Review: Black Lament by Christina Henry

Black Lament (Black Wings #4) by Christina Henry

Paperback, 288 pages

Published Oct. 30th, 2012 by Ace

Source: Purchased

As an Agent of Death, Madeline Black deals with loss every day. But when tragedy touches her own life, Maddy will have to find the strength within to carry on…

Devastated and grieving, Maddy unexpectedly finds hope with the discovery that she is pregnant. But Maddy’s joy is short lived when Lucifer informs her that he wants the baby, hoping to draw on the combined power of two of his bloodlines. Maddy is determined that her grandfather will never have her child, but she’s not sure what she can do to stop him.

Being pregnant is stressful enough, but Maddy suddenly finds herself at odds with the Agency—forbidden from meddling in the affairs of the supernatural courts. When a few of her soul collections go awry, Maddy begins to suspect that the Agency wants to terminate her employment. They should know by now that she isn’t the sort to give up without a fight…

Spoiler free for the series...
I love this series.  I absolutely adore Maddie and her kick ass attitude.  I have heard some say that they didn't feel like Maddie has grown any, but I disagree.  Maddie was kind of naive in the beginning of the series and didn't really know much about herself and her abilities.  Her eyes started to open up as things started getting thrown at her from every direction.  As the series has gone on she's maybe become more ruthless but I feel it's because any time she's given someone a break it's come back to haunt her.  Yet she does get to the point where I feel like she's not always thinking things through in decisions but I believe she feels she has no other choice.  Especially after something that happened at the end of the last book.  It's hard to put down my thoughts more specifically because I don't want to spoil anything.  But it's a mix of she has nothing to lose and she has everything to lose.  Yes, I know that doesn't really make sense.  

To me this series reminds me a little bit of the Rachel Morgan series by Kim Harrison.  It's no copycat series, that's for sure, but Maddie has a bit of Rachel's attitude.  And Maddie has Beezle, the gargoyle who reminds me of Jinks, the pixie from Rachel Morgan.  Both creatures with very big personalities.  They both bring a lot of laughter to what is a very grim situation (over and over again...).

The romance is something I have a hard time talking about.  Things have made a big change in this one and so I can't say anything much without spoiling the previous books.  I can say that I didn't think I would be very happy with things.  I thought I might not even like the series anymore because of something, but I was shocked when I picked this up and how I started feeling about things.  How my heart has warmed up to characters I thought I would never love.  There's still some work to do and this was not actual romance, but I can see where it might be in the future.

Every book in this series is constant action and this book was no exception.  It's constantly one crisis after another and if I was Maddie I would have probably just curled up in a ball and screamed at everyone to leave me alone.  Heck, I might have stepped into a ball of fire just to end the crazy.  But Maddie steps up over and over again and fights each thing.  She doesn't let anyone tell her that it's stupid or tell her she 'can't', she just does it anyway.  Now some say that she's a bit cocky.  She seems to think she really can fight each and everything out there.  I don't feel that way.  I think she just really has no choice.  In order to get her life back she has to show people that she's not to be messed with.  And all she wants is to be left alone.

Another thing I have to mention is her support system.  She has some friends that really stand by her through everything.  And these friends' banter always lightens things up a lot.  And one thing I love in a dark gritty urban fantasy is some banter that makes things more bearable.  One thing that had me grinning is one time Maddie comes home and finds three grown men (angel/demon/werewolf) chasing down a demon mouse thing in the basement.  These are kick ass guys and they're in this hilarious position and Beezle, the always snarky gargoyle, is fluttering around shouting commentary.  It was definitely hilarious and it was those moments that made me love this book so much more than I may have!

I really love this series (did you not catch that earlier?) and I definitely recommend you pick it up and give it a shot.  I have learned that it's not a series for everyone, but what series is?  I know I LOVE it and so all I can say is that you should too! 

This is one I've gone back and forth between 4 and 5 stars.  Maybe 4.5 would be more accurate but I'm going with 4 instead of 5.

Double Review: Black Night & Black Howl by Christina Henry

Because I don't want to spoil you for the previous book in the series I'm not including the description and the review won't contain spoilers for the previous book.

Black Night (Madeline Black #2) by Christina Henry
Adult Urban Fantasy
Mass Market Paperback, 277 pgs.
Published July 2011 by Ace
Source: Purchased

I really enjoyed the first book in the series.  It started off with a bang and had continuous action through the entire thing.  It was an incredibly fast read that I cruised through in a matter of a few hours.  This one was the same.  Maddy does not get a break!  She's constantly having one battle after another and risking her neck every other hour.  I read this book in less then a day, it's quite short and very fast.

Maddy has to make lots of decisions at the drop of a hat that could be life or death.  It can be frustrating because if someone is trying to kill Maddy then she should kill them right?  Especially if they just keep coming after her again and again.  The thing is if she kills them then she has to 'pay' for that 'persons' (demon, whatever he/she may be) death.  That could be in many different ways.  She could be killed in retribution, she could have to complete a favor which could turn out to kill her because it's basically impossible, it's just hard to know.  But I have to give this girl props cause she does what she has to do and doesn't take crap from anyone.  It was like she's gone through so much, she has just survived so much crap that she just say "F- you, you can't do any worse then what's already been done".  Yeah, maybe she's a bit compulsive which isn't always smart and is sometimes frustrating, but I love this girl!  She actually reminds me a bit of Rachel Morgan (by Kim Harrison, love that series!) in her personality. 

