Possession (Blood Ties, #2) in Vampires, Weres and Fae!

Oct 25, 2009 Melindeeloo rated it really liked it

Shelves: vampires, urban-fantasy

Wow! And now for something completely different....

The Possession, unlike its predecessor is a character study and it is very well done. Back again from The Turning (Blood Ties, Book 1) are Carrie, Nathan, Cyrus (yes, Cyrus) and Max. There have been a lot of complaints from other reviewers about the shift between Points of View in the book, but the view used here for Cyrus and Max allowed the author, Jennifer Armintrout, put us into their heads. Instead of getting just what the characters perce Wow! And now for something completely different....

The Possession, unlike its predecessor is a character study and it is very well done. Back again from The Turning (Blood Ties, Book 1) are Carrie, Nathan, Cyrus (yes, Cyrus) and Max. There have been a lot of complaints from other reviewers about the shift between Points of View in the book, but the view used here for Cyrus and Max allowed the author, Jennifer Armintrout, put us into their heads. Instead of getting just what the characters perceive about themselves, we really get to understand them in a way that Carrie's first person treatment doesn't allow.

The most appealing thread of the story follows Cyrus' personal transformation after his resurrection. He's human now and is initially ready to fall back into the evil and depravity that ruled his undead existence. From the previous book, we saw that along with his power, Cyrus had a vulnerability and neediness that made a somewhat sympathetic character despite the fact that he shouldn't have been at all likeable. The author puts us into Cyrus' head and exposes the thoughts that allow us to intimately view his journey toward recapturing his long lost humanity. We are made to understand the loss and seeking of love and approval that warped Cyrus in his previous life. We are privy to the beginning of his redemption because as he finally develops the ability to love, he finally gains the loves he has always sought.

A commonality between threads and characters in the Possession is the profound loss that most of them have experienced. They are all damaged and needy, looking for someone to fill the void of loneliness within them. None of them are healed here and even as Cyrus, Max and Carrie seem to have found the love that will heal them, it is stolen from them.

While the Possession carries the characters forward, it doesn't really move forward the background story. There is less of the scenes, just a few flash backs. that made the the Turning almost a horror story and only a few intimate scenes, some of which have nothing to do with love, so it is still not a romance. The Possession really just makes us truly understand the players and sets the stage for what it to come in the next book. I am anxious to read Ashes to Ashes (Blood Ties, Book 3)and see where Armintrout will take us next, for as different as the Possession was from the Turning, I just can't imagine what she has planned for Ashes to Ashes.
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