Dale Ibitz's Blog, page 24
January 22, 2012
Book Review: Bloodfever (Fever #2), by Karen Marie Moning
Bloodfever
Karen Marie Moning
In the 2nd installment of the Fever series, we find Mac still at the bookstore, still paired with Barrons, still out to avenge her sister's death, and still looking for the Book. The list of Mac's enemies are growing, including a group of sidh-seers, and one of those enemies has come back from the dead seeking revenge.
I like Mac so much better in this book. She's starting to peel away that glam exterior, she's starting to grow up, she's starting to think about more than herself and her hair and her clothes and her nails. While I like Mac better, Mac doesn't necessarily like herself better, and we see glimmers of the old Mac trying to push through. That's okay...no one changes overnight.
Unfortunately, for me, the total first half of this book was fairly mundane. Nothing significant happens, and I found myself hoping and praying we'd get a little action, some kind of substance to carry through what I considered a tedious start.
However, with that being said, the ending was riveting. Mac finds herself in a position where no one can save her from death. She finds herself in a very dark place with no strong male to save her. Not this time. And in order to save herself, she dips a toe into the dark side. Her purity is dilluted.
While on the brink of death, Mac learns what she's made of, and it's not glittery nails and pink skirts. There's another Mac inside her, and she's coming out.
Karen Marie Moning
In the 2nd installment of the Fever series, we find Mac still at the bookstore, still paired with Barrons, still out to avenge her sister's death, and still looking for the Book. The list of Mac's enemies are growing, including a group of sidh-seers, and one of those enemies has come back from the dead seeking revenge.
I like Mac so much better in this book. She's starting to peel away that glam exterior, she's starting to grow up, she's starting to think about more than herself and her hair and her clothes and her nails. While I like Mac better, Mac doesn't necessarily like herself better, and we see glimmers of the old Mac trying to push through. That's okay...no one changes overnight.
Unfortunately, for me, the total first half of this book was fairly mundane. Nothing significant happens, and I found myself hoping and praying we'd get a little action, some kind of substance to carry through what I considered a tedious start.
However, with that being said, the ending was riveting. Mac finds herself in a position where no one can save her from death. She finds herself in a very dark place with no strong male to save her. Not this time. And in order to save herself, she dips a toe into the dark side. Her purity is dilluted.
While on the brink of death, Mac learns what she's made of, and it's not glittery nails and pink skirts. There's another Mac inside her, and she's coming out.
January 21, 2012
It's Time to Write
Okay, so most authors have day jobs. Some like their day jobs. Some despise their day jobs. Some simply tolerate their day jobs. But they all love to write. Which is why they do.
There's a lot of advice out there on writing process: seat of the pants, excel spreadsheets with timelines, plotting, outlining, index cards pinned to walls and bulletin boards and spouses' backs. Some say write a page a day. Or a chapter a day. Or an hour a day. Sometimes all you get out is a word a day. Some would advise to write every day. The list goes on.
I don't quite follow with the 'you have to write every day' mode of operandi, because life is life and writing is work. Yeah, we enjoy it, but it's still work. Could you imagine your boss telling you you have to work every day? No matter what? Even if it's only an hour? I'd tell him to pound sand. I'd tell him to sit on his job and twirl. I'd tell him to kiss my ass cuz that's all he's gonna see of me as I walk out that door. I have days off. I have vacations. I've gone *weeks* without writing sometimes just because I need the down time. I'm burnt. I'm toast. Stick a fork in me, I'm done.
But not today.
So, you may be thinking, between working, and writing, and reading, and reviewing, and blogging, and laundry, and cooking, and cleaning, and chauffering rug-rats, and doctors appointments and sports events and practices, where the fwoop do I slice an hour out a day already busting at its 24-hour seams?
When you have the answer to that, call me.
I learned something the other day, and while it was a concept applied to my day job, I thought, why not apply it to writing? Not that the concept will be easy, because I still have to work, and read, and review, and blog, and...you get it.
What I learned is that there is a certain time of day that people are at their most productive. Most people are most productive in the morning. Before you throw your coffee at me, I'm not saying as soon as you blink your eyes open morning, but after that first cuppa morning. Others could be at their best in the afternoon (not bloody likely, in my book), or at night. Only you can determine when you're at your best.
The trick is to turn off distractions during your most productive time. Turn off your IM. Turn off your phone. Turn off your email. Whether it be one hour, or two hours, or three hours, again is dependent on you. I like to use 2 hour blocks. During this productive zone, produce. That's all there is to it. Produce, with no distractions.
I'm an early bird. My production zone is the morning.
Twice a week, when I ride the bus to work, I get an hour production zone in the morning. I write the whole ride. I get the same hour on the way home, and while I'm not nearly productive because my eyes are generally glazed and my brain is generally fried, I still write. Or try to. Sometimes I'm so fried I simply whip out the Nook and read. That's okay. I don't stress. I unwind.
I'm an early bird in a family of night owls. On the weekends, I get up well before the other laze-abouts. That's my time. I put off my cleaning (even though there are little eyes in my head eyeballing the dog hair on the rug, I try to ignore it); I worry about the laundry later; dinner is *hours* away. Here's the tricky part. Some distractions can't be turned off. Am I right? Yeah.
Today I arose at 6:30 because I got a list of crap to do: I desperately have to vacuum the dog hair off the rug, clean the house, do some laundry, bake lasagna for dinner, resist cracking open the 4th book in a series that I'm just starting to adore (after staying up way too late last night to finish book 3) in order to start one of the 2 books that I need to read in the next couple of weeks to meet my review due dates, review my latest urban fantasy manuscript to send to an editor who just requested a read (yay!), and continue editing my 2nd novel in the Last Moon Rising series, which I need to get to my editor at some point in the next few months.
