Written in Red by Anne Bishop

Written in Red (The Others, #1)

by Anne Bishop

Enter the world of the Others in the first novel in New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop’s thrilling fantasy series: a place where unearthly entities—vampires and shape-shifters among them—rule the Earth and prey on the human race.

As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut—a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg’s Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard—a business district operated by the Others.

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she’s keeping a secret, and second, she doesn’t smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she’s wanted by the government, he’ll have to decide if she’s worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow.

Reviewed by jesstheaudiobookworm on

5 of 5 stars

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5 ★ Audiobook⎮ *jumps on couch* I love this book!
*flails on floor* I LOVE this book!
*yells from rooftop* I LOVE THIS BOOK!

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I can tell you exactly why I love this book. Ugh, where to even begin? I listened to almost an hour of it a few months ago and then stopped. I’m not really sure why. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right “place” for it at that time. Whatever the reason, I sure am glad that I decided to pick it back up again. This story was so addicting that I found myself thinking about it all the time. I almost literally could not stop listening. This is one of those books that completely de-rails your TBR and forces you to rearrange your life around listening to it. I missed a social function because of this book. The writing is so enveloping. It swallowed me up like a black hole. There may have been (actually, there probably were) some problematic points in the storyline, but those barely registered with me. If I had looked closely and really scrutinized, I’m sure I could have spotted them, but I was far too consumed with enjoying the story to even bother. I realize this review is more of me “gushing” than reviewing, but I’m not even sorry. I just love this story-world so much. The attention to detail is impeccable and so original. The world is very thoroughly built and “fleshed-out”, but I never felt that it was at the expense of the story’s progression. The story had a wonderful pace and never felt rushed or stagnant. I was surprised after finishing it to realize that the audiobook was over 18 hours long. I honestly didn’t realize it was that lengthy of a story. I was enthralled with it every single second.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a good urban fantasy story and this one reminded me of why it’s my favorite genre. For a while there, I was reading so much fantasy that I got burnt out, but this novel has rekindled my love for it. One of my favorite feelings in the entire world is discovering a new series to obsess over. Especially that moment when you feel yourself becoming hooked by a new story and realize that there are several more installments just waiting to be downloaded. That, that’s the best. After finishing this installment, I sped through the second one (review to come shortly) and have already begun the third. It should be noted that this series is definitely not, I repeat, NOT for youngsters. It bluntly discusses numerous things that are of a mature nature. And I do mean bluntly. There’s no way any of it could slide past the noticing of a teen/pre-teen. As an adult, I found it both humorous and refreshing, but there’s no way I would consider recommending it to anyone under the age of 17 or so.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 17 March, 2016: Finished reading
  • 17 March, 2016: Reviewed