I finished Jealousy (Strange Angels #3) by Lili St. Crow, aka Lilith Saintcrow, last night and it definitely lived up to my expectations. If you had never heard of Strange Angels until now it's The CW's Supernatural meets Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy, which means it's AWESOME!!!
However, if I could use one word to describe this series it would be "gritty." You almost feel uncomfortable and tense while reading this, which surprising enough is not a bad thing, in fact I would say it is one of the many reasons why these books are worth reading. Strange Angels is not light and fluffy, the "love/romantic" scenes do not feel like "love/romantic" scenes, and Saintcrow leaves little to the imagination when it comes to the gory details.
These books have a sense of reality, as if the REAL World actually exists in our word. Dru's character is developed so well that you find yourself feeling how she feels, this goes for all the characters no matter how small, if they are good you care about what happens to them, if they are evil you strongly dislike them with a passion (because we don't hate, we don't send that karma out into the universe). Nothing is perfect, even the unnaturally beautiful djamphir boys have their flaws. This is unusual for young adult novels which is probably why I love it so much.
Throughout the first two novels Dru is this strong female character, sure of her world, even with the existance of the REAL World. She can take care of herself, thanks to her dad's training and the touch. Even though she's dealing with the loss of her father, the confusion that came with the knowledge of her mother's identity and past, and the fear of the nosferatu hunting her, you never get a sense of Dru ever losing control. Although, everything comes crashing down on her in this new installment.
There's a constant current of fear, confusion, grief, exhaustion and tension that runs throughout this novel. There is plenty of action, mystery and, unlike the previous installments, romance (and since I am a hopeless romantic I was very pleased about this). Unfortunately, Dru did annoy me a bit with her whining and denial of the obvious (I spent alot of time yelling at the book or sighing in frustration which awarded me somestrange looks) but when I reflected on her behavior, I had to admit she was handling everything much better than I ever could. I mean you would be whiny too if you were always on edge, always exhausted, always sad and on top of all that you're dealing with boy drama, a bitchy "pretty" girl (only other female in the whole school besides you by the way) who is obviously out to get you and uncontrolable frizzy hair. I would definitely be pmsing.
In the end we get the old Dru back and a cliff hanger so good you won't be able to keep your aspect from showing. This is a must read page turner that you won't be able to keep from devouring. I guess all that's left to say is Bravo Lilith Saintcrow, now lets get that fourth installment out asap please.
This final installment of Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy was exactly what I hoped it would be. Fabulous, gripping, heart pounding, page turning and a perfect ending to a series I love so much. 
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