Review – Succubus Blues (Georgina Kincaid, Book 1) by Richelle Mead (3.5/5 stars)

I was really looking forward to reading this book. The Vampire Academy series is one of my favorite new series and I was hoping that Mead’s first adult series would be just as engaging. I didn’t find this series opener as engaging as Vampire Academy was and I thought the characterization was a bit weak. The world that Mead created is interesting though and the main character has to deal with interesting moral issues.

Georgina Kincaid is a succubus. Unfortunately she is a somewhat unwilling succubus; instead of corrupting good souls she tends to feed off of the bottom-dwellers of society, much to the disdain of her demon boss. Georgina likes to live as a human and holds a job at a book store. When immortals in the community start dying after they argue with Georgina, the demon and angel community wants to know how she is involved.

I wanted to love this book, but I really only found it somewhat engaging. Georginia has been alive for centuries yet she still seems to struggle with some basic interaction with humans; which I found a bit unbelievable. She is also an indecisive and weak character. She spent a lot of the book getting distracted and making decisions and then unmaking them. She also spent the majority of the book whining about her succubus nature and then giving into it and then whining that she gave into it. All in all I thought the main character left a lot to be desired. Georgina’s bright spot was her sharp wit; which after reading Magic Bites, still wasn’t nearly as sharp as Kate Daniel’s.

The above being said, some of the side characters were worth meeting. Gerogina’s demon boss was interesting and his angelic friend Carter also promises to be an engaging character. The book writer Seth has many dimensions to his character that are just starting to be explored. The world itself is also interesting; Mead’s angle on demon/angel politics was engaging and I am interested in learning more.

All in all I was expecting more of an paranormal action book and what I got was a paranormal romance novel. The actions scenes are all but non-existent; in fact Georgina spends some of what could be the most intense action scenes oblivious to the world. There are sections where the book drags quite a bit and not a whole lot happens. Overall though the book was engaging and interesting to read. In fact I have to say that the last three or four chapters in this book really redeemed it and made me decide to read the next book.

I am trying to keep in mind that this was kind of the intro book to the series, so overall I think it was okay. I am interested in what the second book will bring, but still on the fence as to whether or not I will continue reading after that. I really like my paranormal books heavier on the action, than on the romantic side. This book was definitely more of a romance. It has potential to be more of an action type.

I really enjoyed Kate Daniels series more than this one so far. I also enjoyed Mead’s Vampire Academy a lot more. Hopefully the next book will be better.