I didn't *hate* this but I didn't like it. There was action that made the story feel like it was moving but then all the plot "answers" basically cameI didn't *hate* this but I didn't like it. There was action that made the story feel like it was moving but then all the plot "answers" basically came from her incessant questioning. It made it feel like info dumping. Still, this was better then Crossroads (her last book I read) and made me want to revisit the Sookie books again.
Things I didn't like:
The alternative history was awful. It made no sense. The US wouldn't collapse because of an assassination, despite the Great Depression. There'd have to be a lot more. I loved how the old colonies got together to become part of Britain to avoid becoming part of Canada, when Canada wasn't an independent country at the time. There's only a vague outline of how the Russians took over Cali. Magic basically had no real influence. It was just shoddily done.
The fact that the two wizards were so helpless got really, really old. It was unbelievable that these two would be set out without guards. They were helpless. They got kidnapped the moment she turned her back. We're told wizards are big and scary but they all are killed quite easily and the two wizard characters are a joke. They were so clueless too. Like, neither had any idea of the politics and/or current opinions of people about their kind in these other countries. One of them had to flee her country because of intolerance yet she's totally clueless about the people in other countries who might not like wizards? Whaaaaa?
There were other things, like the villains were stupid. They're plot was stupid. Etc. I wanted to like this but I just didn't. ...more
This was more Meh to me than anything. I read this after the first two Red Sister books and had seen people say this was better, so maybe I set my hopThis was more Meh to me than anything. I read this after the first two Red Sister books and had seen people say this was better, so maybe I set my hopes too high?
It could've been the audiobook though. I didn't realize this at first but this book has "historic" footnotes and the narrator reads them all. It made things very jarring. The first couple were okay but they got old read fast. There was SO many of them. I had like ... 10 hrs left of the book at the start of my 8 hr shift and I just skipped past the footnotes (aka, what seemed like the footnotes and the sex scenes) and I finished this like 45 minutes before my shift ended. That was just in the last 10 hrs. FFS.
I didn't like the sex scenes. I don't like sex scenes much and I certainly don't like sex scenes between underage kids. Uck.
The "school" itself didn't make sense. Like, they weren't taught anything really useful. There was no climbing, no going through areas unnoticed. No history, no nothing that would help beyond the bare basics. And there was this thing where the teachers were just killing the kids off willy nilly. What purpose did that serve? Honestly? Like, there's a scene where the kids are poisoned before they set foot in the poison class and they're forced to think of what poison it is and make an antidote before the first lecture started -- else they would all die. Wut? That's the stupidest thing I've heard of....more
It was okay. Nothing to write home about. I found some issues with the way she wrote certain things. Like, she put modern values on them. There was a It was okay. Nothing to write home about. I found some issues with the way she wrote certain things. Like, she put modern values on them. There was a lot of 'omg! she's SO not humble' or 'omg! he's making himself a god!' and it's like, did she study nothing about Ancient Egypt? Pharaohs are literal incarnations of Gods. That's like the most bare bones basic Ancient Egyptian Religion 101 thing out there. LOL. Or she used gold as the supreme currency and silver as a lesser currency when it was the opposite at the time (Ancient Egypt was overflowing with gold, but had little silver and what they had was imported.)...more
I started this with a lot of hope. The premise sounded awesome. It sounded like a Soul Eater thing but with mystical were-beasties. That is not what yI started this with a lot of hope. The premise sounded awesome. It sounded like a Soul Eater thing but with mystical were-beasties. That is not what you get, but the premise is still interesting. That's the only good thing about the book.
Sardis -- the MC, Sardis, was written like a 10 year old trapped in an 18 year old body. Given the circumstances, it was completely and utterly unbelievable. Like, achingly so. This is a woman who lost both parents young, who worked at a factory for years, who's brother disappeared and presumably died, who was kidnapped by slavers, who was beaten and treated poorly in their care, who was then sold into this slavery situation where she's forcibly changed against her will, and she acts like a naive child the entire book.
