Ukiyo (Blud #1) by Mario Saincic

Ukiyo (Blud #1) by Mario Saincic

Goodreads Synopsis
Archaeology professor by day, backup shooter by night… 

On a routine assignment, Ukiyo finds herself dragged into a world of danger and deception when she is forced to pull the trigger and kill a man. Torn between the agency that funds her research and a man she knows nothing about, she has to choose sides in a secret war that dates back hundreds of years.

Guardian, protector, and her own personal demon… 

Burislav vowed to watch over her, but hiding his cursed birth right ends up being a secret that could cost Ukiyo her life. When he’s forced out of the shadows after more than twenty years, keeping her safe isn’t as easy as he thinks.

This had such a good premise and started off really strong, but the ending lacked something for me. I just can't quite put my finger on what it is. 

The beginning was full of fast paced action and adventure and I was sucked right in. And this lasted for most of the novel. It was high tempo and adventure all the time until the very end. From the assignment gone wrong up until Ukiyo visits her aunt and the director visits, I was in awe of how much I loved this novel. But then the romance really started and it was awkward and lagging.

I thought the ending was fairly decent and left enough of a cliffhanger to make people want to read the next in the series. However, it made me feel kind of meh about what had previously occurred. It seemed as though Ukiyo had just gotten over the final events of the novel. As well, it left the whole "agency" that she works at thing hanging and not completed. Which is fine if there is more to that story, but there should have been some mention of it at some point in that last 10% of whether or not she was going to continue being "employed" by them.

Ukiyo was a great character and extremely well written. She knew how to get stuff done and had no qualms about getting her hands dirty. She also took everything in stride and was able to be herself without any interference. As well, she found ways to save herself rather than always having someone come to her rescue. While she did need some help at some points, it was never to the point that she couldn't handle the situation and thus needed Buri to come and protect her. It was always a group effort.

I am really excited to see where things lead to in this series because it is very interesting. I hope there is a bit more explanation and a bit of an expansion on Buri and his mythology. I would enjoy that.

Overall: 3.5/5 because I loved Ukiyo and thought she was incredible, but ehh on the romance.