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Title: Judgement Day (#2 Seekers)
Author: Josie Jaffrey
Published: 6th of May 2021 – Silver Sun Books
Format: Digital (eARC) – 318 pages
Hello Hello! How are you?
Today I am so happy to be bringing you my review of Judgement Day by Josie Jaffrey, the 2nd book in the Seekers series. This book publishes today!
I am so glad that I discovered Josie’s books last year because I have enjoyed each one I have read and Judgement Day was no exception, it was SO good and I thoroughly enjoyed it, so keep on reading my post for all my thoughts!
Thank you so much to Josie for sending me a free copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.
Disclaimer: Judgement Day is the second book in the Seekers series, so I will only be writing a mini-review and trying to keep it as spoiler-free as possible. If you have not read this series yet but want to, head over to my review of Killian’s Dead and May Day first!
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS
Vampires don’t get happily ever afters.
Jack Valentine finally has her shit together. She has a great job, great friends (well, one at least) and a girlfriend whom she loves, even if she can’t work up the courage to tell her that yet. Unfortunately, she also has an archnemesis who’s about to punish her crimes in the worst possible way: by making her spend time with him.
Which she could cope with, maybe, if she didn’t have problems at work as well. When the body of a human judge is found in a locked library, there’s no denying that she was murdered by one of the Silver – by a vampire – and the evidence points worryingly close to home. If that wasn’t bad enough, some of Jack’s least favourite people are opening a new blood bar in Oxford with questionable motives. For Jack and her team, it’s becoming increasingly hard to separate allies from enemies.
With conspiracies on every side, the simmering tensions in Silver society are about to come to a head. As usual, Jack intends to be right in the middle of it. She does like it when things get messy.
Judgement Day is the second book in Josie Jaffrey’s Seekers series, an urban fantasy series set in Oxford, England.
REVIEW
Trigger warnings: violence, murder, blood, gore, injuries, dead bodies, mention of child neglect, detailed autopsy and forensic investigation, sexual content (consensual), blood-drinking, drugs, alcohol. Josie has a complete list of all content warnings in all her currently published books that you can find here.
Judgement Day by Josie Jaffrey is the second book in the Seekers series, which is an urban fantasy, paranormal, mystery series with vampires who have to solve deaths and crimes committed by the Silver, that is by vampires. I adored May Day so when I found out that the second book was being published, I couldn’t say “yes” fast enough.
SETTING
This book is set in Oxford just like the first one and I have really been getting into urban fantasy lately, so I really enjoyed it. We also get to see some other parts of the city such as the Rad Cam, but also more parts of the Baron of Oxford’s mansion, Crimson (a new club) and we spend more time in the college where the Seekers live and work. I love Josie’s descriptions and I could definitely picture all the places we get to see through Jack’s point of view.
CHARACTERS
I’m only going to go over the characters very quickly because I don’t want to spoil anyone and it is better to go in fairly blind because they are such amazing characters. I also really recommend you read Killian’s Dead before starting the Seekers series because it will explain a lot of things about Killian and Jack’s relationship.
I had forgotten how much I loved Jack but as soon as I started reading this book, I was sucked back into the story and into Jack’s point of view. I love her as a character. She is so sassy, determined, strong-willed, but she also has a vulnerable side that was explored more in this book that made her an even more complex character in my opinion. I also still love Cam and Naia, they are great colleagues and I liked that we got a bit more insight into Boyd too. Tabitha was interesting in this instalment, that’s all I can say! And Drake, omg, what an infuriating character. I could totally feel what Jack was feeling when they were together.
I also really liked that throughout the book, Josie reminds you of things that happened in May Day which actually really helped me because I read the first instalment about a year ago, but I had no problem continuing the series so long after discovering it.
THEMES
Unique vampires: As you know, vampires are one of my favourite creatures to read about in books and I think that Josie has written one of the most unique bunch of vampires I’ve ever had the opportunity to read about. They call themselves the Silver because of something special that happens to their eyes (won’t say what!) and they are not the typical “can’t go out in the sun” vampires. I really, really like this take on the vampire and I think that Jack is definitely one of my favourite vampire characters ever.