So after stoking up the woodstove and getting coffee going, I'm interrupted by my son puking his guts out. I stand in the kitchen, a silent witness to his misery. I squirm, I flinch (you know the sound effects), I give him a motherly pat on the back, make him rinse his mouth, send him back to bed with a bottle of water. The coffee still needs to be made. The dog needs to go out, but she can't just do her business because it's snowing and running in the snow chasing birds is so much fun and she doesn't give a flying fwoop about production zones. By the time I get producing, it's already 7:20. I'm almost an hour into my production zone and, well, I haven't produced!
That's ok. Eveyone's back in bed, including the dog, and time is mine. I have my coffee. I have my laptop. I have my zone back.
It's time to write.
There's a lot of advice out there on writing process: seat of the pants, excel spreadsheets with timelines, plotting, outlining, index cards pinned to walls and bulletin boards and spouses' backs. Some say write a page a day. Or a chapter a day. Or an hour a day. Sometimes all you get out is a word a day. Some would advise to write every day. The list goes on.
I don't quite follow with the 'you have to write every day' mode of operandi, because life is life and writing is work. Yeah, we enjoy it, but it's still work. Could you imagine your boss telling you you have to work every day? No matter what? Even if it's only an hour? I'd tell him to pound sand. I'd tell him to sit on his job and twirl. I'd tell him to kiss my ass cuz that's all he's gonna see of me as I walk out that door. I have days off. I have vacations. I've gone *weeks* without writing sometimes just because I need the down time. I'm burnt. I'm toast. Stick a fork in me, I'm done.
But not today.
So, you may be thinking, between working, and writing, and reading, and reviewing, and blogging, and laundry, and cooking, and cleaning, and chauffering rug-rats, and doctors appointments and sports events and practices, where the fwoop do I slice an hour out a day already busting at its 24-hour seams?
When you have the answer to that, call me.
I learned something the other day, and while it was a concept applied to my day job, I thought, why not apply it to writing? Not that the concept will be easy, because I still have to work, and read, and review, and blog, and...you get it.
What I learned is that there is a certain time of day that people are at their most productive. Most people are most productive in the morning. Before you throw your coffee at me, I'm not saying as soon as you blink your eyes open morning, but after that first cuppa morning. Others could be at their best in the afternoon (not bloody likely, in my book), or at night. Only you can determine when you're at your best.
The trick is to turn off distractions during your most productive time. Turn off your IM. Turn off your phone. Turn off your email. Whether it be one hour, or two hours, or three hours, again is dependent on you. I like to use 2 hour blocks. During this productive zone, produce. That's all there is to it. Produce, with no distractions.
I'm an early bird. My production zone is the morning.
Twice a week, when I ride the bus to work, I get an hour production zone in the morning. I write the whole ride. I get the same hour on the way home, and while I'm not nearly productive because my eyes are generally glazed and my brain is generally fried, I still write. Or try to. Sometimes I'm so fried I simply whip out the Nook and read. That's okay. I don't stress. I unwind.
I'm an early bird in a family of night owls. On the weekends, I get up well before the other laze-abouts. That's my time. I put off my cleaning (even though there are little eyes in my head eyeballing the dog hair on the rug, I try to ignore it); I worry about the laundry later; dinner is *hours* away. Here's the tricky part. Some distractions can't be turned off. Am I right? Yeah.
Today I arose at 6:30 because I got a list of crap to do: I desperately have to vacuum the dog hair off the rug, clean the house, do some laundry, bake lasagna for dinner, resist cracking open the 4th book in a series that I'm just starting to adore (after staying up way too late last night to finish book 3) in order to start one of the 2 books that I need to read in the next couple of weeks to meet my review due dates, review my latest urban fantasy manuscript to send to an editor who just requested a read (yay!), and continue editing my 2nd novel in the Last Moon Rising series, which I need to get to my editor at some point in the next few months.
So after stoking up the woodstove and getting coffee going, I'm interrupted by my son puking his guts out. I stand in the kitchen, a silent witness to his misery. I squirm, I flinch (you know the sound effects), I give him a motherly pat on the back, make him rinse his mouth, send him back to bed with a bottle of water. The coffee still needs to be made. The dog needs to go out, but she can't just do her business because it's snowing and running in the snow chasing birds is so much fun and she doesn't give a flying fwoop about production zones. By the time I get producing, it's already 7:20. I'm almost an hour into my production zone and, well, I haven't produced!
That's ok. Eveyone's back in bed, including the dog, and time is mine. I have my coffee. I have my laptop. I have my zone back.
It's time to write.
January 16, 2012
Book Review: Life Blood, by Thomas Hoover
Life Blood
Thomas Hoover
Morgan Smyth James is a 38 year-old movie-maker who wants one thing: a baby. The problem is, she's invested years, time and money into the baby-making process, yet the cries she hears in the nursery are only in her dreams. So she sets off to make a movie about adoption, whereby she falls into a spiraling whirlpool of deceipt, betrayal, and conspriacy involving smarmy doctors and foreign military thugs.
I liked the charachter, Morgan, and though he doesn't play a largely active role in the book, I liked her boyfriend, Steve. The characters have depth, a down-to-earth real relationship, fraught with conflict and happiness.
But for me the book was long. Too long. The author could have cut a 1/3 from this book and had a smoother, better-paced read. Much of the first 1/4 of the book is filled with back-story and info dumps (this is where I would have taken out my axe and started chopping). Nothing slows down a story more than info dumps. To be honest, I just wasn't interested. I didn't care. The author even prefaced some of these info dumps by stating it was coming..."A little history here..." Beep, beep, beep! Take cover, the garbage truck is a'coming and it's unloading.
Also, and this may just have been to show off the author's technical prowess, but pages of movie-lingo was thrown about, complete with staff members' jobs and names...which would have been great if they had any bearing on the story. Most of them didn't. It just kept me flipping back pages to figure out who was being referenced. Most of these people disappeared before the mid-way point, so really, what was the point? None.
