Due to my indifference of Lili St. Crow’s Strange Angels, I must admit that Betrayals, the second novel in the Strange Angels series, packed a pleasantly surprising punch.

Following the violent and supernatural death of her father, Dru Anderson and her new, recently-turned-werewolf best friend, Graves, have been sent by the mysterious Christophe to a hidden Schola for dhamphir and wulfen teens. There, Dru learns more and more unpleasant truths about the blood that flows through her veins, and as the only girl in a school full of boys, she finds herself relying on Graves more than she likes. However, the real trouble is that after suffering a few attacks, it’s becoming more and more obvious to Dru, Graves, and even Christophe that someone inside the Schola is trying to kill Dru.

With the isolated setting of the schola and a school full of boys, St. Crow creates the perfect setting to showcase Dru’s rebellious, tough-girl attitude. Here, Dru gets into fights with werewolves, challenges the men in charge, and even manages to squeeze in a bit of romance in between paranoid investigations of her own classmates. St. Crow brilliantly balances out Dru’s character by allowing her to play the tough girl while being rescued at the same time. Likewise, St. Crow further develops Graves’ character by giving him the patience and understanding it takes to deal with a seemingly un-tamable Dru and combining it with the firm upper hand and concern he needs to reign in her headstrong behavior. …» more

I stumbled upon Strange Angels while doing a google search, and after I watched the intense trailer, I fell victim to great marketing and purchased the Lili St. Crow novel upon my next visit to Books-A-Million. Unfortunately, for me, the book was somewhat disappointing–like taking a bath in luke-warm water when you expected the temperature to be steamy hot.  Don’t get me wrong. Strange Angels is a good read, but it doesn’t rank among my top picks, and I’m not on the edge of my seat in wait for the sequel.

Why did this novel fall flat for me?  Simple. I wasn’t hooked from the very beginning. In fact, while I found Dru Anderson’s tough girl attitude endearing, and her zombie slaying, night hunting lifestyle intriguing, I didn’t actually get hooked into the story until chapter six. And that’s after she killed her reanimated zombie father.  I don’t know why I still didn’t care all that much when her father returns home after a hunt, tapping sinisterly on the window pane before breaking in and trying to kill his only daughter.  It was disgusting, disturbing, and vivid–all the qualities I value in action sequences. It just doesn’t make sense that I would have to push myself to read beyond that, but I did, so I think it has to do with Dru’s character. …» more