Losing It by Elizabeth Armstrong #UrbanFantasy #Bookreview

Losing it by Elizabeth Armstrong

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Losing it is an Urban Fantasy set in London, it opens with a dream scene which is a theme throughout the book. Then we meet Doctor Kate Winters as she arrives at her newly rented town house in Notting Hill. As the estate agent goes through the contract Kate is more fascinated by the pixies she sees.

Convinced these are hallucinations caused by post traumatic stress after her husband’s car crash, Kate begins a new life. Her neighbours in the town house are varied, Alec the sex God, Thomas the stony giant, plus she has her own Ninja mice flat mates.

With a need to distract herself from constantly thinking about Nick and being consumed by guilt over his death, Kate goes in search of childhood friend Ruth, now a Nun who helps at a shelter for the homeless. Clumsy from her own car crash scars, Kate makes friends at the shelter and a desire to help others kicks in. When 15 year old “O” turns up one day, Kate is instantly pulled towards her, but “O” is traumatised by Kate and disappears.

News of a Vampire style killer hits the headlines, women are turning up drained of blood and the police have little to go on. Kate’s urge to help “O” leads her into dangerous waters when she goes face to face with The Russian, a criminal drugs baron.

There’s more to “O” than just another runaway kid and soon no-one is who they appear to be. Dragged back to memories of family Aunts who claim to see fairies, Kate’s eyes are finally open to the shadow world and her part as a powerful player. A child born at midnight and one of 3 wounds; flesh, heart and soul, she’s been chosen in an age old battle .

This book did take a little while to get into, opening with a dream scene is an overdone starter, I could easily have been happy with the taxi arriving at the new house. The pixies make a unique and fun book opener. As the book progressed I was pulled into the storyline more and more until I couldn’t put it down.

I liked the way the paranormal world unfolded and character layers peeled away. I enjoyed Kate’s spunky haphazard character and her struggle to understand her role. The Nuns were fun and the homeless shelter scenes a delight. I connected less with the dream scene characters and was often confused with who they related to. But I thought Kate’s Aunts wonderful characters and would have enjoyed meeting them earlier in the book. I think there is definitely room for a sequel and would happily read it.

This review is based on a free copy of the book given to me by the author.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

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