Even when the author hit stride and the story moved along at a rabbit's pace, little birdies would come along and peck at us, dropping little backstory tidbits that weren't necessary and interrupted pacing. And the constant internal questioning by Morgan had me hearing voices in my head. I wanted her to shut up and let me think for a minute. I can think for myself. I can ask questions while I'm reading. Don't feed them to me and please don't tell me what to think. I'd rather think something and be wrong. Red herrings, people, are what makes stories go round.
Speaking of surprises, this story was a little weak in that regard. 2 things struck me as being very transparent. The first was a betrayal. There was NO SURPISE regarding this betrayal. The author peppered the betrayal with broad hints. He may as well have just told us outright. This story would have been better served if the betrayal came as a complete and utter surprise. A face-palm to the forehead, I-never-saw-that-coming kind of surprise. I *want*, *long*, *wish* to be blindsided when reading. I would have loved that. Instead, I was more like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. No surprise there."
Second, I'd solved the whole medical mystery before the mid-way point. It was fairly transparent, so I wasn't nearly as surprised at the end as Morgan was. I guess when you're living the reality, things just aren't as in-your-face as they are to the reader. I guess when writing you should keep that in mind. I guess most readers are not so easily fooled.
Overall, the book wasn't a bad read, but it wasn't a great read either.
Thomas Hoover
Morgan Smyth James is a 38 year-old movie-maker who wants one thing: a baby. The problem is, she's invested years, time and money into the baby-making process, yet the cries she hears in the nursery are only in her dreams. So she sets off to make a movie about adoption, whereby she falls into a spiraling whirlpool of deceipt, betrayal, and conspriacy involving smarmy doctors and foreign military thugs.
I liked the charachter, Morgan, and though he doesn't play a largely active role in the book, I liked her boyfriend, Steve. The characters have depth, a down-to-earth real relationship, fraught with conflict and happiness.
But for me the book was long. Too long. The author could have cut a 1/3 from this book and had a smoother, better-paced read. Much of the first 1/4 of the book is filled with back-story and info dumps (this is where I would have taken out my axe and started chopping). Nothing slows down a story more than info dumps. To be honest, I just wasn't interested. I didn't care. The author even prefaced some of these info dumps by stating it was coming..."A little history here..." Beep, beep, beep! Take cover, the garbage truck is a'coming and it's unloading.
Also, and this may just have been to show off the author's technical prowess, but pages of movie-lingo was thrown about, complete with staff members' jobs and names...which would have been great if they had any bearing on the story. Most of them didn't. It just kept me flipping back pages to figure out who was being referenced. Most of these people disappeared before the mid-way point, so really, what was the point? None.
Even when the author hit stride and the story moved along at a rabbit's pace, little birdies would come along and peck at us, dropping little backstory tidbits that weren't necessary and interrupted pacing. And the constant internal questioning by Morgan had me hearing voices in my head. I wanted her to shut up and let me think for a minute. I can think for myself. I can ask questions while I'm reading. Don't feed them to me and please don't tell me what to think. I'd rather think something and be wrong. Red herrings, people, are what makes stories go round.
Speaking of surprises, this story was a little weak in that regard. 2 things struck me as being very transparent. The first was a betrayal. There was NO SURPISE regarding this betrayal. The author peppered the betrayal with broad hints. He may as well have just told us outright. This story would have been better served if the betrayal came as a complete and utter surprise. A face-palm to the forehead, I-never-saw-that-coming kind of surprise. I *want*, *long*, *wish* to be blindsided when reading. I would have loved that. Instead, I was more like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. No surprise there."
Second, I'd solved the whole medical mystery before the mid-way point. It was fairly transparent, so I wasn't nearly as surprised at the end as Morgan was. I guess when you're living the reality, things just aren't as in-your-face as they are to the reader. I guess when writing you should keep that in mind. I guess most readers are not so easily fooled.
Overall, the book wasn't a bad read, but it wasn't a great read either.
January 8, 2012
Book Review: Blood Warrior, by H.D. Gordon
Blood Warror
H.D Gordon
17 year-old Alexa knows 2 things: she's pissed at her mother and her mother's rigorous training, and she would do anything to protect her sister, Nelly. She doesn't realize how important these 2 things are until her world comes crashing down and she's thrown into a dark world of the supernatural.
OK, there's one thing that's very hard to do, and that's find the right measurement of ingredients and combine them with just the right temperature to bake brownies (yes, I'm using a brownie metaphor for story). Most authors fall into one of 2 traps: either they start off too slow and don't draw the reader in until past the midway mark...their brownies are undercooked; or they start off too fast and don't find their story's groove until past the midway mark...their brownies are rock hard around the edges, with some good stuff somewhere in the middle. I myself have been accused of the latter, so I, unfortunately, am speaking from experience here. So has H.D. Gordon. It's very hard to find the right mix of ingredients to make the perfect brownie; you have to measure and mix those ingredients and find just the right temperature so that luscious brownie aroma lures you right from the beginning, traps you so that you can't stop at just one bite.
I will say this: the last 1/3 of this book was the shit; it was one good brownie.
The story started a little too quickly. It needed to slow down and help me see the surroundings, see the characters (especially Alexa), and immerse me into Alexa's world. Nelly was perhaps the most vividly drawn character, probably because we see her through Alexa's eyes and she's very dear to Alexa. But I have to admit I didn't have a good sense of Alexa. At one point, Alexa was thinking how a dress and a nice pair of shoes could make a girl happy (or something to that effect, I don't remember exactly), but I *do* remember stopping and thinking, "Wow, I thought Alexa was more a t-shirt and sweat pants kind of girl. I didn't know she liked to dress up!"
The other thing that I didn't believe about Alexa's character were 2 instances where she interacted with children. One of the driving motivators for Alexa was that she likes children and would do anything to protect them...and these are children she doesn't know personally. These are children she's just met. That's fine, but these two instances where she interacted with a child seemed contrived to me, as though they were inserted into the story to make me like Alexa. The first time this happened it seemed to come out of the blue, with Alexa "telling" us how she really like children. This aspect of her character wasn't developed enough to make it believable.
