Reader's Review: "Spirit's Lullaby" by J. E. Mueller

Synopsis from Amazon:

Lost souls. Scheming demons. A young woman caught in a struggle she does not understand.
Tella is gifted, able to communicate with the dead. Using her gift, she guides lost souls, helping them to cross over. When she discovers demons deceiving helpless souls and recruiting them for their own dark designs, Tella finds herself caught in a conspiracy between realms. To stop this growing threat, she must master abilities she does not yet understand.

Can Tella master her gift in time or will she join the lost souls like those who tried before her?
A Tune of Demons follows three young women caught up in the twisted schemes of angels and demons, taking readers oh a spellbinding journey of love, magic, and redemption.

>>>>>>>>>

My Review:

Oh goodness! It’s times like this that I seriously start to figure that maybe I need to rethink my strategy of waiting A WHOLE ENTIRE YEAR (OR THREE) between consecutive books…

But then again, that’s the true mark of an excellent sequel, is it not: to be able to pick up the next book and be pulled right back into the world as if you’d never left?

That is exactly how I felt finally reading Spirit’s Lullaby.
I opened it up, quite forgetting not only most of the characters (except I knew of Key and a couple of her friends—a vague awareness of her royal siblings, and the like…)

But as I mentioned before, Mueller did an excellent job of bringing me right into the action and intrigue. Tella is traveling with Lydia, a Blessed warrior tasked with seeking out and dispatching demons who plague the villages around Shaudrey. Tella helps with her Gift of speed, and the fact that they can usually get hints of where demons are active because Tella can also see ghosts who are still trapped on the mortal plane. It is through conversations with different ghosts they encounter that Tella begins to realize that there is something dangerous afoot, that the enemy they defeated in the last book wasn't the "Big Bad" himself, but just a link in the chain that threatens to destroy the world and make it another demonic domain. There is that, and there is the mystery as to Tella's other abilities, such as being able to weild Blessed magic as well as Cursed magic--she feels kind of "trapped" between the two warring sides of the spirit realm, as much as the ghosts themselves are trapped and prevented from moving on into the afterlife. Can she find the answers she needs? Can Lydia and Tella figure out what's really going on before it's too late?

The characterizations are marvelous. Even the "cameos" from characters introduced in Fire's Song were clear and sound enough to re-conjure the memory of them as if I'd only read it a few months ago. Mueller crafts a suitably intriguing story, one without an obvious outcome, that keeps the reader guessing, and populated by characters and plot devices that are interesting enough to hold the reader's interest. I remember one of the things I said about Fire's Song was that I became so invested in the characters that I would stay up far too late reading, just to know what happens to them--the same holds true for Spirit's Lullaby, even though by now I didn't really have the luxury of reading until my eyes closed by themselves! The plot twists made me catch my breath, the pacing held my interest consistently from beginning to end, and while the conclusion answered a lot of the questions from the beginning, it also set up some definite changes that we as readers won't get to see the effects of until the next book--which I am so glad I have already!

Spirit's Lullaby is an excellent sequel as well as a worthy story in itself. I give it *****5 STARS***** and I would add to it an Upstream Writer Certified RECOMMENDED endorsement. If you're looking for a gorgeous fantasy/paranormal adventure with kickass heroines and quality characters with a fascinating plot, look no further than the A Tune of Demons trilogy!

Further Reading: (Also By The Author/Paranormal/Fantasy/Compelling Adventure/Strong Heroine)

A Tune Of Demons Series--J. E. Mueller
       -Fire's Song 
       -Spirit's Lullaby (*This book)
       -Dreamer's Melody

The Bhinian Empire--Miriam Forster
     -City of A Thousand Dolls 
     -Empire of Shadows

Verona: The Complete Mermaid Tales--Pauline Creeden
       -Scales 
       -Submerged 
       -Salt 
       -Surfacing

Lord of the Wyrde Woods--Nils Visser
     -Escape From Neverland 
     -Dance Into The Wyrd 

Talented Series--Amy Hopkins
     -A Drop of Dream 
     -A Dash of Fiend 
     -A Splash of Truth 

-The Purple Door District--Erin Casey

The LouisiAngel Series--C. L. Coffey
        -Angel in Training 
        -Angel Eclipsed 
        -Angel Tormented