SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Flytrap by Stephanie Ahn: https://t.co/FrrZ9nFURu
— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) December 25, 2020
Short Review: 8.5 out of 10
1/3
Short Review (cont): The Harrietta Lee series continues as Harry finds the literal demons from her past come back to haunt her for revenge all the while entering a new relationship with another Korean woman. Again very explicit, again a lot of fun.
— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) December 25, 2020
2/3
Flytrap is the third book in Stephanie Ahn's "Harrietta Lee" urban fantasy series, which began with Deadline (Review Here) a few years ago and continued with last year's "Bloodbath" (Review Here). This series is one of the rare self-published series that I've actually both tried and am now trying to keep up with, so I was excited when I realized this third book had been published during quarantine and that I'd missed it. For those who haven't heard of the series, it features Harry Lee, masochistic (in the sexual sense, explicitly) lesbian and disgraced blood witch, as she navigates New York trying to deal with the mess of her life and the magical world. It's a fairly explicit series - the first book features full BDSM play, the second pretty explicit (lesbian obv) sex with a demon - so it won't be for everyone, and it has some narrative issues that you might expect from self published work from a relatively new writer, but it's a lot of fun to read.
Flytrap is more of the same, for better or worse. It's still a very enjoyable and fun narrative with its masochistic lesbian blood witch heroine, and if you enjoyed the sex scenes in the last one, they are taken up a notch this time around. The plot is actually tighter than book 2 as well, which helps things move a lot more smoothly, and the prose is really well done. On the other hand, as the third installment in a series, the book feels weird, with old characters never showing up and new characters and traumas popping up that you'd think would've been mentioned before. Hopefully the next book in the series feels more like part of a series than this one, but on its own, this is still very fun.
-----------------------------------------------Plot Summary----------------------------------------------
Harry Lee's past has come back to haunt her - or more accurately, a demon from her past has come back to haunt her dreams. A literal demon, the powerful one whose blood she used for her attempted ritual of resurrection, which left her badly scarred....and seeing him in her nightmares and worse, unable to ever peacefully sleep. Nine months ago, the demon disappeared, and Harry thought she could move on....but now he's back.
He couldn't have come back at a worse time too - Harry's sister Luce is out of State on council business, the demon Lilith, who Harry had a thing with, hasn't been seen since she fled in terror, and well, a friend of hers has just hooked her up with another Korean lesbian girl Harry finds herself greatly attracted to. But with the Demon back in her head, and with plans for Harry, there's no time for Harry to peacefully enjoy a relationship....since she might not survive to see another moment.....
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Flytrap, like the prior two Harrietta Lee novels, is told from Harry's first person perspective...which works once more because her voice is just so much fun, even as she's struggling to stay sane from the constant lack of sleep or nightmares she suffers in this novel. One thing you basically won't find in this novel however, are returning side characters. Harry's sister Luce, who you'd expect to be her most consistent occasional support, is off in another state, the two friendly witches who Harry connected together and arranged to be trained last book (Izzy and Nikki) are completely awol, and Lilith, the strange demon with whom Harry had a connection - both contractual and sexually - shows up only in spurts this time. Even more, Lilith is so badly shaken by the events of last book that she almost feels like a different character entirely, which was weird given how the end of book 2 seemed to provide a hope that Harry and Lilith could resolve things personally and romantically (maybe and nope, respectfully here).
Instead, you have one new background character who'd never previously before been mentioned hooking Harry up with a new love interest, Kate, and the story resolves around a part of Harry's past trauma - demon possession essentially after her blood ritual went wrong - that has never been mentioned before despite it seemingly being a big deal you'd expect to have come up. It's a very strange situation that makes Harry herself practically the only point of continuity in this book, other than mentions of book 2, Joy's fate, and one member of the Council. And the way the magical world and the non-magical one intertwines in this book, where a non-magical person could get introduced to it and it's not the biggest deal, seems not to match up with the prior books?
Fortunately, once you get over the weird lack of continuity, this all works. Harry remains a phenomenal character, as the irreverent woman who is both searching for some way to get some peace and sanity while also trying to find love....despite never being able to hold on to it for long. Harry's two plots here, which naturally intersect, are her growing relationship with Kate - complete with two excellent and enjoyable explicit sex scenes - and her desperate attempt to drive the demon out of her head and stop whatever he has planning. The magical aspects of Harry's abilities remain unclear, but it doesn't really matter, because Harry's voice carries both the action scenes and character moments tremendously. This is far from a comedic book, and yet Harry's voice and dialogue still often made me laugh and smile, to go along with everyone else, and well, I really enjoy how it all comes together.
So I'm still in on this series, and will be back for book 4, whether that comes in 2021 or 2022, as the tease at the end makes unclear. Worth your time if you enjoy urban fantasy with explicit relationships.
Flytrap, like the prior two Harrietta Lee novels, is told from Harry's first person perspective...which works once more because her voice is just so much fun, even as she's struggling to stay sane from the constant lack of sleep or nightmares she suffers in this novel. One thing you basically won't find in this novel however, are returning side characters. Harry's sister Luce, who you'd expect to be her most consistent occasional support, is off in another state, the two friendly witches who Harry connected together and arranged to be trained last book (Izzy and Nikki) are completely awol, and Lilith, the strange demon with whom Harry had a connection - both contractual and sexually - shows up only in spurts this time. Even more, Lilith is so badly shaken by the events of last book that she almost feels like a different character entirely, which was weird given how the end of book 2 seemed to provide a hope that Harry and Lilith could resolve things personally and romantically (maybe and nope, respectfully here).
Instead, you have one new background character who'd never previously before been mentioned hooking Harry up with a new love interest, Kate, and the story resolves around a part of Harry's past trauma - demon possession essentially after her blood ritual went wrong - that has never been mentioned before despite it seemingly being a big deal you'd expect to have come up. It's a very strange situation that makes Harry herself practically the only point of continuity in this book, other than mentions of book 2, Joy's fate, and one member of the Council. And the way the magical world and the non-magical one intertwines in this book, where a non-magical person could get introduced to it and it's not the biggest deal, seems not to match up with the prior books?
Fortunately, once you get over the weird lack of continuity, this all works. Harry remains a phenomenal character, as the irreverent woman who is both searching for some way to get some peace and sanity while also trying to find love....despite never being able to hold on to it for long. Harry's two plots here, which naturally intersect, are her growing relationship with Kate - complete with two excellent and enjoyable explicit sex scenes - and her desperate attempt to drive the demon out of her head and stop whatever he has planning. The magical aspects of Harry's abilities remain unclear, but it doesn't really matter, because Harry's voice carries both the action scenes and character moments tremendously. This is far from a comedic book, and yet Harry's voice and dialogue still often made me laugh and smile, to go along with everyone else, and well, I really enjoy how it all comes together.
So I'm still in on this series, and will be back for book 4, whether that comes in 2021 or 2022, as the tease at the end makes unclear. Worth your time if you enjoy urban fantasy with explicit relationships.
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