LitPick Review
Political consultant Olivia Shepherd is suffering from a professional crisis when she encounters Elsa, a spirit called a Time Walker. Elsa informs her that her rival, Stoner Halbert, has made a deal with a demon and is using that influence to grab power. As if that's not enough there is a hidden society called The Others: vampires, fairies, witches, ghosts, and other creatures. They live alongside humans and affect the human world around them. Olivia has some untapped abilities and must use them and her newfound friendships within the Others' community to make some important political changes of their own, ones that will benefit humans and Otherkind not dominate it as Halbert wants to do.
Opinion:
The Others is an intriguing concept that is illustrated with intrinsic copious details that fully explores it. The Others' society is captured brilliantly because it seems so much like the normal 21st century human life. They Others are not trapped in some archaic world of magical forests and Gothic castles. They live in houses, have regular jobs, and go about their daily lives. If you weren't in on the know, you would just assume that they were human. Once she is introduced to the concept, Olivia realizes that she is surrounded by The Others. Her best friend Lily, a teacher, is a fairy. William, a musician whom Olivia begins a relationship with, is a vampire. Gabriel, a multi billionaire who mentors Olivia, is a witch and so on. There is a great moment when Olivia is watching a San Francisco Giants game on television and realizes that two of the players are vampires. It's interesting to see how these supernatural characters assimilate into the world around them. Author Evette Davis clearly let her imagination run wild building this world and had a great time exploring it.
There are also some other interesting facets to the plot. William and Olivia begin a tentative romance that is conflicted by differing views but a strong emotional and physical connection. The political landscape is adequately explored and has some very timely relevance in an already eventful Presidential election year. The issues discussed in the book have relevance to our world almost to the point of allegory. There is a plot twist towards the end that is easy to guess but moves the narrative forward in an engaging manner.
The Others is a terrific book with an amazing concept that is interesting to think about and imagine if modern day society were like that. What if that cashier had a pair of fairy wings? What would happen if that guy on the subway suddenly sported a pair of sharp fangs? Suppose your neighbor made predictions that were 100 % accurate? What if you yourself was one of The Others?