Broken Soul

Broken Soul (2014) Faith Hunter

The latest Jane Yellowrock installment finds Jane and the Mithrans preparing for the visit of the European Council–a visit that seems it will bear nothing good for Jane.

Of course, she does get to learn a new form of fighting.

“Ernestine keeps all the lists,” Wrassler said. “And the pools.”
I shook my head in confusion. Beside me Eli asked, “So how many of you lost money when Janie kicked (name)’s butt just now?”
“About ninety percent of the people gathered here and about ninety-five percent of the city’s blood-servants and Mithrans.” There was a lot of satisfaction in Wrassler’s tone.
Eli said , “I’m guessing you were one of the few who were betting on Jane.”

However, many will be glad to know that Jane’s romantic tribulations seem to be settled. Eli remains like a brother, as does Stinky, which is good. Because if something had come of that I would have been really irritated.

Derek Lee is now Leo’s enforcer in training, which is causing him problems. I actually liked that Derek had issues with the position, and what it entailed. He’d been getting more and more distant from Jane; this rehumanized him a bit, and perhaps explained some of his moodiness.

But there were some issues with the story. For one, I knew almost immediately who was chained in the sub-sub-basement, and was highly irritated when Jane was oblivious. I mean, she KNOWS precisely how ruthless Leo is.

There were a couple copy editing issues as well, with Katie appearing ahead of Jane, when she’s actually somewhere else entirely.

Those weren’t horrible things, and I think she’s doing a very good job building up to the arrival of the European council and everything that is going to entail, but it did throw me a bit out of the story.

Jane still, despite everything, remains religious, however, she’s putting further thought into it.

Religion as a political entity is always horrible,” Bruiser said, his tone final.
“But—” I stopped. My religion wasn’t supposed to be horrible. It was supposed to be based on love and generosity and forgiveness. But history had always suggested otherwise. And my other spirituality, the Cherokee, had a bloody and violent historical aspect that made the old pope’s comments seem conventional. How was I supposed to look at the mores of history and compare them to today’s violence and judgment? Current events suggested that humanity was no better today than it had ever been, that we had learned nothing.

I do like that Jane remains a person of faith throughout the series. It’s an important part of her upbringing, and she it continues to shape her thoughts and ideas of herself.

I am a murderer. An arm of vengeance. The words were bitter in my thoughts.
Beast huffed in grim delight. Beast is best hunter.

Of course, I like that passage more of Beast than for Jane’s thoughts about herself.

As usual, I adore the cover. I love how Jane is strong and in action and ready to fight.

Now I have to wait more than a year for the next book.
Rating: 7/10

Published by Roc

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