Review - Black Heart by Christina Henry

Black Heart by Christina Henry
Series: Black Wings #6
Publisher: Ace
Publication Date: 29 October 2013

Genre: Mystery - Paranormal - Urban Fantasy
My Copy: bought

As a former Agent of Death, Madeline Black is no stranger to witnessing violent ends. But being the one to cause them is an entirely different story…

Despite her having saved Chicago from a vampire invasion, the Agency wants to get Maddy off their payroll—permanently. With the deadly Retrievers hot on her trail, she has no choice but to trust Nathaniel to port her to safety. But even the exotic and dangerous world that she winds up in is not as peaceful as she would have hoped. Caught in a turf war between a group of fae and a disturbingly familiar foe, Maddy soon discovers that the twisted plots of her grandfather, Lucifer, and his brothers extend even into this unknown realm.

Now, with enemies gathering on all sides, Maddy’s fate is looking darker than ever. And to protect her unborn son from her adversaries, she may have to tap into a power she hoped never to access…

Review:

*SPOILER WARNING: This is the 6th book in a series, so there may be spoilers from previous books.*

In the 6th book of the Black Wing series, we find Maddy on a new realm (or planet?). It's immediately apparent that she's learned quite a bit over last 5 books. She's more careful in her planning, although she admittedly still has a long way to go. She meets a new group of fae and a familiar group of creatures, but there's much more to both than there seems.

I LOVE this series, but unfortunately it's getting a little repetitive. I was looking forward to maybe more development in the love department for Maddy. Nothing really happened though. Most of the book is only Maddy. She gets sent to another realm, while all of her sidekicks stay back on Earth. I love Beezle, J.B., and Nathaniel, so it's disappointing to not have them in the story until close to the end. Samiel wasn't in the book at all. The author did introduce another one of Lucifer's brothers named Daharan. I really look forward to seeing how his role will play out in the series. I'm rather fond of him.

I was left with several questions, but mostly what is up with the pregnancy? I don't think the author is ready to pull that trigger on adding a baby to Maddy's life despite the fact that she threw the pregnancy into the story line. I'm also curious Henry is getting tired of writing books in the series. This one was shorter than the rest, and nothing much progressed. It seemed like a lot could have been left out, and then added the rest onto the end of the last book. I think that would have made more sense.

All in all, I was disappointed in this book, but I still have hope that the series can be redeemed. There are still many loose threads to tie up involving Lucifer's brothers, the baby, Maddy's romantic interests, and her learning control and more about her powers. Plus there's a new character added towards the end with unknown goals. I'm still interested in where this series might be going.

Rating Breakdown:
Plot: 3 hearts
Pacing: 2 hearts
Characters: 4 hearts
Ending: 3 hearts
Recommend: Maybe - It's worth reading if you've been keeping up with the series so far.

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