Finn was a bit extra in this one, almost to the point I wanted to reach into my Kindle app and strangle him. But I'm going to go ahead and need #18 now, kthxbye. ( )

66 points/100 (3.5 stars/5).

Someone from Gin's past has come back, and she is trying to kill someone Gin knows. Will this blast from the past find a way to shoehorn The Circle into it?

This new Elemental Assassin installment was exactly like an Elemental Assassin installment. This reads like every single other Elemental Assassin novel I've read for the past 6 years. While it isn't exactly a horrible thing that this book is exactly like every other one in the series (I did enjoy myself up until this point), I just really wish it will be over soon. It has run its course.

I keep reading these books mostly because I really just want more of Gin and Owen, as well as more Finn and Bria. I love the people, I don't really much care for the story anymore. And, as much as I really want to see more of the people, they're always so pushed off to the side of the book. We have seen this same exact story play out again and again for 17 books now, I wish she would give the characters time to shine.

The characters actually seem trapped in time. How much time has passed in this series by now? It has to be quite a few years by now. Yet they're still the exact same people they are when they were introduced. Gin is still the same person doing the same thing, her relationship with Owen is still in the same place. Owen's sister is still a college student, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was still in the same classes. Finn and Bria are still the exact same people in the exact same place. The lack of growth is frustrating, I want to see the characters move as people. I want them to actually be people.

This whole Circle business still feels like revisionist history. Estep needed a new idea, and oh look, a new big bad, this time there are many of them! And oh, her mother is involved? Why?! I really don't care at this point, honestly. Each book will play out like every book before it it did. I honestly can't work up any excitement for this Circle because there is nothing exciting about it, it all just plays out the same exact way.

I can say that the switch from traditional publishing to self publishing did not actually hurt the quality of this book whatsoever. These are still really well written books, even if I have grown tired of the story. That is always a fear of mine when I read a series that eventually turns self-pub, that there is going to be a drop in quality of either the story or the writing. I really think this is exactly like every single other book in the series, if you enjoyed all the rest, you will enjoy this one.

If you've read one Elemental Assassin book, you've read them all. Another solid addition to the series, even if I personally am looking for more. ( )

Gin fears someone is gunning for her friend, and chairman of Ashland’s biggest bank. But Gin, the assassin known as The Spider, doesn’t sit back when someone she cares about is under threat.


But when she learns the mysterious and deadly Circle are involved, she wonders why
- why would they be invested in this? Gin needs to know if she’ll ever hopes to
take on the force that killed her mother

Of course, as an assassin, Gin has left some orphans in her own wake… and when confronted by one of those Gin has to face that the pain she lives with every day is also something she has inflicted on someone else

I have to say, in some ways Gin is the worst assassin there is. Sure she always kills her mark but she is kidnapped by her enemies and tortured like every single time. There has to be a better strategy for killing people than being kidnapped by them and then managing to stab them as you escape. This is not a sensible tactic and, honestly, it’s kind of tired at this point - I mean this is the 17th book and we have these torture porn scenes in almost every book. It feels just overdone now.

Especially since Gin is supposed to be so powerful and so scary and lethal. Can we see
that? I mean, all her magic, all her skill with knives - there was never even
any real reason why the big bad in this book would be that big or bad. She has
no great super powers or great training - we could have had an enemy

I don’t think it even fit with this book. The whole conflict of the book up until the inevitable kidnapping, was finding out what the enemy wanted and protecting Mosely from her attacks. It was even about letting the big bad show her hand and trying to discover what she wanted what she was doing and why the Ominous Circle was involved. And that was interesting and really different- because for most of this book we were in that investigation phase and there was never any real question of whether Gin COULD kill the bad guy, so much as whether she’d have to. Or, perhaps, whether the enemy would give Gin a reason, or an excuse, to do so. Because Gin isn’t a bad person - and there’s a whole interesting conflict there on whether Gin, the assassin, can hunt someone down because she’s PRETTY SURE the bad person is bad, even if she’s not entirely certain. Because she is the good guy and she can’t just kill people because she thinks they’re bad. Apart from anything else she’ll be very very busy in Ashland

And this all worked - and most of the book is interesting and even a little different because of that. Why is the Circle involved. What does the big bad want, why are they supported and can Gin protect Mosely and continue her ongoing investigation into the big bads that ultimately killed her mother. Ongoing with that and Gin’s personal issues these worked really well together We didn’t need another “aargh, I’m captured and tortured” moment or Gin nearly dying to take down her target AGAIN.

Read More ( )

I gave it 3.5 stars

I have made no secret that the Elemental Assassins series is one of my must read series. I love Gin, I love the world, I love the characters and I love the storylines. Having said that, I am not as excited about the books as I once was. I still love Gin, the world and the characters, but the storylines need some freshness injected into them. It seems like we are just continuing on the Gin vs old enemies/old enemies children bandwagon and I really want something new.

Although it started on the slower side, VENOM IN THE VEINS was filled with the usual action and mystery that is always involved in a Gin Blanco story. As usual her cast of family and friends help her into and out of trouble as Gin kicks the bad guys butts.

When the sad day comes that Jennifer Estep decides to retire Gin Blanco I really hope we will get one final story that shows her happily ever after because she suffers more than anyone and I just want to see her married with babies at the end of all the pain she endures.

The ending of VENOM IN THE VEINS actually gives me some hope that we will get something new in book 18. We finally get some pretty huge news about who the head of the circle is. I don't want to give away spoilers, but I will say that my heart about dropped thinking that the person was actually someone else. I can't NOT read Gin when she is available so bring on more.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )