Royal Street (Sentinels of New Orleans, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jul 20, 2013 D.G. rated it it was ok

Shelves: urban-fantasy

**2.5 stars**

The best part of this book was the setting - New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. After that, the world was full of plot holes with a wishy washy main character that should have CLUELESS stamped on her forehead and a stupid love quadrangle. You heard it right, not two but THREE men have her sights on her. Sigh.

DJ is a low level sentinel in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina, which has breached the walls between this world and the "beyond". Her mentor disappears and even t **2.5 stars**

The best part of this book was the setting - New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. After that, the world was full of plot holes with a wishy washy main character that should have CLUELESS stamped on her forehead and a stupid love quadrangle. You heard it right, not two but THREE men have her sights on her. Sigh.

DJ is a low level sentinel in New Orleans at the time of Hurricane Katrina, which has breached the walls between this world and the "beyond". Her mentor disappears and even though he's never let her handle any serious work, the Elders put her in charge, but send Alex, a sexy shifter enforcer and FBI agent to help.

In the description there's a mention of some murders but DJ and Alex have almost nothing to do with that. DJ does very little, just flip flop between supposedly wanting Alex and his cousin Jake and getting chased by Jean Lafitte which is an "historical undead" (the terminology in this book is so clumsy!) She's so freaking dumb that she discovers a secret about her past, all spelled out in a diary, and she doesn't even catches on. Just imagine Darth Vader saying: "Luke, I'm your father" and Luke saying..."Ooohh, he wants to be my father!" No, dummy, he is telling you he IS your father! How clearly do you need that spelled out?

It wasn't very clear why shifters were allowed in the normal world when the rest of the "pretes" couldn't or how Alex' cousin didn't know what he was. And how these wizards were supposedly so powerful that they could keep all these pretes in a different dimension or whatever it was.

Another thing that bothered me was the use of a stick that follows DJ around, which if you read UF, you know it's a plot point in the Mercy Thompson series. I wish the author would have used another device because every time I read this, I got reminded of Mercy Thompson, which is a way better series.

The way this ended shouts "love quadrangle" because you know Lafitte will be in the mix. I didn't care much about DJ to be in her head so much or learn how she progresses so I'm definitely not continuing the series. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jan 30, 2012 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it liked it

Shelves: arc-are, netgalley-reviews

Royal Street is an enjoyable urban fantasy series debut from Suzanne Johnson. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina has caused breaches in the border between this world and the Beyond and Drusilla Jaco, a Green Wizard, is charged with banishing the undead back to the ether. DJ though is distracted by her missing mentor, Gerry, who is suspected of betraying the Elder Wizard Council, an undead pirate seeking revenge and the Enforcer, Alex. With a voodoo God and a serial killer on the loose the new Royal Street is an enjoyable urban fantasy series debut from Suzanne Johnson. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina has caused breaches in the border between this world and the Beyond and Drusilla Jaco, a Green Wizard, is charged with banishing the undead back to the ether. DJ though is distracted by her missing mentor, Gerry, who is suspected of betraying the Elder Wizard Council, an undead pirate seeking revenge and the Enforcer, Alex. With a voodoo God and a serial killer on the loose the new Sentinel of New Orleans has her hands full.

