The Accession has arrived in Skein, and with it comes all the chaos and mayhem you would expect. Enemies become lovers, predators become prey, new allegiances are made, and betrayals of the highest degree are committed. Through it all, survival is the ultimate prize, but not everyone makes it to the end.

I have mixed feelings about Kresley Cole’s RAVENOUS. As a fan of the Immortals After Dark (IAD) series, I was excited to see she had started a spin- off series set in a different realm with all-new characters. And there are a lot of new characters. If you’re picking this up looking for Cole’s standard paranormal romance, you will be a bit disappointed. There are so many stories, characters, and POVs jumping around, you’re bound to get whiplash at some point.  There’s a little bit of everything for everyone: action, romance, heartache, drama, betrayal. It feels a bit like a reset to the IAD series almost, with all the players and their stories being introduced at once. At times, it’s hard not to compare some of the characters with the ones already established in the IAD series and see the similarities.

For all that RAVENOUS is not your standard Cole fare, it is still a Kresley Cole novel, which means it’s very well written and you find yourself being sucked in fairly quickly. After some initial bouncing around as you get used to all the jumping from character to character, you’ll find your groove and really settle in. There are so many characters to choose from, you’ll find a favorite to root for in no time. Things move very quickly, so it never gets boring, and there are some great one-liners that’ll have you in stitches. I do wonder if Cole has plans to eventually merge this with the IAD series and let absolute chaos ensue. Given the cliffhanger RAVENOUS ended on, I wouldn’t be surprised to see that happen. I cannot wait for the next book in the series. I’m hoping it’ll be less chaotic and more focused on one or two pairings, but regardless of what Cole gives us, I’ll be waiting on release day for it.