Review of Out of Body (Court of Angels #1) by Stella Cameron

Out of Body is the first book in the series Court of Angels.

Marley Millet comes from a long line of clairvoyants, and through her gifts she's seen the fates of two missing jazz singers. She knows she has to share what she knows.

Cop-turned-writer Gray Fisher takes an interest in Marley's story—and Marley. He interviewed both singers before they disappeared and has his own interest in the story.

Marley and Gray scour the French Quarter of New Orleans for clues, an uneasy alliance that morphs into desire. But as they search, they uncover an evil they didn't expect.

This book looked exciting. It has all the elements that would make it a thrilling ride for me.

Then it just... wasn't. Frankly, I grew bored with it and debated whether to even finish it.

For me, the characters were pretty flat. There was no inner struggle for Marley, and Gray's didn't appear until the end of the book, and then it was barely mentioned again. Not much of an inner conflict. The author tried to make the characters interesting with psychic powers, but while that is an interesting aspect, it doesn't layer the character for a deeper look into who they are. It's all surface information, and that doesn't make for a compelling character.

The chemistry between the two main characters was nonexistent. They were supposed to have some exceptional bond, beyond that of a normal pairing between people, but I didn't even feel a regular attraction between them. It was difficult to root for them as a romantic couple when I couldn't feel their attraction to begin with.

The plot had a little more going for it with a fast pace and fascinating antagonist, but with flat and uninteresting characters, even an interesting plot can't save the novel.

Overall, this was a novel that, for me, was fatally flawed with uninteresting, flat characters that made even an interesting plot boring because I didn't have an interest to read about the characters.

This is the first book in a trilogy that I will not be continuing.

Photo Credit Jens Thekkeveettil

Stars Image Credit lovethenerddesigns