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0553592866
9780553592863
3.61
3,003
Nov 24, 2009
Nov 24, 2009
THREE DAYS TO DEAD has the really rather remarkable distinction of being the only book I've ever DNF'd at 98%.
That's really all I remember about it at...more THREE DAYS TO DEAD has the really rather remarkable distinction of being the only book I've ever DNF'd at 98%.
That's really all I remember about it at this point. Seeing that 98% at the bottom of my kindle screen, and still thinking I'd rather cut my losses. Better late than never.(less)
That's really all I remember about it at...more THREE DAYS TO DEAD has the really rather remarkable distinction of being the only book I've ever DNF'd at 98%.
That's really all I remember about it at this point. Seeing that 98% at the bottom of my kindle screen, and still thinking I'd rather cut my losses. Better late than never.(less)
Notes are private!
none
2
0
not set
not set
Aug 01, 2011
Paperback
1907016449
9781907016448
3.88
346
Oct 13, 2010
Jan 03, 2011
I used to think there was no reason to read erotica about kinks/partner dynamics that didn't personally appeal. Even if the story is good, even if the...more
I used to think there was no reason to read erotica about kinks/partner dynamics that didn't personally appeal. Even if the story is good, even if the book is well-written, there's a rubbing-against-the-grain element to the experience, a disconnect that can be distancing and alienating -- all of this aside from whether or not you expect the book to actually turn you on.
But every rule has an exception, and every exception opens up the possibility of a watershed moment.
CONTROL is about handsome, hung, sweet and very, very submissive Gabriel, and a naughty bookstore owner, Maddie, who discovers her inner domme. Hyper-confident, swaggering Andy is sniffing around Maddie as well. As Maddie and Gabriel grow closer as a couple, Andy hangs on as a third party the bedroom to further humiliate Gabriel.
I do not naturally gravitate toward books about sweet submissive guys. But, as usual, Charlotte Stein is talented enough to trample over my natural inclinations and preferences. She writes Gabriel as tender, meek, neat-freakish, virginal...but also really masculine, hairy, hung, and a quick study. He is so easy to fall for, a straight-up wonderful character.
Maddie, who's used to loutish galoots like Andy, who's masterful and quick with the dirty-talk but also an insensitive jerk, absolutely cherishes Gabe. She sees how special he is and values him appropriately. She marvels over him. She is astonished, effusive in her praise, guarding and nourishing him like the world's most valuable hot-house orchid.
Maddie can't deny that Andy is hot - who would deny that Andy is hot? He's a textbook alpha male - but every time she chooses Gabriel over Andy, it's like she's trying to reach out to the reader & slap some sense into the romance/erotica readers of the world. Which is not to say that the book ever reads like a diatribe; Stein writes deep POV as well as anyone I've ever read & her characters and interactions always feel very real.
I've only read shorts by Stein before & I'm so happy that she's just as successful in the longer format. She's quickly become a favorite of mine & I recommend this highly, whether or not it sounds like something you'd like.
(less)
But every rule has an exception, and every exception opens up the possibility of a watershed moment.
CONTROL is about handsome, hung, sweet and very, very submissive Gabriel, and a naughty bookstore owner, Maddie, who discovers her inner domme. Hyper-confident, swaggering Andy is sniffing around Maddie as well. As Maddie and Gabriel grow closer as a couple, Andy hangs on as a third party the bedroom to further humiliate Gabriel.
I do not naturally gravitate toward books about sweet submissive guys. But, as usual, Charlotte Stein is talented enough to trample over my natural inclinations and preferences. She writes Gabriel as tender, meek, neat-freakish, virginal...but also really masculine, hairy, hung, and a quick study. He is so easy to fall for, a straight-up wonderful character.
Maddie, who's used to loutish galoots like Andy, who's masterful and quick with the dirty-talk but also an insensitive jerk, absolutely cherishes Gabe. She sees how special he is and values him appropriately. She marvels over him. She is astonished, effusive in her praise, guarding and nourishing him like the world's most valuable hot-house orchid.
Maddie can't deny that Andy is hot - who would deny that Andy is hot? He's a textbook alpha male - but every time she chooses Gabriel over Andy, it's like she's trying to reach out to the reader & slap some sense into the romance/erotica readers of the world. Which is not to say that the book ever reads like a diatribe; Stein writes deep POV as well as anyone I've ever read & her characters and interactions always feel very real.
I've only read shorts by Stein before & I'm so happy that she's just as successful in the longer format. She's quickly become a favorite of mine & I recommend this highly, whether or not it sounds like something you'd like.
(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Jan 10, 2013
Jan 10, 2013
Paperback
0441020860
9780441020867
4.09
5,200
2011
Dec 2011
I love Ilona Andrews. I love the Kate Daniels series, and I love The Edge series. FATE’S EDGE is really good, of course, so if you love Ilona Andrews...more
I love Ilona Andrews. I love the Kate Daniels series, and I love The Edge series. FATE’S EDGE is really good, of course, so if you love Ilona Andrews and The Edge please go buy it and read it and be happy.
But.
Some things about Fate’s Edge didn’t work for me. Basically: Audrey’s father is a con man. He’s good at conning but bad at everything else, like providing for his family and loving his daughter. Audrey explains to us, over and over again, that the one thing she will never do is fall in love with a con man. She explains why it’s a bad idea, and she means it – she’s learned that lesson the hard way.
Kaldar is a con man.
The romance builds really, really slowly in FATE’S EDGE because Audrey is an Ilona Andrews heroine – and we know that type now, don’t we? Ilona Andrews heroines are smart and tough. They don’t suffer fools gladly, and they don’t toss deeply-held convictions out the window pretty much ever. Which means that it takes a good long while for Audrey to soften to Kaldar, and when she falls for him, it didn’t feel real to me. I didn’t buy it. Maybe if Kaldar had months and years to chip away at her defenses, but the whole book takes place in the space of a couple weeks. Not long enough to realistically uproot and discard Audrey’s most deeply held conviction.
I suspect a lot of the plot was designed to mask or cover up the fact that the romance falls flat. George and Jack have really prominent roles to play here, which is awesome because I love them both and they are hilarious, their teenaged hijinks add up to a major distraction. Gaston is along for the ride too, so Audrey and Kaldar don’t get much alone time. And then there are several scenes where Audrey and Kaldar have to act like a couple, which allows them to slip into this easy banter that makes you think, “Yeah, they’ll make a great couple,” but doeasn’t really substitute – for me, anyhow – for the time and patience that their relationship needs to work.
As a footnote: I was distracted through most of the book by the fact that Kaldar is so similar to Keldar from David Eddings’ Belgariad/Mallorean series – anyone remember those books? Eddings’ Keldar is a quick-witted thief very similar in looks and personality to Andrews Kaldar. I was wondering if Andrews designed Kaldar as an homage, because otherwise that would be QUITE a coincidence.
(less)
But.
Some things about Fate’s Edge didn’t work for me. Basically: Audrey’s father is a con man. He’s good at conning but bad at everything else, like providing for his family and loving his daughter. Audrey explains to us, over and over again, that the one thing she will never do is fall in love with a con man. She explains why it’s a bad idea, and she means it – she’s learned that lesson the hard way.
Kaldar is a con man.
The romance builds really, really slowly in FATE’S EDGE because Audrey is an Ilona Andrews heroine – and we know that type now, don’t we? Ilona Andrews heroines are smart and tough. They don’t suffer fools gladly, and they don’t toss deeply-held convictions out the window pretty much ever. Which means that it takes a good long while for Audrey to soften to Kaldar, and when she falls for him, it didn’t feel real to me. I didn’t buy it. Maybe if Kaldar had months and years to chip away at her defenses, but the whole book takes place in the space of a couple weeks. Not long enough to realistically uproot and discard Audrey’s most deeply held conviction.
I suspect a lot of the plot was designed to mask or cover up the fact that the romance falls flat. George and Jack have really prominent roles to play here, which is awesome because I love them both and they are hilarious, their teenaged hijinks add up to a major distraction. Gaston is along for the ride too, so Audrey and Kaldar don’t get much alone time. And then there are several scenes where Audrey and Kaldar have to act like a couple, which allows them to slip into this easy banter that makes you think, “Yeah, they’ll make a great couple,” but doeasn’t really substitute – for me, anyhow – for the time and patience that their relationship needs to work.
As a footnote: I was distracted through most of the book by the fact that Kaldar is so similar to Keldar from David Eddings’ Belgariad/Mallorean series – anyone remember those books? Eddings’ Keldar is a quick-witted thief very similar in looks and personality to Andrews Kaldar. I was wondering if Andrews designed Kaldar as an homage, because otherwise that would be QUITE a coincidence.
(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Dec 02, 2011
Dec 02, 2011
Paperback
0821767240
9780821767245
3.72
783
1992
1992
I think this is one of Jo Beverley's best books - maybe her best. It's a very daring book, for the genre, but not because Lucien is an alpha male with...more
I think this is one of Jo Beverley's best books - maybe her best. It's a very daring book, for the genre, but not because Lucien is an alpha male with a potential for violence - that description would cover most romance heroes pretty well; certainly it's nothing unique.
No, the reason why An Unwilling Bride is daring is because instead of just picking up the old cliche (alpha male, potential for violence) Beverley decides to put it on trial: what happens when the dreamy alpha male crosses the thin line that most romance authors so delicately avoid? What happens when the heroine is someone like Beth, who has strong feelings about her own independence and rights? Beth is very well contextualized, but she gives the readers the opportunity to ask the one big question that almost every book in this genre ought to pose us: how can you reconcile the desire to be free and respected with the desire for an alpha male?
This is essentially what the book is about. Everybody - every mother, girlfriend, and companion - offers to protect Beth and punish Lucien for his transgressions. There is no 'tolerance' for violence and the sheer number of words devoted to the topic of Lucien's potential & actual violence should show that this is not a question of a 'wife beater' - although I think that it should be obvious that the alpha male hero and wife beating jerk are not totally apples and oranges.
I think Beverley ends up arguing that the difference between the hero and the jerk isn't that one has the potential for violence and the other doesn't; rather, it's a matter of self-discipline, nobility of spirit, understanding of right and wrong. Lucien isn't perfect, but he understands those things, and that's why he's ultimately a hero.
I don't think Beverley really dealt sufficiently with Beth and Lucien's feelings; this is probably the consequence of dealing so thoroughly with their beliefs. There's almost no steam, but the way that Beverley describes Beth and Lucien when they dance, or engage in a battle of the wits, is amazingly done and incredibly erotic.
And, of course, the book is a lot of fun - plenty of other Rogues make apperances, it's excellently structured (I think Beverley sets up the quotation from the Rape of the Lock as the premise of the novel and its inclusion is really cleverly done), very smart, and Beth is a wonderful heroine - really smart and sweet.(less)
No, the reason why An Unwilling Bride is daring is because instead of just picking up the old cliche (alpha male, potential for violence) Beverley decides to put it on trial: what happens when the dreamy alpha male crosses the thin line that most romance authors so delicately avoid? What happens when the heroine is someone like Beth, who has strong feelings about her own independence and rights? Beth is very well contextualized, but she gives the readers the opportunity to ask the one big question that almost every book in this genre ought to pose us: how can you reconcile the desire to be free and respected with the desire for an alpha male?
This is essentially what the book is about. Everybody - every mother, girlfriend, and companion - offers to protect Beth and punish Lucien for his transgressions. There is no 'tolerance' for violence and the sheer number of words devoted to the topic of Lucien's potential & actual violence should show that this is not a question of a 'wife beater' - although I think that it should be obvious that the alpha male hero and wife beating jerk are not totally apples and oranges.
I think Beverley ends up arguing that the difference between the hero and the jerk isn't that one has the potential for violence and the other doesn't; rather, it's a matter of self-discipline, nobility of spirit, understanding of right and wrong. Lucien isn't perfect, but he understands those things, and that's why he's ultimately a hero.
I don't think Beverley really dealt sufficiently with Beth and Lucien's feelings; this is probably the consequence of dealing so thoroughly with their beliefs. There's almost no steam, but the way that Beverley describes Beth and Lucien when they dance, or engage in a battle of the wits, is amazingly done and incredibly erotic.
And, of course, the book is a lot of fun - plenty of other Rogues make apperances, it's excellently structured (I think Beverley sets up the quotation from the Rape of the Lock as the premise of the novel and its inclusion is really cleverly done), very smart, and Beth is a wonderful heroine - really smart and sweet.(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Oct 28, 2005
Dec 16, 2011
Mass Market Paperback
0143036491
9780143036494
3.92
7,383
Apr 01, 2004
Oct 04, 2005
I read the audiobook version of The Great Influenza which always leaves me flailing when it comes time to leave a review. The short version is: I real...more
I read the audiobook version of The Great Influenza which always leaves me flailing when it comes time to leave a review. The short version is: I really loved this book.
The title describes a very specific, narrow subject - the influenza pandemic of 1918 - but the book itself is sprawling and vast. It starts with the arrival of scientific medicine on American shores, chronicling the terrible state of medical education and practice here in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and delves into the personalities of the doctors who stepped in to turn things around.
The fledgling universities and researchers are tested with the arrival of the influenza. That context alone was amazing and fascinating. But John M. Barry traces the emergence of the disease, its arrival in military cantonments, the ways that World War I helped to spread the disease - not just because the soldiers moving between camps and overseas carried the virus from place to place but because the war ensured a shortage of doctors and nurses, because the war justified widespread censorship of the newspapers, because the war encouraged authority figures to quell panic rather than take necessary steps that could halt the spread of disease.
There is tons of local color here, and it can be pretty gruesome. Corpses in the streets, shortages of coffins, undertakers who wouldn't go anywhere near bodies. Hospitals strained beyond capacity, stubborn officials who hold parades after being warned not to, false advertisments - like from Vicks Vap-o-Rub - promising to cure influenza. The result isn't just a picture of a particularly virulent strain of influenza, it's also a snapshot of our country under stress, of people who respond heroically and others who act like cowards.
The final death toll is astonishing - upwards of 100 million people died around the world. And the afterword is full of warnings about the inevitability of a new influenza pandemic, and how totally unprepared we'd be.
The final chapters cover the post-mortem; the doctors who living and working during the pandemic never discovered its source because they were searching for a bacteria. It took years of subsequent investigation before influenza was identified as a virus.
I didn't like the narrator of the audiobook. His voice was too smooth and lulling. Barry repeats the phrase "only influenza" throughout the book, driving home what a mistake it is to dismiss or overlook the threat of influenza. It's an effective technique and I appreciated it, but I really got to dread the particular tone of voice with which the narrator would say "only influenza."
Highly recommended.(less)
The title describes a very specific, narrow subject - the influenza pandemic of 1918 - but the book itself is sprawling and vast. It starts with the arrival of scientific medicine on American shores, chronicling the terrible state of medical education and practice here in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and delves into the personalities of the doctors who stepped in to turn things around.
The fledgling universities and researchers are tested with the arrival of the influenza. That context alone was amazing and fascinating. But John M. Barry traces the emergence of the disease, its arrival in military cantonments, the ways that World War I helped to spread the disease - not just because the soldiers moving between camps and overseas carried the virus from place to place but because the war ensured a shortage of doctors and nurses, because the war justified widespread censorship of the newspapers, because the war encouraged authority figures to quell panic rather than take necessary steps that could halt the spread of disease.
There is tons of local color here, and it can be pretty gruesome. Corpses in the streets, shortages of coffins, undertakers who wouldn't go anywhere near bodies. Hospitals strained beyond capacity, stubborn officials who hold parades after being warned not to, false advertisments - like from Vicks Vap-o-Rub - promising to cure influenza. The result isn't just a picture of a particularly virulent strain of influenza, it's also a snapshot of our country under stress, of people who respond heroically and others who act like cowards.
The final death toll is astonishing - upwards of 100 million people died around the world. And the afterword is full of warnings about the inevitability of a new influenza pandemic, and how totally unprepared we'd be.
The final chapters cover the post-mortem; the doctors who living and working during the pandemic never discovered its source because they were searching for a bacteria. It took years of subsequent investigation before influenza was identified as a virus.
I didn't like the narrator of the audiobook. His voice was too smooth and lulling. Barry repeats the phrase "only influenza" throughout the book, driving home what a mistake it is to dismiss or overlook the threat of influenza. It's an effective technique and I appreciated it, but I really got to dread the particular tone of voice with which the narrator would say "only influenza."
