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Hear ye, hear ye, November is AndiBlackbird appreciation month! I legitimately couldn't choose which one of her books to review because I'm so entrenched in all of them, so instead I'm going to give you an overview of things you can expect when you take a gander into her bookshelf.
If you've read Persephone then you know I love a punchy blunt protag that gives zero fucks. Andi's books are the personification of that. From the first book of the Dark and Light series, hell from the very first chapter, you know what you're getting into, and it is glorious.
Trash-talking, horny, unfiltered, and damaged, these characters are raw and real and addictive. The stories are told in first-person present tense, so there is a feel of immediacy as you experience their stories in real time. I find this especially compelling in Malicious, given that it's got the most shoot-em-up action (with plenty of sumpin-sumpin action, if ya know what I mean *wink*), so every fight scene feels like you're right inside of it.
Another thing that is present in Andi's stories is a total unapologetic lack of shame. These characters want who and want they want, and there's never a need to address what characters are bi or gay or straight or whatever, and as a pan woman myself it's awesome to just see this freedom. They can enjoy who they want without any side-eye or drama (unless angsty relationship drama is essential to the plot, but this never has to do with sexual orientation just the breaking of hearts).
There are a lot of hard issues expressed in the Dark and Light series, and I find they're all handled in a realistic way, without being romanticized. The protagonists have lots of difficult internal things to overcome, and are flawed as all human beings are, but it's never portrayed in a way that excuses the immoral behavior or worse, glorifies it. Beneath all of the sex and drugs and action, these are redemption stories, and sometimes even when I was pissed beyond belief at these characters, I never stopped rooting for them.
Hell, as of this writing I'm still rooting for Jamie and Amelia in Better Than Bright and I NEED MORE CHAPTERS ANDI RIGHT MEOW! And don't even get me started on my complicated feelings in Better than Bright.
Actually, do. Because that's another thing that makes this series such a rollercoaster. The characters, even the ones that are somewhat painted as villains, are still so well-rounded that it feels bad to hate some of them. Sometimes I'm rooting for a specific couple, but I feel horrible about who it would hurt in the process. Layers and layers and moral crises, thank you ma'am.
There are two other books in Andi's library that are outside of the Dark and Light series that I'd like to touch on. One is The Smuggler of Little Death, which is about a guy who is a dealer for a drug that gives you the best orgasm of your life (side effect, could kill you instantly), and it's a teaser as of right now. But what is there is so absorbing. Also can somebody get me an orgasm pill please? Wouldn't that be the best? Damn.
