Cainsville Overview

Cainsville by Kelley Armstrong

 

This post will contain spoilers for the entire Cainsville series, including all but one short-story and the novellas. You have been warned.

Cainsville was one of the few series in my life I managed to pick up as it was initially coming out. I followed it, apparently, right up until the last book (Rituals). I'm not sure how I managed to miss it at the time, but I did. I am happy to say that I have now finished the entire series and am mostly satisfied with how it turned out.

I was initially drawn to Cainsville because I very much enjoyed Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld/Otherworld series and because the the Fae element. I haven't read many books or series with a strong Fae element thus far so I was excited to see where all this went. I was initially happy with the amount of Fae lore dropped in among the human mystery parts of the story, though that waned as the series went on. The Fae stuff was still there, it just wasn't as present or otherwise just disappointing. Honestly, the addition of the sluagh as the over-arching "Big Bad" of the series just tanked the ending for me. The sluagh turned out to be some connecting tissue that probably could have been more fleshed out, but just wasn't. While I was kind of wondering what exactly possessed Patrick to actually father Gabriel, I wasn't going to be fussed never finding out.

If you've read my reviews, you'll also know that I'm not a fan of the romance elements. Or rather, not a fan of the love triangle stuff. I liked Ricky and Olivia together, but I'm definitely not a fan of Gabriel and Olivia being end-game. I personally feel like a more polygamous bent to their relationship would have made more sense. That's not to say strong friendships shouldn't be valued or cultivated, as Olivia and Ricky's is, just that... I dunno, would have felt neater from a story perspective. Also, I really do feel like Gabriel feels more asexual than not. I'm an very aware that, like most things and especially sexuality, asexuality is a spectrum and Gabriel definitely fits with some of what I've experienced personally with my own asexuality... just... the way his relationship with Olivia progresses feels weird to me. I'm not sure exactly how to explain it, but it definitely feels like Gabriel should have been fine being the friend in this forced love-triangle thing. (I will talk more about that, I promise.) It didn't seem like he had any romantic feelings in Olivia's direction until the plot and the ghost of Gwynn demanded it. I'm just not a fan of how that all worked out.

So, speaking of Gwynn... I'm also not a fan of how this ridiculousness for coded into the Fae storyline. We've got the Tylwyth Teg vs the Cŵn Annwn. Gwynn vs Arawn over the affections of Matilda. That's the whole impetus for the entirety of Cainsville, ultimately. Welsh Fae nonsense, basically. (I say that affectionately, really.) So, basically, back in ye olden times, before humans were in any sort of power in Wales, this Fae Prince of the Tylwyth Teg (Gwynn) and the Lord of the Underworld, Leader of the Cŵn Annwn (Arawn) make a pact not to try and win the affections of their mutual friend who has blood from both their lineages (Matilda). Really, in the text, it's Arawn who decides this needs to be a pact and Gwynn just goes along with it for... reasons? They do not tell Matilda about this pact. Later on down the line, Matilda makes her affections for Gwynn clear to him and they plan to marry, but do not breathe a word of this to their "bestie" Arawn... for reasons? Arawn finds out at pretty much the last minute and confronts Gwynn about their "pact." Arawn decides to tell Gwynn that if Matilda comes to him on the night before their wedding, she's now Arawn's. A new "pact" is formed, apparently. They tell Matilda none of this. Gwynn does not try to stop her from going to Arawn. Weird magic happens and not only does Matilda lose Gwynn and the Tylwyth Teg, she dies. Neither man gets what he wanted... and they are now doomed to reincarnate over and over to replay this nonsense. Whoever the Matilda chooses, gets her magical power for that generation... or something. That part was a little unclear. Also unclear exactly why a two-way split couldn't just work, even though that's what ends up happening at the end of the series. What is very clear is that Arawn is an asshole.

So, Olivia is the Matilda, Ricky is the Arawn, and Gabriel is the Gwynn of this generation. Olivia is told by the Cainsville elders that she must choose which of these men she's going to be with because weird magic nonsense. This three-some is unhappy about this and basically end up dithering until a weird third-party magic "race" (the sluagh I mentioned earlier) enters the fray in Rituals. Oh, and neither the Tylwyth Teg nor the Cŵn Annwn want to give Olivia and information about themselves until she decides to let them start courting her. Again, this whole thing could have been solved by a "Persephone solution" as Olivia puts it... and is, at the very end.

