Written in Red

Whaaatttt?? Another vampire/werewolf book that does not suck?

I have read quite a few PNR books in search for the next Mercy Thompson without any luck. While this is not as good, it's very close. The world is refreshingly different from ALL the other basic vampire stories. In this one, the inmates are running the asylum. That is, the war between humankind and “the others” has ended, the others have won.

But it's not a post-apocalyptic world where people are harvested for their blood and meat. The supernatural folk has decided to live in harmony with the normal people, and they live in an uncomfortable peace.

Meg Corbyn is an ordinary woman. Not only she is not special in any kind, but she is actually quite docile, naive and fragile, a woman with the brain of a girl. While this might sound like a boring protagonist, and it kind of is, the world around her is not.

There isn't much special about the setting, other then the roles are reversed. The humans may outnumber the others, but they are the most powerful ones. Most people tremble in fear by the mere sight of one of them, and yet, it's not quite as it sound, or at least, it is not played out like most books.

Instead, it is like a minority group had all the power. Something akin of the Amish having super powers, and even though they don't care about us or our world, they can roam about it as they please. They have their life, their ways. We just happen to be here, trying to destroy them, but having failed so many times that we're beaten into submission.

The writing is also very good. The author establishes empathy with the protagonist, as dull as she may be. She is charismatic, intriguing and resourceful. The supporting characters even though a bit stereotyped, like the roaring alpha male, are decent enough to be appreciated as well.

The author takes a big risk incorporating precognition into the plot, and it is surprisingly not awful. I hate that sort of gimmick as I find it the most useless “super power” there is. Usually the ones who can see the future cannot change it, and so what's the point?

The discover of the powers of “the others” was nicely weaved into the story. Meg progression as a character is smooth, and so is her relationship with the supporting cast.

Overall, the most exceptional thing about this book is that I don't hate it. There is no overused cliche and roll eyes moments. The plot is not very ambitious, and as such there is no let down when things resolve itself out. It was an enjoyable reading.

I greatly enjoyed this book. In fact, I couldn't put it down last night and finished it in one fell swoop. The world is one of the most intriguing new takes in fantasy that I've encountered in years, richly imagined and off-center from ours with just enough familiarity to make the differences that much more striking. The characters are well-developed and believable, the Others different enough from anyone else's take on vampires, were beings and the like to stay fresh. I cared about Meg pretty quickly, and Sam almost immediately.

This isn't another boring romance book, which is a great relief. I can only hope that continues to be true for the series.

I'm thoroughly confused by my feelings for this book. It consistently annoyed the crap out of me and yet somehow I still... liked it? The writing style bothered me, just in general, and I felt like there was a lack of information where it was needed and yet a whole lot of unnecessary information pertaining to things I didn't care about. I did not love the frequent changes in POV, or the annoying villains. See what I mean? I just listed a whole bunch of stuff that made me constantly annoyed, and yet... I still liked the book. It was a cool world. I wanted to know what happened. I am just sitting here shaking my head and trying to figure out what's going on because I'm considering reading the sequel. What??

2.5 stars.

It has been so hard to finish this one.
I found it boring to death, but for a few moments.
I liked the worldbuilding and some Meg-moments, when she takes care of a puppy for example. But that is due to the fact that I love dogs :D Also her process of integration into the terra indigene society was very appealing and well done.
What I didn't enjoy was the lack of a solid plot, that made the book a bit too long and boring. It was more focused on characterization, putting the basis for the sequels hopefully. In the end it was slacking off too much for my tastes.

Written in Red by Anne Bishop was a really good urban fantasy shapeshifter read for adult fiction. I usually don't pick up adult fiction that often but I was in that mood to have something hook me into the story and I am glad this was it!

Written in Red follows a girl named Meg Corybn that has recently just escaped from where she was being caged and used against her will for her ability that lets her see visions of the future known as a cassandra sangue or blood prophet. This right away was very interesting to read about. My favorite part was when she finally her side of what it meant for her to be a blood prophet. Meg stumbles upon a little town that is pretty much surrounded by different shape shifters. I was mainly interesting in reading about the wolves. Simon Wolfgard owns a shop in the town and hires her as the new Liaison for the town. He can sense that she is keeping a secret but he gives her the job with a place to live. Lucky right for someone that just ran away and has no money?

I really loved the main character, Meg, in this story. She was a unique person to read and learn about as the book went on. I really loved that they described her kind as someone who ages but has the soul of a child. I believe that described her very well. My favorite part of the book is when I got to read in Megs point of view because I just loved how she thinks. Being in a new place and new environment was interesting enough to see her adjust. She did it well and quickly. Much quicker than I would if I just escaped somewhere I was caged in for my entire life. Meg is a kind hearted person and is willing to do whatever she can to be free.

Simon Wolfgard is a terra indigene that lives in a secluded area where humans are not allowed but runs a shop in town that surrounds around his kind. Humans can come and shop there and he also has a few human employees. Simon is a very interesting and strong main male character. In the beginning, he is very cold and rude. Controls the entire area of the creatures that follow him. Once Meg comes to town, she starts to confuse him and she really grows on him after a while to where he needs to protect her. He gets confused about why he feels angry when she gets hurt or is sad when she isn't happy. It was just a really cute way to read his growth in the human emotions. By the end of the story, you can tell that he possibly even loves Meg.

