Saints Astray

I don't remember now when I read Jacqueline Carey's Santa Olivia. It felt lighter to me than her usual work, though had some areas of depth to it with the society of non-citizens in the town and the question of Loup's humanity.

Saints Astray picks up the story of Loup and Pilar pretty much from their escape from Santa Olivia at the end. It's a reminder to me of how people love sequels, and how some stories don't need (or outright shouldn't have) them. It's not a waste of paper, but it wasn't very satisfying to me in the long run either. There's a nice story in there as the pair make friends, earn support, and bring about social change. There are some bits of action for the genetically-modified super-chick and her girlfriend as they become bodyguards-for-hire.

But those elements are down of drowned out by the two jumping each other pretty much every moment they're alone. I don't recall any of the scenes being explicit, but they are frequent. And when not doing that, they're professing their love for one another to such a sweet and sappy extent that it's just overwhelming. Overall, I just don't feel it really added anything necessary to the story.

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