Photo credits: Tina Degn Christiansen
Edited by Vaishali
Title: 'City in Embers'
Author: Stacey Marie Brown Series: (Collector #1) Genre/Themes: Urban Fantasy, New Adult, Romance, Apocalpyse, Dystopian, Fae, Paranormal Publisher: Twisted Fairy Publishing Year of Publication: 2015 Version: Paperback ISBN: 9780989013161 Review
‘Keeping my multiple lives straight and the lies accurate to the right people was a constant dance.’
‘Horrific dreams layered the surface of my sleep, keeping me from truly falling under.’
‘City in Embers’ is written by Stacey Marie Brown, who also authored the ‘Darkness’ series. I didn’t have the best start with the ‘Darkness’ series but it was one that inevitably grew on my skin, soon calling to me like the night does the moon, and as an author who wrote my darlings Eli and Ember, I knew Stacey wouldn’t disappoint in giving me promising characters that have much to offer to this world and story (set in the same universe as the ‘Darkness’ series). In ‘City in Embers’ we meet a fae Wanderer – Ryker – and a seer – Zoey Daniels – who become embroiled in each other’s lives on a day that calls for ruin and a day that pitches the poise from under them… because the city truly does fall to embers.
‘Blood and tears soaked the streets.’
‘My home was burning into embers and ash.’
22-year-old Zoey Daniels grew up through the adversity of the foster care system. She knows about poverty first-hand. She knows what life on the streets is like as a solitary fighter. She knows what survival is when she has only ever had herself to depend on. She’s been hurt, damaged and rejected many times through. She’s been the worst and seen the worse… but that all changed when she was given a reason to live an honest life and find some meaning in her gutter-worthy world; a purpose that took her from the shameless dark to embers of light.
“The things I went through would not heal immediately, but by letting them go for the first time, I felt there was a chance.”
Those purposes are two people who come to mean dreams and promises, a life worth something, and a future lit with verve: Lexie – her foster sister - and Daniel – Zoey’s mentor and partner, and somebody she has loved for nearly three years. Fending for herself, protecting Lexie from neglect and harm, and imagining a life with Daniel are all that matter to her. Hope is strong, but it’s brittle nature can be shattered with just as much force…
‘There were no words to explain the sound or the violence as the world shook and Seattle’s icon made contact with the ground.’
Zoey works for the DMG (the Department of Molecular Genetics) as a collector; collecting the fae for research. Ex-military, Daniel Holt has been Zoey’s best friend and trainer for the best part of three years at DMG…but Zoey has been in love with him for nearly the same amount of time. Alongside Lexie, Daniel became an exhorting reason for Zoey to step away from a crook’s sewer channels and imagine a life of balance and stability.
‘When you grew up on the streets, it was hard to see beyond what you knew. But he made me look at life differently. Want more. I could escape the harsh world and free myself from poverty and the dark events from my past’
Zoey has promised herself that she will do everything she can to show Lexie a better life. As Lexie’s protector, mother-figure, sister, confidant, Zoey loves her and with Daniel standing tall beside her she knows she can do anything. Zoey has dedicated her life to making sure that Lexie lives a life through the system unlike her own, because she doesn’t want her sister to live through the suffering and stressful ordeals she had.
‘Humans were as dangerous as fae, a different danger, but probably even more terrifying.’
Zoey is heartily intrepid because she’s had no choice but to be. She has hardened and formed into a survivor because of a past that was callously horrid to her. She had to save herself with nobody to trust or rely on – and the streets are a lonely place, a dog eat dog world - which is why Lexie’s wellbeing is everything to her. She doesn’t want Lexie to follow in her dirty footsteps or suffer the same consequences that Zoey learned the hard way.
‘I learned people didn’t really want me to be myself, and I learned to adapt and play whatever role I needed to survive. Still, there were times when the violent nature, the dark side of me, would boil to the surface.’
On an energy-suffused, lightning-filled night that speaks of ominous acuity, Zoey loses everything that gave her life significance, and it isn’t only her life that lies in ruin, because the city does too. On a day where loss is unfathomable, her life takes the unfortunate turn of binding her to the creatures who most likely split her world apart and most definitely broke her heart. She is now captive to a violent fae, Ryker, who loathes humans just as much as Zoey despises his kind, and wants back what she took from him.
‘He was harsh and terrifying – a modern Viking.’
If Zoey’s shady past needs a timely reason to surface, it’s in the midst of a destructive apocalypse…because Seattle is burning. With a moment’s worth of regret, and an instant that preys on ‘what ifs’, Zoey’s crummy life morphs into a desolate one. With nobody in her pockets left to trust, Zoey is yet again on her own, challenging an intense and burly fae whose rage matches her own. Zoey and Ryker – much to their deep dissatisfaction – are stuck with each other, outrunning and fighting the many people who are now after them.
‘There was something volatile and charged within him, like if he let himself off the leash, he would obliterate everything around him.’
Survival is Zoey’s first nature, if anyone can grab it by its unruly horns and run with its taxing energy it’s her, but with dreadful anguish impeding her and loss playing havoc on her life, Zoey is lonelier than ever. A life’s wish is fine to hold on to when your life is anything but perfect, but a wish is worth nothing when all hope of said wish has no kindling left to keep burning. And Zoey’s candles are all out like a light.
‘The darkness hung around, suffocating, brewing an edgy and frightening chill into my bones. I hated the dark. Too many evils hid in the corners.’
Zoey now runs with outsiders like herself (in many ways): Ryker, though punishing and unfriendly, becomes her only protector, and Sprig the narcoleptic monkey sprite who lives to be an adorable nuisance. Seattle is a disaster zone and not a soul knows where to start to begin picking up the pieces, but Ryker and Zoey have much bigger problems, because Ryker carries an object that many would kill for, and Zoey has something Ryker would kill her for.
