glad to see she was still narrating this series. She is Alex Craft to me. She does a great job with the different voices, both male and female. I like her pace and tones. I think she does a great job showing the sense of urgency when the scene calls for it. She is a narrator that I would recommend.

**I like to thank the publisher for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.