For example, throughout the book, she hooked on the idea that, because she saw her last name in a ledger (and her last name is strange), that this person must be a relative and will save her. She's never met this man before. She didn't met him when her parents were alive. He wasn't there for her when she was an orphan or when her brother disappeared or when she became a slave or after, but she has this childish belief that this random stranger is family and (I quote) "Family is forever" so he'll of course save her from all the evil things.
She doesn't think about her actions at all. She never plans. She didn't even plan her escape. She just walked out. Half the book is just a reaction to her stupidity. Like, she knows she's being hunted but she does dumb shit all the fucking time. "Oh, this random kid wants to know all about me. I'll tell him all my plans." Guess who that kid was working for? "Oh, I'm safe in my hidey hole and no one knows I'm here, but I'm bored and hungry so I'll go wander outside." Guess who gets captured? "Oh, if my master ever finds out I remember things during the transformation, really bad things will happen." Guess who tells him that?
She also literally believes anything anyone tells her. Her old master, who recaptures her, feeds her a line a BS and she never questions it. She never questions anything this horrible, evil man tells her. She never questions anything anyone tells her.
The Romance -- was painful to me because I honestly pictured this character as 10 and the love interest is like 30. I was honestly glad when he (view spoiler)[betrayed her there (hide spoiler)] because I felt she deserved it after all the shit she put him through from her stupidity.
The plot -- is nonexistent. It's basically Sardis is a slave and walks away. Her master isn't happy so he follows her. She finds Rone and he decides to drop everything in his life to save her (constantly), because he's the "nice guy". It's basically 300 pages of her being chased. This would've been okay if Sardis wasn't a fucking idiot or if there was time spent on learning to control her summon or magic. But, nope, it was just her getting chased with her mad desire to find this supposed uncle because "family is forever."
The plot inconsistencies -- drove me crazy. This was such laziness. These inconsistencies were changed because of the plot so you know she was just too lazy to go back and edit the story. For example, we are told like a thousand times that getting out of the city (and the country) is nearly impossible. You need papers, etc. So they get out (with papers, etc.) -- including a skit that she's pregnant and sick to gain sympathy and leniency from the guards, which they grant -- and not half a chapter later we're told it's very easy to go in and out of the city because (surprise) the author wants the characters to make a mad dash inside.
Or another part were we're told that the summoned creatures are invincible but the vessels can be hurt before the summoning and later we're told that whatever happens to summoned creature happens to the vessel. This was, of course, during a battle. Bleh....more
I should've written this review when I finished this but I really didn't like it.
It's humor but the humor sucks. I'd say it's about 15% as funny as PI should've written this review when I finished this but I really didn't like it.
It's humor but the humor sucks. I'd say it's about 15% as funny as Pratchett's first book. The humor was just stupid. There were meme's in it. In a fantasy book. Memes. FFS. The characters were all hollow. The plot was very convenient and predictable. It was just boring....more
The sole reason I read this was that I thought the ending in book 1 was interesting. I liked this better then the last, so that's something, right?
I dThe sole reason I read this was that I thought the ending in book 1 was interesting. I liked this better then the last, so that's something, right?
I disliked Jude in this book. I thought she was stupid. There was a lot of stupid that was spread around. Her treatment of the King was probably the worse bit of stupid that happened. It made no sense. She only had him on leash for a year and she'd need him to agree to extend that, yet she was rude and mean to him. She didn't even attempt to include him.
There were other stupid things. Someone betrayed her but we're never told WHY. It was just lazy writing. Just... the whole thing felt lazy. We're constantly told Jude is smart but she acts like a dumb ass. Thank gawd everyone around her is equally stupid.
This ends with a cliff hanger of sorts but even then, I felt like Jude deserved it. Like, I wanna know what happens next and so I'm like 'GIMME THE NEXT BOOK NAO!' but there's this other part of me that goes, 'you know, she deserves this. she brought this upon herself. this was totally her fault. sure, she tricked him there at the end of book 1 but she had 7 months to change things and she behaved like a spoiled child. let her stew in her juices' and then I feel okay with having to wait a year to read book 3.