And yes, there was a lot of telling. If you've read my reviews, you know how I like visceral emotions, I like to feel what the character's feeling, I like stuff explained and described. Don't tell me a character is mad, or sad, or scared. Describe this to me. Make me feel it. Make me *believe* it.
With all that being said, this author hit her stride just past the midway mark. All of a sudden, I'm immersed in this new world. All of a sudden, H.D. Gordon found the right mix of ingredients to make this one kick-ass, delicous brownie. All of a sudden, I found myself interested in finding out what's going to happen to Alexa next. I couldn't eat up the words fast enough.
In fact, overall, I would call these brownies a success. The brownies, though hard around the edges, were delicous in the middle.
I look forward to more brownies from H.D. Gordon.
H.D Gordon
17 year-old Alexa knows 2 things: she's pissed at her mother and her mother's rigorous training, and she would do anything to protect her sister, Nelly. She doesn't realize how important these 2 things are until her world comes crashing down and she's thrown into a dark world of the supernatural.
OK, there's one thing that's very hard to do, and that's find the right measurement of ingredients and combine them with just the right temperature to bake brownies (yes, I'm using a brownie metaphor for story). Most authors fall into one of 2 traps: either they start off too slow and don't draw the reader in until past the midway mark...their brownies are undercooked; or they start off too fast and don't find their story's groove until past the midway mark...their brownies are rock hard around the edges, with some good stuff somewhere in the middle. I myself have been accused of the latter, so I, unfortunately, am speaking from experience here. So has H.D. Gordon. It's very hard to find the right mix of ingredients to make the perfect brownie; you have to measure and mix those ingredients and find just the right temperature so that luscious brownie aroma lures you right from the beginning, traps you so that you can't stop at just one bite.
I will say this: the last 1/3 of this book was the shit; it was one good brownie.
The story started a little too quickly. It needed to slow down and help me see the surroundings, see the characters (especially Alexa), and immerse me into Alexa's world. Nelly was perhaps the most vividly drawn character, probably because we see her through Alexa's eyes and she's very dear to Alexa. But I have to admit I didn't have a good sense of Alexa. At one point, Alexa was thinking how a dress and a nice pair of shoes could make a girl happy (or something to that effect, I don't remember exactly), but I *do* remember stopping and thinking, "Wow, I thought Alexa was more a t-shirt and sweat pants kind of girl. I didn't know she liked to dress up!"
The other thing that I didn't believe about Alexa's character were 2 instances where she interacted with children. One of the driving motivators for Alexa was that she likes children and would do anything to protect them...and these are children she doesn't know personally. These are children she's just met. That's fine, but these two instances where she interacted with a child seemed contrived to me, as though they were inserted into the story to make me like Alexa. The first time this happened it seemed to come out of the blue, with Alexa "telling" us how she really like children. This aspect of her character wasn't developed enough to make it believable.
And yes, there was a lot of telling. If you've read my reviews, you know how I like visceral emotions, I like to feel what the character's feeling, I like stuff explained and described. Don't tell me a character is mad, or sad, or scared. Describe this to me. Make me feel it. Make me *believe* it.
With all that being said, this author hit her stride just past the midway mark. All of a sudden, I'm immersed in this new world. All of a sudden, H.D. Gordon found the right mix of ingredients to make this one kick-ass, delicous brownie. All of a sudden, I found myself interested in finding out what's going to happen to Alexa next. I couldn't eat up the words fast enough.
In fact, overall, I would call these brownies a success. The brownies, though hard around the edges, were delicous in the middle.
I look forward to more brownies from H.D. Gordon.
January 4, 2012
Book Review: Dark Warrior: To Tame a Wild Hawk, by Lenore Wolfe
Dark Warrior: To Tame a Wild Hawk
Lenore Wolfe
This is a western/romance/supernatural type book...I'm not really sure I can pinpoint a specific genre. Mandy Kane inherits (sort of) her father's ranch upon his death...except that in order to keep the ranch, she must marry. One family, the McCandles, are out to get the ranch whether by threat, theft or marriage. Mandy wants to run the ranch herself, but in the old west it's unheard of to work for a lady rancher. So Mandy fabricates a fiance, a man she's dreamed about since she was a little girl. This dream man turns out to be a real man, Hawk, who is a white man raised by the Indians, and happens into town to help Mandy protect her ranch from encroachers.
I liked the characters in this book. In fact, the characterization was by far the best part. Mandy was strong and likeable, as was Hawk. She has a sweet best friend. Some of the minor characters could have been a little more developed in order to allow some of the story line to pack more punch, but overall, I liked the characters.
The plot and the writing, however, most times left me confused. In the beginning, there is a supernatural, dream-like reality going on, which interrupts the flow of the story. The supernatural, dream-like reality is not maintained throughout the story...whereas in the beginning it's quite heavy. And it's never fully explained what this dream-like connection is, though there are references to Mandy being a witch (however, I don't know if she's a real witch, or if that was just some nasty name-calling). And there's a dark shadowy type man (apparently with no face) who is able to shadow Mandy's powers...who or what he is I couldn't tell you.
I think I would have preferred this story to be in Mandy's POV only, as the focus was all over the place. At times I didn't know who was talking or acting or thinking. Also, especially with a romance, leaving the story in one person's POV (especially the girl's) leaves more mystery and suspense as to the conflict and tension with the partner. Some of that element of surprise is taken away when you know what everyone's thinking...for this type of story, I don't think you want that.
As for the romance, it left me feeling 'meh'. I like my romance to be fraught with tension and miscommunication (though the erotic scenes were nicely handled), and it has to be maintained through to the end of the story. While there was tension and miscommunication, it was always resolved almost immediately. And sometimes, I couldn't understand the basis of their conflict. They'd be mad at one another, and I had no understanding why anyone was mad...it almost seemed contrived in order to build a conflict that needed resolution.
