Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep
(Book #1 of the Elemental Assassin series)
Rating: 🍁🍁🍁
Finally! An 'instant attraction' story I can get behind! In most UF, the 'instant connection' plot goes something like this: Girl meets Boy, loins burn, major issue stands between them, sex is had, issue miraculously disappears, happily ever after for everyone. Nevermind the logical emotional/physical/magical repercussions. Love/lust conquers all!
In Spider's Bite, it goes more like this: Girl has major emotional issues, Girl assassinates Boy's partner, Girl's loins burn, Boy loathes Girl, Girl saves Boy from another assassin for non-loin related reason, Boy's loins burn, Girl and Boy form uneasy alliance to deal with larger problem, Girl and Boy have sex, Boy regrets sex due to continued loathing of Girl, problem is dealt with, Girl and Boy go separate ways after making some progress toward resolution of loathing/emotional issues. That is how it's done, folks! Real people, dealing with real emotions, in a realistic way. Imagine.
Otherwise, this is a solidly enjoyable read. Not remarkable, but good. I like the world Ms. Estep has created - it's dark, and I definitely wouldn't want to live there, but the characters are complex, the magic system interesting, and the predominantly amoral perspective of the main character, Gin, is surprisingly refreshing. What was lacking was the plot, which was predictable in the extreme. Fortunately, the plot served mainly as a vehicle for the character development that was taking place, so the predictability didn't ruin the entire book.
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