June 22, 2015
Armstrong’s third Cainsville novel (after Visions) blends aspects of a psychological thriller into her urban fantasy, but the excitement is muffled by the slow-moving narrative, which is becoming a hallmark of the series. After an opener that will confuse even those who read the previous installments, multiple plot lines eventually unfold, and the agendas of various fae factions in Cainsville, Ill., are revealed. Olivia Taylor-Jones’s ex-fiancé is stalking her. She continues her investigation, with the help of morally ambivalent lawyer Gabriel Walsh, into the serial murders committed by her birth parents. She also has a burgeoning relationship with Ricky Gallagher; he's an insightful M.B.A.-earning gangster in training, but no one around him really takes him seriously. The story’s unsettling psychological component involves Olivia’s incapacitating—and worsening—visions, which help the underlying puzzle pieces, built around ancient folklore, fit into place. By the story’s end, many questions are answered, but whether readers will get that far is debatable.
June 15, 2015
In the third book of the Cainsville series (Visions, 2014, etc.), Olivia Taylor-Jones is at the apex of a love triangle while magic forces tug at her from both sides.With her birth parents in prison for multiple murders, Liv has escaped the spotlight of the national media only to become a local celebrity in Cainsville, where the community elders seem to have more at stake in Liv's love life than they're letting on. Picking up from where they left off in Book 2, Liv and biker Ricky Gallagher are still heating up the pages between action scenes, while she and attorney Gabriel Walsh are still working together at Gabriel's law firm and holding each other at arm's length. What these two men have to do with Liv's fairy heritage-half Tylwyth Teg, half Cwn Annwn-is up for interpretation. Haunted by disturbing visions of Welsh fairies from Cainsville's past, Liv must separate truth from lore to clear her parents' names and end the cycle of tragedy. Gabriel's psychic aunt, Rose, pores over ancient texts with scholarly precision to interpret the omens, but the books in this fictional world are as unreliable as the fairies. Liv's visions, in contrast, are heart-pounding and gruesome: in the recesses of her mind, the clues roll in like fog. Unlikely allies Ricky and Gabriel team up to help the woman they love fight against dangers both real and imagined. Meanwhile, Liv's deranged ex-fiance, James, fears that she's been brainwashed-and he'll do anything to bring her back to the mortal world. Shifting alliances, mercurial villains, and multiple retellings of ancient tales make the details hard to follow but rewarding to catch.
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June 1, 2015
The third installment in Armstrong's popular Cainsville series begins where the events of Visions (2014) ended. Olivia Taylor Jones has left the insular and secretive town of Cainsville and is living in Chicago, working for her protector and friend Gabriel. Her ex-fiance, James, continues to disrupt her life; she struggles to understand the motivation behind her serial-killing parents' actions; and she is afflicted by visions and nightmares of increasing intensity. Along with her biker boyfriend, Ricky, Olivia must return to Cainsville and confront factions of the supernatural Fae for answers. Nothing is as it seems in Armstrong's aptly named title, though with each passing chapter, Olivia appears to be learning more about her life, past, present, and future. Gabriel and Ricky try to safeguard her, but their relationship with Olivia and each other is strained by a startling revelation. With so many twists and turns in this fast-paced and engaging story, readers new to the series should be directed to Omens (2013), the first installment. Those already hooked on the weird doings in Cainsville will have no reason to be disappointed here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)
June 15, 2015
Olivia Jones has been working with Gabriel Walsh to uncover the truth behind the murders for which her birth parents were convicted. Their investigations are complicated by the determination of Cainsville residents to keep crucial information from Olivia about her parents and her own nature. The two sides of the fae, Tylwyth Teg and the followers of the Wild Hunt, have been watching the same love triangle play out for centuries, hoping for an outcome that favors one faction over the other, and now Olivia is caught in the middle. VERDICT With each new series entry (Omens; Visions), Armstrong's characterizations grow richer, especially with Gabriel, who is showing some cracks in his armor. The long game of the repeating patterns of Huntsmen and Tylwyth Teg with Olivia in between means that there is plenty of story left to tell. This work is less action-oriented than most urban fantasies, and the elements of magic are an undercurrent to emotional entanglements rather than taking center stage. [See Prepub Alert, 2/9/15.]--MM
Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
March 1, 2015
Having learned that her biological parents are convicted serial killers has sent Olivia Taylor Jones into seclusion in the town of Cainsville, where she's since been wrestling with some pretty dark forces. In this third in the New York Times best-selling series (after Omens and Visions), Olivia is desperately trying to decipher an ancient script that might explain her complicated relationships with two different men. Meanwhile, she's haunted by visions of a girl in a green sundress with something important to say. A huge demand already.
Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.