Some of the dialogue, especially in the 2nd half of the story, rose to soap opera proportions...you know, those tacky lines that no one would ever be caught dead uttering out loud and are so saccharine that you have to see the dentist to have the cavities filled from all that sweet talk.
So while the story started out with strong characters, the writing seemed to weaken (even more so than the befuddled beginning) around the middle, and the story quickly lost its "oompf"...it really couldn't be saved by strong characters.
At least for me.
So while the title leads you to believe a wild hawk needed to be tamed, he was tamed far too soon and far too easily.[image error]
Lenore Wolfe
This is a western/romance/supernatural type book...I'm not really sure I can pinpoint a specific genre. Mandy Kane inherits (sort of) her father's ranch upon his death...except that in order to keep the ranch, she must marry. One family, the McCandles, are out to get the ranch whether by threat, theft or marriage. Mandy wants to run the ranch herself, but in the old west it's unheard of to work for a lady rancher. So Mandy fabricates a fiance, a man she's dreamed about since she was a little girl. This dream man turns out to be a real man, Hawk, who is a white man raised by the Indians, and happens into town to help Mandy protect her ranch from encroachers.
I liked the characters in this book. In fact, the characterization was by far the best part. Mandy was strong and likeable, as was Hawk. She has a sweet best friend. Some of the minor characters could have been a little more developed in order to allow some of the story line to pack more punch, but overall, I liked the characters.
The plot and the writing, however, most times left me confused. In the beginning, there is a supernatural, dream-like reality going on, which interrupts the flow of the story. The supernatural, dream-like reality is not maintained throughout the story...whereas in the beginning it's quite heavy. And it's never fully explained what this dream-like connection is, though there are references to Mandy being a witch (however, I don't know if she's a real witch, or if that was just some nasty name-calling). And there's a dark shadowy type man (apparently with no face) who is able to shadow Mandy's powers...who or what he is I couldn't tell you.
I think I would have preferred this story to be in Mandy's POV only, as the focus was all over the place. At times I didn't know who was talking or acting or thinking. Also, especially with a romance, leaving the story in one person's POV (especially the girl's) leaves more mystery and suspense as to the conflict and tension with the partner. Some of that element of surprise is taken away when you know what everyone's thinking...for this type of story, I don't think you want that.
As for the romance, it left me feeling 'meh'. I like my romance to be fraught with tension and miscommunication (though the erotic scenes were nicely handled), and it has to be maintained through to the end of the story. While there was tension and miscommunication, it was always resolved almost immediately. And sometimes, I couldn't understand the basis of their conflict. They'd be mad at one another, and I had no understanding why anyone was mad...it almost seemed contrived in order to build a conflict that needed resolution.
Some of the dialogue, especially in the 2nd half of the story, rose to soap opera proportions...you know, those tacky lines that no one would ever be caught dead uttering out loud and are so saccharine that you have to see the dentist to have the cavities filled from all that sweet talk.
So while the story started out with strong characters, the writing seemed to weaken (even more so than the befuddled beginning) around the middle, and the story quickly lost its "oompf"...it really couldn't be saved by strong characters.
At least for me.
So while the title leads you to believe a wild hawk needed to be tamed, he was tamed far too soon and far too easily.[image error]
December 31, 2011
The "F" Effect
It's New Year's Eve, and a dreary day, so let's have story time, shall we?
Say, hypothetically, you have a teenager who is flunking math. And say, hypothetically, you punish said teenager by taking away said teenager's iPod.
What happens next?
A) The teenager sighs but takes the punishment like a trooper.
B) The teenager calls you a name and slams the bedroom door.
C) The teenager threatens to run away from home.
Let's pick...C.
OK, so the iPod has been stripped from the teenager's grasping little fingers. There's wailing. There's whining. There's gnashing of teeth. Parental ears are genetically coded to block such teenage assault. The iPod is firmly tucked away for safe keeping. Grumpy, slumpy teenager stomps to the bus and is whisked away in a belching cloud of fat, yellow bus exhaust.
While on the bus, the teenager rants against the inhumane parental punishment, leeching the one entertainment available to the teenager on the laborious ride to school. Quick with pen and paper, teenager vents by authoring a note:
"I'm leaving. By the time you read this, I'll be far away."
Teenager slaps the note down, crosses arms, and sulks all the merry way to school. A day goes by, fraught with learning, and when teenager comes home from school, it's necessary to wash away all that learning residue, and hops in the shower. Whilst in the shower, teenager hears dog barking like a maniacal Cujo-resurrected-from-doggie-hell kind of way. Teenager drips to the window to inspect what is disturbing the force.
Oh my. The police have arrived!
Crazy, salivating dog is tucked safely away in a bedroom while teenager eyes the suspicious cops lingering by the front porch. Teenager does not confront them.
The phone rings. It's the police requesting an audience with teenager.
While teenager is speaking with the police at the front door, the father parental comes sliding into the driveway. The father is confronted with the idea that teenager just may have some serious issues. Teenager could be on the verge of running away. Teenager could want to end it all.
What the he...? the father blusters.
"The teenager left a note on the bus."
Teenager looks sheepish. "Oh yeah..."
Father parental explains that teenager was angry in the morning because the iPod was taken away. Teenager was being overly-dramatic, and is not in crisis.
"That explains it," says the officer. "However, the ambulance has already been called."
"Wha-huh?"
Teenager is gurneyed into the ambulance and carted off to the hospital where teenager is gowned and tagged and told to wait for a crisis counselor. Teenager watches T.V. and does all the happy things teenagers do...minus the iPod, of course.
3 1/2 hours later a crisis counselor takes 5 minutes to evaluate teenager, coming to the conclusion that said teenager is a normal teenager who got angry and thought about running away for all of 2 minutes. The teenager is not in crisis, stop wasting my time, thank you very much. Teenager is sent packing.