But yeah, I'm not at all salty about any of this. And to be clear, none of this made me not enjoy the story. I did enjoy the ride... mostly. I think the whole situation is very silly and obviously spawned by an idiot teenager. This is in the text of the books, by the way, I'm not making that bit up. Arawn was an idiot teenager at the time the original "pacts" were made. It's just amazing they got turned into such a big thing, magically speaking.

Outside of the Welsh Fae stuff, there is a bit of outside Fae stuff. Greek Fae, to be precise. Lamiae and Dryads make an appearance. I very much liked the inclusion of something other than Welsh Fae. Wish there had been more. I'm pretty sure the Cainsville series wouldn't really have supported adding in more mythologies, given how insular Cainsville itself is, but... eh. That's me with my global mythology interest wanting what I can't have.

I liked the original spooky supernatural mystery vibe of Omens. That definitely drew me into the series. However, that vibe definitely decreased as the series went on. Olivia did very little omen-sensing after Omens. That ability was largely discarded in favor of visions, granted by some kind of generational Fae memory. The love-triangle thing took center stage, even with the "mystery of the book" happening outside of it.

I did this read-through chronologically, as I've been doing with series lately, and I feel like the short stories did add something to the overall series. However, the novellas were largely just a revisiting of the characters and their emotional states. With the short stories, we got looks at characters outside of the whole "Matilda" thing but still within the realm of the Fae/human interbreeding and what can happen with that. We got a glimpse of Patrick pre-Omens, Gabriel's childhood, and what TC was up to. I quite enjoyed these short stories. The novellas... I could honestly reread Cainsville quite happily leaving them out. As I've said before, they really just rehash Oliva and Gabriel's feelings on what they're going through and have been through. The last two, while slightly interesting in that they explore a bit of what happens after Rituals, don't really bring much to the table, in my opinion.

I realize a lot of what I've discussed here sounds quite negative. It probably is. However, Cainsville is quite well done overall and entertaining to boot. I really do enjoy it. I just have a heavy eye-rolling kind of feeling toward certain elements... obviously. I wouldn't have so much to say if Cainsville was boring, after all.

Very last note: The novellas include some art depicting certain scenes contained within them. They're... interesting. Mostly okay, but honestly, they make Olivia look a couple decades older than 24. I also don't think the illustrations really add anything to the stories.

Cruel Fate by Kelley Armstrong

Honestly... I was bored through most of this. Most of the character stuff was just rehashing things that had already been "taken care of" earlier in the overall narrative. The mystery was just kind of "bleh." There was no way Todd was going to end up back in jail after pretty much the entire Cainsville series was so focused on him getting out. Even the Fae stuff was just "meh."

Rough Justice by Kelley Armstrong

Rough Justice was an alright mystery story. Fairly twisty. Just kind of "whatever" for me, though. I wasn't at all invested in it, or either mystery, really. The mysteries take place firmly in the human world and that's honestly just boring to me.

I was much more interested in Olivia's Cŵn Annwn scene at the beginning than anything else in this novella. I've always been much more invested in the fantasy parts of the Cainsville novels, so this was really no surprise to me. Getting to "see" a Hunt was fun. It was a disappointingly short bit of the overall story, though.

I'm still not super into or really buying Gabriel and Olivia as a couple. Gabriel definitely reads more asexual to me than anything else, even despite his attraction to Olivia. They definitely work better for me as friends and business partners. The romance spark just doesn't feel like it's there.

Rituals by Kelley Armstrong

I have reached the "official" end of the series... still got two more novellas to go, but Rituals marks the end of the main series. It was quite the ending... threading in some little loose ends rather deftly, all things considered, while at the same time throwing in an ultimate Big Bad for the series that was apparently there all along, just not as overt as the Tylwyth Teg and Cŵn Annwn. The sluagh, a semi-interesting addition that really drove the plot more than anything else.

