Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Feb 28, 2010 Alisha rated it it was ok

(Having read 250 of 307) This book was "interesting," but not in a good way. ^_^ The experience has thus far--having read about 3/4 of the book--been akin to reading a series of short stories starring the same main character; to say it felt random and disjointed is for me an understatement. In some books you have a main plot and a number of side/sub-plots; in this novel it felt like there was no main plot until near the end (and even then, "it don't make no sense!")...almost like the story wasn' (Having read 250 of 307) This book was "interesting," but not in a good way. ^_^ The experience has thus far--having read about 3/4 of the book--been akin to reading a series of short stories starring the same main character; to say it felt random and disjointed is for me an understatement. In some books you have a main plot and a number of side/sub-plots; in this novel it felt like there was no main plot until near the end (and even then, "it don't make no sense!")...almost like the story wasn't quite sure what it wanted to be about. Not in the way some books use a certain randomness or confusion as a device to give the reader a better sense of the same emotional turbulence of the main characters.

All of that having been said, I do like the universe Ms. Chance has created. There are several characters common to both this series and the spin-off ("Dorina Basarab") novels, characters that are enjoyable and intriguing. Also interesting is the overall concept of the vampire senate, as well as their struggles with the magic Circles and faerie Courts.

But I'm not going to lie: I probably wouldn't have made it past page 75 if I hadn't already read the spin-off series. And I'm finishing this book up mostly because I don't want to be confused when I read the second one. "But why are you going to bother reading any further in the series, Alisha?" I've got hope that this is merely an example of "first-book-in-a-series blues" (or whatever it's called)...it's not all that uncommon, right?

...right?

Addendum: Finished, finally. Rating and review stands, although there was a little bit of enjoyment and excitement to be had in the very end. I was still confused as heck from the winding, twisty action, and had to add greatly to the long list of "i need clarification" questions. Maybe I had my dunce cap on the whole time, but I still think it was that the book was just unclear, overly-complicated and ...well, just plain incomprehensible. On to book 2! ^_^
Oh. And I'm definitely starting to get the "Mircea=Hotness" thing. ...more

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Jul 25, 2009 Jamie ~ Bad Boy Inspector rated it liked it

Shelves: genre-urban-fantasy, subject-pn-vampires, subject-pn-witches-warlocks-magic

I had heard alot of great things about this series so I decided to try it. To be honest I was not impressed at all. I didn't truly get into the book until the last 3rd of it. I do really like the characters though and I think that this series has great potential so I will read the next one and see how it goes. ...more

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Aug 06, 2009 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it liked it

I have been looking forward to this series because I have read Dorina Basarb 1 and 2, and love it. It's not that I was dissappointed in this its just one or two things seriously bugged me.
The main annoyance was the pause in the middle of some great action to explain things - such as the in the middle of the fight in the Dante parking lot, and a couple of other places. I think the information was important but not in the middle of a scene.
However I have to make allowances for the fact that there ...more

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Aug 26, 2009 Samantha wickedshizuku Tolleson rated it it was ok

Shelves: not-manga, paranormal, title-t, reviewed, 2-stars, 2014, why-do-i-do-this-to-myself, twice-read, 2010

So I enthusiastically started this series with so much anticipation from reading so many good reviews on it. So you can imagine my disappointment when I was left with this feeling...

I thought a good portion of the plot, settings, magic system, and time traveling; was well thought out. What wasn't to well thought out was the characters, design, and the relationships in this plot. I've continued the series to the present book and can say that it does get marginally better. So if you stick with ...more

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Jul 21, 2009 Purple rated it it was ok

Shelves: girlpower

I'm glad I finished this one. I almost put it down, too many plots and characters all at once, its confusing. But I think I just might see what would happen next, I want to see who she ends up with. The romance is there, I just have to be a little patient. ...more

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