I was very excited when NIGHTSHIFTED showed up in the mail. (Thank you, Cassie!) I think it has an excellent premise – a secret hospital ward for supernaturals – that is just rife with possibilities. And the fact that Cassie Alexander is a registered nurse gave me hope that the setting would be exploited to the fullest. To a certain extent, it was, and I greatly enjoyed the scenes at the hospital. Edie works with an interesting team on the night shift and many significant events take place in Y4 and the rest of the hospital. There's a really great scene with a dragon shifter and we see some truly interesting patients in Y4. These were probably my favourite scenes in the book because it offers us a perspective we don't often see in urban fantasy or paranormal romance.
The bulk of the story, however, involves Edie's promise to the dying man mentioned in the cover copy. Edie quickly finds Anna but the events surrounding her success lead Edie further down the garden path and she's quickly sucked into vampire politics. (That pun was very unintentional, I promise you.) Cassie Alexander has created an interesting world and I enjoyed learning about the different supernatural races and hierarchies. She’s populated her book with a wide variety of supernaturals and it made the novel a lot of fun. I thought the Shadows and Anna were the most interesting and I hope to learn more about them in future stories. And I absolutely need to know what’s going on with the German-speaking CD player. (You’ll feel the same way after you finish reading, believe me.)
I also really liked the fact that Edie is just a regular person. She doesn’t have powers but she’s doing the best she can. Most of her decisions – even the ones that end badly – are made with other people’s welfare in mind and it’s nice to see a selfless heroine. (As an example, she took her job in Y4 because the powers that be promised to stop her brother’s drug addiction.) As a human surrounded by supernaturals, it would be easy for her to feel overwhelmed, which does happen, but she does her best to get through life and build relationships.
On the downside, there were a couple moments where the book fell flat for me. It's hard for me to pinpoint why but NIGHTSHIFTED didn't suck me in the way some of my favourite books do. I was reading it while travelling and I could put it down and go about my business without regret, which isn't the case with some of my faves. On the other hand, though, I was happy to get back into the story when I had time and I was curious to see what would happen to Edie and Anna. I also wasn’t sold on a zombie for a love interest at first. Maybe I’ve been watching too much Resident Evil? Don’t get me wrong, Ti (the zombie) is a well developed character with all the makings of a great love interest but I guess I’m more inhibited than Edie because I don’t think I could kiss a guy who can put himself back together with replacement parts. Intellectually, I know it’s probably no grosser than kissing a vampire, who’s also undead, but it took a while for me to come around to the idea. But I think it’s a very original idea and I love writers who do the unexpected.
Before I close, I’d like to take a moment to admire the cover. It really captures the spirit of the novel (complete with the dragonshifter I mentioned!) and so I wanted to heap some praise on the artist, whose name I can’t find. Kudos, anonymous artist. (Does anyone know who did the cover art? I’d really like to know.)
All in all, NIGHTSHIFTED has a lot of promise. It's not a perfect novel but the trilogy's world and characters have so much potential that I look forward to seeing what Edie gets up to next in MOONSHIFTED, which comes out in November.
I'd really like to read this, I've read a novella with a similar premise (Intern with A Vampire) that I really enjoyed and I'd love to compare.
ReplyDeleteShelleyrae @ Book'd Out
I've only read the first in the series and though I enjoyed it well enough, I haven't felt compelled to buy the next one yet.
ReplyDeleteI really really love this series!
ReplyDeleteI'm really enjoying this series, it's just so... different. Ti crapped me out in this book but overall I like how down to earth Edie is and the hospital setting is a fun change of pace from the typical UF. I hope you're continue with this series! :)
ReplyDeleteI had a negative reaction to this book. I thought Edie made poor choices by enabling her brother and I didn't really get into the other characters. I'm going to try book 2, but only because I can get it from the library for free.
ReplyDeleteI haven't really seen much of this series around but it definitely sounds like a good one! I love the cover of it as well.
ReplyDeleteI really like the sounds of the setting for this one. I want to get to this series one day. :) Thank you Jenn!
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