I'm not sure I really agree with Olivia's decision of "mates" in the end. Of course, I also didn't really think Kelley Armstrong was going to go the polycule route, either. Still... I think I'm just gonna make that my head-cannon. Olivia chooses who she chooses for the sake of the plot but they end up in a polycule down the line because that just makes more sense to me. "Stick together" is much easier in a modern relationship than it would have been between the kingdoms of Gywnn and Arawn.

I really, really enjoyed the addition of Helia and Alexios. They were a lot of fun and added a much-needed breath of levity. I was half-expecting them to be the solution to the sluagh's, uh... spoilery thing it turned out the sluagh were responsible for... but... yeah. They were fun.

I'm glad we finally got an answer as to what exactly's going on with Grace's apartment building. I liked that addition to the lore. Liked most of the additions to the lore. They were very well done and satisfying overall. Oh! I almost forgot about Lloergan! I'd hoped we'd get more of her, and we did. Even a pronunciation guide to her name... though you won't catch me trying to say it anytime soon. Didn't even stick after reading it a few times. But anyway, Lloergan was very sweet and her presence very welcome.

Seanna's reemergence I could honestly take or leave. She was a puzzle piece, ultimately. One that felt a little shoe-horned in, if I'm being completely honest, but... yeah. I suppose I was just as curious as anyone as to why she seduced (or whatever) Patrick all those years ago and we did get that answer... but she was very "meh" as a character, all told.

Rituals was a satisfying ending to the Cainsville series. I like that it's ultimately open to additions, as with the pair of novellas I'm about to read... and, ultimately, I'm just glad to not have to read more of the love triangle thing. Persephone would be proud, I think.

Favorite Lines

"Right or wrong, one cannot argue with the excitement value of a good murder, because it leads to a good mystery." - Helia

"Adventure comes with risk or it would hardly feel adventurous." - Helia

"We love traps. They're like puzzles, only with higher stakes." - Olivia Taylor-Jones

Betrayals by Kelley Armstrong - 2024 Reread

Reread Review

So, yes. I am still very, very annoyed with the love triangle aspects of this story. I think Ricky's "solution" to this at the end of the book is a good one. Definitely leaning more into a polycule solution, which is honestly the one I would prefer. I know, I know that main Fae interest in Olivia and the boys is exactly this love-triangle thing and the choice, but I'm really more invested in the lore and mystery aspects of the series than I am the romance.

Much of Betrayals focuses on Gabriel's developing feelings for Olivia and his thought processes surrounding that. I honestly had very little patience for Gabriel this time around. I understand his trauma a lot more due to the short-stories and novellas that have been added to the chronology, but... he should have taken his own thought-advice more often than not. I'm a big believer in communication and that's something Gabriel just tends not to do. It's immensely frustrating, which we definitely see through Olivia's reactions to that non-communicative nature of his.

I had completely forgotten the Hound stuff, despite apparently really enjoying it last time. I did enjoy it this time around. Looking forward to finally finishing the series and seeing if we do, indeed, see more of Lloergan.

I really enjoyed the further world-building around what is and isn't considered Fae. I always enjoy when other mythologies are included in this sort of thing, because there are mythological critters everywhere in the world, not just the British Isles. I definitely liked getting some more on the Cŵn Annwn.

A am apparently repeating myself from 2018 (which I did not reread before typing this out), so I think I'll just end this here. I largely liked Betrayals but I'm really, really hoping we can just finish this love-triangle stuff without boring me to death. Can't wait to finally find out.

2018 First Read Review

Favorite Lines

     "What's their purpose" I asked as I stood.

     "Children? No idea. It appears to be simply an inconvenient stage between birth and usefulness."

     "I mean the gargoyles," I said. - Olivia Taylor-Jones & Patrick

"Life is a sightseeing tour." - Olivia Taylor-Jones

Lost Souls by Kelley Armstrong

So, the main story line of Lost Souls gets and A+ from me. The mystery is a good one, folding in possibly unknown lore with the Fae stuff. I like how it went, I like how it was resolved.

