The Grimrose Path

The Grimrose Path (2010) Rob Thurman

Trixa Iktomi is a trickster. She comes right out with it at the beginning of this story, so you know what you’re getting into. But she and her friend Leo (the reformed Bad Boy but now a trickster by calling, Loki) are mortal while Trixa rebuilds her powers after events in the previous book. And Trixa is discovering that being a human is far more difficult than being a trickster in the shape of a human: no shifting to instantly heal injuries, no super strength, and worst of all, you have to exercise to keep in shape. But she still loves her body.

No, I wasn’t beautiful. I chose this body. I made it. Why would I want to be beautiful? Fields of wildflowers were beautiful. Waterfalls were beautiful. Secluded beaches were beautiful. Size-zero vacant-eyed and vacant-stomached runway models were beautiful…at least that’s what society told us, but society had a vacant brain to match those vacant eyes. Not one of those things, vacant or otherwise, could put a pointed heel of a boot through a demon’s stomach and a bullet in his scaly forehead. I could. I was unique.

But being human does have it’s problems. (Especially if your diet is primarily diner food.)

Damn, there went another joint. My once-conditioned body seemed to be falling to pieces fast. The maintenance on a human body was unbelievable. If you slept wrong, you were crippled for the day How could a species manage to sleep wrong? A bad mattress to them was like an asteroid to the dinosaurs.

Leo has things easier, but that doesn’t make working with Trixa is easy.

“(W)ho are you going to pray to, Loki?” I snapped back. I was sorry, but I was getting less sorry all the time.
“Myself, and you’d better hope I’m not listening..” He slammed the door behind him.

I noticed something interesting when perusing the reviews. Trixa does not lack self-confidence–why would she? She’s a trickster. Self-confidence comes part and parcel with the ability to lie. And I, myself, enjoyed her self-confidence, but a LOT of reviewers found it irritating. “Self-aggrandizement” was a term that came up more than once. But here’s the thing, I didn’t think her self-confidence was any more over the top than many other characters in other stories.

Many of my favorite characters.

Male characters.

It’s funny how self-confidence is seen as a positive in males, but a negative in women. And I don’t mean ha-ha funny. I mean, “that’s bullshit” funny. I like Trixa’s self-confidence. I like having a female protagonist who spends no time worrying about her looks and how she is perceived by men.

Does that make me strange? So be it. I’m good with that.
Rating: 9/10

Published by ROC

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