Sheepish teenager arrives home. Teenager still doesn't get back the iPod, but the parentals get landed with a 4 figure bill to pay for it all.
This is called the "F" effect.
Hope you enjoyed the story!
Say, hypothetically, you have a teenager who is flunking math. And say, hypothetically, you punish said teenager by taking away said teenager's iPod.
What happens next?
A) The teenager sighs but takes the punishment like a trooper.
B) The teenager calls you a name and slams the bedroom door.
C) The teenager threatens to run away from home.
Let's pick...C.
OK, so the iPod has been stripped from the teenager's grasping little fingers. There's wailing. There's whining. There's gnashing of teeth. Parental ears are genetically coded to block such teenage assault. The iPod is firmly tucked away for safe keeping. Grumpy, slumpy teenager stomps to the bus and is whisked away in a belching cloud of fat, yellow bus exhaust.
While on the bus, the teenager rants against the inhumane parental punishment, leeching the one entertainment available to the teenager on the laborious ride to school. Quick with pen and paper, teenager vents by authoring a note:
"I'm leaving. By the time you read this, I'll be far away."
Teenager slaps the note down, crosses arms, and sulks all the merry way to school. A day goes by, fraught with learning, and when teenager comes home from school, it's necessary to wash away all that learning residue, and hops in the shower. Whilst in the shower, teenager hears dog barking like a maniacal Cujo-resurrected-from-doggie-hell kind of way. Teenager drips to the window to inspect what is disturbing the force.
Oh my. The police have arrived!
Crazy, salivating dog is tucked safely away in a bedroom while teenager eyes the suspicious cops lingering by the front porch. Teenager does not confront them.
The phone rings. It's the police requesting an audience with teenager.
While teenager is speaking with the police at the front door, the father parental comes sliding into the driveway. The father is confronted with the idea that teenager just may have some serious issues. Teenager could be on the verge of running away. Teenager could want to end it all.
What the he...? the father blusters.
"The teenager left a note on the bus."
Teenager looks sheepish. "Oh yeah..."
Father parental explains that teenager was angry in the morning because the iPod was taken away. Teenager was being overly-dramatic, and is not in crisis.
"That explains it," says the officer. "However, the ambulance has already been called."
"Wha-huh?"
Teenager is gurneyed into the ambulance and carted off to the hospital where teenager is gowned and tagged and told to wait for a crisis counselor. Teenager watches T.V. and does all the happy things teenagers do...minus the iPod, of course.
3 1/2 hours later a crisis counselor takes 5 minutes to evaluate teenager, coming to the conclusion that said teenager is a normal teenager who got angry and thought about running away for all of 2 minutes. The teenager is not in crisis, stop wasting my time, thank you very much. Teenager is sent packing.
Sheepish teenager arrives home. Teenager still doesn't get back the iPod, but the parentals get landed with a 4 figure bill to pay for it all.
This is called the "F" effect.
Hope you enjoyed the story!
Book Review: Darkfever, by Karen Moning
Darkfever
Karen Moning
22 year-old Mac is devastated over her sister's unsolved death. She flees her sultry home in Georgia to land in Ireland, intending on kicking some life back into the lifeless investigation. What she finds is a dark world of the fae, come to life right before her supernatural eyes. She's drawn to this parralel life in the hope of solving her sister's murder, aided by a mysterious man, named Barrons, who also has one foot planted in this surreal world.
I liked the premise of this book quite a bit. If you're new to the world of fae (as I am) everything is rather clear to the noob. The characters, though not exactly lovable, are vivid and clear and easy to imagine, right down to the blush pink nail polish. When I think of Mac, I think of Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde. Ms. Moning has painted quite a vision. It was a world I could see and believe in.
There are some things I didn't like. For one, all the ominous foreshadowing. The "if I only knew then what I know now" statements that are sprinkled throughout the book. I'll allow it, once, in the prologue, but not in the story. I'm more the "just tell the damned story and quit trying to interject your thoughts and spoil it thank you very much" kind of girl. If a character is going down the wrong path, don't tell me that...let me learn it on my own as I read. Let the surprise take me away. Nothing says "spoiler alert" like a statement "It would turn out to be one of those things I was wrong about". There are more creative ways to end a chapter.
I also don't like my action broken up by mini info-dumps. You know, when you're right in the middle of a scene, and the author has to pull you out of the action to let you know that the reason the character is doing or feeling or knowing something is because, back when she was a little girl, she used to do X with her dad? Um, no. I don't want to skip down memory lane right when something major is going to happen. Put up the road block and let the action play out.
I just couldn't feel any connection to Mac, who is shallow and concerned about hair and makeup and clothes. She's not the sort I would pick out in a crowd and say, "Let's be BFFs!" Squeal, giggle, hug. I couldn't care about what she was going through.
The other thing that was missing for me, besides not wanting to be BFFs with Mac, was emotional investment. I wasn't feeling it. Part of it was because of the telling and not showing. I don't feel the anger Mac is feeling with lines like "I was getting madder by the minute". You and read on but the emotional bank account is kind of empty. The same goes for the sensual aspects of the story. Didn't feel anything there either.
Oh, and I found it annoying that the epic battle scene at the end virtually didn't take place on the pages of the story. It was over in like 1/2 a page. I couldn't picture what even happened, other than Mac swiping, slashing and dodging. What the hell's up with that? That's either kind of lazy writing or lack of imagination on the author's part, because I wasn't given enough information here to actually "see" what was going on.
I will say this: the last third of the book rocked (except for the aforementioned battle scene), and by this time Mac had grown up a little and I'm kind of liking the woman she's turning out to be. I even almost like Barrons, whose mystery appears to live on in the sequel. There are issues I want to see play out, questions I want answered, and mysteries resolved. Despite the rather long list of annoyances I portrayed here, they're not enough to keep me from reading more in the series. I look forward to it.