However, I honestly found Gabriel's treading or re-treading of his insecurities involving Olivia really quite tedious. I get that he didn't have a great childhood. I get that he didn't learn how to make friends. I get that Olivia is literally the first relationship of any kind he's had to forge by himself. Fantastic. I wanted him to tell her all of that as a way of explaining the awkwardness that tends to happen between them from his end. I know she knows about Gabriel's horrible childhood at this point, but I'm not sure she knows or even thinks about what that might have truly done to his social skills. Some sort of explanation from him would have done wonders, I think.

I don't particularly enjoy yelling at a book or rolling my eyes over the utter lack of communication going on between characters. Gabriel is a very insular character and it's ridiculously frustrating to "watch," even if the rest of the story is pretty good.

Favorite Line

"He's a matagot. He understands me just fine."

     "He's also a cat. Which means he doesn't care." - Patrick and Grace

Portents by Kelley Armstrong

Portents should probably be read after you’ve read the main Cainsville series as it does contain story spoilers. Probably best to add it in, as I did, chronologically on a reread. Or just enjoy the stories on their own. I can’t tell you what to do.

So here we run into another problem I, personally, have with anthologies: stories published in multiple books. I purchased Led Astray: The Best of Kelley Armstrong for my Women of the Otherworld read through two years ago. I was initially pleased to encounter a few of the stories I would need to complete a Cainsville read through. This year, I purchased Portents and… the first three stories were the ones in Led Astray. Not really a giant deal, as I’ve got more to read anyway, but I’m still annoyed about it.

I read everything in Portents except the Lost Souls excerpt, because I believe Lost Souls is the next book in my chronological read-through anyway.
 

"The Screams of Dragons": I was not expecting that to be as seriously dark as it was. Just… wow. Even after the child abuse from Bobby’s grandmother, I was not expecting… wow. This was very well done.

"Devil May Care": I’m not sure how I feel about this one. Not entirely sure I needed Patrick’s side of Gabriel’s backstory, though I do like Patrick as a character. Also, this one is definitely one to read after reading the main Cainsville series, as Patrick’s role in things is a mystery to Olivia and Gabriel.
 

"Gabriel’s Gargoyles": Cute, if also somewhat maudlin. Gabriel’s childhood was not the best. I was not expecting a cute Gabriel story, to be honest. 

“Bad Publicity”: Exciting. Now my interest is more piqued about how useful “Gwynn” is outside of Cainsville and the purpose he has there.
 

"The Orange Cat”: I really liked the way this was told. Felt noir-ish to me. Also, gotta love a determined cat.
 

"Matagot”: Eh, it was alright. Another little piece to the puzzle I’m not sure really needed to be there… does explain a bit about TC and how he got stuck in the Carew House, but… also included another retelling of the Matilda thing, so that was less interesting.

"Lady of the Lake": This was interesting. I feel like Liv and Ricky are a little too comfy casually discussing the Fae stuff for when this is timeline-wise. However, it was actually fun to get the pair of them without any drama involved. The mystery here was also well done. I, too, was fooled by the puppy. Not sure where it was going after that, but I was definitely fooled.

Winter Lost by Patricia Briggs

Winter Lost was somewhere between filler and a romp, mostly. It was definitely good filler/rompy goodness. The stakes were ultimately really high, but I wasn't ever really worried Mercy wouldn't solve the problem. That's what she does, after all. I honestly feel like Winter Lost had one problem to actually solve and the rest of the story was just getting Mercy to a place where the solving could happen. (Slight spoiler in the second-to-last paragraph, just btw)

As usual with the Mercy series, I really loved the interweaving of mythologies. It makes total sense to me that beings that have been around for hundreds, if not thousands, of years would know each other and probably even be friends.

I also loved the bits of character development we got outside of Adam and Mercy. I definitely didn't remember Mary-Jo's love-interest, but it was nice to get a slice of her life and flesh her out a little more. We didn't really get a lot out of Darryl's bit of story, but Sherwood and Warren's bit had me laughing. Gotta love these little, low-stakes vignettes where characters we don't normally "see" interact do so.

