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The Unleashing (Call of Crows, #1)

Shelly Laurenston

Start date: May 1, 2015

Finish date: May 31, 2015

Discussion: Book of the Month

Why we're reading this: Voted as our "Most Popular Books Published in March 2015" May BOM …more
[close] Voted as our "Most Popular Books Published in March 2015" May BOM

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* BOM: Group Read History [2025]
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last updated Aug 30, 2025 12:41AM

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What Members Thought

Apr 03, 2015 Dina marked it as wish-list

Shelves: paranormal-romance

A new series by Shelly Laurenston? I'm in! ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Mar 17, 2015 Christal rated it liked it

Shelves: arcs, paranormal-romance, multiple-leads, magic, demons, witches-warlocks-and-mages, gods-and-goddesses, military, mythology, oracles

The Unleashing was my first Shelly Laurenston book and I found it to be a fairly enjoyable read. It was mostly well-paced and funny and the world building was very interesting and unique. It might be because this is the first book in a new series, but I thought some aspects came off a little clunky, especially where the whims of the Gods were concerned. Also, the scene transitions and POV shifts were choppy to the point where I sometimes didn't realize we had swapped characters or moved on to a ...more

1 like · Like · see review

May 05, 2015 Christina T rated it it was ok

Shelves: netgalley, paranormal-romance, 15000-in-2015-book-count-challenge, 2015-challenge, 2-5-stars, team-norse

While I admit to be thoroughly intrigued by the idea behind this book I am not completely in love the with the final result.

The Good: Among the over played vampire and werewolf themed paranormal worlds this was such an an interesting and fresh concept (if one overlooks the fact that this author wrote another book featuring the Crow/Raven world called Hunting Season in 2009). I love mythology and factor in that it is Norse mythology at that I could have seriously loved this book. The book starts While I admit to be thoroughly intrigued by the idea behind this book I am not completely in love the with the final result.

The Good: Among the over played vampire and werewolf themed paranormal worlds this was such an an interesting and fresh concept (if one overlooks the fact that this author wrote another book featuring the Crow/Raven world called Hunting Season in 2009). I love mythology and factor in that it is Norse mythology at that I could have seriously loved this book. The book starts out so good. Kera starts the book out with a bang and I just knew I was in for a treat. A truly Kick-Ass heroine, add a dashing hot viking of a man, stir in Norse mythology, throw in some snark and viola! A concoction of fabulousness! Not so much....

The Bad: As a romance I felt it fell flat. I think the book focused on Kera getting used to her new life rather than a substantial romance. They had quite a bit of sex but romance, not so sure about that. I really think that there was enough conflict surrounding Kera that spreading her romance over the course of several books would have made for a stronger sense of commitment between the H/h.

Speaking of her new life as a Crow...ugh! The crows reminded me of a bunch of bubble brained sorority girls rather than the intelligent adults they were supposed to be. Their sink or swim mentality on welcoming a new sister was seriously flawed and didn't endear them to me at all.

Let's talk characters! There is an extraordinary amount of characters in this book. I know in a first book there is an introduction phase where the author tries to establish their world and characters. However, it's important to not overwhelm the reader with dozens of people to remember. In this book, not only do we have to keep track of their first names but their last names too because the author will refer to them by first and then a paragraph later by their last name. This is further complicated by changing POVs throughout the book. It was sometimes difficult to know whose point of view we were now reading from one paragraph to another.

In a Nut Shell: Very little is ultimately resolved at the end of the book but I'm not sure I'm wanting to read another. I hate when a book has so much potential and fails so miserably. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 16, 2014 Niki rated it really liked it

Shelves: smutty, mythological, demons, witches, creepy, comedy, romance, badass-gals, series

First off... Shelly Freaking Laurenston...

Second this book was fan freaking tastic. Could NOT stop reading. Read the book in like 4 hours, carried my kindle where I needed to go, nose in book.