Highly recommended.(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
Jul 03, 2012
Sep 14, 2012
Jul 03, 2012
Paperback
0451462807
9780451462800
3.88
8,641
May 22, 2009
Jul 07, 2009
I got a sample of this book, the first chapter or so, and after reading it I almost didn't continue. The heroine has to pass through an extensive secu...more
I got a sample of this book, the first chapter or so, and after reading it I almost didn't continue. The heroine has to pass through an extensive security check, and after being divested of a collection of weapons that could keep an arms dealer in business for about a month she has an ace in the hole: a gun hidden in the coils of her very long hair. I just didn't buy that even a very small gun could be hidden in her hair. It was supposed to be a really powerful example of how clever our heroine is, but instead I concluded that the author didn't think things through very well. I kept picturing it in my head, and it didn't work. Plus, with the kind of extensive security set up at this place...why not buy a metal detector? Argh.
Anyway, moving on. I kept reading, and it turns out the first chapter was the worst in the book, for me at least. I still rolled my eyes a little at how over-the-top it all was; Jane Yellowrock is one of those people whose bark is worse than her bite. Not because she doesn't have a bite; she can be violent and ruthless. Just that her bark says, "I eat babies for breakfast, puppies for lunch, and YOU for dinner," while her bite says, "I get the job done and can take care of myself." A lot of other characters in the novel complain that Jane acts like a teenager - you know the type, rebellious and rude for the fun of it - and she really does have an attitude problem.
Jane was born a skinwalker, a human being capable of taking on the shape of any other animal. I really liked the rules and limitations surrounding her ability, as well; she needs bones from the animal she's shifting into in order to "find the snake inside" - its DNA - and make the shift. It's a slow and painful process, so she has to pick a form and stick with it - once she's gotten into a fight, it's too late. And while she can transform into a creature that's bigger or smaller than she is, she needs ready access to stone so that she can absorb or dump the difference in mass. In short, Jane has an amazing ability - and the checks and balances surrounding its use make her decisions about it really fascinating.
What really saved SKINWALKER for me was Beast, the animal soul who lives inside her. Beast is only really happy when Jane transforms into a mountain lion, at which point Jane's consciousness fades to the background and Beast's rises to the fore. They are not two aspects of one personality; they are two creatures sharing a body. When Beast is dominant, the book is narrated in her voice - choppy, animalistic, confident. All numbers higher than five appear in Beast's thoughts as..."more-than-five." It's both funny and engaging. Their uneasy partnership was what pulled me through the novel, kept me turning pages. It's what got me rooting for the book and for Jane.
One really satisfying thing about SKINWALKER as a novel is that a lot of books, especially if it's the first in a series, will dangle a mysterious origin story in front of the reader and hold off on any answers. In SKINWALKER, we get to find out what the deal is between Jane and Beast. I felt almost spoiled to get so many of the answers I craved.
I also really, really liked the way that Hunter described her vampires. They're not just predatory beasts; they're reasonable, often humane creatures. They form deep emotional bonds with their human servants, who keep the vampires sane through bonds of love and affection. On the other hand, they're nicely vampiric: they drink blood often, they'll use glamour to convince a delicious-looking human to offer up blood or sex, and they can be very casual about feudal behavior and violence. We find out a little about the vampire origin story, and it looks like there's an intriguing and solid explanation for the vampires' complex behavior.
Well, there's plenty of nitpicking to do, but the core of the novel is good. I even got to like Jane, bad attitude and all. I'd give this book 3.5 stars - it's perfectly poised between "it's ok," and "hey, I really like this." I'll probably pick up the next book to see how it goes, so on that count I'm rounding up.
(less)
Anyway, moving on. I kept reading, and it turns out the first chapter was the worst in the book, for me at least. I still rolled my eyes a little at how over-the-top it all was; Jane Yellowrock is one of those people whose bark is worse than her bite. Not because she doesn't have a bite; she can be violent and ruthless. Just that her bark says, "I eat babies for breakfast, puppies for lunch, and YOU for dinner," while her bite says, "I get the job done and can take care of myself." A lot of other characters in the novel complain that Jane acts like a teenager - you know the type, rebellious and rude for the fun of it - and she really does have an attitude problem.
Jane was born a skinwalker, a human being capable of taking on the shape of any other animal. I really liked the rules and limitations surrounding her ability, as well; she needs bones from the animal she's shifting into in order to "find the snake inside" - its DNA - and make the shift. It's a slow and painful process, so she has to pick a form and stick with it - once she's gotten into a fight, it's too late. And while she can transform into a creature that's bigger or smaller than she is, she needs ready access to stone so that she can absorb or dump the difference in mass. In short, Jane has an amazing ability - and the checks and balances surrounding its use make her decisions about it really fascinating.
What really saved SKINWALKER for me was Beast, the animal soul who lives inside her. Beast is only really happy when Jane transforms into a mountain lion, at which point Jane's consciousness fades to the background and Beast's rises to the fore. They are not two aspects of one personality; they are two creatures sharing a body. When Beast is dominant, the book is narrated in her voice - choppy, animalistic, confident. All numbers higher than five appear in Beast's thoughts as..."more-than-five." It's both funny and engaging. Their uneasy partnership was what pulled me through the novel, kept me turning pages. It's what got me rooting for the book and for Jane.
One really satisfying thing about SKINWALKER as a novel is that a lot of books, especially if it's the first in a series, will dangle a mysterious origin story in front of the reader and hold off on any answers. In SKINWALKER, we get to find out what the deal is between Jane and Beast. I felt almost spoiled to get so many of the answers I craved.
I also really, really liked the way that Hunter described her vampires. They're not just predatory beasts; they're reasonable, often humane creatures. They form deep emotional bonds with their human servants, who keep the vampires sane through bonds of love and affection. On the other hand, they're nicely vampiric: they drink blood often, they'll use glamour to convince a delicious-looking human to offer up blood or sex, and they can be very casual about feudal behavior and violence. We find out a little about the vampire origin story, and it looks like there's an intriguing and solid explanation for the vampires' complex behavior.
Well, there's plenty of nitpicking to do, but the core of the novel is good. I even got to like Jane, bad attitude and all. I'd give this book 3.5 stars - it's perfectly poised between "it's ok," and "hey, I really like this." I'll probably pick up the next book to see how it goes, so on that count I'm rounding up.
(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Nov 2009
Aug 01, 2011
Paperback
1848450478
9781848450479
3.91
3,703
Aug 23, 2011
Sep 01, 2011
First off: I tried to read STRAY, the first of Rachel Vincent's Shifters series, and put it down about halfway through, equally disgusted with the mai...more
First off: I tried to read STRAY, the first of Rachel Vincent's Shifters series, and put it down about halfway through, equally disgusted with the main character and her love interest. I haven't felt the slightest desire to return to the Shifter books but I was impressed with Vincent's talent enough that, combined with the very interesting premise of BLOOD BOUND, I decided to give it a try. And I have to say, all other thoughts aside, none of the things that frustrated me about STRAY were present in BLOOD BOUND.
BLOOD BOUND is fascinating and very dark. It presents a world full of people with Skills who live underground, most of them bound by nefarious means to cruel mafia lords. And while the Skills themselves sound pretty cool at first - Trackers can track people, Seers can see the future, etc. - they cause more harm then good. Vincent has played out the implications of these nifty superpowers to the point of creating a terrifying dystopia, and the best case in point forms the fulcrum around which the rest of the novel turns: at the age of twelve, the heroine, Olivia, and her three best friends all swore a vow to help one another whenever asked for the rest of their lives. The presence of a Binder in their group made the vow binding, and permanent. Sounds great, right? Nope. The vow ruined their friendship, and very nearly their lives.
When Olivia's friend Anne knocks on her door and demands that she drop everything in order to find and murder the person who killed Anne's husband, Olivia has no choice but to agree. She has a very difficult time negotiating, or even hesitating. If she resists for long enough, she dies. And actually, I thought Anne was the weakest link in the whole novel. Anne is the least sympathetic grieving widow/protective mama that I've ever had the displeasure to encounter in a book. Her husband's body is barely cold on the floor but the first thing she thinks to do is force Olivia into an immoral act, despite her protests? It's gross, and when Olivia calls her on it, asking Anne to at least take some time to reflect, this is Anne's reply: "I would rather have this whole thing over with before I go pick up Hadley. I don't want to have to think about this while I'm trying to decide how best to explain what happened to her father without scarring her for life." Ugh! So smug and self-righteous. I hated Anne.
Anyhow: the real take home point there is that most of the characters, even the villains, are at least a touch more sympathetic.
So Olivia is off to find the dead husband's killer, in the company of the old flame she's suffered much to protect. They work out their old issues only to discover that bigger ones have risen up in the meanwhile. They find the killer only to get some unpleasant news about what his real goal was, and who he worked for. Again and again, those nifty Skills that ought to make the world a better place just turn the screws tighter and make things worse.
I ended up finding the story and the relationships really compelling. But...I'm going to spoiler tag this. I'm not giving away anything specific, but my impression of the end (view spoiler)[The conclusion really hit me like a sucker-punch to the gut. Such a devastating cliffhanger. After having gotten all excited about this new series I turned the last page thinking: nope, I don't want to read about that, it will be too awful. Who knows if I'll be able to resist temptation but, man, I am not a happy camper right now. (hide spoiler)]. Aside from that, anyhow, BLOOD BOUND is worth a try.(less)
BLOOD BOUND is fascinating and very dark. It presents a world full of people with Skills who live underground, most of them bound by nefarious means to cruel mafia lords. And while the Skills themselves sound pretty cool at first - Trackers can track people, Seers can see the future, etc. - they cause more harm then good. Vincent has played out the implications of these nifty superpowers to the point of creating a terrifying dystopia, and the best case in point forms the fulcrum around which the rest of the novel turns: at the age of twelve, the heroine, Olivia, and her three best friends all swore a vow to help one another whenever asked for the rest of their lives. The presence of a Binder in their group made the vow binding, and permanent. Sounds great, right? Nope. The vow ruined their friendship, and very nearly their lives.
When Olivia's friend Anne knocks on her door and demands that she drop everything in order to find and murder the person who killed Anne's husband, Olivia has no choice but to agree. She has a very difficult time negotiating, or even hesitating. If she resists for long enough, she dies. And actually, I thought Anne was the weakest link in the whole novel. Anne is the least sympathetic grieving widow/protective mama that I've ever had the displeasure to encounter in a book. Her husband's body is barely cold on the floor but the first thing she thinks to do is force Olivia into an immoral act, despite her protests? It's gross, and when Olivia calls her on it, asking Anne to at least take some time to reflect, this is Anne's reply: "I would rather have this whole thing over with before I go pick up Hadley. I don't want to have to think about this while I'm trying to decide how best to explain what happened to her father without scarring her for life." Ugh! So smug and self-righteous. I hated Anne.
Anyhow: the real take home point there is that most of the characters, even the villains, are at least a touch more sympathetic.
So Olivia is off to find the dead husband's killer, in the company of the old flame she's suffered much to protect. They work out their old issues only to discover that bigger ones have risen up in the meanwhile. They find the killer only to get some unpleasant news about what his real goal was, and who he worked for. Again and again, those nifty Skills that ought to make the world a better place just turn the screws tighter and make things worse.
I ended up finding the story and the relationships really compelling. But...I'm going to spoiler tag this. I'm not giving away anything specific, but my impression of the end (view spoiler)[The conclusion really hit me like a sucker-punch to the gut. Such a devastating cliffhanger. After having gotten all excited about this new series I turned the last page thinking: nope, I don't want to read about that, it will be too awful. Who knows if I'll be able to resist temptation but, man, I am not a happy camper right now. (hide spoiler)]. Aside from that, anyhow, BLOOD BOUND is worth a try.(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Sep 10, 2011
Sep 10, 2011
Paperback
0380802600
9780380802609
3.86
1,693
1999
Dec 08, 1999
Ivory is always a cut above the rest and The Proposition is no different - if you have learned to love Ivory's ability to craft unusual characters, to...more
Ivory is always a cut above the rest and The Proposition is no different - if you have learned to love Ivory's ability to craft unusual characters, to convey character through the most interesting and delightful of quirks, to find beauty in the unexpected...The Proposition will not disappoint.
I loved the way that Ivory talked about Edwina, always describing her unusual features in such a way that the reader as well as Mick finds it so easy to see how beautiful she is. I loved the flaws in her character - her fear and nervousness - as much as I loved the moments when she was capable of overcoming them, in exuberant dancing or in her work.
Mick, too, is a delight - somewhat more the typical hero than a lot of Ivory's other choices, but I think that this might be in order to compensate for the fact that he's a rat-catcher...he's gorgeous, charming, loves live and has a knack for making the people around him happy.
It has been noted that this is a "My Fair Lady" story, and this is true, and a number of other reviewers have complained about the ending. I myself didn't have a problem with it, per se, but the ending is the weakest part of the book because it is so sudden. Most of the book is about Edwina letting go of her class hangups, so the turnaround is a little jarring.
For that alone, I have to say that this isn't my favorite Ivory - on the other hand, it is probably the most cheerful book I have read by her, and that's a plus of its own.(less)
I loved the way that Ivory talked about Edwina, always describing her unusual features in such a way that the reader as well as Mick finds it so easy to see how beautiful she is. I loved the flaws in her character - her fear and nervousness - as much as I loved the moments when she was capable of overcoming them, in exuberant dancing or in her work.
Mick, too, is a delight - somewhat more the typical hero than a lot of Ivory's other choices, but I think that this might be in order to compensate for the fact that he's a rat-catcher...he's gorgeous, charming, loves live and has a knack for making the people around him happy.
It has been noted that this is a "My Fair Lady" story, and this is true, and a number of other reviewers have complained about the ending. I myself didn't have a problem with it, per se, but the ending is the weakest part of the book because it is so sudden. Most of the book is about Edwina letting go of her class hangups, so the turnaround is a little jarring.
For that alone, I have to say that this isn't my favorite Ivory - on the other hand, it is probably the most cheerful book I have read by her, and that's a plus of its own.(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Dec 02, 2005
Dec 11, 2011
Paperback
0802720862
9780802720863
4.28
33,863
Apr 27, 2010
Apr 27, 2010
I'd heard a lot of really great things about Simone Elkeles before I started Rules of Attraction, and I know that people who adored the first book in...more
I'd heard a lot of really great things about Simone Elkeles before I started Rules of Attraction, and I know that people who adored the first book in the series - Perfect Chemistry - have been huge fans of this one. I was new to the author and to this 2-book series about the Fuentes brothers.
The developing relaitonship between Kiara and Carlos really is great. They have fun, snappy interactions - they start off on the wrong foot, of course, and get to know one another by playing really imaginative pranks. I loved their banter, even when they were at odds, and I really enjoyed watching them grow closer. Before long neither can deny that when they're together, they have FUN. Well, unfortunately for them - but fortunately for the reader - fun isn't enough to guarantee a happily ever after for a displaced gangbanger and a good-girl mechanic. At the beginning of the book, Carlos has no patience for committed, monogamous relationships...and for good reason, he also doesn't have much of a life expectancy. Even when Carlos tries to turn things around, his past doesn't want to let him go. And Kiara, who is trying to be more courageous and bold, has to decide whether she wants to risk getting involved with Carlos when she can't expect a happily ever after.
So while Elkeles gets the most important part right, she gets other things wrong. This is personal taste, of course, but I didn't really like the present tense narration, which struck me as being jerky and a little strange. The dialogue always sparkled, but when people weren't talking Elkeles' prose could get dull. And I thought that the conclusion of the book was rushed and really unbelievable, which is a shame.
I'd say this is a 3.5 star book for me - it's a good, fun read but in all honesty I don't think I'm going to seek out this author again, so on that count, I'm going to round down. Even though it's not my cup of tea, I would encourage others to pick up Rules of Attraction if it sounds appealing.(less)
The developing relaitonship between Kiara and Carlos really is great. They have fun, snappy interactions - they start off on the wrong foot, of course, and get to know one another by playing really imaginative pranks. I loved their banter, even when they were at odds, and I really enjoyed watching them grow closer. Before long neither can deny that when they're together, they have FUN. Well, unfortunately for them - but fortunately for the reader - fun isn't enough to guarantee a happily ever after for a displaced gangbanger and a good-girl mechanic. At the beginning of the book, Carlos has no patience for committed, monogamous relationships...and for good reason, he also doesn't have much of a life expectancy. Even when Carlos tries to turn things around, his past doesn't want to let him go. And Kiara, who is trying to be more courageous and bold, has to decide whether she wants to risk getting involved with Carlos when she can't expect a happily ever after.