It's the weirdest reaction to a cliffhanger I've ever had....more
I did want to like this more but, for me, the over all experience was Meh. It's Meh with a soap opera mixed in. There was just so much melodrama in thI did want to like this more but, for me, the over all experience was Meh. It's Meh with a soap opera mixed in. There was just so much melodrama in this one and the one plot twist is something you'd expect out of a spanish novella.
And, more than anything, it just felt like covered ground. Other than the one bit of plot backstory that turned this into a novella, it was all just recycled stuff. Jill's been kidnapped once already. The way that whole thing resolved happened once already. The villains are old villains.
The sea witch is really the only redeeming part of this book for me.
If there'd been some mother-daughter time, maybe this book would've gotten 3 stars (then, at least, it wouldn't've felt like we spent the whole book listening to her moan about her lost daughter for the whole book for nothing) but they spent like 5 minutes together. It was like 'oh, not dying anymore. I can go back to pretending I have no daughter again luls'....more
It was okay. I don't have a burning desire to read book two but I don't regret reading book one so it's a toss up. I just wonder one thing: if they coIt was okay. I don't have a burning desire to read book two but I don't regret reading book one so it's a toss up. I just wonder one thing: if they could do a spell to find it at the end, why didn't they do that spell sooner? LOL. ...more
This was just so horrible. Terrible. I'm stunned. It took me like a week to read when the others took a day (and only because I forced myself to finisThis was just so horrible. Terrible. I'm stunned. It took me like a week to read when the others took a day (and only because I forced myself to finish it last night.) Where do you even begin?
Well, the first half of this book is all in service of getting Beck and Riley together, and it was HORRIBLE. Not because I simply hate the couple but the author didn't actually get them together so much. It was more like everyone telling Riley she needed to be with Beck and her finally agreeing around 40%. Oh, and beating her up about Ori.
Ori is this fallen angel of seduction (that's his thing) who seduces Riley -- Riley is in a very vulnerable place: her dad died making her an orphan, lots of demons crashed a meeting and killing many trappers, her father's body was stolen, people think she had something to do with it all, her then boyfriend (who almost died but she got an angel to save) decides she's working for Lucifer, etc. etc. Of course she's going to fall for Ori.
But everyone around her is just telling her to be with Beck. Like, people who've NEVER SPOKEN to him tell her she should be with Beck. Her literal BFF, who has only seen Beck ONCE, at her father funeral, is mad at her for having sex with Ori because of Beck. He asks her how she could do that to Beck. Like, what? Beck and her aren't in a relationship. Her BFF knows how the two are together -- why is he taking up Beck's side?
It's like this for the whole first half. Everyone, EVERYONE, telling her to be with Beck. No actual relationship building -- oh no! That would be *drumroll* toooooo easy. Let's have the world convince her.
And she does. Then we get like the most cliche list of things that you can imagine. Oh, suddenly Beck has a fluffy bunneh that hadn't been mentioned up til now (one that he saved from an ex who wanted him to release it into the wild.) Oh, suddenly he has gold flecks in his eyes and she liked that. Oh, suddenly she's charmed at all their photo's in his house. Oh, there they are, on a roof looking at the stars.
That's like 10% and then we get on with it and it's all anti climatic. She basically rants at the angels and no more armegeddon. Wow...
JFC. Why do authors ruin perfectly decent worlds and story ideas to service insufferable romances? When did it become one or the other? Who knew you could lace romance and plot together? FML I'm glad I only have the first three. No need to torture myself further....more
I went into this expecting a haunted house horror but I got something else entirely. I'm still not sure how I feel about it.
Overall, the concept was I went into this expecting a haunted house horror but I got something else entirely. I'm still not sure how I feel about it.
Overall, the concept was interesting and "okay". Enough to make me continue the book, but everything from characters to world building fell flat.
