Still Life by Melanie Jackson

Still Life
by Melanie Jackson

Another re-read for me. This is book four in the Wildside series and it's been on sale, possibly re-issued digitally in the recent past. This series is one of my favorites for re-reads. The language is so flowery and over-the-top that it never gets old. It's a book with all kinds of mystical creatures, a little bit of romance, some sentient magic, and all kinds of unexpected twists. This version had some formatting issues, like they OCR'd this story and lost words every now and then or picked the wrong word sometimes. It didn't interrupt my enjoyment of the story, but I hope it gets fixed in the near future.

There's a little bit of old-skool to the relationships; it's not a bodice-ripper, but it's very clear that the maiden wouldn't be able to survive without the hero calling the shots. This is the first time I noticed it specifically in all my re-reads, but it did make me roll my eyes a couple times. The heroine has all this power and can do more/different things than the hero, but he ends up “directing” her power whenever she needs to use it. Like she's too impulsive and inexperienced to harness her power in an appropriate way.

The romance is almost on the back burner compared to the adventure; there aren't a lot of longing looks and ruminations, but at the end hero and heroine are happy and in love. I read these for the magic and adventure and it always hits just the right spot for me, even if this re-read gave me some sad thoughts about the power dynamic accorded to women in this story.

**This review is archived on my blog: The Theory of Lieto Fine