Bookfever: Review: Justice by Jennifer Harlow

Title: Justice
Author: Jennifer Harlow
Series: Galilee Falls #1
Publication: May 2013 by Devil on the Left Books
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Format: ebook, 280 pages
Cover Rating: 3/5
Overall Rating: 5/5

Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

It’s hard being a regular police officer in Galilee Falls, a city with the highest concentration of superheroes and villains in the country. It’s even harder watching your best friend, the man you’re secretly in love with your whole life, planning to marry another woman. Detective Joanna Fallon has to contend with both. When the vilest supervillain in the city’s history, Alkaline, the former crime boss who can shoot acid from his wrists, escapes from the maximum security prison, the whole city is gripped by panic. Leading the pursuit is Captain Harry O’Hara, Joanna’s boss and secret lover, and the city’s champion superhero Justice, who caught the villain last time, much to Joanna’s chagrin. Before her father was murdered in a mugging twenty years earlier, Joanna worshiped the hero, but when he disappeared and failed to save her father, that adoration turned to contempt for all supers. After Alkaline attacks too close to home and targets Joanna as his next victim, tough-as-nail Joanna has to contend with her increasing fear while struggling to choose between her life-long crush and her new-found love.

At turns vulnerable and fierce, equally mordant and winsome, Joanna is an earnest yet emotionally damaged heroine, who despite the tough breaks of her childhood sees the good in people and vow to protect her beloved city at all costs. An ass-kicking petite firecracker with no superpowers of her own, she charges after supervillains unflinchingly, never losing her wit even when facing her toughest fight. With a coy blend of whimsy and vivid imagination, she delivers both humor and thrills in an action-packed and edgy blend of comic book cool, fantasy-noir, and bitter-sweet romance.

~My thoughts:

I would've posted this review sooner but I had already written a review of this and saved it but then it magically disappeared on me so that's why it took me a while.

Justice by Jennifer Harlow introduces us to a brilliant world full of superheroes (tights and everything), complex but interesting characters and of course can't have superheroes without some very evil supervillains.
This story follows the fierce but emotionally damaged detective Joanna Fallon, who has her own personal problems with superheroes. Especially city champion Justice and also being in love for over twenty years with her best friend, Justin, and having a secret relationship with her boss, Harry. On top of all that she gets targeted by supervillain Alkaline.

I've been a fan of Jennifer Harlow's books ever since I read her Freaks books. I love them but I have to say that I think Justice easily is her best writing so far. It's a very different story and boy, is it a bittersweet ending but damn I loved it so much. Although I wasn't sure I was gonna like it at the beginning because Joanna's voice is so different from other heroines I've read. She's so very complex, damaged and has a lot of flaws but that's why I like her so much. She's real. Jennifer Harlow write her so well. I was really impressed by how totally amazing this book was.
The other characters were also very interesting to read about from Justin to Harry to Justice and Alkaline. I loved reading about them all so much and never got bored everytime I picked this book up.

The ending was so sad, I got all weepy eyed. But it was a good ending even though it felt like I was kicked in the chest. And also what good book doesn't have an unexpected betrayal in them? Jennifer Harlow really writes amazingly unexpected plot twists. You'd think with her you would start expecting them but no, takes me by surprise every single time and with this book it was no different. Loved it!

Overall Justice by Jennifer Harlow isn't your typical superhero story. It's a story about love, friendship, sacrifice and doing the right thing. Joanna isn't a superhero, she just a normal person with her own problems but she sure can kick some ass! This story was in my opnion exceptionally well written and the story line was superb! One of the best books I've read so far this year + all-time. I can't wait to read the second book. I hope it'll be just as amazing as Justice was!

~Favorite Quotes:

All this sudden interest in my safety is getting old and stiffling. I feel like a pissed-off china doll.

Okay... I feel like total and utter shit. They could do a full-scale model of the Eiffel Tower with the amount of shit I feel like right now.

It's about five and the party begins at seven, so I have to get the hell out of here. I need to shower, shave, eat, straighten my hair, apply make-up, and try to get a cab on a Friday night. Ugh, girly things. Kill me now.

Sometimes there's not enough light in this godforsaken world to keep the darkness at bay.

~About the author:

Jennifer Harlow spent her restless childhood fighting with her three brothers and scaring the heck out of herself with horror movies and books. She grew up to earn a degree at the University of Virginia which she put to use as a radio DJ, crisis hotline volunteer, bookseller, lab assistant, wedding coordinator, and government investigator. Currently she calls Northern Virgina home but that restless itch is ever present. In her free time she continues to scare the beejepers out of herself watching scary movies and opening her credit card bills.