Being a faerie princess isn’t all it’s cracked up to be…Ivy must go to Faerie, but the gateway to the Wisp Court is through Tech Duinn, the house of Donn–Celtic god of the dead. Just her luck.Unable to share her secret with Jinx, and with Jenna called away on Hunters’ Guild business, Ivy must rely on Ceff and Torn to lead her to Death’s door, literally, and back again. As if that wasn’t … again. As if that wasn’t dangerous enough, there’s no saying what horrors lay in store within the Faerie realm. Too bad the Wisp Court is the one lead Ivy has in the search for her father–and possible salvation.
Maybe hiding away and dodging sidhe assassins isn’t so bad after all…
Birthright is the fourth full-length novel in the award-winning Ivy Granger urban fantasy series by E.J. Stevens. The world of Ivy Granger, including the Ivy Granger Psychic Detective series and Hunters’ Guild series, is filled with action, paranormal mystery, magic, dark humor, quirky characters, bloodsucking vampires, flirtatious demons, sarcastic gargoyles, sexy shifters, temperamental witches, psychotic faeries, and snarky, kick-butt heroines.
Birthright is a finalist for Best Book in the BTS Red Carpet Book Awards. The Ivy Granger series is a PRG Reviewer’s Choice Award finalist for Best Urban Fantasy Series.
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Ivy Granger, the heroine of the series, continues to develop in complexity. In BIRTHRIGHT she must deal with some pretty startling revelations while trying to maintain the persona she has developed over her lifetime.
If you have been reading the series, you probably feel that the very title foreshadows what is to come. To some degree, in that you will not be disappointed, yet there will still be surprises.
I remain impressed with the first person narration and its cinematic appeal. (In case you missed my review of BURNING BRIGHT, I did a shout out to Joss Whedon suggesting he might want to option the series.) You probably think of most fiction in terms of how it would translate to the big or small screen. You might even fantasize about who might play the lead roles. That’s not where I’m going. I have to admit that I am not up on the latest young stars, so I have no idea who would play Ivy. What I do know is that Harborsmouth is a place that may not exist in the real world, but it has a look that is somewhere between seaside New England and New Orleans.
I’ve done all that I can not to talk about Ivy’s friends and foes except to hint that her circle grows larger with every story. It’s hard to keep the spoilers out when every character would give some little something away. Start the journey and meet Ivy Granger, Psychic Detective.
Both narrators are good, and I enjoy that there’s sound effects. The dialogue changes between the female and male narrators does come off as a bit abrupt at times; takes me out of the story some, but overall, I really enjoy the listen. It’s an interesting experience.
This is book 4 following Ivy Granger’s magical adventures learning about the surprises that come with being involved in the fae world. For the best reading experience, I’d recommend starting from the beginning. There’s a lot usually going on in Ivy’s life and lots of quirky characters. In this one, Ivy and a few of her allies, are on the search for Ivy’s father, but of course, things are never simple for Ivy. They find themselves in all kinds of trouble while dealing with all the shadiness and secrets going on. Cool premise, fun magic, and interesting characters. I like Ivy, but she does tend to not see the deceptions right in front of her face. Love that she stands up for herself and other though. I do think the story can move a bit slowly and I wish there was more depth to the whole story and characters, but I still enjoy the books in this series.
Birthright: Ivy Granger, Psychic Detective, Book 4, my eleventh read from author E.J. Stevens and my ninth Ivy Granger read. Well-written with intriguing characters. 7-hours 4-minute/272-pages of psychic detective enjoyment. This time Ivy travels to, wait no spoilers here, buy the book, read & review the book. E.J. Stevens has rapidly become a go-to author for me! I was given an Audible copy of this book & am voluntarily reading & reviewing it. Melanie A. Mason & Anthony Bowling’s narration adds to the book’s enjoyment. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 – July 24, 2018).
This fourth urban fantasy novel in the Ivy Granger, Psychic Detective series find Ivy, Ceff and Torn heading into Faerie to discover more about Ivy’s father’s whereabouts, and so that she can hopefully learn to control her growing powers and get off the Fae’s hit list.
This story is a continuation from the prior books in the series and so to fully understand the problems and relationships between the characters it is better is the books are listened to/read in order. This story has lots happening in it, both in Ivy’s relationship with Ceff, in her life in Faerie and the development of her abilities. There are shocking revelations, intrigue, action, deception, and betrayal in this story. It illustrates that Ivy is not infallible in her decisions and her weaker side showed to some degree. I did find it surprising that she did not think to look for a dungeon in the castle during her search though. One of my favorite characters in this story was definitely the hearth brownie, he was smart, cute and a great ally.
The duel narration of Melanie A. Mason and Anthony Bowling was well done. All the characters were distinguishable, and I especially liked the tempting, snarky voice that was used for Torn. The narration flowed easily between the two of them and they both kept a good pace.
This is an enjoyable story that leaves you wondering how ivy’s actions and discoveries will affect her life in Harboursmouth.
Audiobook review: Birthright is well written and allowed me to lose myself in Ivy’s world. The slow unfolding of Ivy’s history kept me glued in the hopes that I could figure it out. The storyline is captivating and includes strong and interesting characters. The narrator did a fine job providing unique voices for each character and appropriate tone inflections for each scene. I received a free copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.