So while Elkeles gets the most important part right, she gets other things wrong. This is personal taste, of course, but I didn't really like the present tense narration, which struck me as being jerky and a little strange. The dialogue always sparkled, but when people weren't talking Elkeles' prose could get dull. And I thought that the conclusion of the book was rushed and really unbelievable, which is a shame.
I'd say this is a 3.5 star book for me - it's a good, fun read but in all honesty I don't think I'm going to seek out this author again, so on that count, I'm going to round down. Even though it's not my cup of tea, I would encourage others to pick up Rules of Attraction if it sounds appealing.(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Mar 2010
Aug 01, 2011
Paperback
031294361X
9780312943615
3.47
2,047
2009
Jun 02, 2009
The best thing I can say about STREET MAGIC is that I finished it because, uh, it was touch and go there for a while. This book seems to consist entir...more
The best thing I can say about STREET MAGIC is that I finished it because, uh, it was touch and go there for a while. This book seems to consist entirely of the sort of drama drama drama nonsense that gives reality TV such a bad name. If I had to do an elevator pitch for this novel, I think it would go, "It's like the Real Housewives of London, starring Sid Vicious the junkie mage, an annoying groupie, and set in a Hot Topic...."
In the prologue we find out that when Pete was a starry-eyed teenager she accompanied Jack Winter to perform a magic ritual. From what I could tell, he was dating her older sister at the time and they didn't know one another very well. The ritual goes awry and Pete is left with the impression that Jack died. Twelve years later, they meet up again. Pete is a cop, Jack is a junkie. Kittredge goes all out with the descriptions, so we find out how skinny, wrinkly and ruined Jack is...and yet the second Pete sees him, she reverts to reverts to dreamy-eyed teenage behavior. It's actually embarrassing to read. For his part, Jack is supposed to be sexy, I guess? Except that all he does is smoke and pose and mouth off.
The whole book felt like an endless succession of ridiculous declarations, "Why did you leave me there to die, Pete!" and "I never stopped thinking of you, Jack!" The plot (about a ghost that kills children) only exists in order to give Pete and Jack the opportunity to storm out on one another (this time for good!), or else dramatically insist that they'll die for one another, or maybe for one of them to declare that he/she doesn't care about the other, only to dramatically put his/her life on the line anyhow.
Also, another reviewer here commented about the annoying Britishisms. But the reviewer was British and I figured that would make him/her particularly sensitive to a false vernacular. Now that I've read the book I can say: the annoying Britishisms are just as annoying and weird to an American. Every page is so cluttered slang that the writing - which is otherwise of a pretty good quality - becomes outright ridiculous. If you took a drink for every time Kittredge uses the word "bloody" in this book you would die of alcohol poisoning before reaching the halfway point. And not just "bloody": Kittredge also tosses in "bloke" and "telly" and "lift" (instead of elevator - and MAN are there are lot of elevators that need mentioning in this novel), "git" and "bint" and "luv" and "dodgy" and "sodding" and on and on and on, scattering them liberally throughout the text at a rate of three or four per page. It's silly. It doesn't sound British, it sounds like a Saturday Night Live sketch.
So, yeah, I did finish STREET MAGIC but by the time I got to the end I hated Jack, I hated Pete, and I hated the book.(less)
In the prologue we find out that when Pete was a starry-eyed teenager she accompanied Jack Winter to perform a magic ritual. From what I could tell, he was dating her older sister at the time and they didn't know one another very well. The ritual goes awry and Pete is left with the impression that Jack died. Twelve years later, they meet up again. Pete is a cop, Jack is a junkie. Kittredge goes all out with the descriptions, so we find out how skinny, wrinkly and ruined Jack is...and yet the second Pete sees him, she reverts to reverts to dreamy-eyed teenage behavior. It's actually embarrassing to read. For his part, Jack is supposed to be sexy, I guess? Except that all he does is smoke and pose and mouth off.
The whole book felt like an endless succession of ridiculous declarations, "Why did you leave me there to die, Pete!" and "I never stopped thinking of you, Jack!" The plot (about a ghost that kills children) only exists in order to give Pete and Jack the opportunity to storm out on one another (this time for good!), or else dramatically insist that they'll die for one another, or maybe for one of them to declare that he/she doesn't care about the other, only to dramatically put his/her life on the line anyhow.
Also, another reviewer here commented about the annoying Britishisms. But the reviewer was British and I figured that would make him/her particularly sensitive to a false vernacular. Now that I've read the book I can say: the annoying Britishisms are just as annoying and weird to an American. Every page is so cluttered slang that the writing - which is otherwise of a pretty good quality - becomes outright ridiculous. If you took a drink for every time Kittredge uses the word "bloody" in this book you would die of alcohol poisoning before reaching the halfway point. And not just "bloody": Kittredge also tosses in "bloke" and "telly" and "lift" (instead of elevator - and MAN are there are lot of elevators that need mentioning in this novel), "git" and "bint" and "luv" and "dodgy" and "sodding" and on and on and on, scattering them liberally throughout the text at a rate of three or four per page. It's silly. It doesn't sound British, it sounds like a Saturday Night Live sketch.
So, yeah, I did finish STREET MAGIC but by the time I got to the end I hated Jack, I hated Pete, and I hated the book.(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Jul 2011
Aug 01, 2011
Paperback
4.39
4,473
Dec 24, 2011
Dec 24, 2011
It's a nice little amuse bouche to tide us Kate fans over while waiting for the next book. The spine of the story is about a killer necklace and Kate'...more
It's a nice little amuse bouche to tide us Kate fans over while waiting for the next book. The spine of the story is about a killer necklace and Kate's attempt to save a young boy's life. Along the way, a few things happen that could turn out to be important come the next novel, a few fun fights are had, a neat supernatural creature we haven't seen before makes an apperance, and Kate and Curran indulge in witty banter.
It's good. It's short. Ilona Andrews gave this story away for free for a short time over Christmas and I think that's awesome. It doesn't have the stakes or the scope of the full-length novels, but sometimes it's fun just to check up on some well-loved characters and remember how much fun they are to spend time with. (less)
It's good. It's short. Ilona Andrews gave this story away for free for a short time over Christmas and I think that's awesome. It doesn't have the stakes or the scope of the full-length novels, but sometimes it's fun just to check up on some well-loved characters and remember how much fun they are to spend time with. (less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Feb 03, 2012
Feb 03, 2012
ebook
0440423074
9780440423072
3.58
556
Jun 26, 2012
Jun 26, 2012
CAN'T BUY ME LOVE is a book with three distinct parts, and I have to say I liked each one a little bit less than the previous.
Part One: in which Luc,...more CAN'T BUY ME LOVE is a book with three distinct parts, and I have to say I liked each one a little bit less than the previous.
Part One: in which Luc, professional hockey player facing the end of his career, returns to his childhood home to convince his dying father not to marry the heroine, Tara Jean Sweet, who's playing the role of gold-digging bimbo. Tara isn't really engaged to Luc's father, Lyle; she's just playing the part, one that Lyle knows will infuriate his children. Luc thinks his father is a mean old sonovabitch, but that only heightens his contempt for Tara; he knows she can't really love Lyle; nobody does.
Part Two: the Stupid Suspense Plot section. This is when Tara gets to stop playing gold-digging bimbo and start acting like herself, a damaged woman whose real passion is designing clothing. Tara and Luc develop a real friendship, spiced with intense attraction; meanwhile, Tara's Evil Ex Boyfriend appears on the scene to make Tara feel unworthy and also push the plot along with a bunch of insane threats.
Part Three: the "this is just temporary" section, when Tara and Luc have stopped fighting with their attraction to one another, but mutually insist that they just want a fun fling.
Part One is fantastic. It lasts through the first 40% of the novel and, man, does it hit all the right notes. Parts are funny and witty; parts are poignant and bittersweet; parts are quite dark. The writing is very smooth, the characters and their conflicts interesting. I was so excited about CAN'T BUY ME LOVE during Part One.
But then I arrived at Parts Two and Three. The villain is ridiculous. Occasionally glimpses of real conflict emerge from the villain's bullying, as when Tara has to face up to her own former crimes - that was awesome. But for the most part, the suspense plot just drags CAN'T BUY ME LOVE down into the realm of the familiar, tried-and-true formula romance. Tara comes up with a series of awful solutions to her problem: she'll give into the Evil Ex's demands! She'll run away and start fresh under a new name! that put stress on her romance but accomplish precisely nothing. Meanwhile, Luc feels protective and...y'know, yawn.
Luc has his own existential challenge to face; he's got a history of concussions, a bit of brain damage, and yet he's determined to stick with the pros for one more season. He knows it's the wrong thing to do, but hockey is his life. Instead of really delving into this massive identity crisis, Luc ignores the problem and focuses on coaching a peewee team instead. I get that coaching is supposed to "humanize" an outsize character, but man am I tired of reading romances about professional athletes that revolve around coaching children, and I was sorry to see this compelling, edgy crisis devolve into something so bland.
We also get a fair number of chapters from the POV of Luc's sister, Victoria. This was obvious sequel baiting, but I hated Victoria, and there is zero chance I would ever read a sequel in which she's a protagonist.
So the book loses steam, it switches away from being delightful and original to a familiar, formulaic muddle, and then it stutters to a surprisingly rushed conclusion. This is O'Keefe's first single title after writing a mess of category Harlequins and I feel like she reached for greatness, stumbled a bit, and then fell back on all her old category tricks. It's just not the book it could have been, despite the stellar beginning.
(less)
Part One: in which Luc,...more CAN'T BUY ME LOVE is a book with three distinct parts, and I have to say I liked each one a little bit less than the previous.
Part One: in which Luc, professional hockey player facing the end of his career, returns to his childhood home to convince his dying father not to marry the heroine, Tara Jean Sweet, who's playing the role of gold-digging bimbo. Tara isn't really engaged to Luc's father, Lyle; she's just playing the part, one that Lyle knows will infuriate his children. Luc thinks his father is a mean old sonovabitch, but that only heightens his contempt for Tara; he knows she can't really love Lyle; nobody does.
Part Two: the Stupid Suspense Plot section. This is when Tara gets to stop playing gold-digging bimbo and start acting like herself, a damaged woman whose real passion is designing clothing. Tara and Luc develop a real friendship, spiced with intense attraction; meanwhile, Tara's Evil Ex Boyfriend appears on the scene to make Tara feel unworthy and also push the plot along with a bunch of insane threats.
Part Three: the "this is just temporary" section, when Tara and Luc have stopped fighting with their attraction to one another, but mutually insist that they just want a fun fling.
Part One is fantastic. It lasts through the first 40% of the novel and, man, does it hit all the right notes. Parts are funny and witty; parts are poignant and bittersweet; parts are quite dark. The writing is very smooth, the characters and their conflicts interesting. I was so excited about CAN'T BUY ME LOVE during Part One.
But then I arrived at Parts Two and Three. The villain is ridiculous. Occasionally glimpses of real conflict emerge from the villain's bullying, as when Tara has to face up to her own former crimes - that was awesome. But for the most part, the suspense plot just drags CAN'T BUY ME LOVE down into the realm of the familiar, tried-and-true formula romance. Tara comes up with a series of awful solutions to her problem: she'll give into the Evil Ex's demands! She'll run away and start fresh under a new name! that put stress on her romance but accomplish precisely nothing. Meanwhile, Luc feels protective and...y'know, yawn.
Luc has his own existential challenge to face; he's got a history of concussions, a bit of brain damage, and yet he's determined to stick with the pros for one more season. He knows it's the wrong thing to do, but hockey is his life. Instead of really delving into this massive identity crisis, Luc ignores the problem and focuses on coaching a peewee team instead. I get that coaching is supposed to "humanize" an outsize character, but man am I tired of reading romances about professional athletes that revolve around coaching children, and I was sorry to see this compelling, edgy crisis devolve into something so bland.
We also get a fair number of chapters from the POV of Luc's sister, Victoria. This was obvious sequel baiting, but I hated Victoria, and there is zero chance I would ever read a sequel in which she's a protagonist.
So the book loses steam, it switches away from being delightful and original to a familiar, formulaic muddle, and then it stutters to a surprisingly rushed conclusion. This is O'Keefe's first single title after writing a mess of category Harlequins and I feel like she reached for greatness, stumbled a bit, and then fell back on all her old category tricks. It's just not the book it could have been, despite the stellar beginning.
(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
Aug 04, 2012
Aug 05, 2012
Aug 04, 2012
Paperback
1451620535
9781451620535
4.07
1,191
Apr 24, 2012
Apr 24, 2012
The plot of SUMMONING THE NIGHT is not that great, but the characters are fantastic. And Jenn Bennett seems to understand what works in this series, b...more
The plot of SUMMONING THE NIGHT is not that great, but the characters are fantastic. And Jenn Bennett seems to understand what works in this series, because she takes time for the quiet moments, Arcadia and Jupe teasing one another, the sexual chemistry that's like a cherry on top of Arcadia and Lon's otherwise solid, settled relationship. This is an urban fantasy with magic and demons and incubi and all that jazz, but at heart it's a story about the three main characters becoming a family.
The plot has to do with a serial killer who's reemerged after a thirty-year hiatus, who's killing teenaged Earthbound demons - once again putting Jupe in danger. Arcadia and Lon dutifully investigate, propelling the story forward, but the murderer didn't make nearly as much of an impression on me as Ambrose Dare, the guy who asks Lon and Arcadia to hunt down the killer. Dare levels some pretty hideous threats against Arcadia. He struck me as the real villain, and I wanted to see a bigger reaction from Arcadia -- and an even bigger one from Lon.
But even if I have some quibbles with the novel, I finished it very happy. I've read a few sophomore efforts in the past few weeks, #2s in urban fantasy series that I'd been really looking forward to, that really disappointed me. This is the first one that actually satisfied. I love these characters. I love Arcadia and Lon and Jupe and I want to keep reading about them.
(less)
The plot has to do with a serial killer who's reemerged after a thirty-year hiatus, who's killing teenaged Earthbound demons - once again putting Jupe in danger. Arcadia and Lon dutifully investigate, propelling the story forward, but the murderer didn't make nearly as much of an impression on me as Ambrose Dare, the guy who asks Lon and Arcadia to hunt down the killer. Dare levels some pretty hideous threats against Arcadia. He struck me as the real villain, and I wanted to see a bigger reaction from Arcadia -- and an even bigger one from Lon.
But even if I have some quibbles with the novel, I finished it very happy. I've read a few sophomore efforts in the past few weeks, #2s in urban fantasy series that I'd been really looking forward to, that really disappointed me. This is the first one that actually satisfied. I love these characters. I love Arcadia and Lon and Jupe and I want to keep reading about them.
(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
May 02, 2012
May 03, 2012
May 02, 2012
Paperback
B0085ZHMA8
4.28
67,451
Nov 06, 2012
May 25, 2012
Really loved this one. College set romance with some pretty heavy themes - the heroine, Jacqueline, is nearly raped during the first scene and it's no...more
Really loved this one. College set romance with some pretty heavy themes - the heroine, Jacqueline, is nearly raped during the first scene and it's not just an excuse for the romantic interest, Lucas, to make a suitably heroic entrance. Jacqueline has to deal with the emotional fallout of her assault for the rest of the book, when she suffers because the guy who tried to rape her spreads rumors that she's "easy" or when she decides to sign up for self-defense classes, which she goes to consistently and have a refreshingly empowering effect.
At first I wondered if Jacqueline was going to be one of those heroines who gets lots of male attention for no good reason. She's got this All American Mr. Perfect ex-boyfriend, Kennedy (handsome, good student, popular in his fraternity, rich), she's got her econ tutor on the hook, and then there's blue-collar perfection Lucas. But the deeper you get into the story, the clearer it is that Jacqueline is a wonderful person. She's mature, studious, a good friend, a good partner...she has flaws, and the fear and shame she feels after the assault damage her confidence, but she's the kind of girl where you actually think BETTER of the guys around her for being interested. Clearly, they've got good taste.
Speaking of Kennedy: he dumped Jacqueline a couple of weeks before the book starts, and recovering from the breakup is a big part of Jacqueline's character arc. Webber could have made Kennedy out to be an irredeemable jerk (the fallout from the assault presents some great opportunities to Kennedy to really step into the role of a villain - the would-be rapist is a frat brother), but instead she made a much better, more realistic choice: he's just not good enough. He wasn't a good enough boyfriend, or lover, or friend. And Jacqueline doesn't need to hate him. She just has to be OVER him.
