Book Report: Jamie Baker Trilogy

I just finished "Remember Jamie Baker", which is the third book and final book in the Jamie Baker trilogy by Kelly Oram, and I loved it. I'm just gonna do a quick review and try not to get to spoilery, but I will cover things that are probably spoilers, so heads up. But yeah, I really, really enjoyed this series.

First up was Being Jamie Baker (BJB). Jamie Baker is not your normal super-powered protagonist. It the first thing I liked about her; she has green hair (which she dyes black) and yellow eyes, which she masquerades as green with the help of blue contacts. It's a little thing, but it's something I love about her as a character, because as many times as I've thought up a character of mine, who somehow gets super powers, I never really think of changing them physically. So that was cool.

BJB finds our hero coming to grips with how she got her super powers and a stalkerish reporter who pops back up in her life when she saves someone. Oh, then there's the boy. As I've blogged about in the past, I don't mind a little romance. In a lot of my books, there is some kind of romance/relationship plot point there because and much as some guys want to disagree, most great stories have some kind of love interest in there (i.e. Peter Park and Mary Jane. Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Heck, even Batman has the Catwoman attraction thing going on). I just don't like it to be the MAIN plot. It seems to happen a lot of female-leads in urban fantasy (even though this is superhero). But Ryan Miller, the love interest in this book, isn't someone I have to "put up with", as the story between he and Jamie is compelling, especially for her reasons for not wanting to get close to him. I felt like I did see the surprise antagonist coming. It wasn't blatant, but when it was revealed, I wasn't totally caught off-guard.

But by the final battle against Mr. E, I was severely invested in Jamie and really enjoyed how she finally came to grips with her power, learning to control it better, and even if it had taken a darker turn, I was totally Team Jamie, no matter what she decided.

Next up was More Than Jamie Baker (MTJB), which I'm going to intermingle with book 3, Remember Jamie Baker, since book 2 ends in a cliffhanger. In MTJB, we escalate it, with Jamie and Ryan now in college, fully in love. After Jamie doesn't stop an accident, the guilt starts to make her go a little crazy, until she decides to start going out and helping people, thanks to Ryan's encouragement. MTJB also introduces us to Teddy, who from the moment Oram introduces him, just irks me the wrong way. I'm a loyal guy, (when I read the Twilight books, you can believe I was Team Edward. I was also Team Gale when I read the Hunger Games, though I think I'm in the minority with that one) so when Teddy just keeps insisting on Jamie to go out with him, despite the fact that she's in love with Ryan, I'm talking to myself while I'm reading the book like "Hey, dude, back off!" I loved it when Ryan was finally able to deliver a good punch to him, for enjoying the kiss with Jamie so much after she had to transfer some of her power to him.

I wasn't sure where MTJB was going to go, as I started getting closer to the end. Oram has set up Visitcorp since book 1, and now these people were after Jamie. I thought Mr. E was going to be revealed as the mastermind possibly, since they visited him in prison earlier in the book. But when the final reveal came, (SPOILER) even though he annoyed the hell out of me, I really didn't see the Teddy turn coming. When he popped up behind the glass window, I was like "Oh, you sonuvabitch." It had me tearing through the pages to the end, and when I finally got to the cliffhanger, I lost it, internally screaming at Teddy.

So, now we get to Remember Jamie Baker (RJB), and I have to say I wasn't sure how I was gonna like it. Mainly because Teddy, that weasle, conniving, little jerkwad was lying through his teeth, and I didn't know how long that was going to go on. Luckily RJB starts up six months after the events of MTJB, and things are rough for our girl Jamie. She has no idea who she is, it's it's driving her insane.

She finally leaves "The Lair" and that's when everything hits the fan. Visitcorp, or at least the guy behind it, is still chasing after her. But there are the ACEs, which are a government run team with a coupe enhanced individuals, who are trying to take down Visitcorp. While I enjoyed the addition of this team and side story, I did find it a little odd that they hadn't been brought up before. I can see maybe not hinting at them in Jamie #1, but in book 2 Jamie becomes Chelsea's Angel, so I would think the ACEs would've at least shown up once during one of her saves, trying to find out who she was. I don't know, it's kind of a nitpick, but just something that crossed my mind.

One thing that I loved was keeping the suspense on whether Jamie and Ryan would still be together. In book 2 it seemed like a happily every after, but when book 2 ends and into book 3, it's all up in the air. And even though through RJB it sure looks like it's inevitable for them to get back together, there is always that little hint of doubt, since, as Jamie says, "she's not that girl anymore". It kept it lively.

I won't spoil how book 3 ends, but I really enjoyed it. Again, I didn't see the twist Oram gave in the final battle. Plus, at the very end I was resigned to the fact that parts of Jamie's memory would forever stay gone, but I still felt okay about it. Then Oram puts a nice little bow on the ending.

I'm a big urban fantasy fan, and while that's mostly reserved for vampires and werewolves, and the like, I do consider superhero stories a form of urban fantasy. Sure, it's categorized more under science fiction, which I can't argue against, but I think it's also UF. Either way, this is a great series. With this series, and "Cinder & Ella" (yes I know I said I don't like the love interest to be the main plot point, but that's for actiony kind of books. Cinder and Ella isn't that, it's YA contemporary, which I've discovered I'm also a big fan of), I've become a big fan of Kelly Oram and I'll be digging into her Supernaturals series next.


Definitely check out the Jamie Baker series.