Review: Sixth Grave on the Edge by Darynda Jones
It has been some time since I last wrote up a review for the Charley Davidson series by Darynda Jones for the Wenches. The gap in reviews has not been for lack of material, since in that time there have been a couple more books published in my beloved series, but because other Wenches love the books as much as I do. However just this past week book number six in the Charley series came out and, let me tell you, book six has got this Wench not only on the edge but fully over the edge and needing another hit.
My love for this series has grown exponentially and if you follow me through the jump I’d be happy to tell you how Sixth Grave on the Edge has me begging for my next hit the same way Charley begs for coffee!
Thank you for following through the jump! Now before I get into the meat and potatoes of my review I have to share a side story with our readers! The reason why Sixth Grave on the Edge is particularly special for me is because on April 26th in my home town, there was a reader appreciation event hosted by author Barbara Vey that Darynda and approximately 60 other authors attended. Sadly this year’s event just did not fit within my budget (I will not be making that mistake next year!) but the planners had a book fair set up after the luncheon where people from the public could go and meet the authors who were in attendance, buy books, and get them signed. Yours truly, Wench Natalie, knowing in advance that Darynda Jones was going to be there took a long shot and emailed her the night before to see if there might be a chance that I could take her out to dinner. I have a reputation among the Wenches of being able to talk my way into dinner with authors and I wanted to see if it could still hold true. I mean the worst she could tell me was no, right?
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| Natalie has a gift! |
Well Darynda being the super awesome author that she is, said yes! So I got to meet her at the signing and then afterward, Darynda, two of her Grimlets (I am now a Wench and a Grimlet), and I all loaded into my car and headed out to a local place for dinner. While at dinner the four of us had conversations about writing, the writing process, and of course about Charley, Reyes, Cookie, and the gang. Sadly no spoilers were given but that just fueled my desire to get my hands on book six even more! So much so that the next several weeks all I could think about was: “Is it here yet?“ “And how about now!? “ “Is it the 20th of May yet???” So the moment I got the book into my hot little hands, which I might add was a month later, I tore through it like a fat kid with birthday cake! So now I will end our little detour, because I really could go on and on as to why Darynda is totally awesomesauce, and on to my review of Sixth Grave on the Edge.
In our last installment Charley was given what Reyes felt was a simple “yes/no” question: “Will you marry me?” Of course in Charley’s universe nothing is ever as simple yes or no. I mean before she can even say yes she totally has to find out what kind of Utensil Reyes is; doesn’t everyone? Charley, though she would loathe to admit it, is kind of like Julia Robert’s character in the movie Pretty Woman: “I would say I’m a kinda fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants gal, you know moment to moment.” Though Reyes loves that about Charley, it is also something that leaves him rather frustrated. If you have read books 1-5 you know that our beloved Charley tends to get into situations with the best of intentions, things go
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| Charley's tribe post-adventure! |
This book, Sixth Grave on the Edge, is no exception to the previous books as we watch Charley’s rather full plate get overloaded yet again. In truth her plate of things she accomplishes in this book is not so much a plate at all but a buffet if you will. She has two cases to solve: one regular and one paranormal. It is with the paranormal one that we discover a brand new character in The Dealer. I’ve had conversations with others who have read the book and they are not sure on him, but my gut feeling is he’s going to be a key player in the books to come. Charley is also learning to navigate and trying to understand her growing powers as a Grimm Reaper and let me tell you, when she practices on Reyes, it’s just damn hot for there being no
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| Charley & Reyes are HAWT! |
No Charley book would be complete without Charley trying to hook her BFF Cookie up! That back and forth between Cookie and Ubie that we have been watching comes to a head in this book: again not exactly how Charley plans it but the outcome is good! I should have said Spoiler alert there; sorry ya’ll. And no day in the life of Charley would be complete if random Ghosts did not pop in to get her attention: Hello Naked man in her jeep! Random Ghosts needing her to help in crossing over is the bread and butter of being a Grimm Reaper and this book has not just one, but two new ghosts pop in to put a little twist in her day. We do also get to visit our favorite Mental Asylum and its fantastic occupants, we also get to know her helpful side kick, Angel, a little
better, and spend some good quality time with Mr. Wong. Let’s also throw in Charley thwarting both supernatural and non-supernatural beings who are trying to sabotage her life and really could the book be any more jam-packed? I mean really all that while just trying to enjoy her coffee. Did I mention that she still has to answer that Yes/No question for Reyes?I only wish that Charley could catch a break somewhere in there! I swear one of these days I think her BFF Cookie needs to hand her “The Idiot’s Guide to Grimm Reaping” so she is not left in the dark so often. I will say that this book being as jam-packed as it was allowed me to dive in head first and devour it. I could not put it down to the point where I completed it in less than 24 hours. I laughed, I cried, and I was shocked with how it ended! I can tell you that like a coffee addict stalking a Starbucks I’ll be impatiently waiting to see how everything turns out in book seven after that cliff hanger of an ending! Is it October yet?
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