Lucas, the main love interest, has a whole pile of issues of his own, and the last quarter of the book switches away from Jacqueline's emotional baggage to his. He's a dreamy, dreamy guy - and a total nice guy, too, really sweet - and the way that his relationship with Jacqueline stutters before it really blossoms was realistic and also made the book feel complete.
I recommend this one. It's one of those books where every time the author picks up a familiar theme or romance trope, she handles it with more intelligence and grace than a jaded reader like myself has come to expect. Plus, good page turner and super romantic.
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At first I wondered if Jacqueline was going to be one of those heroines who gets lots of male attention for no good reason. She's got this All American Mr. Perfect ex-boyfriend, Kennedy (handsome, good student, popular in his fraternity, rich), she's got her econ tutor on the hook, and then there's blue-collar perfection Lucas. But the deeper you get into the story, the clearer it is that Jacqueline is a wonderful person. She's mature, studious, a good friend, a good partner...she has flaws, and the fear and shame she feels after the assault damage her confidence, but she's the kind of girl where you actually think BETTER of the guys around her for being interested. Clearly, they've got good taste.
Speaking of Kennedy: he dumped Jacqueline a couple of weeks before the book starts, and recovering from the breakup is a big part of Jacqueline's character arc. Webber could have made Kennedy out to be an irredeemable jerk (the fallout from the assault presents some great opportunities to Kennedy to really step into the role of a villain - the would-be rapist is a frat brother), but instead she made a much better, more realistic choice: he's just not good enough. He wasn't a good enough boyfriend, or lover, or friend. And Jacqueline doesn't need to hate him. She just has to be OVER him.
Lucas, the main love interest, has a whole pile of issues of his own, and the last quarter of the book switches away from Jacqueline's emotional baggage to his. He's a dreamy, dreamy guy - and a total nice guy, too, really sweet - and the way that his relationship with Jacqueline stutters before it really blossoms was realistic and also made the book feel complete.
I recommend this one. It's one of those books where every time the author picks up a familiar theme or romance trope, she handles it with more intelligence and grace than a jaded reader like myself has come to expect. Plus, good page turner and super romantic.
(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
Jun 02, 2012
Jun 02, 2012
Jun 02, 2012
Kindle Edition
0380820854
9780380820856
3.85
10,579
Jan 01, 2003
Jun 24, 2003
Somewhere in the beginning of the book Eloise reflects that she's spent most of her life looking for a good conversation. It is clear, pretty much fro...more
Somewhere in the beginning of the book Eloise reflects that she's spent most of her life looking for a good conversation. It is clear, pretty much from the get-go, that the last person Eloise is going to get a good conversation from is Phillip.
The main thrust of the book is Sir Phillip's character development. He's a stodgy, solitary botanist whose depressive wife dies and leaves him with eight year old twins. His first thought, aside from being glad she's dead, and guilty that he's glad, is that he needs a new wife to take care of the kids. Enter Eloise.
That's the beginning of the unfortunate story of "To Sir Phillip, With Love." Phillip avoids his children because he is afraid of being a bad father. Avoids them. 24/7. He comments to himself, more than once, that it is really, really too much to ask him to talk about his feelings. He certainly is very bad at it. He can't have conversations about much of anything, let alone important things - he is allergic to conversations about important things. When he speaks, it is as though every word has to be dredged out of his throat like sledge from a lake.
And not only that - he makes Eloise feel *bad* because she likes to talk! He tells her, over and over again, that she talks too much. And he means it.
Eloise, who Phillip does successfully wound with his nastyness, at several points in the book finds herself tempted to do exactly what Phillip's depressive wife did: sit and mope, sit and cry, stare at a book and not even read it. Every time this happened I thought: no wonder Phillip's wife was so depressed. She was living with a man who understands plants better than people, and nobody on earth less than himself.
I believe that the novel is supposed to suggest that Phillip and Eloise learn and grow. That Phillip learns to trust himself, and thus becomes more communicative and affectionate. That Eloise learns a little self-discipline and starts respecting other people's space instead of indulging her own need to chatter.
But I really didn't want Eloise to change - for example, I did not want her to decide that after refusing six prospective suitors for one reason or another, she would settle for Phillip because they rubbed along well together and that's quite enough -
and by the time Phillip started exhibiting minor modifications in his taciturn behavior, it was a case of too little, too late.(less)
The main thrust of the book is Sir Phillip's character development. He's a stodgy, solitary botanist whose depressive wife dies and leaves him with eight year old twins. His first thought, aside from being glad she's dead, and guilty that he's glad, is that he needs a new wife to take care of the kids. Enter Eloise.
That's the beginning of the unfortunate story of "To Sir Phillip, With Love." Phillip avoids his children because he is afraid of being a bad father. Avoids them. 24/7. He comments to himself, more than once, that it is really, really too much to ask him to talk about his feelings. He certainly is very bad at it. He can't have conversations about much of anything, let alone important things - he is allergic to conversations about important things. When he speaks, it is as though every word has to be dredged out of his throat like sledge from a lake.
And not only that - he makes Eloise feel *bad* because she likes to talk! He tells her, over and over again, that she talks too much. And he means it.
Eloise, who Phillip does successfully wound with his nastyness, at several points in the book finds herself tempted to do exactly what Phillip's depressive wife did: sit and mope, sit and cry, stare at a book and not even read it. Every time this happened I thought: no wonder Phillip's wife was so depressed. She was living with a man who understands plants better than people, and nobody on earth less than himself.
I believe that the novel is supposed to suggest that Phillip and Eloise learn and grow. That Phillip learns to trust himself, and thus becomes more communicative and affectionate. That Eloise learns a little self-discipline and starts respecting other people's space instead of indulging her own need to chatter.
But I really didn't want Eloise to change - for example, I did not want her to decide that after refusing six prospective suitors for one reason or another, she would settle for Phillip because they rubbed along well together and that's quite enough -
and by the time Phillip started exhibiting minor modifications in his taciturn behavior, it was a case of too little, too late.(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Mar 19, 2006
Nov 28, 2012
Mass Market Paperback
1426839847
9781426839849
3.62
37
2009
Sep 01, 2009
Brief, excellently written historical erotica. Highly recommended if any of those qualifiers push your buttons.
Our heroine, Anna von Esslin, is a cou...more Brief, excellently written historical erotica. Highly recommended if any of those qualifiers push your buttons.
Our heroine, Anna von Esslin, is a countess who declares, in the first lines of the novella: "The practice of genuine virtue leads to a life of odious boredom -- of that there can be no question, and I cannot imagine that there is a woman alive who honestly aspires to the unhealthy ideal of true feminine chastity. The appearance of virtue, however, is a very useful thing."
That should give you a sense of the overall tone, which is witty and smart and decidedly amoral.
So this little novella charts one of Anna's ingenious plots to safely indulge her erotic appetite, and how she makes a misstep that causes a scandal. It's the first of a trilogy about Anna von Esslin, and while this installment doesn't give us a happy ending, by the end of the trilogy she's happily paired off.
It involves Anna taking a turn at the local brothel with a particularly well-endowed 'client' & readers should beware of some triggering elements, as the client is not particularly concerned with Anna's well being. Anna, of course, doesn't mind that at all.
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Our heroine, Anna von Esslin, is a cou...more Brief, excellently written historical erotica. Highly recommended if any of those qualifiers push your buttons.
Our heroine, Anna von Esslin, is a countess who declares, in the first lines of the novella: "The practice of genuine virtue leads to a life of odious boredom -- of that there can be no question, and I cannot imagine that there is a woman alive who honestly aspires to the unhealthy ideal of true feminine chastity. The appearance of virtue, however, is a very useful thing."
That should give you a sense of the overall tone, which is witty and smart and decidedly amoral.
So this little novella charts one of Anna's ingenious plots to safely indulge her erotic appetite, and how she makes a misstep that causes a scandal. It's the first of a trilogy about Anna von Esslin, and while this installment doesn't give us a happy ending, by the end of the trilogy she's happily paired off.
It involves Anna taking a turn at the local brothel with a particularly well-endowed 'client' & readers should beware of some triggering elements, as the client is not particularly concerned with Anna's well being. Anna, of course, doesn't mind that at all.
(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Mar 08, 2013
Mar 08, 2013
ebook
0316043915
9780316043915
3.78
9,110
Feb 25, 2010
Feb 25, 2010
OK, first things first: This book is great. I'd especially recommend it to anyone who has a dual interest in urban fantasy and high fantasy.
Urban fan...more OK, first things first: This book is great. I'd especially recommend it to anyone who has a dual interest in urban fantasy and high fantasy.
Urban fantasy lovers will enjoy: the strong female protagonist, the first person narration, the intimate setting (it's not one of those sprawling high fantasies that has umpteen main characters scattered about the world on dozens of interlocking quests), and the dangerous romance.
High fantasy lovers will enjoy: the well-developed mythology, high-stakes politics, gods running amok among humans, beautifully realized alternate reality.
I'm always impressed when books like this one really work, because they rarely do. The make-or-break quality to The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is the sheer quality of the writing. If you dig it, you're in for a wild ride. If not, there's no point in continuing. The main character, Yeine, narrates in a voice that is weighty, intimate, and oracular. There's plenty of action and plot development, but it's Yeine's asides, observations, and forebodings that send goosebumps up your arms as you read. As you can tell, it totally worked for me.
Actually, let me give an example. This is the second paragraph of the book: "My people tell stories of the night I was born. They say my mother crossed her legs in the middle of labor and fought with all her strength not to release me into the world. I was born anyhow, of course; nature cannot be denied. Yet it does not surprise me that she tried."
I'd describe the plot, but it's been done elsewhere. Yeine walks into a bad situation - she's a fish out of water plunged into court intrigues she's totally unfamiliar with, with many enemies and no allies - and things only get harder as she starts to figure things out. She's a really likable, strong, admirable character and it was a pleasure to spend some time in her head, but she faces some pretty horrific dilemmas. I was prepared to roll my eyes at a character/love interest named "the Nightlord" but he totally worked for me...surprise surprise. Highly recommended.(less)
Urban fan...more OK, first things first: This book is great. I'd especially recommend it to anyone who has a dual interest in urban fantasy and high fantasy.
Urban fantasy lovers will enjoy: the strong female protagonist, the first person narration, the intimate setting (it's not one of those sprawling high fantasies that has umpteen main characters scattered about the world on dozens of interlocking quests), and the dangerous romance.
High fantasy lovers will enjoy: the well-developed mythology, high-stakes politics, gods running amok among humans, beautifully realized alternate reality.
I'm always impressed when books like this one really work, because they rarely do. The make-or-break quality to The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is the sheer quality of the writing. If you dig it, you're in for a wild ride. If not, there's no point in continuing. The main character, Yeine, narrates in a voice that is weighty, intimate, and oracular. There's plenty of action and plot development, but it's Yeine's asides, observations, and forebodings that send goosebumps up your arms as you read. As you can tell, it totally worked for me.
Actually, let me give an example. This is the second paragraph of the book: "My people tell stories of the night I was born. They say my mother crossed her legs in the middle of labor and fought with all her strength not to release me into the world. I was born anyhow, of course; nature cannot be denied. Yet it does not surprise me that she tried."
I'd describe the plot, but it's been done elsewhere. Yeine walks into a bad situation - she's a fish out of water plunged into court intrigues she's totally unfamiliar with, with many enemies and no allies - and things only get harder as she starts to figure things out. She's a really likable, strong, admirable character and it was a pleasure to spend some time in her head, but she faces some pretty horrific dilemmas. I was prepared to roll my eyes at a character/love interest named "the Nightlord" but he totally worked for me...surprise surprise. Highly recommended.(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Mar 2010
Aug 01, 2011
Paperback
0843959770
9780843959772
4.15
4,261
Oct 02, 2007
Oct 02, 2007
LORD OF THE FADING LANDS sounded so promising: sexy, soul-scarred Fey shifter who falls in love with a human woman, born into a culture hostile toward...more
LORD OF THE FADING LANDS sounded so promising: sexy, soul-scarred Fey shifter who falls in love with a human woman, born into a culture hostile towards his kind? A fated romance beset by political intrigues and an evil dark lord? Awesome, I’m in.
The book gets started when Rain, the Fey shifter, consults an oracle that sends him to Celieria, the heroine Elysetta’s home town, just as her parents sign a betrothal agreement pledging her to a total creep, Den.
There are all sorts of undercurrents with the betrothal – Ellie is one of those “not traditionally pretty” girls who’d be a modern-day supermodel, tall and thin with “too wide,” “too red” lips, bright green eyes and curly red hair. She’s felt ugly and unwanted all her life, partly because of her looks but equally because she’s got a history of “seizures” that were cast as demon-possession and treated with horrific exorcisms.
Ellie’s seizures pushed her mother to extreme religious devotion, and – closely related – a strong dislike of the Fey. It’s really the mother’s idea to marry Ellie to Den, because even though Ellie hates the guy, her mom thinks Den is “normal” and that’s good enough.
The mom pretty much invites Den force himself on Ellie. Even though Ellie resists Den’s advances he’s able to take liberties which force her into the betrothal. I found the mother hard to understand; she seems to love Ellie and want the best for her, but mostly acts as though she hates Ellie and wants to make her miserable. I was hoping to dig deeper into the mother’s motivations, but it seems we're just supposed to accept the contradiction between her feelings and her actions.
Then Rain arrives on the scene, claims Ellie and announces that the betrothal is void. So that’s a pretty tangle, right? Seemed like the conflicting pressures of familial love, romantic love, legal complications, deep-dark-secrets and religious prejudice could brew up a heady conflict for Rain and Ellie. Add in some court intrigue and it should have been a thrilling ride. Unfortunately...not much happens. I found myself thinking, over and over again, “OK, that’s cool, now when’s the good stuff going to start?”
The answer? Never.
Instead we get pages and pages about planning Ellie’s wedding. Which…seriously? This is tedious enough to deal with in real life, I don’t want to read about it. Yet somehow, with the evil dark lord on the loose and the villains plotting and the prideful queen who thinks Ellie is an upstart, there’s still plenty of time to sit around unwrapping presents and debate bouquets. When Ellie isn’t preparing for her wedding she’s...preparing for other parties! Exciting, right? What will she wear? Can she learn to dance in time? If you think this sounds like a fun story rather than a tedious distraction, LORD OF THE FADING LANDS is the book for you.
The romance, too, had the potential to be interesting. Rain once scorched the world when his beloved died. He’s not certain whether he can – or wants to – love again. When he recognizes Ellie as his truemate, he’s not immediately thrilled. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for the bond to change his mind. Soon he’s utterly devoted, so much so that his number one desire in the world is convincing Ellie to return his feelings.
For her part, Ellie's dreamed of the Fey and having a truemate of her own since she was a child. She puts up a token resistance but it’s not clear why, since (a) Rain is better than Den and (b) she really likes him and (c) he’s her dream man. So there’s no conflict to the romance – only Ellie’s prudery, which I found annoying. She’s twenty-four but acts like she’s fifteen, putting up a fuss every time Rain kisses her, bashful and ignorant about any kind of physical intimacy.
The crazy thing is that I got to the end of the book and I was still thinking, “Oh, man, after all this buildup, book two is probably full of all kinds of crazy stuff…” And then I remembered the old maxim, "fool me once, shame on you…fool me twice, shame on me," and decided against continuing with this series. One book full of non-events is enough.
(less)
The book gets started when Rain, the Fey shifter, consults an oracle that sends him to Celieria, the heroine Elysetta’s home town, just as her parents sign a betrothal agreement pledging her to a total creep, Den.
There are all sorts of undercurrents with the betrothal – Ellie is one of those “not traditionally pretty” girls who’d be a modern-day supermodel, tall and thin with “too wide,” “too red” lips, bright green eyes and curly red hair. She’s felt ugly and unwanted all her life, partly because of her looks but equally because she’s got a history of “seizures” that were cast as demon-possession and treated with horrific exorcisms.
Ellie’s seizures pushed her mother to extreme religious devotion, and – closely related – a strong dislike of the Fey. It’s really the mother’s idea to marry Ellie to Den, because even though Ellie hates the guy, her mom thinks Den is “normal” and that’s good enough.
The mom pretty much invites Den force himself on Ellie. Even though Ellie resists Den’s advances he’s able to take liberties which force her into the betrothal. I found the mother hard to understand; she seems to love Ellie and want the best for her, but mostly acts as though she hates Ellie and wants to make her miserable. I was hoping to dig deeper into the mother’s motivations, but it seems we're just supposed to accept the contradiction between her feelings and her actions.
