
BROTHERS IN ARMS EARNED IN BLOOD REVIEW IGN SERIES
It is almost sad that the series is ending now that Oliver finally found solid ground to stand on with her. This didn’t take long, but her character didn’t suffer any radical, overnight changes either. Yes, she’d had a lot to deal with, but she reminded me of my five year old when she’s both sleepy and hungry. There was a point in the series (around the middle of book two), where I almost gave up entirely because I couldn’t deal with her whining and self-pity. I need to say a few words about Riley Blackthorne as well. This sort of thing can be very rewarding for an attentive reader and it’s exactly the kind of thing that makes me insanely happy. His grammar would deteriorate every time he was under stress, which was most easily noticeable in his pronunciation of pronouns. His pronunciation was changing depending on his mood, location and company. The finer nuances of Beck’s character were constantly emphasized through a very clever use of language. Although Oliver always experimented with language, she took it a step further in Foretold. Even though there’s a battle between Heaven and Hell going on in the background, Foretold mainly focuses on his personal demon, his horrible, uncaring mother and the crime he was always blamed for, but never officially accused of. I think Beck’s fans (because really, aren’t we all?) will be quite happy with this story. Once again Oliver entertains with the wide variety of creatures she's created: from Pyro-Fiends and Klepto-Fiends to Arch-Fiends and fallen angels. There are human enemies to defeat and demons to destroy. Of course their story isn’t the only thing we have to worry about. The way Riley sees it, the only way for the two of them to ever be together is to uncover the skeletons in Beck’s closet and make him see that she will always stand by his side, no matter what. The kiss they exchanged on the cemetery right before the battle was pretty eye-opening for both of them, but now that Beck’s past is coming back to haunt him, he doesn’t want Riley anywhere near him, all in a misguided attempt to protect her and save himself from possible rejection. She may have given up her soul to avoid the Armageddon, but her heart still knows where it stands. Riley Blackthorne is finally sure that she loves her father’s protégé and her friend and protector, Denver Beck. Fortunately for me, Jana Oliver gave me a lot to write about, all of it good. In fact, it’s one of my least favorite things to do, vacuuming and peeling onions included. Reviewing a last book in the series is never easy or especially fun. Stop by The Nocturnal Library to read a guest post by Jana Oliver and enter for a chance to win a copy of this book or any other book in The Demon Stop by The Nocturnal Library to read a guest post by Jana Oliver and enter for a chance to win a copy of this book or any other book in The Demon Trappers series + signed swag.