This is an adult series and actually is quite gruesome.  There's lots of body parts laying about, death by beheading, etc.  Yeah, I don't love that stuff but I love the rest of this book so much that I can kind of ignore all that stuff.  There's not much romance in this one.  We know of feelings going on, but nothing really happens romance wise in this book.

Overall this is a fantastic series so far and I highly recommend you pick it up!
4.5/5 stars

Black Howl (Madeline Black #3) by Christina Henry
Mass Market Paperback, 288 pgs.
Published Feb. 28th, 2012 by Ace
Received for review from the publisher

Someone told me before I started this one that 'it's a doozy!' and oh my goodness were they right!  This was definitely the most emotional of the books so far and had some major surprises pop up and took me unawares.  I loved the books before but this one just stepped it up another notch, I absolutely loved it!

Madeline is just as kick ass as before and isn't really afraid of anything.  Or I suppose I should say that her fear doesn't hold her back because no matter what she'll always do the right thing and save the people that need saving.  She's not afraid to kill when she absolutely needs to (but never humans) and stands up for those she cares about even at detriment to herself.

Beezle, her gargoyle, is the funny one, throwing in some much needed humor when situations are tough and/or downright scary.  I truly appreciate the lighthearted banter thrown in that livens these books up so they never feel depressing or even truly dark. 

The romance steps up a notch in this one but along with that romance comes some truly sad events that I can't even hint at without spoiling the books.  As a matter of fact I keep typing something in to give you an idea of my thoughts but nothing seems to fit.  So well, I can say that while I may not be 'happy' about what happens, I kind of understand at the same time.  I'm definitely VERY anxious to see where things go now and waiting a whole year is certainly torture!

I very highly recommend this series to fans of urban fantasy.  I love that we get some very stressful moments but there's enough lighthearted banter involved that throws a good giggle or two into the mix while your gripping the edge of your seat in suspense.  The characters are dynamic, the twists are fabulous and the concept of the entire thing is brilliant.  
I give this book 5/5 stars! 

Disclosure: I received this book for review purposes.  All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

Review of Black Wings by Christina Henry

Black Wings (Madeline Black #1) by Christina Henry
Adult Urban Fantasy
Mass Market Paperback
Published February 24, 2010 by ACE
Source: Purchased

As an Agent of Death, Madeline Black is responsible for escorting the souls of the dearly departed to the afterlife. It's a 24/7 job with a lousy benefits package.

Maddy's position may come with magical powers and an impressive wingspan, but it doesn't pay the bills. And then there are her infuriating boss, tenant woes, and a cranky, popcorn-loving gargoyle to contend with.

Things start looking up, though, when tall, dark, and handsome Gabriel Angeloscuro agrees to rent the empty apartment in Maddy's building. It's probably just a coincidence that as soon as he moves in demons appear on the front lawn. But when an unholy monster is unleashed upon the streets of Chicago, Maddy discovers powers she never knew she possessed. Powers linked to a family legacy of tarnished halos.

Powers that place her directly between the light of Heaven and the fires of Hell...

I've had this book for ages and only just found some time to fit it in.  I do love urban fantasy and have been reading much more of it in the past month or so.  And this is another series to add to my must-read list.  It was full of action, which made for a fast read and Madeline was a character that I can truly stand behind.  She has some snark and isn't afraid to stand her ground, but yet she's not quite idiotic in her decisions, she knows where to draw the line even though it's extremely difficult for her to shut her trap.  I always find myself annoyed when the heroine just pushes things too far and Madeline didn't do that.

I really liked the world created.  Maddy is an agent of death but other then that she lives a normal life pretty much.  As an agent of death she has a job (this includes paperwork and all that) where she's assigned people to escort to the door (Heaven or whatever) or to let them be released if they so choose to not leave and want to stick to earth as a ghost.  But this job of Maddy's, well, we don't get to see it too much because straight away things start happening.   She discovers she has more in her blood then just being an agent and 'someone' (or someone's) is trying to kill her.  Then Gabriel shows up to rent her apartment downstairs and well, there's more to him then meets the eye.  

This book is full of demons, nephilim, angels, and so much more.  We know that there are vampires and faeries and other creatures, but we aren't introduced to them in this book.  Oh, and Maddy has a gargoyle who is her guardian or whatever and he's a pretty funny little guy who loves popcorn.   


The romance is light as there's mostly just developing feelings going on.  They really know they care about eachother, and may even believe they are in love, but they can't do anything about it.  I think a forbidden romance makes a story so much sweeter but it can also be frustrating.  It's hard to say which way this one will go but so far I definitely feel the heat between them and am rooting for them that it all works out.  


Overall this is a great start to a series and didn't seem to have info dumps or too complicated of plot for a first book.  There were a few things that sometimes confused me because suddenly there were all these demon things I got them confused at first, but it didn't take long for them all to be sorted in my head.  There's quite a lot of gore in this book so be prepared for that...  I definitely recommend this book to urban fantasy readers though!


4/5 stars