Then Rain arrives on the scene, claims Ellie and announces that the betrothal is void. So that’s a pretty tangle, right? Seemed like the conflicting pressures of familial love, romantic love, legal complications, deep-dark-secrets and religious prejudice could brew up a heady conflict for Rain and Ellie. Add in some court intrigue and it should have been a thrilling ride. Unfortunately...not much happens. I found myself thinking, over and over again, “OK, that’s cool, now when’s the good stuff going to start?”
The answer? Never.
Instead we get pages and pages about planning Ellie’s wedding. Which…seriously? This is tedious enough to deal with in real life, I don’t want to read about it. Yet somehow, with the evil dark lord on the loose and the villains plotting and the prideful queen who thinks Ellie is an upstart, there’s still plenty of time to sit around unwrapping presents and debate bouquets. When Ellie isn’t preparing for her wedding she’s...preparing for other parties! Exciting, right? What will she wear? Can she learn to dance in time? If you think this sounds like a fun story rather than a tedious distraction, LORD OF THE FADING LANDS is the book for you.
The romance, too, had the potential to be interesting. Rain once scorched the world when his beloved died. He’s not certain whether he can – or wants to – love again. When he recognizes Ellie as his truemate, he’s not immediately thrilled. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for the bond to change his mind. Soon he’s utterly devoted, so much so that his number one desire in the world is convincing Ellie to return his feelings.
For her part, Ellie's dreamed of the Fey and having a truemate of her own since she was a child. She puts up a token resistance but it’s not clear why, since (a) Rain is better than Den and (b) she really likes him and (c) he’s her dream man. So there’s no conflict to the romance – only Ellie’s prudery, which I found annoying. She’s twenty-four but acts like she’s fifteen, putting up a fuss every time Rain kisses her, bashful and ignorant about any kind of physical intimacy.
The crazy thing is that I got to the end of the book and I was still thinking, “Oh, man, after all this buildup, book two is probably full of all kinds of crazy stuff…” And then I remembered the old maxim, "fool me once, shame on you…fool me twice, shame on me," and decided against continuing with this series. One book full of non-events is enough.
(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Nov 02, 2011
Nov 02, 2011
Mass Market Paperback
0345515579
9780345515575
3.74
6,366
May 25, 2010
May 25, 2010
I avoided this series for a while, despite all the raving reviews, because the protagonist is a drug addict. I knew, also from the raving reviews, tha...more
I avoided this series for a while, despite all the raving reviews, because the protagonist is a drug addict. I knew, also from the raving reviews, that Stacia Kane doesn't half-ass this plot choice: Chess' drug addiction is one of her defining features as a character and it is a crucial element in many, many plot points. I figured (and I was right) that a good author who does a good job with a drug addiction plotline will write really dark books. Maybe too dark for my tastes.
I finally decided to give the book a try & I have to admit that for the first half of UNHOLY GHOSTS I wasn't sure whether or not I was enjoying myself. Because, yes, excellent, believable characters, excellent worldbuilding, excellent atmosphere, exciting plotting...but I was drowning in Chess' fear and anxiety, wincing every time she popped a pill. A couple of times I had to put my kindle down and sort of walk around in a circle to shake off the dread I'd feel while reading, and then I'd snatch the book back up and keep going because I *needed* to know what happened next.
I read all three currently available books in the series (Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, Book 1), Unholy Magic (Downside Ghosts, Book 2), and City of Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, Book 3)) back to back, and I'm just going to post one review for all three. I'm sticking it here, with the first in the series, in case there's anyone else like me out there who's been a little bit wary about picking up this series. Let me tell you: it is worth it. So very, very worth it. Like I said, for the first half of the first book I was ambivalent; and then, somewhere around there, I stopped looking back. I fell in love.
Yes, Chess is an addict, and I sincerely hope that she kicks her habit at some point - it doesn't get any easier to read about her pill popping as the series goes on. The opposite, if anything. But she is one awesome heroine, smart, brave, humble, fragile, prickly and flawed but deep down she's got a heart of gold. And somehow or other Terrible has become my new favorite urban fantasy love interest. He's a drug dealer's enforcer, unabashedly violent, built like a mack truck, with a heart as soft as oatmeal. Doesn't sound realistic? Well then double the kudos to Stacia Kane, who makes him so very real.
Everything about this series is just fantastic. Every book is jam-packed with heart-in-the-throat moments, action, suspense, creepy atmosphere, romance. I read a LOT of urban fantasy and there are only a handful of other series that have grabbed me like this one - Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series, Karen Marie Moning's FEVER series. I can't wait for the next book to come out.
(less)
I finally decided to give the book a try & I have to admit that for the first half of UNHOLY GHOSTS I wasn't sure whether or not I was enjoying myself. Because, yes, excellent, believable characters, excellent worldbuilding, excellent atmosphere, exciting plotting...but I was drowning in Chess' fear and anxiety, wincing every time she popped a pill. A couple of times I had to put my kindle down and sort of walk around in a circle to shake off the dread I'd feel while reading, and then I'd snatch the book back up and keep going because I *needed* to know what happened next.
I read all three currently available books in the series (Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, Book 1), Unholy Magic (Downside Ghosts, Book 2), and City of Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, Book 3)) back to back, and I'm just going to post one review for all three. I'm sticking it here, with the first in the series, in case there's anyone else like me out there who's been a little bit wary about picking up this series. Let me tell you: it is worth it. So very, very worth it. Like I said, for the first half of the first book I was ambivalent; and then, somewhere around there, I stopped looking back. I fell in love.
Yes, Chess is an addict, and I sincerely hope that she kicks her habit at some point - it doesn't get any easier to read about her pill popping as the series goes on. The opposite, if anything. But she is one awesome heroine, smart, brave, humble, fragile, prickly and flawed but deep down she's got a heart of gold. And somehow or other Terrible has become my new favorite urban fantasy love interest. He's a drug dealer's enforcer, unabashedly violent, built like a mack truck, with a heart as soft as oatmeal. Doesn't sound realistic? Well then double the kudos to Stacia Kane, who makes him so very real.
Everything about this series is just fantastic. Every book is jam-packed with heart-in-the-throat moments, action, suspense, creepy atmosphere, romance. I read a LOT of urban fantasy and there are only a handful of other series that have grabbed me like this one - Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series, Karen Marie Moning's FEVER series. I can't wait for the next book to come out.
(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
not set
Aug 01, 2011
Mass Market Paperback
1602728631
9781602728639
3.94
1,316
Jul 13, 2009
Jul 13, 2009
Here's the premise that got me really excited about MASTER OF CROWS: a black wizard, threatened with possession by an evil god, must ask for help from...more
Here's the premise that got me really excited about MASTER OF CROWS: a black wizard, threatened with possession by an evil god, must ask for help from his worst enemies. The enemies send him a young woman, a spy, who serves as his apprentice while scheming to betray him. Against all odds, and by slow degrees, the black wizard and the spy fall in love. Also, kill the evil god.
Here's what I actually ended up reading: painfully noble wizard castigates himself over his many evil acts, commits none (he's more the perpetually-guilty, hairshirt-wearing monk type). Rather than evil wizarding, he mostly occupies himself with tending an orange grove and making perfume. The spy is a really, really nice girl who does very little spying and a whole lot of brewing tea, picking oranges, and mooning over the wizard.
Here's what I wanted from the romance: a battle of wits or wills or magic. The fun of seeing an intense power disparity - Silhara is master of his domain; Martise is his minion, so long as she lives under his roof - slowly tip into a union of equals.
Here's what I got: Silhara's wit, will, and magic remain at all times the superior. At no point are these characters ever in any way equals. Martise is mostly servile but her occasional flashes of sarcasm or, even more daring!, occasional stubborn, silent disagreement with Silhara's edicts impress him to no end; he thinks her very brave.
The romance, to be fair, evolves gradually. But one of the primary obstacles to an HEA is that Martise doesn't feel pretty enough for Silhara. She's insecure and needs to be praised and cherished and reassured. In return for Silhara's praise and reassurance, Martise becomes even more servile, self-sacrificing, and sweet.
MASTER OF CROWS also happens to contain one of my least favorite plot tropes ever. Silhara is an accomplished wizard distinguished by his self-discipline. Martise, by contrast, has a powerful magical gift that she cannot control. She can give her power away - give and give and give, that's her special Gift! - but she can never control it. Her power is literally and figuratively not her own.
I do not think that MASTER OF CROWS should be described as a fantasy; I think that it is primarily romance. The subplot about the evil god of Corruption is just that - a subplot. It exists to bring the hero and heroine together in the same location, to separate them (he can't trust her with his secret!) or push their relationship along to the next major turning point (she'll put her own safety at risk for his!).
I also found myself skimming through the endless descriptive passages where nothing was happening story-wise. The writing just wasn't strong enough to hold my attention on its own.
This just isn't the book that I expected or hoped for. Not the sort of story or romance I enjoy reading. (less)
Here's what I actually ended up reading: painfully noble wizard castigates himself over his many evil acts, commits none (he's more the perpetually-guilty, hairshirt-wearing monk type). Rather than evil wizarding, he mostly occupies himself with tending an orange grove and making perfume. The spy is a really, really nice girl who does very little spying and a whole lot of brewing tea, picking oranges, and mooning over the wizard.
Here's what I wanted from the romance: a battle of wits or wills or magic. The fun of seeing an intense power disparity - Silhara is master of his domain; Martise is his minion, so long as she lives under his roof - slowly tip into a union of equals.
Here's what I got: Silhara's wit, will, and magic remain at all times the superior. At no point are these characters ever in any way equals. Martise is mostly servile but her occasional flashes of sarcasm or, even more daring!, occasional stubborn, silent disagreement with Silhara's edicts impress him to no end; he thinks her very brave.
The romance, to be fair, evolves gradually. But one of the primary obstacles to an HEA is that Martise doesn't feel pretty enough for Silhara. She's insecure and needs to be praised and cherished and reassured. In return for Silhara's praise and reassurance, Martise becomes even more servile, self-sacrificing, and sweet.
MASTER OF CROWS also happens to contain one of my least favorite plot tropes ever. Silhara is an accomplished wizard distinguished by his self-discipline. Martise, by contrast, has a powerful magical gift that she cannot control. She can give her power away - give and give and give, that's her special Gift! - but she can never control it. Her power is literally and figuratively not her own.
I do not think that MASTER OF CROWS should be described as a fantasy; I think that it is primarily romance. The subplot about the evil god of Corruption is just that - a subplot. It exists to bring the hero and heroine together in the same location, to separate them (he can't trust her with his secret!) or push their relationship along to the next major turning point (she'll put her own safety at risk for his!).
I also found myself skimming through the endless descriptive passages where nothing was happening story-wise. The writing just wasn't strong enough to hold my attention on its own.
This just isn't the book that I expected or hoped for. Not the sort of story or romance I enjoy reading. (less)
Notes are private!
none
1
Aug 21, 2012
Aug 22, 2012
Aug 21, 2012
ebook
1841498831
9781841498836
4.04
1,261
Sep 26, 2011
Sep 26, 2011
What a disappointment.
So. The first 10% of COLD FIRE is a recap of COLD MAGIC. Okay, that's fine. Then the plot advances for a bit. Things continue t...more What a disappointment.
So. The first 10% of COLD FIRE is a recap of COLD MAGIC. Okay, that's fine. Then the plot advances for a bit. Things continue to look terrible for Cat, what with her being the enemy of every powerful faction in the world, and then she's presented with a new, even more terrible dilemma. She has to name the sacrifice for the next Wild Hunt. She has to choose a person, a powerful magic user, to die -- and if she won't make the choice, then the sacrifice of choice will be Bee.
That's quite a dilemma, isn't it? But instead of strategizing about this problem, we go on a weird, endless, saggy-middle vacation in Expedition. There's so much that could be happening. Camjiata is mobilizing, and Cat knows she's going to have a decisive influence on the war. Cat doesn't think about that. She's too busy working as a barmaid and eating tropical fruit. The oppressive rule of the Courts must be overthrown. Cat doesn't worry about that, either. She's too busy drinking rum and mending clothes. Her marriage to Vai is in limbo, but Cat decides to...leave it there, dithering endlessly.
The middle of this book is a mess. Reading it made me really, really mad. The story here is too epic to be wasting half of a book on spinning wheels. Without plot to interfere, Cat and Andevai get lots of pagetime together, which ought to have been delicious but totally wasn't. Andevai is so hands-off and meek I wanted to smack him. Cat is so wishy-washy I wanted to smack her. We have to wade through chapters of childishness before they finally start having some necessary conversations, at which point it's almost too late.
Towards the end of the book, after putting off the problem for so long, Cat starts worrying about choosing a sacrifice. The night of the Hunt is rushed, and then events wrap up too quickly. I skimmed pages furiously at this point. Things had finally started happening again, yes, but this is a TRILOGY. There's ONE BOOK LEFT and the war hasn't even started. I want Cat to exercise more agency. I know that it's darkest before the dawn, but so far Cat has been in survival mode for two books. She's been used and betrayed, she's escaped and survived. And I admire that, and her, but I have no sense of her as a mover and shaker in this world, as a power to be reckoned with.
So far, all the chains that bind her have been impossible to overthrow. The marriage chain. The bond of ownership that Four Moons holds over her. The persecution of the Prince, the laws of Expedition, the plans of Camjiata. A lot of the plot in COLD FIRE revolves around the idea of a popular rebellion. Can the peasants really rise up an demand rights, or do they need a man like Camjiata to bestow those rights -- as Imperial decrees, once he obtains the throne he craves? We get a sense of how Elliott answers that question by the end of COLD FIRE, but the powerlessness of the characters, their inability to take control over their own destiny in meaningful ways, makes the book feel disheartening rather than inspiring overall.
(view spoiler)[Also, a word about this whole Drake thing.
What a mess.
So Cat's bitten by a salter and Drake says he can cure her with sex. Cat agrees to have sex. She's cured. Later, she gets drunk and has sex with Drake again, just because. She had fun the first time, he's there, fire magic seems to stoke the libido a little.
Then it turns out that Drake is a complete and utter asshole, constantly telling Cat to shut up or follow orders better. And THEN we discover that actually, fire mages can cure the salt plague without having sex with the infected. And THEN we discover that actually, by some miracle, Cat was never even infected. That Drake had lied about the infection and also lied about how to cure it.
This whole situation is just vile and gross. The first time around, Cat consented but only under a false premise - that sex would save her life. The second time, Cat consented without any motivation other than pleasure. Later on in the book, when trying to explain why she had sex with Drake, she only says "he got me drunk". I guess she's trying to explain why she consented freely, the second time? Except that we have no reason to believe that she'd have consented the second time if there hadn't been a first. Drake skipped over the actual seducing part of a seduction with vile lies.
Cat gets angrier and angrier at Drake. She hates the guy, which she should, because he's horrible. So that's appropriate. But she's treated by others, consistently, as though she had an affair with Drake. She doesn't try to explain what happened, that she was terribly deceived, so they assume the worst. They assume that she was cheating on Andevai of her own free will. But her will was compromised and every time someone called her two-faced or untrustworthy, I found it almost unbearable.
One of the things that really impressed me about the first book was the frank way that characters dealt with sexuality, surrounded by mores that constrained behavior but never belaboring themselves with shame, I was really disappointed to see so much of this book mired in a plot that shamed and humiliated Cat for having sex when her consent was not freely given. Cat doesn't blame herself, but she endures blame, and the injustice of it made the book hard for me to read at times. (hide spoiler)]
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So. The first 10% of COLD FIRE is a recap of COLD MAGIC. Okay, that's fine. Then the plot advances for a bit. Things continue t...more What a disappointment.
So. The first 10% of COLD FIRE is a recap of COLD MAGIC. Okay, that's fine. Then the plot advances for a bit. Things continue to look terrible for Cat, what with her being the enemy of every powerful faction in the world, and then she's presented with a new, even more terrible dilemma. She has to name the sacrifice for the next Wild Hunt. She has to choose a person, a powerful magic user, to die -- and if she won't make the choice, then the sacrifice of choice will be Bee.
