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blodeuedd's review
3.0
Kam is a Djinn down on her luck. A piece of her magic was stolen. She has lost her partner (in chasing souls), and she works at a crappy bar to earn some money. What she has is a car that still runs for some reason, and a will do live her own life, on her terms. I liked her. She was so friendly! To everyone, strangers, homeless, she did not care. All were equal in her eyes. The world need happy people like her. Or happy Djinns.
But that is not this story. She gets an assignment that takes her into the food-truck posse. I liked the food truck people, and I want to try their food. It was a nice scenery and it worked for this. Solving a murder. It was kind of like a UF cozy mystery in that way. Maybe totally like a UF Cozy mystery when I think of it. Humour, a tiny bit of romantic feelings, friendship and a murder to solve. And food, of course.
Murder, toast (I totally made grilled cheese after listening) and lots of "monsters". Fun times to be had.
Narrator: Chandra Skyee
Her Kam voice was perfect and I wanted to be friends with her. Her voice for this other person was sort of similar. But it did not matter. She made the whole book sound fun.
But that is not this story. She gets an assignment that takes her into the food-truck posse. I liked the food truck people, and I want to try their food. It was a nice scenery and it worked for this. Solving a murder. It was kind of like a UF cozy mystery in that way. Maybe totally like a UF Cozy mystery when I think of it. Humour, a tiny bit of romantic feelings, friendship and a murder to solve. And food, of course.
Murder, toast (I totally made grilled cheese after listening) and lots of "monsters". Fun times to be had.
Narrator: Chandra Skyee
Her Kam voice was perfect and I wanted to be friends with her. Her voice for this other person was sort of similar. But it did not matter. She made the whole book sound fun.
tracey_stewart's review
4.0
Do you know what a binturong smells like?
I do, now.
R.L. Naquin's books are like hot fudge, with or without the ice cream. She has built a world full of magic and magical people, and I love it. She has a gift for description, simile, and metaphor that is right up there with the best of them. "He was short and pudgy with a thin little excuse for a mustache that looked more like he got it from drinking chocolate milk than grew it." Her characters are just like you and me – except that weird and wonderful things happen to them, and sometimes they're not human. (Well, for all I know neither are you. And – heh heh heh – for all you know, neither am I.) They can be silly, brilliant, distracted, scary, heart-broken, heart-breaking, unpredictable – realistic. Even when they're a djinn like Kam, star of this novella.
I love the world these books take place in – why haven't I read everything yet? I can't wait.
I highlighted a lot of quotes in this short book – but I narrowed it down to three I couldn't bear to clear.
I glanced up at all the windows in those buildings and imagined the stuffy offices, the cubicle farms and the atriums filled with miserable plants longing to feel direct sunshine that didn't stream through glass. A piece of me would probably die a little every day cooped up in there.
(Yes, trust me – it would. It does.)
"Haven't you learned that you have to believe it to see it?"
She dropped the list on the table. "Don't you mean 'seeing is believing'?"
I shrugged. "Sure, if you want the universe telling you what to do. I prefer to make the universe my bitch."
Was it a coincidence that the last place Pete had been tracked to was a food truck court, or was this fate flapping its arms at me trying to get my attention? I tucked my hands in my pockets to keep from flapping my arms back. Coincidence or not, I believed in fate.
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
I do, now.
R.L. Naquin's books are like hot fudge, with or without the ice cream. She has built a world full of magic and magical people, and I love it. She has a gift for description, simile, and metaphor that is right up there with the best of them. "He was short and pudgy with a thin little excuse for a mustache that looked more like he got it from drinking chocolate milk than grew it." Her characters are just like you and me – except that weird and wonderful things happen to them, and sometimes they're not human. (Well, for all I know neither are you. And – heh heh heh – for all you know, neither am I.) They can be silly, brilliant, distracted, scary, heart-broken, heart-breaking, unpredictable – realistic. Even when they're a djinn like Kam, star of this novella.
I love the world these books take place in – why haven't I read everything yet? I can't wait.
I highlighted a lot of quotes in this short book – but I narrowed it down to three I couldn't bear to clear.
I glanced up at all the windows in those buildings and imagined the stuffy offices, the cubicle farms and the atriums filled with miserable plants longing to feel direct sunshine that didn't stream through glass. A piece of me would probably die a little every day cooped up in there.
(Yes, trust me – it would. It does.)
"Haven't you learned that you have to believe it to see it?"
She dropped the list on the table. "Don't you mean 'seeing is believing'?"
I shrugged. "Sure, if you want the universe telling you what to do. I prefer to make the universe my bitch."
Was it a coincidence that the last place Pete had been tracked to was a food truck court, or was this fate flapping its arms at me trying to get my attention? I tucked my hands in my pockets to keep from flapping my arms back. Coincidence or not, I believed in fate.
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
lilyelement's review
4.0
To Catch a Stolen Soul is book one in the Djinn Haven series. This series is a spin-off from the Monster Haven series. While you don't necessarily have to read the Monster Haven series first I'd recommend it so you get some background on the world. But you could get by just fine starting here.
Our leading lady Kam is a djinn that works as a soul chaser for the Hidden Government. With not much work left, she works odd jobs in random towns she passes through. So when she gets called out on a mission to find a missing soul chaser she jumps at the chance. Along her way she picks up a hitchhiking teen runaway and they head to the last place the soul chaser was seen. They get close before their truck dies and they wind up bartering the repairs and start driving a food truck in its place. After cleaning up the food truck and starting a plan on what they'll sell, they head to the food truck community only to find out it's run by members of the hidden (elves, djinn, etc). The only bad thing is that someone is killing off the food truck members one by one and with no leads on the murderer Kam could be next. She has to figure out who is behind the murders before it's too late.
To Catch a Stolen Soul is a promising start to a new series. It is full of paranormal beings trying to solve a mystery, which kept me entertained me the whole way through. Naquin always manages to include the most unique paranormal beings in her stories and I can't wait to see which ones will pop up in the next book. The food truck aspect of the book had me craving so much food while reading about all the yummy things the different trucks made. While there isn't really a romance in this book I feel later in the series we'll get that arc. All in all, this was a great book that I think anyone who loves all things paranormal will enjoy.
Our leading lady Kam is a djinn that works as a soul chaser for the Hidden Government. With not much work left, she works odd jobs in random towns she passes through. So when she gets called out on a mission to find a missing soul chaser she jumps at the chance. Along her way she picks up a hitchhiking teen runaway and they head to the last place the soul chaser was seen. They get close before their truck dies and they wind up bartering the repairs and start driving a food truck in its place. After cleaning up the food truck and starting a plan on what they'll sell, they head to the food truck community only to find out it's run by members of the hidden (elves, djinn, etc). The only bad thing is that someone is killing off the food truck members one by one and with no leads on the murderer Kam could be next. She has to figure out who is behind the murders before it's too late.
To Catch a Stolen Soul is a promising start to a new series. It is full of paranormal beings trying to solve a mystery, which kept me entertained me the whole way through. Naquin always manages to include the most unique paranormal beings in her stories and I can't wait to see which ones will pop up in the next book. The food truck aspect of the book had me craving so much food while reading about all the yummy things the different trucks made. While there isn't really a romance in this book I feel later in the series we'll get that arc. All in all, this was a great book that I think anyone who loves all things paranormal will enjoy.
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