Helpful review - I've been looking at this one but will bump it down the list in favor of more exciting prospects

I couldn't agree with this review more. Your take, unlike this book, is a pitch perfect sounding of a thoroughly meh novel. I wish I'd come to good reads before picking up this book. Thanks.

I too am counting down the pages until the end. There have been times where I found myself falling asleep.

Nice review. I selected this book after reading several positive reviews and halfway through wondered what was wrong with me, why was I having such a hard time getting into it...glad to see I'm not the only one. I think Priest's writing is pretty good but her plot just drags. It never built up any steam (pardon the pun).

Thanks. And good pun. ;)

I'm so glad to find I wasn't the only one who thought all the secondary characters were so much more intereseting and that the main characters could have died off early, for all we cared about them.

It just goes to show what a wild and different taste we all have. I hope you are all sitting down when I say..I really enjoyed this book and will certainly be grabbing the others in the series too ... I like to be different :)

Agreed. Wholeheartedly.

Well, thanks, I was starting to believe I was just too demanding as a reader. Agreed on everything. A good premise, a very disappointing development.

Not arguing with the review, I haven't read the book yet. However, why do people feel they need to "connect" with characters? That isn't what characters are for. A "lead protagonist" can be completely immoral, that doesn't mean they are a bad character. As long as they have consistent development and character schemes, a character may have any moral compass the author wishes them to have. Hah, I'm not sure if this book is consistent with that, I don't even know if I'll read it. I just don't understand why people feel the need to connect with every character from every story. I enjoy experiencing what they go through without a personal connection.

Christian wrote: "Not arguing with the review, I haven't read the book yet. However, why do people feel they need to "connect" with characters? That isn't what characters are for. A "lead protagonist" can be complet..."

"Connect" ≠ "Like." It means to identify with. A reader needs to be able to be able to feel like they can understand a character's motivations, good or bad, in order to stay interested in them. Characters should be complex and interesting, not shallow cyphers that exist only to facilitate a plot point or realize an author's fantasy.

In most cases, when one uses the term "connect to a character," it means they want to have the same ideals. I've read certain statements online that literally say; "A protagonist must be morally identifiable, otherwise, what's the point of writing a story?" I suppose that just bothers me to an extreme extent. However, I do agree with your reply. As I said, a character must be consistently developed, they don't exist to progress the plot. As far as a character being interesting goes, that is more so left to one's own personal opinion. I misunderstood your use of the word "connect." I usually don't see it to describe the development of a character. Thank you for clearing this up for me.

This review matches my sentiments about this book exactly. It drives me crazy to see characters so underdeveloped and handled so carelessly by the author. By the end I didn't care, either.