Review: Working Stiff

Working Stiff by Rachel Caine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My sister is a big fan of Rachel Caine and introduced me to her work through the Morganville Vampires series. Whilst I did enjoy the books, I wasn’t as crazy about them as my sister. I believe I was more open to the flaws, aware of the parallels to other young adult vampire novels. As a whole, I enjoyed them and was willing to try other Rachel Caine books. Thus, when I saw the Revivalist series going cheap I was willing to dive in.

The Revivalist series is different to the Morganville Vampire series in a number of ways, mainly this series introduced me to Rachel Caine’s adult fantasy and moved me away from her young adult fantasy. There isn’t a very big different in the method of storytelling and writing style, you can still tell it is Rachel Caine, but certain aspects of the story make it appropriate for adult readers rather than the younger readers.

Another big, and obvious difference, is the creatures involved in the story. Like many members of the population, I’m a big zombie fan. I enjoy a good zombie twist, and I was interested to see what this one would bring. The story promised something different to the norm, and I was excited to see what it was. Whilst this wasn’t my favourite twist on the undead element, it was a nice change. It introduces us to new elements, new rules, and brings something different to the table.

I’ll be completely honest by saying I wasn’t completely pulled into the story at first. Elements were interesting, but I wasn’t pulled in. Then, in typical Rachel Caine fashion, I found my feelings changing. I went from being merely interested to being truly addicted, finding I needed to finish the book in a single sitting. I cannot tell you what changed or when, all I know is I was sucked in and found myself addicted to the story and in need of finding out what happened.

Although I was addicted and powered my way through the book, I wasn’t completely content with the story. I feel as though there wasn’t as much action as there could have been, that events didn’t quite reach the impact they could have. I also found I wasn’t completely happy with the characters. I really enjoyed some of the side characters, but I wasn’t truly happy with our main character. I feel like details were given that never really came into play – namely her background in the forces. I enjoyed certain elements of our main character, but I feel like a lot was added but never really used.

It was an addictive story, an interesting story, and it certainly left me wanting more.

View all my reviews