That's quite a dilemma, isn't it? But instead of strategizing about this problem, we go on a weird, endless, saggy-middle vacation in Expedition. There's so much that could be happening. Camjiata is mobilizing, and Cat knows she's going to have a decisive influence on the war. Cat doesn't think about that. She's too busy working as a barmaid and eating tropical fruit. The oppressive rule of the Courts must be overthrown. Cat doesn't worry about that, either. She's too busy drinking rum and mending clothes. Her marriage to Vai is in limbo, but Cat decides to...leave it there, dithering endlessly.
The middle of this book is a mess. Reading it made me really, really mad. The story here is too epic to be wasting half of a book on spinning wheels. Without plot to interfere, Cat and Andevai get lots of pagetime together, which ought to have been delicious but totally wasn't. Andevai is so hands-off and meek I wanted to smack him. Cat is so wishy-washy I wanted to smack her. We have to wade through chapters of childishness before they finally start having some necessary conversations, at which point it's almost too late.
Towards the end of the book, after putting off the problem for so long, Cat starts worrying about choosing a sacrifice. The night of the Hunt is rushed, and then events wrap up too quickly. I skimmed pages furiously at this point. Things had finally started happening again, yes, but this is a TRILOGY. There's ONE BOOK LEFT and the war hasn't even started. I want Cat to exercise more agency. I know that it's darkest before the dawn, but so far Cat has been in survival mode for two books. She's been used and betrayed, she's escaped and survived. And I admire that, and her, but I have no sense of her as a mover and shaker in this world, as a power to be reckoned with.
So far, all the chains that bind her have been impossible to overthrow. The marriage chain. The bond of ownership that Four Moons holds over her. The persecution of the Prince, the laws of Expedition, the plans of Camjiata. A lot of the plot in COLD FIRE revolves around the idea of a popular rebellion. Can the peasants really rise up an demand rights, or do they need a man like Camjiata to bestow those rights -- as Imperial decrees, once he obtains the throne he craves? We get a sense of how Elliott answers that question by the end of COLD FIRE, but the powerlessness of the characters, their inability to take control over their own destiny in meaningful ways, makes the book feel disheartening rather than inspiring overall.
(view spoiler)[Also, a word about this whole Drake thing.
What a mess.
So Cat's bitten by a salter and Drake says he can cure her with sex. Cat agrees to have sex. She's cured. Later, she gets drunk and has sex with Drake again, just because. She had fun the first time, he's there, fire magic seems to stoke the libido a little.
Then it turns out that Drake is a complete and utter asshole, constantly telling Cat to shut up or follow orders better. And THEN we discover that actually, fire mages can cure the salt plague without having sex with the infected. And THEN we discover that actually, by some miracle, Cat was never even infected. That Drake had lied about the infection and also lied about how to cure it.
This whole situation is just vile and gross. The first time around, Cat consented but only under a false premise - that sex would save her life. The second time, Cat consented without any motivation other than pleasure. Later on in the book, when trying to explain why she had sex with Drake, she only says "he got me drunk". I guess she's trying to explain why she consented freely, the second time? Except that we have no reason to believe that she'd have consented the second time if there hadn't been a first. Drake skipped over the actual seducing part of a seduction with vile lies.
Cat gets angrier and angrier at Drake. She hates the guy, which she should, because he's horrible. So that's appropriate. But she's treated by others, consistently, as though she had an affair with Drake. She doesn't try to explain what happened, that she was terribly deceived, so they assume the worst. They assume that she was cheating on Andevai of her own free will. But her will was compromised and every time someone called her two-faced or untrustworthy, I found it almost unbearable.
One of the things that really impressed me about the first book was the frank way that characters dealt with sexuality, surrounded by mores that constrained behavior but never belaboring themselves with shame, I was really disappointed to see so much of this book mired in a plot that shamed and humiliated Cat for having sex when her consent was not freely given. Cat doesn't blame herself, but she endures blame, and the injustice of it made the book hard for me to read at times. (hide spoiler)]
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Notes are private!
none
1
Jan 20, 2013
Jan 29, 2013
Jan 20, 2013
Paperback
1439189870
9781439189870
3.95
575
Mar 27, 2012
Mar 27, 2012
I was so, so looking forward to this book. Checked Amazon every month or two for a release date, pre-ordered it the second the buy button went live. I...more
I was so, so looking forward to this book. Checked Amazon every month or two for a release date, pre-ordered it the second the buy button went live. I mean, really looking forward to it. I loved Dead on the Delta. I loved the paranormal/Southern Gothic/gritty/grimy/love triangle tangle of it all.
But BLOOD ON THE BAYOU is barely squeaking by with three stars here. Most of it is about finding, and shutting down the mysterious covert activity taking in some underground swamp caves. But the way the book is structured, with the whole thing taking place during a brief window of time and most of the pages full of heart-pumping action scenes, Jay never manages to explain what's actually going on in the cave. There are a few really confusing infodumping sessions where we get a whole tangle of acronyms - I mean, seriously, the FCC, the FBI, the CIA, some dastardly corporate entities. There's all kind of double-crossing and lying and by the end, I only had a very vague notion of what the main plot was actually about.
And then there's Hitch and Cane. Your typical love triangle, with the solid, trustworthy guy you take for granted and the exciting interloper who offers wilder emotional highs and lows. Done really well, with some adult twists on the popular theme (like Hitch's pregnant fiancé), and heaps of angst. Well, Blood on the Bayou adds a third guy to the mix - Tucker, who's mysterious and attractive and works for the highly terrifying Big Man. Tucker is charming and easy to like but his presence tips the balance from "believable, heart wrenching romantic drama" towards "silly, eye-rolling romantic drama." I just didn't buy it. Annabelle is juggling three super hot guys who are all into her, and then...well, the ending blindsided me, but in a bad way.
It's a huge disappointment to have such high expectations dashed. I'll keep reading the series, at least for another book, because I still like the concept and the characters, but I'm bummed.(less)
But BLOOD ON THE BAYOU is barely squeaking by with three stars here. Most of it is about finding, and shutting down the mysterious covert activity taking in some underground swamp caves. But the way the book is structured, with the whole thing taking place during a brief window of time and most of the pages full of heart-pumping action scenes, Jay never manages to explain what's actually going on in the cave. There are a few really confusing infodumping sessions where we get a whole tangle of acronyms - I mean, seriously, the FCC, the FBI, the CIA, some dastardly corporate entities. There's all kind of double-crossing and lying and by the end, I only had a very vague notion of what the main plot was actually about.
And then there's Hitch and Cane. Your typical love triangle, with the solid, trustworthy guy you take for granted and the exciting interloper who offers wilder emotional highs and lows. Done really well, with some adult twists on the popular theme (like Hitch's pregnant fiancé), and heaps of angst. Well, Blood on the Bayou adds a third guy to the mix - Tucker, who's mysterious and attractive and works for the highly terrifying Big Man. Tucker is charming and easy to like but his presence tips the balance from "believable, heart wrenching romantic drama" towards "silly, eye-rolling romantic drama." I just didn't buy it. Annabelle is juggling three super hot guys who are all into her, and then...well, the ending blindsided me, but in a bad way.
It's a huge disappointment to have such high expectations dashed. I'll keep reading the series, at least for another book, because I still like the concept and the characters, but I'm bummed.(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Apr 03, 2012
Mar 30, 2012
Mass Market Paperback
0374316414
9780374316419
3.79
3,860
Oct 16, 2012
Oct 16, 2012
CREWEL is dystopian goulash. It hits many notes familiar to readers who've had years to learn the genre and the original elements -- the idea that the...more
CREWEL is dystopian goulash. It hits many notes familiar to readers who've had years to learn the genre and the original elements -- the idea that their world Arras, and everything in it, only exists because it's spun to life by Spinsters -- are either sadly neglected or underdeveloped.
I was interested in CREWEL for the worldbuilding - I've always loved the idea of Penelope on her loom in the Odyssey, the Fates and their threads, and I hoped the author would have an interesting spin on a goldmine of influences - but also for the pun in the title. Crewel! It's a sewing thing but also a homonym for cruel - how perfect for a dystopian!
The worldbuilding fails because Albin can't describe it coherently. The Spinsters manipulate threads of reality on looms, but Albin describes the fabric of reality more like a touch-screen phone than a piece of cloth, with places called up on the looms with some fantasy equivalent of Google search and controls that zoom in and out. The Spinsters behave as though they can interact directly with reality through the looms, touching threads, cutting them with a pair of scissors, etc., though the looms might be showing them places that are remote, on the opposite side of the country.
I could go on and on. It's not just the looms that sound great but then fail to really make sense or come to life in your imagination. This whole dystopian world is just the same. It's meant to be a paradise where everybody is guaranteed life's basic necessities like food, housing, and employment. The pursuit of perfection has resulted in a well-known zero-tolerance policy for even slight misbehaviors - getting into a schoolyard fight as a child results in the fantasy equivalent of a lobotomy - except that the Powers That Be hide evidence of their cruelty so whenever something bad happens, they wipe the memories of any individuals who were aware of it.
Which makes me wonder...which is it? Is everyone living in terror or blissful ignorance? The book can't decide! It tries to have it both ways, with most people aware of the draconian rules but totally fine with them, but others even more aware and not fine with them (these "more aware" characters tend to be hot, male and also interested in having sex with the heroine).
Anyhow. Enough about the worldbuilding. The biggest problem with Crewel is actually the plot and characters.
Our heroine, Adelice, starts out as a naive victim. Her parents have trained her to hide her weaving ability and she's so good and obedient that she never asks why or thinks about their motivations. But she slips up in testing, her astonishing talents are noted, and she's taken by force to Coventry to become a Spinster.
Once she arrives in Coventry, we get a bait-and-switch. Obedient, saccharine sweet Adelice disappears and we met obnoxious Adelice instead. New Adelice assumes her total moral and intellectual superiority and antagonizes everyone she meets. On her first day of training, she insists she knows better than her (cartoonishly evil) instructor and refuses to follow instructions. She insults every powerful person she meets, makes enemies of every female in the building (while romancing all of the men - most of whom constantly plead with her to cause a little less trouble & then try to kiss her), and she gets away with it because...oh yeah, because she's not just a Spinster, she's a rare, once-a-generation Creweler, and the world needs her.
At some point in the latter half of the novel, after Adelice has involved herself in a string of stupid fights and dramas, after she's embarked on publicity tours and attended balls, we get a conversation that I've seen over and over in failing books. There's a crisis. Adelice needs to step up. But...wait for it...wait for it...she hasn't done any actual training yet.
If you want to know what this book is about, if you want to know what the author thinks is important, there's your answer. The thing that makes Adelice special is the thing that she ignores. Effort, discipline and growth take a backseat to the stupid love triangle and posturing with the stupid mustache-twirling villains.
Ugh.
I received a free copy of Crewel from Amazon Vine in exchange for my review(less)
I was interested in CREWEL for the worldbuilding - I've always loved the idea of Penelope on her loom in the Odyssey, the Fates and their threads, and I hoped the author would have an interesting spin on a goldmine of influences - but also for the pun in the title. Crewel! It's a sewing thing but also a homonym for cruel - how perfect for a dystopian!
The worldbuilding fails because Albin can't describe it coherently. The Spinsters manipulate threads of reality on looms, but Albin describes the fabric of reality more like a touch-screen phone than a piece of cloth, with places called up on the looms with some fantasy equivalent of Google search and controls that zoom in and out. The Spinsters behave as though they can interact directly with reality through the looms, touching threads, cutting them with a pair of scissors, etc., though the looms might be showing them places that are remote, on the opposite side of the country.
I could go on and on. It's not just the looms that sound great but then fail to really make sense or come to life in your imagination. This whole dystopian world is just the same. It's meant to be a paradise where everybody is guaranteed life's basic necessities like food, housing, and employment. The pursuit of perfection has resulted in a well-known zero-tolerance policy for even slight misbehaviors - getting into a schoolyard fight as a child results in the fantasy equivalent of a lobotomy - except that the Powers That Be hide evidence of their cruelty so whenever something bad happens, they wipe the memories of any individuals who were aware of it.
Which makes me wonder...which is it? Is everyone living in terror or blissful ignorance? The book can't decide! It tries to have it both ways, with most people aware of the draconian rules but totally fine with them, but others even more aware and not fine with them (these "more aware" characters tend to be hot, male and also interested in having sex with the heroine).
Anyhow. Enough about the worldbuilding. The biggest problem with Crewel is actually the plot and characters.
Our heroine, Adelice, starts out as a naive victim. Her parents have trained her to hide her weaving ability and she's so good and obedient that she never asks why or thinks about their motivations. But she slips up in testing, her astonishing talents are noted, and she's taken by force to Coventry to become a Spinster.
Once she arrives in Coventry, we get a bait-and-switch. Obedient, saccharine sweet Adelice disappears and we met obnoxious Adelice instead. New Adelice assumes her total moral and intellectual superiority and antagonizes everyone she meets. On her first day of training, she insists she knows better than her (cartoonishly evil) instructor and refuses to follow instructions. She insults every powerful person she meets, makes enemies of every female in the building (while romancing all of the men - most of whom constantly plead with her to cause a little less trouble & then try to kiss her), and she gets away with it because...oh yeah, because she's not just a Spinster, she's a rare, once-a-generation Creweler, and the world needs her.
At some point in the latter half of the novel, after Adelice has involved herself in a string of stupid fights and dramas, after she's embarked on publicity tours and attended balls, we get a conversation that I've seen over and over in failing books. There's a crisis. Adelice needs to step up. But...wait for it...wait for it...she hasn't done any actual training yet.
If you want to know what this book is about, if you want to know what the author thinks is important, there's your answer. The thing that makes Adelice special is the thing that she ignores. Effort, discipline and growth take a backseat to the stupid love triangle and posturing with the stupid mustache-twirling villains.
Ugh.
I received a free copy of Crewel from Amazon Vine in exchange for my review(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
Nov 03, 2012
Nov 07, 2012
Nov 03, 2012
Hardcover
0062071041
9780062071040
3.97
11,802
Feb 28, 2012
Feb 28, 2012
I picked this one up based entirely on Wendy Darling's review, which does an excellent job of listing the types of people who will like Partials.
Parti...more I picked this one up based entirely on Wendy Darling's review, which does an excellent job of listing the types of people who will like Partials.
Partials is one of those books that picks up a lot of elements that have been floating around in the YA/dystopian/apocalyptic landscape and shows you how they can be done right. Teenagers who are forced to get pregnant, check. An increasingly totalitarian, increasingly unjustifiable central government, check. A band of righteous rebels, check. The strange combination of plenty and deprivation to be found in a post-apocalyptic urban landscape, check.
Partials takes our narrator, Kira, from a point where she's basically content to a point where she's committed to revolution in a logical, gradual way. There are odd hiccups with this process - the book will cover a series of events, reach an end point, skip forward a few months, pick up again - but I'm sick of novels where the protagonist embraces rebellion as a kind of knee-jerk reaction to an unpleasant discovery (yes, I'm thinking of Eve). I much prefer situations like we find here with Partials or in The Hunger Games where the heroine takes a hard look at the sacrifices inherent in fomenting a revolution and tries - tries hard - to believe that there's another option.
With The Hunger Games, Katniss is swept into a rebellion that's already in the air. With Partials it's a personal journey. Kira is an intern at the hospital in a world that was destroyed by a virus. She works in the maternity ward, where babies catch the disease and die days after they're born. All the babies, dead. No new generation, no future for the human race. And in this world without adults, sixteen-year-old Kira might be the best hope of a cure.
So the backbone of the book is about Kira solving this puzzle. How do the babies catch the virus? What can be done? Her search for the cure spurs her first act of real rebellion: she decides to leave the safe zone of East Meadow Long Island to capture a Partial, the genetically engineered cyborgs who loosed the virus on humanity while remaining immune themselves. She knows it's the only way to save humanity - but she meets with a lot of resistance from The Powers That Be. Every obstacle they throw into Kira's path erodes her faith in the government. And so, step by step, she loses faith entirely.
There's a jumble of other pluses and minuses here - I liked the secondary characters, many of whom have fascinating arcs of their own. I got tired of the action scenes at the hospital. Like, one too many of those I think. I loved how the girls had a collection of mp3 players they identified by the engravings on the back. I suspected most of the major plot twists before they happened, but I still enjoyed them. I loved the fact that the book is set in Long Island rather than New York City - something about that just tickled me.
Mostly, though, I really enjoyed Partials. Recommended for anyone looking for a good post-apocalyptic.(less)
Parti...more I picked this one up based entirely on Wendy Darling's review, which does an excellent job of listing the types of people who will like Partials.