“Stop pouting, human,” He swivelled and started for the building. “Or I’ll-“
“Most likely kill me in the morning?” I derided, cutting him off with one of my favourite movie quotes. He looked over his shoulder, his lids narrowed. “I wish.” He really was a killjoy.’
From hate, to uncomfortable acceptance, and forbearance to companionship, Ryker and Zoey build an uneasy bond as they travel together, understanding each other, while the non-stop clashing and fighting lives to be their thirsty life source. Zoey is persistently strong willed, and I like everything about her character. Stacey Marie Brown has drawn out both Zoey’s and Ryker’s characters well, Zoey is full of depth and although Ryker is as surreptitious as the next fae, he certainly comes across as a complex character with a lot to give in this story!
‘In desperation, right and wrong were not so definite.’
Zoey has similar traits to Ember Brycin, but where Ember had the tendency to make rash and impulsive decisions, Zoey is headstrong and rational and maintains a clear head in the type of situations that Ember didn’t. I liked Ember through the ‘Darkness’ series, but I think I like Zoey a teensy bit more. Ryker riled my anger much like Eli Dragen did to begin with, but he was more tolerable and quicker to ease my prickling skin when times got tough. If you have read the ‘Darkness’ series you will have more insight into the situation, and why exactly this ‘natural’ disaster takes place, but you don’t necessarily have to read the ‘Darkness’ series to understand this story. It’s fun however to feel privy to certain secrets! ;)
‘Fighting always made me feel alive, especially dirty fighting.’
‘Not only did I not like playing by the rules, but I enjoyed the fire breaking them put in my belly.’
With a past full of lingering memories and feral sins, a future splintered with broken dreams and empty unpredictability, and a present lashed with burning fires, lost hearts and latent desires, Zoey is a compact, adaptable lead, still scarred from her years in care, still carrying said burdens with her but arbitrarily finds succour in her hard-hearted companion and honey-obsessed little friend.
“You are cut off.” Ryker pointed at me, making my relentless bounce deflate a bit.
“No! Why?” Caffeine. He couldn’t take my caffeine away. “How many did you eat?” “Twenty…or maybe it was closer to thirty.” Ryker laid his head back on the seat. “Maybe he should have some?” Sprig fake whispered to me, and I nodded.’
‘City in Embers’ is about Zoey, a victim in her past who found ways to outrun her problems in any capacity. She’s a woman who’s known abuse at the hands of men, she’s known exploitation and tyranny, strung along by those who came in and walked out of her life. The truth is that Zoey is resilient and can cope with most anything, but she is lost - quick to hide her vulnerability - and has hopes that seem nothing more than fruitless, charred, just like the streets around her.
‘But I was far from a victim.’
‘City in Embers’ is also about Ryker who has his own story to tell, and his own walkway to run, but maybe this ‘human’ will make him see beyond his own fears, because both certainly have what it takes to learn from the other and outlive their angst… which is already happening. Denial will only push you together harder my friends!
“Maybe we are feeble compared to fae, but I would rather live a short time and let myself love someone than live thousands of years and be alone.”
There was something about this story however that didn’t sit right with me, perhaps it was the pacing or storytelling but something was missing for me. This story has immense potential, but I don’t think it reached the kind of stratums it could have. There isn’t much information or involvement from government forces in this dystopian world as it’s more focussed on the individuals living in the carnage and gangs competing rather than the higher influences organising the order. But an educing read this was nonetheless…
‘City in Embers’ as I’m sure you can imagine (hence the title) is about a city in embers. Stacey Marie Brown has crafted an action-centred story with descriptions that pronounce a dystopian atmosphere while making this a fun adventure of fights and rescues, secrets and grief, tension and angst. I can’t wait to ram my face into the next instalment…hopefully without hurting myself. From hidden secrets that will change Zoey’s life, to unproductive endeavours that Infuriate Ryker’s, ‘City in Embers’ is a marvellous start to the ‘Collector’ series, an urban fantasy with an ambiance that tastes just like that of compelling fantasy….and it’s all about the fae! Need I say more?
“And why is it important?” He looked at me, his voice low but steady. “Because we are at war. The day will come when the human race will have to fight. And I want you ready for it.”
‘I was no longer the collector. I was the collected…’ I gave this book 3.8 stars -
Trigger Warning: Zoey is a rape survivor and the story mentions her abuse, though not in any detail. Attempted rapes, harassment and swearing.
Note: There are writing inconsistencies and some errors in grammar which I also noticed in the ‘Darkness’ series.
My Rating System:
★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read
THIS PART WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!
Thoughts/Favourite Parts:
Quotes:
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‘..I had never experienced anything close to him. It almost hurt to look. Not in the way it hurt to peer at the sun, but that he almost couldn’t be held within my vision.’ “You’re tenacious, aren’t you?” I smirked. “Tenacious…I like it. I usually get bitch.” “You’re that too.” “And you’re a fucking ray of sunshine.” His lips quirked with amusement. ‘The Avenging Angel would come out with her talons sharp and ready to attack.’
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Related posts:
● 'The Barrier Between' by Stacey Marie Brown
● 'From Burning Ashes' by Stacey Marie Brown ______________________________________________ CategoriesAll Leave a comment and lets talk about 'City in Embers'
2 Comments
Shay
22/5/2019 17:20:23
Is that your rating because of the grammar or was there something else?
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Vaishali@ Vicarious Living
23/5/2019 11:24:23
Hi Shay :)
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