The stuff at the lodge was vaguely interesting, but I spent most of that going "there's not that much book left," over and over to myself. The characters there were mostly just... whatever. They were there. The mystery wasn't that deep and kind of deus ex machina'd away thanks to whatever Mercy's damage was from Soul Taker... which was a lot more serious than I remembered, so I guess that was fun? Eh. The point was really to get Grandmother to "fix" Mercy's main, most pressing issue so... yeah.

Winter Lost was not that deep, but it was fun. Was a nice break from my read-through of Kelley Armstrong's Cainsville series where everything is super serious.

Favorite Lines

"Fine. When they shovel our frozen corpses out next spring, they can put 'They thought it would be fun' on our gravestone." - Mercy Hauptman

"Are you embarrassed that your audiobook started in the middle of a very hot sex scene between three men in a swimming pool?" asked Sherwood politely. "There's not reason to be embarrassed about that."

"Saddest thing in the world is listening to nineteen minutes of a twenty-minute sex scene," said Sherwood in a mock-mournful voice.

"Locks only ever keep out people who aren't determined to come in," - Grandmother Spider

Deceptions by Kelley Armstrong

 Spoiler-y Reread Review

Okay, so, Deceptions is the book where everything hits the fan. It ramps up to 11 on the Fae side of things, the whole Matilda thing is completely explained, and there is more than a hint at a love-triangle brewing. I’m personally not happy about that last one, but the rest is pretty good. It’s a little hard to believe that these books have only taken place over a few weeks, at most. I will warn right now that, due to the nature of this story and the way I feel about it, this review does contain spoilers.

Cult. Deprogrammers. Because Olivia broke up with you and you can’t take “no” for a damn answer. WTF James. My hatred is clearly justified. James just keeps getting worse. It’s gross. This feeling doesn’t change because of what happens to him mid-book. Still gross. Don’t do this shit. Take “no” for an answer, regardless of how you feel about the situation.

I really hate the whole Gwynn, Arawn, and Matilda thing. It’s incredibly cis, het, misogynistic BS. “Ah yes, Gwynn and Arawn keep make pacts about Matilda without letting Matilda know and she’s expected to just… go along with it? But she doesn’t know so… wtf even. Oh, and these pacts affect EVERYTHING because weird Fae reasons.” Some polyamory would have done these knuckleheads a world of good. Oh, and maybe TELLING MATILDA could have been part of the plan????? I’m happy Ricky agrees with me, at least as far are Gwynn and Arawn being pricks.

Also “Neither will accept that, because it dilutes your power and they both want it all. They will insist you choose.” Which, like, okay… but also, no. Olivia’s the one with the power, she should insist right back about a “Persephone solution,” as she calls it. This is so dumb. Tristan coming into the mix doesn’t help either, really.

All this is not to say that I’m not happy with the lore dumps. I am. They were interesting. All of them. I think I most enjoyed the visions at the mansion and the bits at the end. Getting the visions explained was also a bonus I’d forgotten happened.

Deceptions was a fun ride, despite my issues with the romance plot. It did have a bit of a feel of finality, if I’m honest. I know there’s more to go with the Olivia’s parents’ trials and maybe fully shaking out what’s going to happen with the whole Matilda thing, but the ending really felt like an ending. That’s not a bad thing, by any means. It’s actually quite nice to have a definitive ending and not being pulled along to the next book as strongly as the last two. 

Favorite Line

"I like the foreign names. It makes these conversations mildly less ridiculous." - Olivia Taylor-Jones

In Other News

I finished another OviPets project. This one is MetalSeadramon for my Mega Digimon Project line. Took me exactly 8 months.

Visions by Kelley Armstrong

Not sure whether this is relevant or not, but I did not previously review Visions. I reviewed Omens and Betrayals, but not Visions for some reason. I’m not sure what that reason is, as my first two reads were 10-ish years ago. However, thinking about how I feel about Visions now, I think maybe I didn’t have the language to talk about the characters. I’ll get into that more as I write this review.

First and foremost: everyone needs some therapy. Olivia, due to her parental situation and dead body encounters. Gabriel, because of his past, mostly. James, to get over this toxic bullshit he’s got going on. Just therapy all around, might be smart.