I didn't like the MC at all. She was very one dimensional. She is supposed to be a thief and that didn't change at all, throughout the book, which was tiresome. Mostly because she didn't steal anything (save a couple books for plot purposes) yet she thought about it constantly, in every scene, even when it made no sense. She's in this house with supernatural beings who would know but she still thinks that she could steal and hide the items, and get away. It just became a shtick.
There was a form of insta-love in the book. Not romantic love, but it basically worked out that way and I was like 'eh?'
The rest of the characters were equally cardboard cutouts.
Plus there was no real plot.
That said, I'll probably read book 2 when it comes out because I feel more on the fence about this one....more
I don't know why I read this. I didn't like book 2 but this promised to be new stuff and I already had it on hand so...
It was meh. The problem was itI don't know why I read this. I didn't like book 2 but this promised to be new stuff and I already had it on hand so...
It was meh. The problem was it was too short and so they regular try-fail cycle just didn't happen. There was no time. So basically everything worked. They had one detour but that was resolved really quickly. Basically, it's like 5 kids walking around a sugar land with a girl who says outrageous things and everyone shudders. Everything Rini said, they'd all just shudder. There's only so much of that that I can take.
I think this might've been okay if it had been expanded on with character development and all that, but it was just too short....more
I truly wanted to like this book more. I didn't have a problem with the subject matter (as many of the other lower ratings were.) I thought the idea wI truly wanted to like this book more. I didn't have a problem with the subject matter (as many of the other lower ratings were.) I thought the idea was interesting. I liked the concept and I thought the theory behind this was very original. It seems like it would be obvious, but I've never heard of this take of the tragedy before. That was all good.
What sank this for me was the way she choose to tell it. There were WAY too many PoV characters and it jumped between present and past tense too much. It has like 10 different PoVs (and they all have past and present scenes) with some letter writing. There were PoVs that had no business being in there. Like the Mormon chick, who added nothing to the story.
Between all the past and present PoVs, there's like 20 different narrators in this book and that leads to this being incredibly disjointed. You'd get to a scary point and then it would switch -- because the PoVs were short by necessity. Some of the characters added to the story but most were just inane. She should've stuck with one of the kids, Stanton, and the letter writer.
I got to the point where I was skimming and I still had to force myself to finish the book. It was just boring.
So, good idea, good concept, good history, good characters coupled terrible TERRIBLE story telling. This book should be proof that either Katsu doesn't have a story editor or that she should fire the one she currently has because he's not doing his job. I mean, to keep the Mormon Chick's backstory scene in the book, NEAR THE END WHEN THINGS SHOULD BE ESCALATING, when it's basically NOTHING (does NOTHING, provides NOTHING, shows NOTHING) to the story is some of the shoddiest editing I've ever read.
Sorry. This book was so disappointing. The potential for a truly spectacular book is here but the author just fell flat on her face....more
Meh. I didn't like of the characters, saw absolutely nothing in Xavier, and then the genre switches 60% in so I DNFed it.
Update: so I decided to finisMeh. I didn't like of the characters, saw absolutely nothing in Xavier, and then the genre switches 60% in so I DNFed it.
Update: so I decided to finish it and liked the ending even less. It went as predictable with a curve ball at the end. I hate those random "i'm going to withhold all info on this so you'll never see it coming" BS plot twists that lazy authors put it. I'm taking a star away for that....more
This was meh. It was really trying to hard, tbh. I did think the first half of the book was done cleverly (thus 2 stars) but the whole thing was a mesThis was meh. It was really trying to hard, tbh. I did think the first half of the book was done cleverly (thus 2 stars) but the whole thing was a mess.
I just didn't buy any of the motives/reasons given. I honestly felt the MC was more crazy than the hubby and I don't think that whole scene at the end would've persuaded anyone into leaving. It was very much a 'I'm gunna prove how un-violent I am by kicking your ass' type thing.
