Written in Red (The Others, #1)

by Anne Bishop

[liz089]

Read more about this review and others on my blog Freyja Eats Books

STANDALONE or SERIES.
This is the first part in The Others series, the fourth will be out this March ! So hopefully I’ll be up to date when it comes !

WHY this book.
I got it for Christmas from my parents, and I was really curious about it. It has such high ratings and positive reviews !

FIRST THOUGHTS.
I just ate it all up. I was free the last couple of days, and I just spent my last free days enjoying this book. There was nothing else I wanted to do, and when I was forced to step back into the life of the living I could not wait to get back and kept fantasising about it !! It was one of the best Urban Fantasies I’ve ever read.

PLOT.
The story is about Meg Corbyn, an escaped blood-prophet and the people surrounding her. She has lived (until now) in captivity and almost everything is new to her. She has seen a lot in pictures and instruction movies.. but she had never lived her own life. When escaping she finds refugee in Lakeside Courtyard, were the Others live and rule. Humans and Others don’t go well together and had a lot of trouble in the past, but are currently trying to live peacefully. Which does not mean that they trust each other.. Not at all. But some are trying. Meanwhile she hides with them, and she really grows on them. They find out why she is there, and they help protecting her from her Controller, who tries to get his property back. And so the battle begins..

I loved how this book had multiple narrators, not just Meg and Simon, but a lot of others as well. It really completed the story and gave different views of parts of the story. I also liked the pace, it just really got you into the world and how things are done.

ROMANCE.
If you LOVE romance and NEED romance in a book, then this is not for you. It has little romance in it... BUT !! This fitted perfectly with the story. Our main character Meg has never lived in the real world, never dealt with feelings, so it would not be right for the character to get all hot and steamy right away. That would make no sense at all. So luckily they kept the romance on the background, and let the story unfold itself. Though, there was some flirting and a lot of potential for something to happen in the future.. so really looking forward to how that will develop !!

SETTING.
The setting is just amazing !! A different world, were we humans are not the only thing at the top of the food chain and we all know about it. The Others have always existed and are part of the world, not only that, but they are more powerful and stronger then we are.
You have all kinds of Others, the “normal” ones we all know, like vampires and shifters, only they are shaped kind of differently than we are used to, and the even scarier ones with much more power that keep in the background. Like the Elementals such as Winter, Air, Summer, Fire etc. Super cool !! And don’t forget the ponies, how they surprised me !!!
I also liked the kind of creepy setting that ran through it all so to say.. A bit spooky.. with the legends of past and stuff.. LOVED IT.
I also really like how the Courtyard is shaped, and how visual she made it for me. Of course, there was a map at the beginning of the book, but apart from that, the way she described it made me feel like I was there with them.

CHARACTERS.
We have a lot of different characters in this book, and I’m sorry, but I’m not in the mood to describe all of them.. Just know that they are all awesome in their own way and mainly because all of them are narrators you get to know them quite personally.

FAVORITE.
Tess !! I really enjoyed the mystery surrounding her, and what kind of Other she is. I would love to know more about her, how she got there in the Courtyard.. what she has been through. I love that she is so independent, but tries to form friendships as well.

LEAST FAVORITE.
Asia !! I really hated her.. what she did and why she did it. I could just not feel sorry for her and was happy she got what she deserved !

THE BAD.
It had some slow parts, that I liked mostly.. but also got to a point where I thought she should move on and get the action going again. It did make the story more real, more complete.. but it could bore some people.

FAVORITE QUOTES.
“The other package has pieces of dried stag stick. The pups like chewing on those."
"What's a stag stick?" Meg asked, taking the packages.
He stared at her for a moment. Then he put a fist below his belt and popped out a thumb.
"Oh," Meg said. "Oh.”
.
“Is there some kind of rule for when Sam should be a boy and when he's a Wolf?"
"A Wolf lifts his leg and yellows up the snow. A boy has to use the toilet."
"And that will work?"
"Only if he needs to pee.”
.
“Henry studied Merri Lee, then Meg. “Humans don’t like mice?” “Not in the building!” Meg said. “And not around food,” Merri Lee added. The three terra indigene looked baffled. “But it’s fresh meat,” the brown-haired woman finally said.”

FINAL THOUGHTS.
I completely loved this story, it has been a while since I’ve read such a captivating Urban Fantasy as this one. I loved that it had multiple narrators, it really added something extra and I started the next one right away ! I would really recommend this book, especially if you’re an Urban Fantasy lover !! So I would like to give this one 5 Freyja’s !!!