Review: Nameless: The Darkness Comes (The Bone Angel Trilogy, #1)

Author: Mercedes M. Yardley
Series: Bone Angel Trilogy, #1
Published: January 16th 2014
Publisher: Ragnarok
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: Amazon

Luna Masterson sees demons. She has been dealing with the demonic all her life, so when her brother gets tangled up with a demon named Sparkles, ‘Luna the Lunatic’ rolls in on her motorcycle to save the day.

Armed with the ability to harm demons, her scathing sarcasm, and a hefty chip on her shoulder, Luna gathers the most unusual of allies, teaming up with a green-eyed heroin addict and a snarky demon ‘of some import.’

After all, outcasts of a feather should stick together...even until the end.

Thanks to a lucky streak, I've discovered a few fantastic indie reads lately, and Nameless by Mercedes Yardley is a shiny star among them. It is a dark and edgy mix of genres, a novelty both in urban fantasy and in horror. As an author, Yardley makes her own way, leaving behind all well-worn paths and familiar tropes. If you think we've seen it all, think again. With Nameless, surprises are around every corner.

Nameless came to my hands entirely by accident. I so rarely accept random review requests these days, but I've heard a great many wonderful things about Ragnarok Publications and I was determined to give them a chance. After reading Nameless, I'll never hesitate to buy one of their titles again.

Luna Masterson has been seeing demons since she was a little girl. She inherited the horrible ability from her father, a wonderful, yet tortured man who killed himself years ago. Luna and her brother are all alone, and they live together in Seth's house and raise Seth's baby daughter all on their own. Luna is far from your average heroine. She is headstrong, prickly and extremely difficult, but the amount of sympathy she provokes makes all her faults instantly forgivable. Despite being a bit hard to like at times, Luna is a character I had no trouble understanding. Her awful temper and solitary ways are a direct consequence of her ability, and she's always quick to hurt those she cares about before they get a chance to hurt her.

The secondary characters are every bit as strong and well-developed as Luna herself. The moment Luna meets Reed Taylor, it's clear how important he'll become in the overall storyline and his character is developed accordingly from the start. Their relationship did feel a bit like instalove, but it was so multi-layered and messed up that the term simply didn't apply. My favorite character by far, though, was Mouth, a demon determined to help Luna in any way he can, even if said help was less than welcome. In order to accept and even befriend Mouth, Luna had to overcome years of ingrained prejudices, but she did it in her usual prickly and obnoxious manner.

It should be said that the elements of horror become stronger as the story progresses and that the final part is especially gruesome and disgusting. But even if you're not a fan, trust me when I say it's worth it. The emotional impact this book had on me is a rare and beautiful thing and I doubt it would fail to touch any of you.

There were a few minor problems I cannot talk about for fear of spoiling the delightfully unpredictable plot. Some very important moments felt rushed and not properly explained, and the choices some characters made (one character in particular) seemed far too extreme. There was also the small matter of Luna referring to Reed Taylor as 'Reed Taylor', name and last name, every single time*, which certainly took away from my reading enjoyment and threatened to drive me bonkers. That said, Nameless is a read not to be missed at any cost and Mercedes Yardley an author who will surely give us many more exciting reads.

*I call this an estepism after Jennifer Estep, who used to do the exact same thing with her character Donovan Caine.

A copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher for review purposes. No considerations, monetary or otherwise, have influenced the opinions expressed in this review.