Undone by Rachel Caine

Once she was a powerful Djinn.  Then Cassiel defied her ruler, Ashan, who tore her very essence away and reshaped her in human flesh as punishment.  Forced to live among mortals, Cassiel has found refuge among the Weather Wardens--whose power she must tap into regularly, or she will die.


Cassiel earns her keep by assisting the Earth Warden Manny Rocha on his missions--which she finds much easier than coping with the emotions and frailties of her human condition, especially her growing affection for Manny's brother, Luis.  But when Cassiel encounters a malevolent force that threatens the Rocha family, she discovers that her perceived human weaknesses may be her greatest strengths...

Obtained: Bought
Genre:  Urban Fantasy
Series:  Outcast Season
1.  Undone
2.  Unknown (book review)

My Rating:

Re-read this.  Enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time.

Story:
Cassiel's tale begins upon her ejection from her "heaven", which is in actuality, the aetheric.  It is at this point, after being saved by David--the New Djinn's Conduit--that she learns she needs Wardens in order to survive.  For you see, when she was banished from the aetheric, her powers were banished also, meaning she is now a human.  Something she is not thrilled about.

It takes a family--the Rochas--to slowly melt her ice encased heart.  But when this is finally achieved, will it be too late for her?  For them?  For humanity?

My Opinion:
If you haven't read Caine's Weather Warden series yet, I strongly suggest you stop where you are and pick up those books first.  Or at least, read the first one, okay?  I'm telling you this now, because while you can read Undone without too much prior knowledge of the Weather Warden universe, you're not gonna know who the hell all these other characters are that are introduced in the beginning.  You're also going to read about lots of allusions to past events in the other series and be like huh?  And I know that some people might not be thrilled about that, especially in the start of the book.  Plus, Caine doesn't delve further into these concepts as much in Undone as she does in her Weather Warden series.  So, I think people might be a teensy bit confused if they start with the Outcast Season series first.  Just my fair warning.

Warning aside, Caine does it again with beautiful characterization.  Cassiel had me cracking up with her strange Djinn mannerisms at the start.  Seriously, they were hilarious.  I fell in love with her persona all over again the past two days because of that, it was wonderful.

Cassiel's thoughts really invade your own, effecting the way you view the other characters.  You grow bored of a certain person when she does.  Your interest is sparked when hers is with Luis.  You feel a softening of emotions towards little Isabel.  It's the strangest thing, because it doesn't happen often enough for me as a reader.  Usually I still feel somewhat detached, but with Undone, I felt as if I were Cassiel at times.

I found that the most interesting aspect of the story was Cassiel coping with all of these new human emotions.  Seeing things initially through a Djinn's perspective is a great new and interesting approach.

It's definitely worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of Rachel Caine.

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• Paperback: Mass Market - 320 pages
  
• Price: $7.99
  
• ISBN-10: 0451462610
• ISBN-13: 978-0451462619
• Released: Feb 3 2009
• Rachel Caine's Website
• Buy it at Penguin.com
• Buy it at Amazon.com