So, was I correct in being afraid to crack open this one? Kind of.
Isn’t life great? It’s never yes or no, or black or white. It’s all varying shades of ughhhh.
It began on page six, which was actually the second page of the story, when the head hopping first appeared. As a new writer I am hyper aware of the whole point of view controversy. Especially when I never really noticed it in her other works. On some pages it’s not just between the hero and heroine either. At times it seemed like every person in the scene had a sentence or two from their POV. In the acknowledgements, Sherrilyn thanks her editor for allowing her some liberties. I am guessing that head hopping is one of them.
If this is the first of the Dark/Were- hunter books you have picked up, put it back and go get something else.
This book also assumes a lot. It is assumed that you have read Night Embrace, Night Play, Seize the Night, Unleash the Night, Dream Chaser, One Silent Night and Acheron, not once but several times. (Luckily I had)
Bad Moon Rising is the story of Fang Kattalakis, a katagaria wolf, and what he went through while all of the other books were taking place. Characters, names and places pop up all the time that reference these other stories. I can only imagine what a newbie to this world would be thinking if this was their first introduction. Add to that a whole slew of new characters, species and dimensions are brought in to add to the confusion.
While it was interesting to see what Fang and Aimee (the bearswan he is in love with) had endured all that time, it was tedious. This story spans several years and the most current events begin on page 280 of a 340 page book. So the previous pages were mostly a more detailed back story.
Bad Moon Rising, I feel, is a novel for DH fans. It was satisfying to see Aimee and Fang finally together after all of these years, but as far as furthering the DH storyline, it didn’t do a whole lot. It was like more of an introduction of what could possibly happen in future books, as oppose to actually taking it down that road.
So, if you are a DH fan, read it. If not or if this is your first foray into the Dark-hunter world, put it down and go get Night Pleasures. Start there.