And then the ending had all these big reveals and it was like ... stupid. Like, everyone was connected to everyone else and it was very soap opera/telenovelas type stuff. I kept waiting for the dramatic music to queue with a close up/pan out video shots they do....more
This was largely meh for me. I finished it alright, so that's why I bumped it up. Personally, I didn't connect with either MC (di2.5 stars rounded up.
This was largely meh for me. I finished it alright, so that's why I bumped it up. Personally, I didn't connect with either MC (disliked Monster and was meh about Judy.) The plot was somewhat interesting but the book didn't really go into any detail on the hows and whys. The biggest things that turned me off were the character and the general excuses the author gives us to explain plot holes.
There was no character growth in any of them. Somewhat for Judy, but nothing for the others. The villain didn't really make sense. We're given excuses as to why she doesn't act but they felt like the excuses they were. Judy escaped once, with the tablet she needed, so why didn't she kill her when she got Judy back? Surely her tablet was more important than her plan. We're told these sorts of people come once every million years. Problem solved. And why does she help Monster? We're told it's because she was to locate the tablet but then we're also told she always knows where it is.
Also, it made no sense (other than as an engine to create action) why Judy couldn't retain her knowledge of magic. We're told it's because the tablet is stupid and that she's just a tool, but it could reason and plan, and it knew enough to send help and recognize Monster, etc. etc. So it knew her value and it knew enough to protect her, but it wouldn't realize that not remembering would be harmful? Huh.
There were parts of this I like and parts I didn't like. I really like the plant intelligence. I liked the character arch of the rainbow bamboo. I enjThere were parts of this I like and parts I didn't like. I really like the plant intelligence. I liked the character arch of the rainbow bamboo. I enjoyed the world building and was surprised by the ending. I thought it would go down the predictable path, and it didn't.
I am inherently biased against the way this book was told, though. This is one were the story is told via short stories. I always love the first character and tend to either hate or meh the rest. This was the case here. Besides the plant, I liked the first POV character the most.
My biggest issue was the whole of the second story. I disliked the POV and I thought that everything was unbelievable and out of character. The author does that thing where she uses rape to prove that this person is evil and I hate that. I can understand why she did it but I thought the whole of that story was sloppy and lazy. Here you have a colony that's there for peace, with limited resources and people, and you're going to go around raping and killing people to get them to comply with you? Like what? This was the only option the author had to get them up there?
I didn't like how human the two alien species were either. And certain things are never explained at all, like how the bats had a language they spoke that the humans knew, yet they weren't considered intelligent. It's like they moved there and they suddenly understand all the animals there badabing badaboom. No explanation as to how or why that was....more
I didn't actually think I'd be able to finish this book. That saddens me, but not for the obvious reason.
So, this book is about a mysterious noise. ItI didn't actually think I'd be able to finish this book. That saddens me, but not for the obvious reason.
So, this book is about a mysterious noise. It's a deadly noise. It's incredibly painful to hear, makes people throw up, and makes other people do crazy things -- like cut off their ears and run into the desert. So the military sends two different groups to locate this. They know it's in the desert in Africa and they're sure it's a weapon. The first two attempts don't succeed and so they approach a band because, apparently, being a band makes you know everything about music and thus able to trek in one of the worst deserts on Earth. Yeah, I know. Stop looking at me like that.
So our plucky hero and his band goes in. They were offered 100k per person (nearly 1 million in todays money) and none are suspicious about this at all. LOL. Oh, did I mention this is set in the 1950s? Well, it's set in the 1950s. Anyway, they go in, have a party, and the hero (Philip) is the only one to make it out. He'd also broken every bone in his body and was in a coma.
So what I liked: I thought the idea of this was very interesting. The sound and all that around it was fascinating. I thought the scenes in the desert when Philip first was dealing with all that was interesting and I did kinda like the ending. The whole reason and such like were things I hadn't expected, tbh. So that was good.
That was, unfortunately, the only good in this book. Most of the books problems is because he picked the worst format for it. Almost all of his problems are compensations for this. For my life, I don't understand why he didn't scrap this and try again. I say this because the book quickly borders into the absurd in regards to the "events" that go on.