I like the Ciara Conway mystery for what it brings in terms of world-building. We know that Cainsville has some weird crap going on, apparently to do with Fae. That’s definitively confirmed here. That Cainsville has some sort of perception filter is honestly par for the course. I like that Olivia and Gabriel are pushing through it. That said, the preternatural stuff is rearing its head a lot more firmly in Visions. It’s still woven neatly with the “normal” stuff, which I think is a plus.

Given that I’ve only read the first three Cainsville novels and a smattering of short stories so far… I honestly did not remember what happened with James. It is safe to say that I actively hate him. I hate the way he’s decided he basically owns Olivia despite her saying very clearly, several times, that she doesn’t want him. Hate it. Hate him. He’s really giving me Riley from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer vibes. More milk-toast and excluded from the actual goings on than everyone else and resenting it. Well… resenting that Olivia is not “his.” Blech.

I actually quite like Ricky, so far. He’s so far done very little wrong. He’s a charming character. Apparently has ties to something Cainsville-related… which I don’t remember if that’s made more explicit in Omens or one of the short-stories, but yeah… don’t know much about it from a Visions perspective anyway. Ricky’s a pretty good character.

I love that we get to see Gabriel’s trauma hoard, even if Olivia has no idea… I won’t say anything more about that, though, as it is late enough in the book to be a spoiler. But Gabriel does loosen up some more here, which is good.

Visions is largely about Olivia discovering and figuring out exactly what’s up with Cainsville and breaking more firmly into her own life away from the life she had at the beginning of the series. I enjoyed the ride and — despite rereading my Betrayals review — looking forward to the next one. I’m genuinely interested in learning more about the Fae in this “realm” and hope there’s more of that to come. 

*Amendment: I completely forgot Deceptions existed while writing this review. I also haven't reviewed it.

Favorite Line

     "I don't think angels are supposed to grant wishes."

     "They should. It would make them much more interesting." - Olivia Taylor-Jones & Rose Walsh

Omens by Kelley Armstrong

2024 Reread Review

Going to start this out by saying: I really do love Omens. I think it’s very well paced, the story is well put together, and the characters are engaging. I flew through it the first time I read it. Definitely a fantastic start to a new series.

The herding of Olivia to Cainsville honestly gives me horror story vibes. Of course, most of the chapters that aren’t from Olivia’s POV have overt weird vibes. I quite like it. Little reminders that Olivia’s story is being at least partially observed and manipulated by Cainsville residents. Keeps more tension going that way.

I love Rose. She’s no-nonsense, for a fortune teller. She’s practical and caring, in her own way. She kind of gives me a “Golden Girls” vibe, though I think she’s younger than that crew.

I really, really like that Olivia and Gabriel’s relationship is kept platonic. It’s so nice to not have much relationship drama thrown into this. There’s definitely enough of that with James and, to be honest, I don’t think this story needs it.

The weaving in of Cainsville’s supernatural underside is well done and intriguing. It’s very clear, assuming you’re up on your Fae lore, that this leans more than direction than the “traditional” witchy or vampiric direction. I like it, largely.

I feel like the MKULTRA stuff came out of nowhere. It was done fairly well, I think, but on this third read-through, feels forced. That may also be because, just due to the timing of my reading, I sat and stewed in those chapters for a few days… but yeah. I mean, it’s apparently connected to something down the line (which I don’t remember, but which is hinted at in the text), so, set up.

But yeah, if you’re a fan of mystery and the supernatural, I definitely recommend giving Omens a read.

2016 Review

Favorite Lines

"Of course. That's the problem with most theories of prognostication. They presume a single future. You will marry a handsome, rich man and have two children.  Is life so predetermined from birth to death, like a car on a fixed track, no room for detours, no allowance for free will? There are futures, Olivia. Possible outcomes based on choices." - Rose Walsh

"Don't be dull, Olivia. There is no graver sin." - Rose Walsh

"Demon possession strains the boundaries of credibility, given the sheer number of times it seems to happen. One would really hope demons had better things to do with their time." - Rose Walsh

"Rain on a sunny day. That's good luck." - Omen-sense

"Yes, I'm a whole lot braver when they can't hear me," - Olivia Taylor-Jones