Karen Moning
22 year-old Mac is devastated over her sister's unsolved death. She flees her sultry home in Georgia to land in Ireland, intending on kicking some life back into the lifeless investigation. What she finds is a dark world of the fae, come to life right before her supernatural eyes. She's drawn to this parralel life in the hope of solving her sister's murder, aided by a mysterious man, named Barrons, who also has one foot planted in this surreal world.
I liked the premise of this book quite a bit. If you're new to the world of fae (as I am) everything is rather clear to the noob. The characters, though not exactly lovable, are vivid and clear and easy to imagine, right down to the blush pink nail polish. When I think of Mac, I think of Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde. Ms. Moning has painted quite a vision. It was a world I could see and believe in.
There are some things I didn't like. For one, all the ominous foreshadowing. The "if I only knew then what I know now" statements that are sprinkled throughout the book. I'll allow it, once, in the prologue, but not in the story. I'm more the "just tell the damned story and quit trying to interject your thoughts and spoil it thank you very much" kind of girl. If a character is going down the wrong path, don't tell me that...let me learn it on my own as I read. Let the surprise take me away. Nothing says "spoiler alert" like a statement "It would turn out to be one of those things I was wrong about". There are more creative ways to end a chapter.
I also don't like my action broken up by mini info-dumps. You know, when you're right in the middle of a scene, and the author has to pull you out of the action to let you know that the reason the character is doing or feeling or knowing something is because, back when she was a little girl, she used to do X with her dad? Um, no. I don't want to skip down memory lane right when something major is going to happen. Put up the road block and let the action play out.
I just couldn't feel any connection to Mac, who is shallow and concerned about hair and makeup and clothes. She's not the sort I would pick out in a crowd and say, "Let's be BFFs!" Squeal, giggle, hug. I couldn't care about what she was going through.
The other thing that was missing for me, besides not wanting to be BFFs with Mac, was emotional investment. I wasn't feeling it. Part of it was because of the telling and not showing. I don't feel the anger Mac is feeling with lines like "I was getting madder by the minute". You and read on but the emotional bank account is kind of empty. The same goes for the sensual aspects of the story. Didn't feel anything there either.
Oh, and I found it annoying that the epic battle scene at the end virtually didn't take place on the pages of the story. It was over in like 1/2 a page. I couldn't picture what even happened, other than Mac swiping, slashing and dodging. What the hell's up with that? That's either kind of lazy writing or lack of imagination on the author's part, because I wasn't given enough information here to actually "see" what was going on.
I will say this: the last third of the book rocked (except for the aforementioned battle scene), and by this time Mac had grown up a little and I'm kind of liking the woman she's turning out to be. I even almost like Barrons, whose mystery appears to live on in the sequel. There are issues I want to see play out, questions I want answered, and mysteries resolved. Despite the rather long list of annoyances I portrayed here, they're not enough to keep me from reading more in the series. I look forward to it.
Book Review: Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay
Suzanne Collins
The last installment of the Hunger Games series finds Kat broken and shattered and seemingly beyond repair. In fact, there are a number of characters who seem behond repair. It's a dismal outlook for many of our friends as the world, Hunger Games style, goes to war against the Capital.
I can't say that I liked this book as well as the others. Yes, it was finely written. Yes, the story stayed true to form and yes, barreled along to a riveting, and sometimes heart-breaking, conclusion.
But, while in real life a girl who'd been through the trauma that our dear Kat had been through would indeed be a shell of herself, catatonic even, for an achingly long time until she got her head squared, in book-time it was an excruciatingly long time. I wanted the story to get on, I wanted Kat to snap out of it, I wanted her to get up and kick the shit out of the Capital.
Kat got there, but for me, it took too long to get there.
Okay, I'm not heartless. I felt for Kat. Truly, I did, but if anything significant happened during her down-time, I don't recall it. I don't know what it was supposed to add to the story. I don't recall the significance of the length of down-time as it related to the story, other than showing the Kat was mentally out for the count.
But we would have been silly to count Kat out.
Anyway, with that being said, I loved how the series ended. The last half of the novel kicked ass. And while Kat didn't end up with who I *wanted* her to end up with, she ended up with who she should have ended with. It was right. And some of the players died. Was I happy with some of those deaths? No, I was not. But that heart-wrenching reality is what makes a story good, makes it real, makes it a not-so-happy-ending for everyone...just like life.
Spot on, Suzanne!
Suzanne Collins
The last installment of the Hunger Games series finds Kat broken and shattered and seemingly beyond repair. In fact, there are a number of characters who seem behond repair. It's a dismal outlook for many of our friends as the world, Hunger Games style, goes to war against the Capital.
I can't say that I liked this book as well as the others. Yes, it was finely written. Yes, the story stayed true to form and yes, barreled along to a riveting, and sometimes heart-breaking, conclusion.
But, while in real life a girl who'd been through the trauma that our dear Kat had been through would indeed be a shell of herself, catatonic even, for an achingly long time until she got her head squared, in book-time it was an excruciatingly long time. I wanted the story to get on, I wanted Kat to snap out of it, I wanted her to get up and kick the shit out of the Capital.
Kat got there, but for me, it took too long to get there.
Okay, I'm not heartless. I felt for Kat. Truly, I did, but if anything significant happened during her down-time, I don't recall it. I don't know what it was supposed to add to the story. I don't recall the significance of the length of down-time as it related to the story, other than showing the Kat was mentally out for the count.
But we would have been silly to count Kat out.
Anyway, with that being said, I loved how the series ended. The last half of the novel kicked ass. And while Kat didn't end up with who I *wanted* her to end up with, she ended up with who she should have ended with. It was right. And some of the players died. Was I happy with some of those deaths? No, I was not. But that heart-wrenching reality is what makes a story good, makes it real, makes it a not-so-happy-ending for everyone...just like life.
Spot on, Suzanne!