Partials is one of those books that picks up a lot of elements that have been floating around in the YA/dystopian/apocalyptic landscape and shows you how they can be done right. Teenagers who are forced to get pregnant, check. An increasingly totalitarian, increasingly unjustifiable central government, check. A band of righteous rebels, check. The strange combination of plenty and deprivation to be found in a post-apocalyptic urban landscape, check.
Partials takes our narrator, Kira, from a point where she's basically content to a point where she's committed to revolution in a logical, gradual way. There are odd hiccups with this process - the book will cover a series of events, reach an end point, skip forward a few months, pick up again - but I'm sick of novels where the protagonist embraces rebellion as a kind of knee-jerk reaction to an unpleasant discovery (yes, I'm thinking of Eve). I much prefer situations like we find here with Partials or in The Hunger Games where the heroine takes a hard look at the sacrifices inherent in fomenting a revolution and tries - tries hard - to believe that there's another option.
With The Hunger Games, Katniss is swept into a rebellion that's already in the air. With Partials it's a personal journey. Kira is an intern at the hospital in a world that was destroyed by a virus. She works in the maternity ward, where babies catch the disease and die days after they're born. All the babies, dead. No new generation, no future for the human race. And in this world without adults, sixteen-year-old Kira might be the best hope of a cure.
So the backbone of the book is about Kira solving this puzzle. How do the babies catch the virus? What can be done? Her search for the cure spurs her first act of real rebellion: she decides to leave the safe zone of East Meadow Long Island to capture a Partial, the genetically engineered cyborgs who loosed the virus on humanity while remaining immune themselves. She knows it's the only way to save humanity - but she meets with a lot of resistance from The Powers That Be. Every obstacle they throw into Kira's path erodes her faith in the government. And so, step by step, she loses faith entirely.
There's a jumble of other pluses and minuses here - I liked the secondary characters, many of whom have fascinating arcs of their own. I got tired of the action scenes at the hospital. Like, one too many of those I think. I loved how the girls had a collection of mp3 players they identified by the engravings on the back. I suspected most of the major plot twists before they happened, but I still enjoyed them. I loved the fact that the book is set in Long Island rather than New York City - something about that just tickled me.
Mostly, though, I really enjoyed Partials. Recommended for anyone looking for a good post-apocalyptic.(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Mar 18, 2012
Mar 18, 2012
Hardcover
0356500764
9780356500768
3.84
1,552
May 01, 2012
May 01, 2012
This book and I didn't get along.
I loved N.K. Jemisin's Inheritance trilogy, and THE KILLING MOON has a lot in common with the Inheritance books. The...more This book and I didn't get along.
I loved N.K. Jemisin's Inheritance trilogy, and THE KILLING MOON has a lot in common with the Inheritance books. The three main characters, for example - Ehuru has a sexualized father/son mentor/mentee relationship to younger Nijiri, and the two of them have an antagonistic/sexualized relationship with the female lead, Sunandi. There are similar themes, too, of empires ready to fall, of virtues like order or compassion that turn toxic when given injections of power and magic.
Also like the Inheritance books, the language is stylized but here it struck me as leaden and distancing rather than lush and enveloping. And the worldbuilding is exquisite, but...well, but. I didn't care because the book was so depressing. There are no fun bits to balance out the betrayals and assassinations and double-crossings. The deeper I got into this world the more I wanted to turn around and crawl right back out. By the end I was practically begging for a Gatherer myself: please, make it end, put me out of my misery.
Because, yeah, the lead characters - Ehuru and Nijiri - they're mercy killers. It's their official, holy calling. They sneak into people's rooms at night and suck the magical lifeblood right out of them. Said magical lifeblood - dreamblood - is highly addictive and all the Gatherers are addicts. They're emotionless, detached, completely devoted to their goddess - their drug. If they go for too long without killing, they enter withdrawal. If they overdose, they turn into insane superaddicts.
And those are our heroes. Just imagine the villains and how depressing they are. Hint: so much more depressing.
In all seriousness, I just didn't attach to the main characters. Ehuru and Nijiri are hard to relate to - they're detached, emotionally deadened addicts - and they change over the course of the book in ways that made them even harder to understand and sympathize with. The female lead, Sunandi, ought to have been easier to relate to. She's a spy, which is fun, and she thinks that the whole concept of Gathering is crazy, which is sensible. But she doesn't get as much pagetime as Ehuru or Nijiri and, at the end of the day, she's not a warm person, either.
If you like your books dark, unrelentingly grim, and full of tragedy, pick this one up. Otherwise...well. Read another review and keep thinking.
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I loved N.K. Jemisin's Inheritance trilogy, and THE KILLING MOON has a lot in common with the Inheritance books. The...more This book and I didn't get along.
I loved N.K. Jemisin's Inheritance trilogy, and THE KILLING MOON has a lot in common with the Inheritance books. The three main characters, for example - Ehuru has a sexualized father/son mentor/mentee relationship to younger Nijiri, and the two of them have an antagonistic/sexualized relationship with the female lead, Sunandi. There are similar themes, too, of empires ready to fall, of virtues like order or compassion that turn toxic when given injections of power and magic.
Also like the Inheritance books, the language is stylized but here it struck me as leaden and distancing rather than lush and enveloping. And the worldbuilding is exquisite, but...well, but. I didn't care because the book was so depressing. There are no fun bits to balance out the betrayals and assassinations and double-crossings. The deeper I got into this world the more I wanted to turn around and crawl right back out. By the end I was practically begging for a Gatherer myself: please, make it end, put me out of my misery.
Because, yeah, the lead characters - Ehuru and Nijiri - they're mercy killers. It's their official, holy calling. They sneak into people's rooms at night and suck the magical lifeblood right out of them. Said magical lifeblood - dreamblood - is highly addictive and all the Gatherers are addicts. They're emotionless, detached, completely devoted to their goddess - their drug. If they go for too long without killing, they enter withdrawal. If they overdose, they turn into insane superaddicts.
And those are our heroes. Just imagine the villains and how depressing they are. Hint: so much more depressing.
In all seriousness, I just didn't attach to the main characters. Ehuru and Nijiri are hard to relate to - they're detached, emotionally deadened addicts - and they change over the course of the book in ways that made them even harder to understand and sympathize with. The female lead, Sunandi, ought to have been easier to relate to. She's a spy, which is fun, and she thinks that the whole concept of Gathering is crazy, which is sensible. But she doesn't get as much pagetime as Ehuru or Nijiri and, at the end of the day, she's not a warm person, either.
If you like your books dark, unrelentingly grim, and full of tragedy, pick this one up. Otherwise...well. Read another review and keep thinking.
(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
May 07, 2012
May 15, 2012
May 07, 2012
Paperback
0984325689
9780984325689
3.73
908
Mar 01, 2010
Mar 01, 2010
FROST MOON was way too weird for me. I was cool with protagonist Dakota Frost’s big Mohawk, and her tattoos, and her bisexuality. But the uber-Christi...more
FROST MOON was way too weird for me. I was cool with protagonist Dakota Frost’s big Mohawk, and her tattoos, and her bisexuality. But the uber-Christian vampire ex-girlfriend who accuses Dakota’s tattoos of being the work of Satan while tarted up in a French maid’s uniform? The “elegant gothic Lolita” and the guy in “cheekchiller” chaps who roleplayed as a dog for the whole book? Toss in a few random vampires with names like Transomnia and Calaphase, and I’d had enough.
I’m guessing that Anthony Francis is going for the Laurell K Hamilton crowd here, because in FROST MOON all of his characters are always in costume, they all have stage names, and relationship drama masquerades as plot.
Speaking of plot: FROST MOON has about a dozen. Francis kickstarts the book with a hunt for a serial killer who’s targeting people with magic tattoos, like the ones that Dakota makes. Then we get a sub-plot with a lone werewolf who wants a special tattoo to control his beast. We get a third sub-plot when a sleight-of-hand magician who tries to debunk supernatural events challenges Dakota to a sort of duel. Add in Dakota’s reconciliation with her ex-girlfriend, her relationship with the organized weres (including a young stray named, of course, “Cinnamon”), and a half-crazed vampire out to revenge an insult to his pride, and what you’ve got is…a mess, actually.
At first, none of these plots seem to have anything to do with one another. By the end, they intersect too neatly. In the meanwhile, it seems like Francis forgets about one story in order to pursue another. Halfway through the novel I found myself wondering if anyone was ever going to go look for that serial killer.
Personally, I think it’s a bad sign when a half-dozen people in the novel accuse Dakota, the protagonist, of looking like a stripper or a prostitute. I want to clutch my pearls and buy her a sweater. I roll my eyes when Dakota insults someone for looking like they shop at Hot Topic in one sentence and then admits to shopping there herself in the next. Because I’m not in the target demographic and FROST MOON was written for a different audience.
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I’m guessing that Anthony Francis is going for the Laurell K Hamilton crowd here, because in FROST MOON all of his characters are always in costume, they all have stage names, and relationship drama masquerades as plot.
Speaking of plot: FROST MOON has about a dozen. Francis kickstarts the book with a hunt for a serial killer who’s targeting people with magic tattoos, like the ones that Dakota makes. Then we get a sub-plot with a lone werewolf who wants a special tattoo to control his beast. We get a third sub-plot when a sleight-of-hand magician who tries to debunk supernatural events challenges Dakota to a sort of duel. Add in Dakota’s reconciliation with her ex-girlfriend, her relationship with the organized weres (including a young stray named, of course, “Cinnamon”), and a half-crazed vampire out to revenge an insult to his pride, and what you’ve got is…a mess, actually.
At first, none of these plots seem to have anything to do with one another. By the end, they intersect too neatly. In the meanwhile, it seems like Francis forgets about one story in order to pursue another. Halfway through the novel I found myself wondering if anyone was ever going to go look for that serial killer.
Personally, I think it’s a bad sign when a half-dozen people in the novel accuse Dakota, the protagonist, of looking like a stripper or a prostitute. I want to clutch my pearls and buy her a sweater. I roll my eyes when Dakota insults someone for looking like they shop at Hot Topic in one sentence and then admits to shopping there herself in the next. Because I’m not in the target demographic and FROST MOON was written for a different audience.
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Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Oct 27, 2011
Oct 27, 2011
Paperback
0778312771
9780778312772
4.12
2,129
Jan 01, 2012
Mar 27, 2012
The Restorer was one of those books that snuck up on me. It wasn't until I'd recommended it a couple of times to other people that I realized how much...more
The Restorer was one of those books that snuck up on me. It wasn't until I'd recommended it a couple of times to other people that I realized how much I'd liked it myself. I was eager to pick up the sequel and the first few pages brought me right back into Amelia Gray's world. I sank right into the book's vivid setting and gloriously creepy Southern Gothic atmosphere.
In THE KINGDOM, Amelia has been hired onto a new project. She's to restore Thorngate cemetery in isolated, decaying Asher Falls, a town where everyone and everything is as terrifying as possible. The arrogant statues in the cemetery seem to watch her. Her employer is a suspiciously beautiful witch whose apparent age changes from moment to moment by a factor of decades. The local patriarch is an evil old man in a wheelchair and even the schoolchildren have ulterior motives.
Amelia's first friend in Asher Falls is a stray dog. I like a good pet character and Amelia's kindness toward Angus reflects well on her, but Stevens repeatedly uses Angus to make Amelia do stupid things. Angus is supposed to be a guard dog, but he's always being nabbed or charging off into dangerous situations, then howling or whimpering for help.
The first time Amelia almost dies chasing after Angus, I was completely on board. She can't predict what's coming, she doesn't want the creature to suffer, so of course she's going to go after him. The third or fourth times, not so much. Angus may be sweet and loyal, but he's not a free pass for lazy plotting.
Unfortunately, this dog thing is symptomatic of how THE KINGDOM unravels. While Amelia is feeling out her new environment, the book is really strong. A lot of paranormal/UF books are about figuring out the rules of an alternate reality and then mastering them. In the Graveyard Queen books, the "other side" is too powerful, too overwhelming to ever understand or master. That's really powerful and chilling.
But as the threats Amelia faces grow more and more concrete, her reasons for sticking around to face them grow more and more vague. At first, the danger comes from (scary) ghosts and a (scary) "evil" atmosphere that hangs over the town, and Amelia is determined to finish a job she's contracted to do, for which she will be paid in cash money.
By the end, she is dodging pretty frequent murder attempts and sticks around because she has "feelings" - she gets a "feeling" that she needs to go to a certain place where a murderer is waiting with an axe, for example. MUCH harder to understand.
In short, THE KINGDOM is a wobbly second installment in the Graveyard Queen trilogy. I wavered between three and four stars on this one, because the book is on the weak side, but I'm curious to see whether or not Stevens will manage to stick the landing with THE PROPHET. So I'm rounding up to four, with my fingers crossed.(less)
In THE KINGDOM, Amelia has been hired onto a new project. She's to restore Thorngate cemetery in isolated, decaying Asher Falls, a town where everyone and everything is as terrifying as possible. The arrogant statues in the cemetery seem to watch her. Her employer is a suspiciously beautiful witch whose apparent age changes from moment to moment by a factor of decades. The local patriarch is an evil old man in a wheelchair and even the schoolchildren have ulterior motives.
Amelia's first friend in Asher Falls is a stray dog. I like a good pet character and Amelia's kindness toward Angus reflects well on her, but Stevens repeatedly uses Angus to make Amelia do stupid things. Angus is supposed to be a guard dog, but he's always being nabbed or charging off into dangerous situations, then howling or whimpering for help.
The first time Amelia almost dies chasing after Angus, I was completely on board. She can't predict what's coming, she doesn't want the creature to suffer, so of course she's going to go after him. The third or fourth times, not so much. Angus may be sweet and loyal, but he's not a free pass for lazy plotting.
Unfortunately, this dog thing is symptomatic of how THE KINGDOM unravels. While Amelia is feeling out her new environment, the book is really strong. A lot of paranormal/UF books are about figuring out the rules of an alternate reality and then mastering them. In the Graveyard Queen books, the "other side" is too powerful, too overwhelming to ever understand or master. That's really powerful and chilling.
But as the threats Amelia faces grow more and more concrete, her reasons for sticking around to face them grow more and more vague. At first, the danger comes from (scary) ghosts and a (scary) "evil" atmosphere that hangs over the town, and Amelia is determined to finish a job she's contracted to do, for which she will be paid in cash money.
By the end, she is dodging pretty frequent murder attempts and sticks around because she has "feelings" - she gets a "feeling" that she needs to go to a certain place where a murderer is waiting with an axe, for example. MUCH harder to understand.
In short, THE KINGDOM is a wobbly second installment in the Graveyard Queen trilogy. I wavered between three and four stars on this one, because the book is on the weak side, but I'm curious to see whether or not Stevens will manage to stick the landing with THE PROPHET. So I'm rounding up to four, with my fingers crossed.(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
Feb 08, 2012
Feb 09, 2012
Feb 08, 2012
Mass Market Paperback
0441019307
9780441019304
3.40
50
Jun 10, 2010
Jul 27, 2010
At first, when I opened STUFF OF LEGENDS and read the prologue, where Jordan the Red in the prime of his life topples the throne of an evil Witch Quee...more
At first, when I opened STUFF OF LEGENDS and read the prologue, where Jordan the Red in the prime of his life topples the throne of an evil Witch Queen, and read, "The throne was magnificent, in an artisan-evil way...", I was delighted. It's so funny! And it pokes fun at the conventions of fantasy! I cracked the spine and settled in to read a book that I hoped would follow through on that promise, and actually be different than a conventional fantasy.
But here's the thing: STUFF OF LEGENDS is exactly like a conventional fantasy, except that it persistently mocks itself. Reading it is like going to see a big summer blockbuster, something that is heavy on the explosions and light on...everything else...with a snarky friend whose running commentary prevents you from enjoying a single moment of the movie. Gibson provides the movie, and the running commentary.
The aging hero of the novel, Jordan the Red, will instruct, "Don't ever say that it's too quiet, that's just asking for an ambush..." And then, lo and behold, shortly thereafter someone will observe that it's too quiet and the ambush will arrive on cue. But instead of being surprising or scary (like an ambush ought to be), it's a joke. And because that's the pattern, the gimmick, the entire plot of the entire novel is a joke. Most of the major turning points in the novel are like that, pulled straight out of "Derivative Fantasy Writing 101" (and then mercilessly mocked).
If that's not enough to totally rupture your suspension of disbelief, Gibson's got backups - he constantly makes observations like this one, about fishing with cricket lures: "crickets rarely went swimming with barbed metal piercings, not even rebellious teenage crickets." It's clever, witty, snappy, well phrased, but it also reminds you of rebellious pierced teenagers in the real world, which pops you right out of the alternate reality.