[ WARNING CONTAINS SPOILERS AND MY FEELS ]

When Simon leaves town for a week and has to take care of Sam, oh my God. I was just so engrossed into the two of them when they spent time together. Sam as a wolf puppy was very cute and as a reader you can tell that Meg was very good for Sam. When Elliot slaps Meg for putting Sam on a leach, this was a plot twist because Sam shifts back into a human for the first time since his mother died. I don't know how old Sam is, but I am assuming he is probably ten or so. I started to cry when he was defending Meg because he really loved her as a friend.

One of my favorite parts of the book is pretty much the ending. Where the people going after Meg tried to kidnap her and also Aria trying to take Sam. I loved all of the people that were looking out for Meg. Mainly Winter. She is amazing and I loved when she said that winter will not go away unless “our Meg” was okay. Simon was crazy during this part of the book also and we got to see that he was starting to care for her. He was wondering why he kept feeling so angry toward the people that put Meg in this position. Once everything was fine, it was cute when Simon was in wolf form and stealing all of Meg's dog cookies!

Overall, fantastic read. It took me a while to get into it but about 60 pages in I couldn't put it down. Read the rest in a few hours till 2am. It was great and I am going to pick up Murder of the Crow now!

If I could, this book would receive more than 5 stars. Wow, just wow! Anne Bishop has taken American history and turned it inside out to create a whole new world. She's created a race of terra indigene who lived in America before the settlers. They are beasts/monsters who hold a human form for the sake of the actual humans they must live beside. However, the beast side is definitely dominate as we see with each character Meg encounters when she seeks refuge with them. Hidden away from the man who once controlled her, Meg must win her place among the terra indigene who only see humans as meat. I loved seeing the struggle between human and others (as humans call them). The clash of cultures was brilliantly written, showing the true struggle for the two different sides to understand each other. There was comedy, action, mystery and progressive character development. Everything I look for in a book. I suppose it helps that I could barely stop reading when I started as well! Can't wait to dive into the next one!

Wow! This has been on my TBR list for awhile, and I wish I would've read it sooner! The Others rule the world, and see most humans as meat. They have stopped eating them (for the most part), and let them have certain areas only because of what they can get from the humans. Certain areas called Courtyards are where The Others live and make sure humans are abiding their agreement. They have a few human employees, but never human friends. Then Meg Corbyn shows up looking for a job. She smells human, but she doesn't smell like prey. What is she? With Meg around, life in the Courtyard will never be the same. I loved this book! I loved the characters, the world they live in, all of it! I am definitely going to continue this series.

Todavía no sé qué tan bueno sea, pero te deja con una buena sensación y un sentimiento de: que bonita es la amistad. Los otros son un amor, aunque coman humanos; que algunos se lo buscan, advertidos están.

Tenemos a Meg una Casandra de Sangre huyendo. Estas son profetas y son usadas para sacar dinero haciendo profecías a gente importante e influyente, así que son propiedad valiosa. Meg busca refugio en el Courtyard de Lakeside donde conoce a Simon que la contrata y empieza a trabajar como la nueva Enlace entre Humanos y Otros, que eso es como el correo más o menos. Ahí conocerá a varios personajes de lo más pintorescos y con su falta de experiencia con los Otros y con los Humanos se ganará uno a uno la simpatía de éstos. Esto es mas o menos la premisa, pero tampoco todo es tan bonito, estos otros seres tienen control y sus reglas, que los humanos a veces rompen y las cosas no terminan bien.

Es un poco confuso en ocasiones, porque no son hombres lobos o esas cosas: son otros seres que adoptan forma humana, pero se sienten más a gusto en su otra piel. Así que resulta raro. Habrá un interés romántico y Meg y Simon serán pareja o Simon será su mascota. Supongo tendré que esperar a ver en futuros libros. Y a que se refieren con jugar? Tirar un frisbee y salir corriendo tras el? So cute!

Y comprendo por todo lo que ha pasado Meg, así que le perdono por este libro que se asuste por todo.

Bueno: Los personajes, me resultaron interesantes y las relaciones entre ellos. Y sí, todos están locos por la recién llegada Meg.

Malo: El mundo es un poco confuso en este primer libro. Esta el lado de los humanos con todos los avances y tecnología actual y los Otros que viven como en cuento de hadas, solo cruzando una cerca. Son diferentes seres, pero luego están los Elementales que son como dioses o como XMen. Y los Otros no habían conocido un ser humano decente antes?

L'univers créé est déjà riche alors qu'on semble n'avoir vu que la partie émergée de l'iceberg. Même s'il y a beaucoup de personnages, on arrive à s'y retrouver et le rythme de lecture est assez prenant.

J'attends de voir la suite que je lirai sûrement avec plaisir.

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The universe created is already rich while we seem to have only seen the tip of the iceberg. Even if there are a lot of characters, we can find our way around and the reading pace is quite gripping.

I'm waiting to see the sequel that I will surely read with pleasure.

Fun read. Don't let the cover throw you....book is not about a heavily made up woman in the woods. (Am not sure what would work for a cover - perhaps the folks at deviantart will come up with something ) The story is about a rather interesting community of shapeshifters and the prophet/human who takes a job as a mail clerk/liason. She's learning about them, they're learning about her, and they've got to ultimately get through a crisis - the world building is terrific in this. I have happily jumped into the sequel.