Review: Black Arts by Faith Hunter

October 7, 2014 3.5 stars, Book Review 25 ★★★½

Review: Black Arts by Faith HunterBlack Arts by Faith Hunter
Series: Jane Yellowrock #7
Published by Roc on January 7, 2014
Genres: Adult SFF, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 325
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
My Reviews in this series: Death's Rival & Blood Trade, Broken Soul, Dark Heir

*This book was provided by the Publisher for review. No compensation was provided and all opinions are strictly my own.

Jane Yellowrock is a shape-shifting skinwalker who always takes care of her own—no matter the cost...

When Evan Trueblood blows into town looking for his wife, Molly, he’s convinced that she came to see her best friend, Jane. But it seems like the witch made it to New Orleans and then disappeared without a trace.

Jane is ready to do whatever it takes to find her friend. Her desperate search leads her deep into a web of black magic and betrayal and into the dark history between vampires and witches. But the closer she draws to Molly, the closer she draws to a new enemy—one who is stranger and more powerful than any she has ever faced.

three-half-stars

Who, What, Where? – There is a whole lot of that going on in Black Arts.

It was Colonel Custard in the limo with the vampy whammy and some voodoo witchery. Pretty much Jane doesn’t have much of a clue with who nabbed who, who killed who, the whats and wheres and hows of everything for much of this book. There was so much going on for her that it was hard for her to get and keep it all straight. But in true Jane form it all starts to come together toward the end and there are some ah-ha moments for her which hopefully most of us figured out a bit ahead of her. Though admittedly there was an oddball curve ball or two in there that I didn’t see coming at all.

Even though Molly her “not quite besty anymore” features heavily in this book she gets pretty much no air time, which of course made me sad because I really like Molly. However we see plenty of her husband and two darling kids. Things are also developing nicely with Jane’s new adoptive brothers that she’s taken into her household and business. Things are pretty natural now between this trio and they add a nice dynamic to her life.

While there was action in this one it wasn’t as much action peppered throughout as say the past few books. I have to admit that I’m pretty tired of hearing about Ricky-bo and all the issues that come along with his bag of drama. Move on girl, just move on I say. There was an open unfinished thread left in Black Arts that I’m sure we’ll see picked up in hopefully the next book because I hate having unanswered questions for too long.  I’ll have to dive into it asap and see – because there are some big head honchos coming to town from Europe and I can only imagine its going to be quite the wild ride for us and Jane!

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Tabitha (Pabkins)

When I'm in the zone I can flip book pages faster than the eye can see - screaming "More Input!" I'm a book, yarn, & art supply hoarding goblin who loves to draw, make toys and craft all sorts of creepy cute things. My current habit is to listen to audio books while I'm arting it up!
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25 Responses to “Review: Black Arts by Faith Hunter”

  1. fishgirl182

    I read book 1 in this series and thought it was interesting but wasn’t compelled to read more. I listened in audio, too, which might have been a problem since the sections from the animal POV were kind of hard to listen to. I may give it another chance at some point though since so many people love this series and it did have potential.
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    • Tabitha (Pabkins)

      Yeah I think the audio wouldn’t have worked for me either. I’ve enjoyed the series thus far – though right about now I’m needing something a bit more from the series. Wondering where its going. Thats the thing with urban fantasy its so hard to keep things fresh and new as you get more and more books in the series.

      I’m still enjoying it.
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  6. Carmel @ Rabid Reads

    I liked book 1, but the next two were only so-so reads, and I’ve been debating whether I should continue this series ever since. Your 3.5 star review doesn’t exactly instill hope that it gets better. Ricky-bo was already getting on my nerves after three installments, so I’m not happy that he’s still wrecking drama on the story arc.
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  7. Alise

    I’ve heard of the author but haven’t picked up any books in this series, I haven’t read much Urban Fantasy at all. It seems to be a popular genre though so I really want to give it a go sometime. Glad you enjoyed this installment for the most part, it’s good that it keeps leaving you with questions that make you want to read the next book, I remember reading more than a few series that were 5+ books that I eventually just dropped.
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  9. Mary @ BookSwarm

    I so dislike Ricky-bo (a freakin’ stupid name, too.) but I’m hoping that’s now in the past (just finished Broken Soul…so, we can hope). And I would have liked more Molly in this one because the broken friendship makes me sad. Poor Jane. So clueless but still willing to kick ass.
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    • Tabitha (Pabkins)

      I dislike him too! I’ve never really liked him. For one he’s too confident in his own good looks and uses it to manipulate or whatever – you know what I mean. He’s way oversexed and come on bad boy, he’s not appealing to me in any kind of bad boy way. Plus he’s a cop, don’t date cops. He’s just a selfish jerk – nothing about his personality has really ever recommended him. hahah

      Now you make me want to hurry up and read Broken Soul this week! Which I should have already done anyhow.
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  11. Danya @ Fine Print

    Gah I have GOT to continue on with this series!! I just suck at marathoning books so I needed a little break from Ms. Yellowrock before carrying on – all the buzz I’ve been hearing about book 7 and 8 has made me want to pick up the second book really badly now. Don’t talk to me about Ricky…one book was enough for me to dislike that sleaze ball.
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