December 22, 2011
Book Review: Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire
by Suzanne Collins
Book 2 in the Hunger Games series finds Katniss at odds with Peeta, with herself, with Gale, with the world. She doesn't quite know where she fits in, the world is changing, and her life is changing. President Snow is forcing her to go through with a wedding she doesn't want, casting dire threats against everyone Katniss loves. Then lo and behold, a new Games is announced, and this time the Capitol is breaking all the rules.
I have one word for this book: Riveting.
I couldn't put it down. Dinners didn't get cooked. Clothes didn't get washed. Husbands were ignored (ok, that plural is just for dramatic effect...I don't have multiple husbands), kids were ignored, pets were ignored.
Suzanne kept the tension throughout the story...even the beginning describing the tedious wedding preparations kept my attention, and I could sympathize with Katniss over dress selection and all the boring details (personally, I got my wedding dress off the rack...bought the first one I grabbed).
Ultimately, Katniss finds herself in what seems a lose-lose situation, and I *had* to find out how clever Suzanne was going to bring Kat out of the mess intact. Well, physically anyway.
One of my top fave reads this year.
by Suzanne Collins
Book 2 in the Hunger Games series finds Katniss at odds with Peeta, with herself, with Gale, with the world. She doesn't quite know where she fits in, the world is changing, and her life is changing. President Snow is forcing her to go through with a wedding she doesn't want, casting dire threats against everyone Katniss loves. Then lo and behold, a new Games is announced, and this time the Capitol is breaking all the rules.
I have one word for this book: Riveting.
I couldn't put it down. Dinners didn't get cooked. Clothes didn't get washed. Husbands were ignored (ok, that plural is just for dramatic effect...I don't have multiple husbands), kids were ignored, pets were ignored.
Suzanne kept the tension throughout the story...even the beginning describing the tedious wedding preparations kept my attention, and I could sympathize with Katniss over dress selection and all the boring details (personally, I got my wedding dress off the rack...bought the first one I grabbed).
Ultimately, Katniss finds herself in what seems a lose-lose situation, and I *had* to find out how clever Suzanne was going to bring Kat out of the mess intact. Well, physically anyway.
One of my top fave reads this year.
December 14, 2011
Book Review: Double Cross, by James Patterson
Double Cross
by James Patterson
Alex Cross is back, and he has double the trouble. It's hard enough tracking one bad-ass serial killer, but two? It's enough to give one a migraine.
As usual, James Patterson creates a complex plot filled with twists and turns, hills and dales, hairpin curves, and sheer drops. There's a reason Patterson is a best-selling author, and honey, it ain't bad writing.
Alex Cross is building his private practice, but finds himself sucked back into police work when he visists a murder scene with his lady love. Alex can't resist scoping things out for himself, and then the ball starts rolling. As the serial killer starts racking up the body count, Alex can't help but notice these murders are similar to his old nemesis's artwork...Kyle Craig.
But which murders are copies, and which are the real mccoy? Impossible, right? Kyle is in a maximum security prison. The maximist security.
The murders are brutal. These guys don't just kill; they torture. Sometimes you have to wonder what kind of brain thinks up this stuff. It's like the movies by Quentin Tarantino. The guy is a master of sick. Sometimes after watching one of his movies my husband will turn to me and say, "What kind of sick f*** comes up with this shit?" Seriously, you have to wonder if it's safe to have a guy like that walking the streets, the kind of stuff churning in his brain is just scary.
Patterson doesn't quite reach that level of sick-dom. Maybe it's because he doesn't dwell on the killing, or draw out the torture scenes, but his characters are just as evil. Killers with no conscience. The scary part is they are out there. For real. And Patterson has tapped that keg of fear and manipulated it into a hot little page-turner.
Here's what I didn't like about it. While reading the story, it was a page-turner. However, it was easy to put the book down, and the characters/story didn't stay with me. Out of sight, out of mind. It's like a burrito that keeps coming up on you...hours later you haven't forgotten that burrito. OK, that's kind of a gross analogy, but it works. That's how I like my stories. I want characters and a story that I find myself regurgitating as I go about my day.
by James Patterson
Alex Cross is back, and he has double the trouble. It's hard enough tracking one bad-ass serial killer, but two? It's enough to give one a migraine.
As usual, James Patterson creates a complex plot filled with twists and turns, hills and dales, hairpin curves, and sheer drops. There's a reason Patterson is a best-selling author, and honey, it ain't bad writing.
Alex Cross is building his private practice, but finds himself sucked back into police work when he visists a murder scene with his lady love. Alex can't resist scoping things out for himself, and then the ball starts rolling. As the serial killer starts racking up the body count, Alex can't help but notice these murders are similar to his old nemesis's artwork...Kyle Craig.
But which murders are copies, and which are the real mccoy? Impossible, right? Kyle is in a maximum security prison. The maximist security.
The murders are brutal. These guys don't just kill; they torture. Sometimes you have to wonder what kind of brain thinks up this stuff. It's like the movies by Quentin Tarantino. The guy is a master of sick. Sometimes after watching one of his movies my husband will turn to me and say, "What kind of sick f*** comes up with this shit?" Seriously, you have to wonder if it's safe to have a guy like that walking the streets, the kind of stuff churning in his brain is just scary.
Patterson doesn't quite reach that level of sick-dom. Maybe it's because he doesn't dwell on the killing, or draw out the torture scenes, but his characters are just as evil. Killers with no conscience. The scary part is they are out there. For real. And Patterson has tapped that keg of fear and manipulated it into a hot little page-turner.
Here's what I didn't like about it. While reading the story, it was a page-turner. However, it was easy to put the book down, and the characters/story didn't stay with me. Out of sight, out of mind. It's like a burrito that keeps coming up on you...hours later you haven't forgotten that burrito. OK, that's kind of a gross analogy, but it works. That's how I like my stories. I want characters and a story that I find myself regurgitating as I go about my day.