What I particularly like about Royal Street is the world building. Set in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, Johnson sensitively incorporates the tragedy into her story. The devastation makes an interesting background throwing up natural obstacles like a lack of electricity and transport which her protagonists have to work around.
New Orleans history is rich with iconic characters which Johnson works in to the story including voodoo gods, pirates and even musicians. While there is mention of vampires, fae and werewolves it is the historical undead that feature in Royal Street. Known in general as Pretes, the otherworldly beings reside in the Beyond in 'Old Orleans', a historical alternative to the modern city.
The magic system of Royal Street focuses on wizardry with a system that is headed by the Elders and then tiers of wizards with different abilities. As a Green Wizard, DJ is only able to wield potions, spells and charms, Red Wizards have mastery over physical magic while Yellow Wizards have psychic abilities. Enforcers are the muscle for the council dispensing justice where necessary.
Unfortunately Royal Street was let down by the protagonists of the story, especially DJ who lacks the smarts I prefer in my urban fantasy genre. There are too many instances where she makes poor decisions, ignores obvious clues or acts so slowly as to put herself or others in danger. This is particularly true at the climax when she inexplicably fails to act to prevent injury to her allies. The romantic element of Royal Street includes Alex, the Enforcer sent to assist DJ, Alex's cousin Jake, a war vet, and the pirate, Jean Lafitte. DJ is attracted to all three men but I didn't like the way in which she seemed to be toying with Alex and Jake in particular. The relationships are another example of DJ's immaturity.

While I think the characters of Royal Street need to be stronger, I did enjoy the book. There are often teething problems for a new series and ultimately I think the original aspects of the world building and potential of the story outweigh the flaws. Royal Street is a promising debut and I will be interested to see where Johnson takes it. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 09, 2012 Christal rated it really liked it

Shelves: fae, ghosts, magic, female-lead, vampires, weres-and-shifters, witches-warlocks-and-mages, urban-fantasy, lesser-known-creatures, gods-and-goddesses

This was a solid UF debut set in Katrina-torn New Orleans. I really enjoyed the setting and the world-building was very good. The characters were a little bumpy sometimes, but I can see that smoothing out in future novels.

Ms. Johnson did a great job in showing how New Orleans was decimated by Katrina. She captured the emotion and desperation felt by the inhabitants. She obviously knows a lot about New Orleans and Katrina and her attention to detail is greatly appreciated. I loved the newspaper h This was a solid UF debut set in Katrina-torn New Orleans. I really enjoyed the setting and the world-building was very good. The characters were a little bumpy sometimes, but I can see that smoothing out in future novels.

Ms. Johnson did a great job in showing how New Orleans was decimated by Katrina. She captured the emotion and desperation felt by the inhabitants. She obviously knows a lot about New Orleans and Katrina and her attention to detail is greatly appreciated. I loved the newspaper heading at the beginning of each chapter. It is definitely a different Louisiana than the one presented in the Sookie Stackhouse novels. Ms. Johnson's New Orleans is real and gritty, a character in its own right.

DJ, our main heroine, had her moments of immaturity but overall I thought she handled herself well within the story. She was stubborn sometimes, but it would usually turn out that she had the right idea. She has a twisty heritage that we just barely scratched the surface of so I am eager to learn more about her.

Alex and Jake are the main guys in the story. Aside from a slightly uncomfortable love triangle since they are cousins, they were both appealing for different reasons. Alex is the dangerous, FBI-trained, wizard-council knowing enforcer. Jake represents the uninformed population but is a calming presence for DJ. We'll see how the events of the ending play out in the next book... I really liked the pirate Jean Lafitte. A ghost pirate interacting in the real world was an unique twist and I hope to see a bigger role for him in the next book.

I liked the different wizard councils, based on the type of magic controlled. It was really interesting and added an extra dimension to the traditional wizard council. The premise of our world being bordered by the different preternatural worlds, such as vamps, fae, or Old Orleans were the historical undead roam, was a refreshing change. I love how she believably worked very recognizable figures into the story.

All in all, I thought this was a very promising debut and plan to continue with this series as soon as the next volume is released. ...more

Like · see review

Aug 04, 2013 Jesslyn rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: cat-urban-fantasy, cat-series-ongoing, cat-series-not-a-cliffhanger, z2013-kindle-reads, z2015-kindle-reads

My issue was the lack of diversity. The story is set in New Orleans and the only black, brown or other people of color were historical figures. Really?!

Sigh. Other than that, the story was enjoyable despite a couple of really bonehead moves by the main character.

Like · see review