Time-stopping good times ‘Blue Effect’ by @RoseShababy #review

BLUE EFFECT is a blend of dark & real issues combined with super hero vigilantism & fear to create this “time-stopping” addition to the new emerging super-hero sub-genre.

Looking for a new adventure? Look no more, seriously stop looking. Hey, stop! Gods does anyone listen these days? giggling stop clicking just scroll down and read!

When I debuted this new release in September, little did I know I would get a chance to post my review in time to be on the tour. I just finished reading this on Friday, and wow. Can I say again wow. BLUE EFFECT is a blend of dark & real issues combined with super hero vigilantism & fear to create this “time-stopping” addition to the new emerging super-hero sub-genre.

Set in Seattle, my home town, this story unfolds with the introduction of Blue. Like many woman her age, Blue has little to no self-worth. She has never felt like she fit in, and being the daughter of a drunk who threw her out at 16 when she wasn’t thrilled with her latest sleep over feeling Blue up while Blue was attempting to get breakfast.

It is sad, but I see a little of myself in Blue. Not the friend bit, (she really didn’t have any) but the self-esteem issues. The trust issues, the all around feeling of drowning under all the weight of her… paper doll. She is just so ugly at times, but we are drawn to her, rooting she will find her way out of her self-imposed Hell. And we do finally get to see her start to get there. We see Blue erupt in real beauty, not the painted on variety she had been doing at the clubs, but real inner beauty. We see her grow and we see her embrace this new family and her powers like a horse drawn to water in the middle of a desert. Drinking up the attention, the love and learning to stand up to people who she normally just would have used and forgotten.

There were times I felt like it was to fast, but then I realized if we spent all our time reading the months leading up to the when she finally is getting her grove on etc, we would be bored and this book is anything but boring. There were some rough spots, and my version (which I got from Amazon when it was released in September) had a couple missed editing errors, but  not anything to take me out of the story like some books I have read.

The cover is top notch, the world build was great. I felt like I was back in Seattle. I could smell my city and I know those clubs, know the bouncers, or knew that is, and felt like I was watching Blue from the bar, before … well.. before “it” first happened.

Over all, I recommend this book to anyone who likes urban fantasy, who wants love and personal growth, who likes snark, creative swearing, festive good times and a whole lot of curious fucked-up darkness. In fact, I was sick while reading it and had a nightmare. It is, wow dark and creepy at times. Panic rose while reading it and I still was holding my breath when I shut my Kindle.

8.5 out of 10 on the Cabin Goddess Epicness Scale

POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNING – If you are really easily triggered by themes of childhood sexual abuse, you really may want to watch this one. There are several instances and though not as graphic as some, both the abuse and the sexual abuse subject is written well and not in a gratuitous manner). This did not trigger me, and sever instances do trigger me, but it is REALLY dark. Just a fair warning.

The Blue Effect
Series: Renegade Heroes - book 1
by Rose Shababy
Pages: approx. 350
Published by Super Sheroes LLC
on September 8th, 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
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Blue Brennan is jaded and bitter despite her pinup girl looks and quick wit. Night after night, she scours the Seattle club scene looking for someone or something to fill the emptiness inside.
 
When she meets the mysterious Kasey, her world stops… literally. He claims she has the ability to control time and stuns her even further when he reveals his own gifts.
 
Blue is inexplicably drawn to Kasey and reluctantly enters his world filled with a new breed of humanity. They’re misfits like her, blessed or cursed with powerful abilities, struggling to hide their differences from the rest of society.
 
Then the group discovers a nameless, faceless sociopath with nightmarish powers; and he’s coming for Blue. She’s left reeling when they discover her gifts are the key to defeating his terrible evil and saving them all.
 
Now she must race against the clock to harness her own powers and save her new friends. Can she be more than a renegade? Can she be a hero too?

Cover Artist: Regina Wamba

Blue Goats, even they think it is tasty!

As I scanned the crowd my eyes fell on one person out of sync with the rest. Close to my age, maybe a little older, he obviously didn’t belong in the club. His clothes, messy looking slacks and a gray t-shirt, hung on his lean frame. He finished his look with a tartan scarf and brown fedora that seemed more at home on an old man than one in his twenties.

He pulled his hat off and shaggy brown hair fell across his eyes as he danced. Well, he didn’t dance so much as sway to the music, his eyes closed while a hint of a smile graced his lips. As he danced, he bobbed his head back and forth and his hands moved like graceful waves. His shadow grin seemed to infuse his entire body. He danced by himself as if he didn’t care what anyone around him thought, as if he danced for himself and no one else. He looked completely out of place, yet he appealed to me and I felt myself wanting to go to him.

I was shocked by the surge of jealousy that rushed through me as I stared at him. His face broke through my drunken haze and I realized this man was no paper doll. His face belonged to a truly happy man. Hell, he looked fucking ecstatic.

He had the face of an angel.

About Rose Shababy

Rose Shababy and her family reside in eastern Washington State. Rose grew up in the Northwest but swears she’s going to move to warmer climates someday. She’s claimed this for over 20 years, however, and has yet to move more than 75 miles away from her mother.
 
Rose has a deep love of all things Star Trek and yearns to travel the heavens, as well as an intense desire to be bitten by a radioactive spider.
 
Unfortunately she sucks at science and math so she hasn’t been able bring her dreams to life, instead living vicariously through books, comics, television and film. She hopes to someday make a million dollars so she can afford to buy her way to the international space station, but she’d settle for being able to fly around the world and leap tall buildings in a single bound.
 
Rose also loves to cook and worked for years in a gourmet Italian grocery and deli where she learned to hone her skills. She prepares culinary masterpieces for her family, but fervently wishes the dishes would wash themselves. Especially now that her dishwashers/children are nearly grown and only one still lives at home.
Rose likes to use her free time wisely. For instance, she likes to daydream, will often read for hours until she falls asleep on the couch with an electric blanket and a warm tabby cat curled up on her hip, as well as spending cozy weekend days watching Syfy movies like Sharknado and Mega Piranha with her husband.
 
If Rose were a cartoon animal, she’d prefer to be a wise old owl or a sleek and sexy jaguar, but in reality she’d probably be a myopic mole with coke-bottle glasses.

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Have you read any super hero urban fantasies you can suggest? Have you read this one? What did you think!? Post your link if you did to your review! I would love to hear!