Murders and mysteries: I also love murder and mysteries and this was a really intriguing one that turned out to be a lot bigger than just a murder committed by a Silver. The Seekers are tasked with keeping themselves secret and figuring out murders committed with Silver violence and taking care of them. I loved the murder and mysteries in book one and they continued in book 2 but got a lot bigger than I was expecting. I love how the whole thing was pulled off.
Secrets and conspiracy theories: With murder and mysteries come secrets, but in this book, there is also some conspiracy theories. I can’t say much, but what I will say is that I never expected anything that happens and I was so invested in the story, I didn’t even see the time fly. I whizzed through this book and I loved how everything slotted into place and everything that was revealed shocked me.
Relationships: We explore a lot of relationships in this book that were hinted about in the first instalment. Again, I can’t say much because I don’t want to say anything spoilery, but one thing that happened I did not expect and I was so annoyed at that particular character. The second thing is that I was rooting for someone since book one and I am SO glad how things turned out. Utter satisfaction in that ending.
A really fantastic series that I now love: And finally, I just have to say that this is a fantastic series. I don’t know how many more books there will be in the Seekers series, but I will be here for every single one of them and Josie is definitely one of my favourite authors. I am going to make my way through all her backlist in the next months and I will just have to wait very impatiently to find out what happens to Jack and everyone else. If you want to read Josie’s books but don’t know where to start, here is a reading order to help!
MY THOUGHTS AND RATING
Overall, as you can tell from my gushing and long review which was meant to be small, I loved this book. I knew I would really enjoy it because May Day was a fantastic first instalment in this series. Judgement Day remained strong and I think it even got better, which is uncommon in the second book in a series.
I love Josie’s writing style. As I just mentioned, she is one of my favourite authors and one of the reasons for that is that her writing style always captures my attention and doesn’t ever drop it. I love reading her words because they are funny and also immersive. I felt the pace was very good also and I struggled to put the book down when I needed to get on with work.
I gave this book 4.5 stars (full ASPECTS rating above) and I thoroughly enjoyed every single page. This was a great book and I just couldn’t read those last chapters fast enough. I was shocked by some revelations and I found the mysteries and secrets to be really well executed and highly enjoyable.
If you love books with a unique take on vampires, murder, mysteries, secrets, complex characters with developing arcs through the series, a well-executed plot, a great writing style and some tense relationships that you can’t help but root for, then you have found your book. I highly recommend Judgement Day to all vampire, fantasy, urban fantasy and mystery lovers.
Thank you once again to Josie for the chance to read this book in advance, it was such a great reading experience and I can’t wait for more adventures with Jack and all the gang.
That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed this post, see you soon, stay safe,
Ellie xx
ABOUT THE AUTHOR – JOSIE JAFFREY
Josie is the author of nine self-published novels plus short stories. She is currently working on a range of fantasy and historical fiction projects (both adult and YA), for which she is seeking representation. Ultimately, she hopes to be a hybrid author, both traditionally- and self-published.
Josie lives in Oxford with her husband and two cats (Sparky and Gussie), who graciously permit human cohabitation in return for regular feeding and cuddles. The resulting cat fluff makes it difficult for Josie to wear black, which is largely why she gave up being a goth. Although the cats are definitely worth it, she still misses her old wardrobe.
Josie’s Links: Website – Patreon – Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – Instagram – YouTube – Pinterest
ASPECTS RATING
Atmosphere – 7
Start – 7
Pacing – 7
Ending – 8.5
Characters – 8
Theme – 7.5
Style – 8.5
Total = 53.5
This list includes some affiliate links. If you decide to purchase a book from one of my links, I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
If you would like to purchase this book, you can find it here: Amazon UK – Amazon FR – Amazon US – AbeBooks – Barnes and Noble – Blackwell’s – BetterWorldBooks
Nice, thorough review! Visiting from Gina’s blog.
Thank you!