Slumber

by Tamara Blake

[KitsuneBae]

For the full review, please visit: Thoughts and Pens

If I have to describe this book in one word, it would be CRAZY! Crazy as hell for totally blowing me off my seat leaving me breathless from one rollercoaster ride. I know it’s exaggerated but that’s what I felt after reading this book. And to think that when I first requested this from Netgalley, I really didn’t have high hopes for it. I didn’t know the author and the title wasn’t that great. The reason why I selected it because the summary had the word magic in it and everyone knows that I’m a sucker for books that particularly talk about magic or anything weird.

And I am glad to announce that this book did more than justice to my reason of selecting it from the countless titles in Netgalley. I loved it and I can’t wait for the sequel to come out if this book is planned to become a series. An urban fantasy at its best, Slumber follows the story of a 17-year old, fatherless girl named Ruby. Ruby and her family were poor; her mother doing shitty jobs to make ends meet while her adorable sister, Shelley has learned to make the best of things out of the worst. And Ruby, despite her big dreams of being an actress in the Big Apple, chose to forgo all that and took a lowly job as housecleaner in one of the biggest mansions in their area. It is there that she met Tam, a mysterious guy shrouded by a perplexing history of combined danger and magic. And if Ruby isn’t careful, she might as well find herself on the brink of demise.

Enough with that dramatic summary, friends. Let’s get on with the review. As I’ve said earlier, this is one Crazy book. The first chapters give us a background of Ruby and her family’s life then slowly, crazy things began to unfold when she went to Cottingley Heights to do some housecleaning works. And by golly, that’s where the madness started. From the bizarre manor to the wild parties and to the callous residents themselves, everything was unnerving. Slumber is rich with darkness and gory scenes especially that Tam and the other residents of Cottingley Heights were revealed to be faeries, ancient magical beings who chose to live with humans. And instead of being the stereotype version, these faeries are capable of toying with humans and killing them after. They glorify on violence, deception, and enslaving humans with their magical powers. And their idea of fun is hideous and hair raising. Tamara Blake’s faeries may be likened to that of the faeries in Mortal Instruments. Yeah, they’re very similar if I think of it but then, Tamara had gone out of her way to put these faeries into a different light making them a product of your worst nightmare.
And Ruby was an exceptional person to be the one dealing with these nasty beings. She’s strong willed, very compassionate, has no-nonsense attitude, and her devotion towards her family is outstanding. Yes, she might have desires for the good life but she chose to endure the hardships that come her way for the sake of keeping her family from falling apart. And though she was attracted to Tam and had nearly fallen for him badly, she still came through for her family at the end. She didn’t let her craziness over Tam deflect her from her priorities. And I salute her for that.

What about Tam? I actually share a love-hate relationship with him. Most of the time, I can see his innate goodness but there are times that his faerie nature overcomes his good side and he acts all weird. But I think, Tamara did an excellent job in portraying him like this, like he was torn from doing good and from his true nature. And it makes Tam an even more interesting subject because you’d never know what he’d do in the succeeding sequel (which I hope there would be).

Apart from these two, almost all the characters of Slumber are loveable and hateful (not in a way that I hate them because they’re flat). Ruby’s mother and Shelley—Ruby’s younger sister—are adorable. With them, I could really feel that heartwarming familial devotion that put me on the verge of tears.
Slumber’s villain/s especially Violet is a revenge-crazed bitch and a total slut. And because of that, she’s perfect to play the act. Even the background villains are an interesting bunch of characters.

Slumber also has strong points when it comes to mystery, horrific action scenes, and abhorent orgy parts that successfully made me nervous but that did not stop me from turning the pages like I can’t get enough of it. And yet, despite that, this book is oozing with heart… the close-knit relationship between Ruby and her mother and her sister is a real gem to this dark book.
Overall, except for a few typos, Slumber is a perfect prelude to what I hope a magnificent series in the making! A must-read for Y/A lovers who likes extreme violence and grossness.