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marquez's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
midday_pigeon's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
universalbookworm's review against another edition
3.0
The Cainsville series is very well written, but partly due to bad reading habits, I always feel like I spend the majority of the novel wracking my brain to remember what happened last time. Again, mostly this is just my bad habit of not reading the books close together and not rereading before starting the next book.
That being said, I thought this novella served as a remedy to this situation. I was quickly able to remember he central conflicts as well as the interesting subplots that Armstrong is so talented with.
Also, practical Gabriel investigating an urban myth? Priceless. Even more so when you add in Olivia and Patrick. Additionally, I really appreciated the chance to read from Gabriel's perspective. Intriguing to say the least.
I would recommend reading the first three novels before this novella. A good stand alone this is not.
That being said, I thought this novella served as a remedy to this situation. I was quickly able to remember he central conflicts as well as the interesting subplots that Armstrong is so talented with.
Also, practical Gabriel investigating an urban myth? Priceless. Even more so when you add in Olivia and Patrick. Additionally, I really appreciated the chance to read from Gabriel's perspective. Intriguing to say the least.
I would recommend reading the first three novels before this novella. A good stand alone this is not.
canadianbookaddict's review against another edition
5.0
This is a novella in the Cainsville series.
I very much enjoyed this novella. I have been a fan of Kelley Armstrong for a few years now and I have been enjoying this series so far.
I do highly recommend this series and this book as well.
I very much enjoyed this novella. I have been a fan of Kelley Armstrong for a few years now and I have been enjoying this series so far.
I do highly recommend this series and this book as well.
heathersbike's review against another edition
We need an option where, when you've read everything in a book from other collections, it marks that read too.
lolasreviews's review against another edition
4.0
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.
I love Kelley Armstrong her Cainsville series and this novella is an awesome addition to that series. I would definitely recommend it to fans of the series and even more for those who like Gabriel. This novella is told from Gabriel his point of view with a few short chapters from Patrick in between. I really like Gabriel, he's one of my favorite characters in this series and getting to spend a whole novella in his head was awesome.
I feel like we get an even better understanding of him in this book. How he feels over what happened in book 3 and how it effects him and also why he keeps doing those things, we even see him do one of those push away actions in this book and get to see what goes through his mind while he does it. And through it all it's so obvious how much he cares about Olivia.
There's a bit of a mystery, Patrick brings the case to Gabriel hoping to get his attention. It works and Gabriel takes the case. There's a lot of figuring out what's going on and what the disappearing hitchhiker is. But besides that there is also a lot of character focus, we see how Gabriel interacts with Liv and even how Patrick interacts with Liv. And we get to spend more time in Gabriel's head seeing how he thinks. It was interesting to have this whole story without even getting Olivia her point of view as that's whose point of view we mostly get in the main books.
It was great to spend time reading from Gabriel and Patrick's their point of views and this novella does add some character depth and understanding even if it doesn't advance the main plot line. It almost could be read as standalone as the events here don't impact the main story, but at the same time it would contain spoilers for those who haven't read the series, so I would recommend to read it in order if possible. It's set between book 3 and 4 and also makes some references to another novella that was written in between these books. It was nice to get those other hints of the ongoing story and it was easy to imagine when this would take place. So it felt firmly set in the timeline of this series with mentions of what happened in earlier books. The mystery itself is contained to this novella, it has a beginning and an end. It made for a great read.
To summarize: This was a great novella and I really enjoyed it! I would recommend it to fans of the series who want more Gabriel. The whole novella is told from Gabriel his point of view, with a few Patrick chapters in between. It really helped give even more understand and more depth to his character. Gabriel is one of my favorite characters in this series, so I loved spending time in his point of view. It was obvious how much he cares about Liv and it was heartbreaking to see how he keeps messing things up and can't help himself. He's fully aware what he's doing and how it sounds, yet he can't stop pushing her away in certain situations. There's a small mystery that gets resolved before the end of the book, but mostly I would recommend it for the additional time spent with the characters. All in all a great read.
I love Kelley Armstrong her Cainsville series and this novella is an awesome addition to that series. I would definitely recommend it to fans of the series and even more for those who like Gabriel. This novella is told from Gabriel his point of view with a few short chapters from Patrick in between. I really like Gabriel, he's one of my favorite characters in this series and getting to spend a whole novella in his head was awesome.
I feel like we get an even better understanding of him in this book. How he feels over what happened in book 3 and how it effects him and also why he keeps doing those things, we even see him do one of those push away actions in this book and get to see what goes through his mind while he does it. And through it all it's so obvious how much he cares about Olivia.
There's a bit of a mystery, Patrick brings the case to Gabriel hoping to get his attention. It works and Gabriel takes the case. There's a lot of figuring out what's going on and what the disappearing hitchhiker is. But besides that there is also a lot of character focus, we see how Gabriel interacts with Liv and even how Patrick interacts with Liv. And we get to spend more time in Gabriel's head seeing how he thinks. It was interesting to have this whole story without even getting Olivia her point of view as that's whose point of view we mostly get in the main books.
It was great to spend time reading from Gabriel and Patrick's their point of views and this novella does add some character depth and understanding even if it doesn't advance the main plot line. It almost could be read as standalone as the events here don't impact the main story, but at the same time it would contain spoilers for those who haven't read the series, so I would recommend to read it in order if possible. It's set between book 3 and 4 and also makes some references to another novella that was written in between these books. It was nice to get those other hints of the ongoing story and it was easy to imagine when this would take place. So it felt firmly set in the timeline of this series with mentions of what happened in earlier books. The mystery itself is contained to this novella, it has a beginning and an end. It made for a great read.
To summarize: This was a great novella and I really enjoyed it! I would recommend it to fans of the series who want more Gabriel. The whole novella is told from Gabriel his point of view, with a few Patrick chapters in between. It really helped give even more understand and more depth to his character. Gabriel is one of my favorite characters in this series, so I loved spending time in his point of view. It was obvious how much he cares about Liv and it was heartbreaking to see how he keeps messing things up and can't help himself. He's fully aware what he's doing and how it sounds, yet he can't stop pushing her away in certain situations. There's a small mystery that gets resolved before the end of the book, but mostly I would recommend it for the additional time spent with the characters. All in all a great read.
brokenrecord's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars. I did a Cainsville reread over the summer and in the process discovered there was somehow a Gabriel novella I had never read before! I liked this a lot. It certainly wasn't vital, and I was actually kind of glad to read it after having already read the entire series so I knew how things worked out because I think if I had read this before the fourth book, the angst might have killed me. Liv and Gabriel certainly struggle with communication plenty throughout the series, but this novella might have been the peak, between Anyways, this series definitely has its flaws, but it's still a favorite of mine, and I always enjoy dipping into this world, and it was especially fun to discover content I hadn't previously consumed.
Spoiler
Liv realizing she's in love with Gabriel but he'll never pull down his walls so she's trying to be as distant as possible, to Gabriel never knowing what the right thing to say is so he never says anything, driving her further away. It was painful! I love pining though, so I still enjoyed it. And it was fun seeing Patrick trying to ingratiate himself with Gabriel before Gabriel knew the truth. I liked the main mystery as well. And I liked Gabriel realizing the power differential between him and Liv and apologizing for using her position against her even though he was never going to actually fire her.jonmhansen's review against another edition
4.0
If the folklore was to be believed, half the supernatural creatures in the universe existed solely for the purpose of tricking men into sex.