Trickster Magic (Shadows of Otherside #9)
by Whitney Hill (Benu Media, 2023)
With Otherside stripped of its magic, Hill may have misstepped slightly in shifting the focus away from the mundane crisis. Instead, generic quest tropes drag Arden into fantasy realms that are too easily navigated, and less impactful than we’ve come to expect.
Temporal Gifts (Shadows of Otherside #8)
by Whitney Hill (Benu Media, 2023)
More of the glorious same. Arden’s best intentions bring nothing but trouble in a world plagued by duplicitous humans, Othersiders and gods. The story moves faster than ever, for once ending not on a cathartic up-note but rather calamity fraught with anticipation.
Talion Rule (Shadows of Otherside #7)
by Whitney Hill (Benu Media, 2023)
A genuine page-turner. Arden grows ever more powerful and assured, yet struggles under the sheer weight of human and Otherside prejudices she’s forced to deal with. Hill deftly piles trouble upon trouble, investing readers in both the urban fantasy and the allegory.
Tempered Illusions (Shadows of Otherside #6)
by Whitney Hill (Benu Media, 2023)
There should have been nowhere for Otherside to go after Eternal Huntress, yet Hill has managed not only to continue the series but also to up the sense of peril and urgency—humanity’s unceasing bigotry proving more problematic than the gods’ ire.
Secrets & Truths
by Whitney Hill (Benu Media, 2022)
A fairly slim novel, focussing on the same themes as Hill’s Otherside series but substituting sex and romance for the usual complexity. Lya and Cade are characters worth following, but the simplicity of the storyline makes this less appealing than Arden’s journey.
Eternal Huntress (Shadows of Otherside #5)
by Whitney Hill (Benu Media, 2021)
A page-turning finale, though the allure rests more in Arden’s ongoing fight to establish herself than in the end-of-days confrontation (a touch anticlimactic, for all its power and elegance). Hill again proves a devilishly dab hand at heaping trouble upon her characters.
Ebon Rebellion (Shadows of Otherside #4)
by Whitney Hill (Benu Media, 2021)
Hill continues to enthral, pitting her protagonist against domino-chains of adversity. Arden stands representative of persons from all minority groups, forced constantly to fight for her place in the world. Her character is inspirational and her triumph this book is immensely satisfying.
Ethereal Secrets (Shadows of Otherside #3)
by Whitney Hill (Benu Media, 2021)
This indie fantasy series becomes ever more assured. Readers may miss something of the old Arden—the private investigator who operated at least partly in the human world—but there’s no denying her character growth or the lure of Otherside’s power struggles.
Eldritch Sparks (Shadows of Otherside #2)
by Whitney Hill (Benu Media, 2020)
Hill avoids the sophomore slump, picking up the characters and ongoing dynamic of Elemental and crafting a (more or less) self-contained sequel. Arden Finch is hugely likeable and well on her way to revamping both the urban fantasy and hardboiled detective genres.
Elemental (Shadows of Otherside #1)
by Whitney Hill (Benu Media, 2020)
An elemental spirit posing as human and working as a private investigator must find her way in the devious, dangerous world of North-Carolinian elves, vampires and djinn. Nicely paced and characterised. Marries the best elements of urban fantasy and hardboiled detective fiction.