Adult Book Review: Unborn by Amber Lynn Natusch
Title: Unborn
Series: Unborn #1
Author: Amber Lynn Natusch
Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Age Group: ADULT
Genre Type: Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: August 26th 2014
Source: NetGalley/Publisher
Publisher: 47North
SUMMARY:
Born into mystery. Shackled to darkness…
Khara has spent centuries discovering everything about the Underworld―except her place in it. But when she’s ripped from her home, solving the riddle of her origins becomes more important than ever. With evil stalking her through the dark alleys of Detroit, she finds salvation from an unlikely source: a group of immortal warriors sworn to protect the city. Khara needs their help to unravel the tangled secrets of who and what she is—secrets many seem willing to kill for. But time is running out, and the closer she gets to the truth, the closer necessity binds her to an arrogant fallen angel.
Can their shaky alliance withstand that which threatens her, or will her soul fall victim to the unholy forces that hunt her―those that seek the Unborn?
From the author of the bestselling Caged series comes a pulse-pounding new series of supernatural romance.
Unborn by Amber Lynn Natusch is the first book in her new Urban Fantasy series that mixes Greek Mythology and Angel lore with a gritty and dark urban setting of a supernaturally infested Detroit. The story mixes characters from Greek Mythology, namely Hades, Demeter and Ares with lore of fallen angels that was interesting and a unique combination that I haven't really seen before.
The story begins in the realm of Hades, the fiery pits of the Underworld where Khara has suffered centuries as a pawn to the goddess Demeter, who coldly and with hateful calculation, uses her as a pawn and is traded every six months out of the year for her daughter Persephone. Suffering the cold indifference of Demeter and confronted with horrors one would expect in Hell, Khara has no sense of emotion, and is basically an empty and cold shell. Left with little affection she learns to shut all out, even the evil that lurks around her. No matter what is done to her.
The reader then is whisked away from Hell along with Khara as she is forcibly taken from the Underworld by a Dark One and brought topside to the streets of Detroit where she is literally flung into the night and tossed to the streets. Why she is taken we do not know.
She is barely conscious when she is discovered and nearly killed by a warrior who mistakes her for an Empty, someone whose soul has been siphoned off by supernatural creatures known as "Stealers." This warrior recognizes her as a sibling, a sister who also shares the same father, the god of war, Ares. Khara is soon thrust into a slightly dysfunctional family made up of brother warriors who all share the common thread of Ares being their father. Adopted in the band of brothers, Khara learns they are in charge of policing the supernatural and keep humans from discovering the fact that otherworldly beings exist.
With Unborn, several interesting story threads are lightly interwoven creating a unique and interesting story where Greek Mythology, Angel lore and supernatural creatures are all present, although they are not heavily explored nor explained in great detail yet in this first book. The stories real focus really remains on Khara herself and the slow transformation that Khara goes through as almost devoid of emotion and the ability to connect with others.
Her brothers are determined to keep their new sister from any and all harm, including Ares himself, a warden from Hell, and possibly even a fallen angel. To Khara's dismay, her brothers often display large and copious amounts of affection and verbal banter upon her. It was this transformation from her non existent humor and almost robotic responses to one of warmth and feelings that I enjoyed the most. Her growing response (affection) and fondness to her warrior brothers, who are like a bunch of wild puppies with supernatural powers often falling into fights and sparring (they are the sons of the god of war after all) was sweet and interesting to read. There is also a thread of romance in the story as well where tension builds to heated attraction.
Overall I enjoyed Unborn and was entertained by it. The warrior brothers added a touch of comic relief and sweetness to the story rounding out Khara's somewhat dry personality. Greek Mythology, Angel lore and gritty setting were fascinating and I'm looking forward to the next installment hopefully giving more details where Unborn just touched upon. A nice start to a unique new series!
My Rating: 3.5 Stars. I liked it!
PLEASE NOTE: A courtesy review copy of this book was provided by 47North in exchange for my fair and honest review. Thank you 47North for the review opportunity!