Heroes in Gibson's world aren't self-motivated adventurers. They're more like actors. They contract with a "talent agent" who buys villains from "Central Casting." The Central Casting villains are all designed with an Achilles Heel, the hero is well briefed about the Achilles Heel, and he's sent off to his epic battle. The problem is, the hero's adventures may be scripted and planned but they're not imaginary. So all the people who die along the way are really dead, helpless villagers and brave soldiers alike. Basically, the "talent agent" is a psychopathic murderer and the heroes are his henchmen.
Jordan the Red, the most successful hero of his day, eventually got tired of all the senseless killing and retired. And because of Jordan, we know right off the bat that the real villain of the novel is his talent agent, Glister Starmacher. So it's very frustrating that instead of finding, and eliminating, the real problem we get a novel where Jordan is more or less forced to do an encore. He's grey-haired, creaky, surly, and cynical...but he's not smart enough to pick a different kind of story, to set off in his own direction. Instead he plays his part. He's stoic, capable, clever, and he saves the day when Starmacher sets a plot in motion.
The whole world seems to be somehow enslaved to the laws of narrative. That's part of the "Don't say it's too quiet" thing. And the characters are, too. They can't break out of their roles. Jordan doesn't want to be a hero, but he can't help it. Eliott doesn't want to be a useless little brat, but he can't rise above his place. Cyral, the bard, wants to be a bard - he's the only one more or less content to serve his designated purpose.
At one point, the characters have the opportunity to destroy Central Casting. And I kept thinking: would someone at least point out that if they really want to save the day, they'd let it burn to the ground? But nobody does.
So, to summarize. Gibson has written a conventional fantasy, chock full of cheap plot twists that he telegraphs in advance (and a couple that are legitimately clever and surprising), peopled by characters who are sufficiently self-aware to point out every flaw, and language that interrupts the most persistent attempts to suspend disbelief. He creates real conflict, but fills the novel with an obvious - a very, very obvious - distraction. Even worse, he tells us in the first chapter how the novel will end, in case we were tempted to feel some anticipation.
I found STUFF OF LEGENDS infuriating. It's as close to a wallbanger as I've ever read - because this author is smart and writes well and he knows what he's doing (he tells us so, again and again) and yet he has nonetheless written a book it is almost impossible to enjoy.(less)
But here's the thing: STUFF OF LEGENDS is exactly like a conventional fantasy, except that it persistently mocks itself. Reading it is like going to see a big summer blockbuster, something that is heavy on the explosions and light on...everything else...with a snarky friend whose running commentary prevents you from enjoying a single moment of the movie. Gibson provides the movie, and the running commentary.
The aging hero of the novel, Jordan the Red, will instruct, "Don't ever say that it's too quiet, that's just asking for an ambush..." And then, lo and behold, shortly thereafter someone will observe that it's too quiet and the ambush will arrive on cue. But instead of being surprising or scary (like an ambush ought to be), it's a joke. And because that's the pattern, the gimmick, the entire plot of the entire novel is a joke. Most of the major turning points in the novel are like that, pulled straight out of "Derivative Fantasy Writing 101" (and then mercilessly mocked).
If that's not enough to totally rupture your suspension of disbelief, Gibson's got backups - he constantly makes observations like this one, about fishing with cricket lures: "crickets rarely went swimming with barbed metal piercings, not even rebellious teenage crickets." It's clever, witty, snappy, well phrased, but it also reminds you of rebellious pierced teenagers in the real world, which pops you right out of the alternate reality.
Heroes in Gibson's world aren't self-motivated adventurers. They're more like actors. They contract with a "talent agent" who buys villains from "Central Casting." The Central Casting villains are all designed with an Achilles Heel, the hero is well briefed about the Achilles Heel, and he's sent off to his epic battle. The problem is, the hero's adventures may be scripted and planned but they're not imaginary. So all the people who die along the way are really dead, helpless villagers and brave soldiers alike. Basically, the "talent agent" is a psychopathic murderer and the heroes are his henchmen.
Jordan the Red, the most successful hero of his day, eventually got tired of all the senseless killing and retired. And because of Jordan, we know right off the bat that the real villain of the novel is his talent agent, Glister Starmacher. So it's very frustrating that instead of finding, and eliminating, the real problem we get a novel where Jordan is more or less forced to do an encore. He's grey-haired, creaky, surly, and cynical...but he's not smart enough to pick a different kind of story, to set off in his own direction. Instead he plays his part. He's stoic, capable, clever, and he saves the day when Starmacher sets a plot in motion.
The whole world seems to be somehow enslaved to the laws of narrative. That's part of the "Don't say it's too quiet" thing. And the characters are, too. They can't break out of their roles. Jordan doesn't want to be a hero, but he can't help it. Eliott doesn't want to be a useless little brat, but he can't rise above his place. Cyral, the bard, wants to be a bard - he's the only one more or less content to serve his designated purpose.
At one point, the characters have the opportunity to destroy Central Casting. And I kept thinking: would someone at least point out that if they really want to save the day, they'd let it burn to the ground? But nobody does.
So, to summarize. Gibson has written a conventional fantasy, chock full of cheap plot twists that he telegraphs in advance (and a couple that are legitimately clever and surprising), peopled by characters who are sufficiently self-aware to point out every flaw, and language that interrupts the most persistent attempts to suspend disbelief. He creates real conflict, but fills the novel with an obvious - a very, very obvious - distraction. Even worse, he tells us in the first chapter how the novel will end, in case we were tempted to feel some anticipation.
I found STUFF OF LEGENDS infuriating. It's as close to a wallbanger as I've ever read - because this author is smart and writes well and he knows what he's doing (he tells us so, again and again) and yet he has nonetheless written a book it is almost impossible to enjoy.(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Jul 29, 2010
Aug 20, 2012
Paperback
031608106X
9780316081061
4.16
7,347
Jun 01, 2011
Jun 01, 2011
One bad thing about (view spoiler)[George dying at the end of FEED is that her death left (hide spoiler)] Shaun to narrate the sequel, DEADLINE. I was...more
One bad thing about (view spoiler)[George dying at the end of FEED is that her death left (hide spoiler)] Shaun to narrate the sequel, DEADLINE. I wasn’t sure I wanted to read a book written entirely from Shaun’s point of view. Especially not depressed Shaun, who’s not nearly as much fun as comic-relief Irwin Shaun was.
One good thing about (view spoiler)[George dying at the end of FEED (hide spoiler)] is that I knew from the first page of DEADLINE that Mira Grant doesn’t pull her punches. I knew I couldn’t count on her to keep beloved characters safe or even safely on the “good” side of the moral line in the sand. I expected some crazy twists and turns, and I wasn’t quite so gutted when they came along.
Or, on the downside, quite so surprised.
On the one hand, Deadline is seriously awesome. The main plot picks up on one of the unexplored element of FEED that I badly wanted to know more about – already a good sign – namely the reservoir conditions, like George’s ocular Kellis-Amberlee. What spurs those conditions, what do they mean for the overall evolution of the virus? The answer, DEADLINE’S first really killer twist, sends Shaun on a hunt for more information that ultimately blows the conspiracy he (and George) had begun to crack in FEED wide open.
But for all that, I’m not ready to pass judgment on DEADLINE. I’m not ready to call it a success. It leaves too many questions unanswered.
For example: In DEADLINE, Georgia lives on in Shaun’s mind as a figment of his imagination. She chats with him, they have conversations. Everyone, even Shaun, sees this as a sign of mental illness. He can’t let go, he can’t move on, so instead he has a relationship with an imaginary Georgia.
But throughout the novel, Georgia supplies ideas and information that Shaun couldn’t generate on his own. She knows facts that he wouldn’t remember, processes information faster than he would, and remembers character quirks about their friends and employees that he never knew. She seems like an independent entity, and Shaun doesn’t seem crazy. Even his willingness to admit that he’s crazy is proof that he’s not crazy.
I know that the NEWSFLESH series are zombie books, so clearly there’s an element of the magical or impossible, but that’s why I appreciate Mira Grant’s incessant discussion of virology. Aside from the fact that I find it interesting, it’s kind of like a pledge. She’s promising to keep her alternate reality as real as possible. She tells us about things like yellow fever and malaria to reassure us that she’s basing her pseudo-science on real world phenomena.
So what’s up with George in Shaun’s head? There’s no realism or pseudo-science to her disembodied voice. It’s impossible. I hope Mira Grant has a good explanation for this, but until I hear it I’m going to be worried that there’s a huge element of the book that’s impossible and magical and makes no sense.
There are other examples, but that’s the biggest and the safest to discuss, since it’s present from the beginning.
FEED could have been a standalone novel. It felt like one to me. DEADLINE is not just a sequel, it’s an obvious link in a chain. That makes it less impressive in some ways, but has the potential to make the series as a whole much stronger. By the end of the book, the post-Rising status quo is over. Add up all the revelations and all the curveballs, and there’s an endgame in sight. The zombies are going to take over or they’re going to lose everything. And, whoever’s narrating, Grant is going to keep us in the thick of it. (less)
One good thing about (view spoiler)[George dying at the end of FEED (hide spoiler)] is that I knew from the first page of DEADLINE that Mira Grant doesn’t pull her punches. I knew I couldn’t count on her to keep beloved characters safe or even safely on the “good” side of the moral line in the sand. I expected some crazy twists and turns, and I wasn’t quite so gutted when they came along.
Or, on the downside, quite so surprised.
On the one hand, Deadline is seriously awesome. The main plot picks up on one of the unexplored element of FEED that I badly wanted to know more about – already a good sign – namely the reservoir conditions, like George’s ocular Kellis-Amberlee. What spurs those conditions, what do they mean for the overall evolution of the virus? The answer, DEADLINE’S first really killer twist, sends Shaun on a hunt for more information that ultimately blows the conspiracy he (and George) had begun to crack in FEED wide open.
But for all that, I’m not ready to pass judgment on DEADLINE. I’m not ready to call it a success. It leaves too many questions unanswered.
For example: In DEADLINE, Georgia lives on in Shaun’s mind as a figment of his imagination. She chats with him, they have conversations. Everyone, even Shaun, sees this as a sign of mental illness. He can’t let go, he can’t move on, so instead he has a relationship with an imaginary Georgia.
But throughout the novel, Georgia supplies ideas and information that Shaun couldn’t generate on his own. She knows facts that he wouldn’t remember, processes information faster than he would, and remembers character quirks about their friends and employees that he never knew. She seems like an independent entity, and Shaun doesn’t seem crazy. Even his willingness to admit that he’s crazy is proof that he’s not crazy.
I know that the NEWSFLESH series are zombie books, so clearly there’s an element of the magical or impossible, but that’s why I appreciate Mira Grant’s incessant discussion of virology. Aside from the fact that I find it interesting, it’s kind of like a pledge. She’s promising to keep her alternate reality as real as possible. She tells us about things like yellow fever and malaria to reassure us that she’s basing her pseudo-science on real world phenomena.
So what’s up with George in Shaun’s head? There’s no realism or pseudo-science to her disembodied voice. It’s impossible. I hope Mira Grant has a good explanation for this, but until I hear it I’m going to be worried that there’s a huge element of the book that’s impossible and magical and makes no sense.
There are other examples, but that’s the biggest and the safest to discuss, since it’s present from the beginning.
FEED could have been a standalone novel. It felt like one to me. DEADLINE is not just a sequel, it’s an obvious link in a chain. That makes it less impressive in some ways, but has the potential to make the series as a whole much stronger. By the end of the book, the post-Rising status quo is over. Add up all the revelations and all the curveballs, and there’s an endgame in sight. The zombies are going to take over or they’re going to lose everything. And, whoever’s narrating, Grant is going to keep us in the thick of it. (less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Nov 02, 2011
Nov 02, 2011
Mass Market Paperback
0061834475
9780061834479
3.21
366
Feb 16, 2010
Feb 16, 2010
**spoiler alert** In POSTCARDS FROM A DEAD GIRL the protagonist, Sid, has two dead women in his life – he thinks he’s receiving postcards from his dea...more
**spoiler alert** In POSTCARDS FROM A DEAD GIRL the protagonist, Sid, has two dead women in his life – he thinks he’s receiving postcards from his dead girlfriend Zoe, for one, but he also thinks that the spirit of his dead mother is trapped in a 40-year-old bottle of Bordeaux that he keeps in his basement. The reader doesn’t learn how Zoe died until the very end of the novel, when it’s revealed that she was in the passenger seat of a car Sid was driving when it crashed – Sid lived and Zoe died.
As the postcards keep coming, Sid decides that if he follows them to their sources, he might find Zoe herself – even though all the postcards are dated from a year ago. First he visits a mechanic in New Jersey, explaining that his girlfriend is “missing” and asking if she’s been seen, but has no luck. Next Sid visits London, Paris, and Barcelona – in each city he visits post offices, but post office officials can’t tell him much: they explain that various mishaps might delay the arrival of a postcard for up to a year, and suggest possible scenarios, but have nothing more to add.
Back at home, Sid makes misguided attempts to get his life back on track. Too many scenes are set at Sid’s dead-end job selling package vacations at a travel agency. He gets a CAT scan, at his sister’s encouragement, to make sure his brain is functioning properly (it is). He goes out with one girl who turns out to be horrible, and develops a crush on another. He tries yoga, and gets a mud bath at a local spa. Sid enjoys the spa mud bath so much he tries digging a hole in his backyard to duplicate it, eventually producing a ragged pit full of muck whose consistency, at least, reminds him of the spa.
Eventually, Sid has a confrontation with his sister, who demands that he face facts: his girlfriend is dead, she’s not coming back, and Sid can’t keep ruining his life in endless, doomed attempts to reach her. This wake-up call brings Sid back to the present, and he gets his life back together: he drinks the bottle of Bordeaux containing his mother’s spirit, setting it free, he connects solidly with the girl he has a crush on, and he quits his job at the travel agency.
The writing here is average – Sid’s inner monologue runs to banal thoughts like, “I’ve been watching sunsets lately, to see what the big deal is. As a rule, I like them.” We meet Zoe through flashbacks, and she’s not appealing – she needs constant affirmations of affection from Sid, and her individual quirks are limited to doctoring candid photos and pretending to speak Chinese.
The agent says that this book is “like a Wes Anderson movie” but I don’t see the resemblance. Simply put, POSTCARDS FROM A DEAD GIRL is boring.(less)
As the postcards keep coming, Sid decides that if he follows them to their sources, he might find Zoe herself – even though all the postcards are dated from a year ago. First he visits a mechanic in New Jersey, explaining that his girlfriend is “missing” and asking if she’s been seen, but has no luck. Next Sid visits London, Paris, and Barcelona – in each city he visits post offices, but post office officials can’t tell him much: they explain that various mishaps might delay the arrival of a postcard for up to a year, and suggest possible scenarios, but have nothing more to add.
Back at home, Sid makes misguided attempts to get his life back on track. Too many scenes are set at Sid’s dead-end job selling package vacations at a travel agency. He gets a CAT scan, at his sister’s encouragement, to make sure his brain is functioning properly (it is). He goes out with one girl who turns out to be horrible, and develops a crush on another. He tries yoga, and gets a mud bath at a local spa. Sid enjoys the spa mud bath so much he tries digging a hole in his backyard to duplicate it, eventually producing a ragged pit full of muck whose consistency, at least, reminds him of the spa.
Eventually, Sid has a confrontation with his sister, who demands that he face facts: his girlfriend is dead, she’s not coming back, and Sid can’t keep ruining his life in endless, doomed attempts to reach her. This wake-up call brings Sid back to the present, and he gets his life back together: he drinks the bottle of Bordeaux containing his mother’s spirit, setting it free, he connects solidly with the girl he has a crush on, and he quits his job at the travel agency.
The writing here is average – Sid’s inner monologue runs to banal thoughts like, “I’ve been watching sunsets lately, to see what the big deal is. As a rule, I like them.” We meet Zoe through flashbacks, and she’s not appealing – she needs constant affirmations of affection from Sid, and her individual quirks are limited to doctoring candid photos and pretending to speak Chinese.
The agent says that this book is “like a Wes Anderson movie” but I don’t see the resemblance. Simply put, POSTCARDS FROM A DEAD GIRL is boring.(less)
Notes are private!
none
1
not set
Dec 22, 2008
Aug 20, 2012
Paperback
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