We have three POVs here; the nurse, Elene, past Philip, and present Philip. The past stuff is really thin on the group and we don't actually get much of that at all, save for the very end. The book starts when Philip wakes from the coma after 6 months so this entire book is in the hospital (until the very end.) And nothing really happens.
To compensate, we get the nurse and Philip insta-love, we get mysterious government people who pop up to warn of doom and gloom but never reappear, and we get this bizarre doctor.
Putting the relationship and drive-by doomsayers aside, this whole hospital thing simply didn't make sense. He wasn't in a military hospital. He wasn't under guard of any kind. He only had one doctor, who seemed bizarre, and that was it.
The whole doctor thing though. I think every character and every event in a book should forward the plot. That's not what happened here. It was like the author realized there's literally nothing scary in this book until the very end so he had to put something in. But those scenes aren't scary. They're baffling.
Like one time he walks into Philip's room nekked and he runs his hand down his chest saying 'Philip! Philip! look, healthy body' *gestures to self* 'sick body' *gestures to Philip* and does this a couple more times before ambling off nekked. Now, hospitals are staffed 24/7. How did nekked doctor not get seen? How is this even relevant? It actually made me laugh.
We get equally awkward scenes for much of the book and it's basically because the main POV is Philip and he's stuck in a hospital....more
This just wasn't for me. It's told in a unique way. The story is about a famous who-done-it author who writes the 9th novel in a series then commits sThis just wasn't for me. It's told in a unique way. The story is about a famous who-done-it author who writes the 9th novel in a series then commits suicide -- only, he doesn't give the complete book so his editor goes looking for it (mostly because she wanted to know the ending.)
I think the biggest hurdle that this is two books in one. We are presented with the 9th book in this series first. We literally get to read the whole thing, no excerpts or such. It's a decent who-done-it set in the 1950s. We're told this series is the best thing since Christie. Can you see me rolling my eyes? Yeah.
Anyway, so we go through this entire first book and right at the end, when we're going to be told who the killer was, that book stops and the other book starts. The chapters of this who-done-it are what she's trying to find.
Right here was my first problem. I got invested in the first book and I'd forgotten this editor and all that. I didn't care. My entire focus on this was to find the killer in the first book. That's the only reason I finished this.
Furthermore, the story it's replaced with is, well, horrible. You're ripped out of a world with morally questionable characters and put into a world surrounding the suicide of this author. And, quite frankly, there's nothing to like in it. The more I learned about the author, the more I hated him.
The author who committed suicide was like the absolute villain-type character but we're supposed to care what happened. He had absolutely no redeeming qualities. None what-so-ever. You think I jest? Read this book! He's terrible! I'd think there was no way this guy could get worse and then he got worse. He's like one of those people who'd bring a house down around him and kill everyone because he was going to die. He'd probably think it would be awesome fun to go to a mall during December and tell all the 4 and 5 year olds that Santa isn't real -- no, he'd probably tell them Santa was murdered by their parents or something.
It's really, really hard to explain this character. He was just hateful. To everyone and everything. No one was safe from this guy. Not even the son he abandoned. Frankly, I understand the (view spoiler)[murder (hide spoiler)]. If I'd been the editor, I'd've given him a pass. I know that sounds cruel but some people just deserve what they get.
That's what made this second "book" really hard to read. The entire time I was just screaming at the editor. I wanted to shake her and say this man was horrible! Terrible! Who cares that he died? I was glad he was dead. I honestly was.
I also thought the (view spoiler)[murder (hide spoiler)] was quite stupidly done. He was close enough to get a photo but didn't capitalize on it? He left the papers there for her to find? He conveniently left her conscious there and didn't make certain the evidence burned up first?
And, finally, at the very end, we get the end of the first story but by this point, I was tired of the whole thing and it was anticlimactic....more
Alisi � wants to read too many books �
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