Book Review: The Face in the Water by Gregory Ashe
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Purchase Link: Books2Read(list of all available retailers)
Okay, nobody breathe, because JEM AND TEAN ARE BACK!! 🎉🎉
The whole team is back which is just as exciting but the focus here are Jem and Tean and omg I didn't realize how much I'd missed them until I started reading.
This is the first book in the Iron on Iron series, which is a crossover/team-up of all the books in Gregory Ashe’s Hazardverse, featuring characters from the Hazard and Somerset Mysteries, the Lamb and the Lion, the First Quarto, and the Borealis Investigations. Do I think you need to have read all of the Hazardverse books in order to read this book? Yes and no. I think you'll be able to enjoy the story without and GA does a good job of explaining major bits without it feeling like an exposition dump. But I do think you will appreciate it much more if you know who these characters are and understand their backstories. You might snicker at some of the jokes and wackiness, but you probably won't keel over laughing like I did.
I consumed this book in a day because I could not stop reading. Y'all. It's so good. The way all the dynamics weave together and most important JEM AND TEAN! It's been so long since their series ended, since we last got to see them, and let me tell you -- there's a lot of catching up to do. But no matter what, they are as beautiful and ever. Even when they argue, they're (usually...) so gentle with each other, and that's something I've always loved about them. That continues straight into this story like we never left them. The fact that the first sentence of this book is "I'm not catastrophizing" is just chef's kiss. Seeing Jem so proud of Tean and wanting to talk him up every chance he gets is always so great.
The Characters
The A-Team! The Avengers! The Justice League!
Whatever you call them, I love them and already can't get enough.
One of the things I've been looking forward to the most about this crossover was seeing the characters from each other's POV, and GA did not disappoint at all. Aside from getting to hear their physical descriptions from Jem and Tean's POV, we also get each their reads on their personality. Jem in particular has a few choice mental words to say about a few of the fellow Hazardverse characters and it all felt so nicely in-line with his own personality.
All eight characters are not on page at the same time a lot, but when they are it's written so well. Juggling that large of a cast of characters who all have distinct personalities can be daunting, and GA handles it with ease. Honestly, there were times when he didn't even need a dialogue tag -- you can tell exactly who is speaking. That, to me, is the sign of an excellent character voice. And to be able to bring eight of them to one scene and maintain each unique voice -- whew. 😅
And the banter! The banter is epic. The chemistry between all eight of these guys sparks off the page. And even when it was just a few of them or, honestly, just Jem and Tean, it reminded me of why I fell in love with this universe of books in the first place.
The Mystery
This book has a self-contained mystery as well as an overall arching one that will follow the team through the Iron on Iron series.
I won't give away any spoilers, but both plots believably intermingled to make for a satisfying but nicely intricate mystery that I'm intrigued to see how it will play out throughout all the books.
We also get a surprise from the past that will no doubt be a thorn in everyone's side moving forward which the inner sadist in me is greatly looking forward to. 😂
And we end on a juicy enough cliffhanger that it left my binge-reading self sad I have to wait for the next one.
This was an awesome read, I will definitely be reading again because honestly I read it so fast I need to reread slower and take my time to savor it like a wine fine, and 20/10 would recommend you immediately run and get this.
Can't wait for book 2—The Girl in the Wind, coming October 6th!
Thank you to the author for providing an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
