I love me a good scary campfire story or two, so I was really excited to pick up this collection. I have mixed feelings about it nStars: 2.5 out of 5.
I love me a good scary campfire story or two, so I was really excited to pick up this collection. I have mixed feelings about it now that I finished it though.
On one hand, the author does a pretty good job describing the locations of the Adirondack State Park. The setup for the stories is top notch. The descriptions of the rugged landscapes, forests trails and rivers is rather enchanting. Makes me want to go visit some day.
Unfortunately, the stories themselves are... rather underwhelming. First of all, they are not scary. Even if I was reading them by a campfire in the wilderness, with the sounds of the night forest around me, I don't think I would be particularly scared.
I think the reason for this is that the writing is rather clinical. It lacks feelings, and a sense of foreboding that you absolutely NEED for a campfire story to work. The author writes settings well, but has a lot of issues with describing characters and action. So the stories read amateurish, even clunky sometimes.
On the plus side, this is a very short book, so if you want to read something different on a stormy night by the fire, this is not a bad option.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
I am honestly amazed at the amount of 5 star reviews for this book. Did I read a different book from everyone else?
I mean, yeah, it Stars: 3 out of 5.
I am honestly amazed at the amount of 5 star reviews for this book. Did I read a different book from everyone else?
I mean, yeah, it starts great if a bit slow, introducing us to the two main narrators and showing us what brought them to Amsterdam before the fateful emergency podcast. Problem is, the rest of the book is like watching a train wreck in Zack Snider slow motion with heavy dose of flashbacks and exposition inserted between all the action. Which, you guessed it, kills any type of tension or momentum of the story. It doesn't help that the two narrators relate that story after they had already survived the events, so there is really no need to worry about them not making it.
I mean, you have a scene where a guy is literally about to get tackled by zombies, and he is running for the door to a building... but our protagonists realize that if they open that door to save him, all the zombies will get into the building as well, so not only he would be dead, but all of them would as well. Tense moment, right? Life or death stakes, right? Why oh why do we have to read through 4 pages of those characters reminiscing about their guilty feelings and PTSD about that episode WHILE that episode is unfolding? No more tension. And my interest in the story is as dead and mangled as the body of that guy once he is savaged by the zombie horde.
And the whole book is like that. I don't mind the inner monolog and some explanations of the character's feelings, or a couple flashbacks here and there, but not when it bogs down the story and kills the flow of it. I ended up skimming the last fifty pages of the book ignoring all of the "feelings" just to see what happened. And it was nothing much.
It's better written then some zombie books I read, but definitely not a 5 stars or even 4 starts read....more
This is definitely not my kind of story. I am not into poetry and I like my stories with more "meat" then whimsy in them. This reallStars: 2 out of 5.
This is definitely not my kind of story. I am not into poetry and I like my stories with more "meat" then whimsy in them. This really failed to capture my attention, and the 43 pages seemed to last much longer than they should have.
This is the case of it's not you story, it's me. Also, I'm not sure why this story is listed in the horror category. There is nothing scary in it....more
I like cozy cultivation novels from time to time, but they need to be well written. Unfortunately, this one isn't. The writing styleStars: 2 out of 5.
I like cozy cultivation novels from time to time, but they need to be well written. Unfortunately, this one isn't. The writing style is passable, if pedestrian, but the odd POV shifts sometimes mid-chapter make the story rather confusing at times. It is also way too long by at least 150 pages, so it becomes a slog in the end.
My biggest problem is that all of the fun action and actual cultivation and journey of self-discovery happens not to the protagonist, but to... his farm animals. Yep, you read that right. I mean, it was fun reading about Bi De becoming self-aware and striving to better himself, and Chon Ke the pig is a delight, but their story pretty much peaks at about 30% into the book with the big battle between the chicken and the rats who try to invade the farm. If this story was only about them, that would have made for a fun short story, and I would have happily rated it 5 stars.
Unfortunately, the protagonist's story is a lot less interesting, probably because he is the perfect example of a Gary Stu. He is a modern world guy whose soul got shoved into the body of a dying cultivator in this strange new world. That would have been a wonderful opportunity to explore a fish out of water scenario and make Jin try to adapt and survive in this new world, slowly learning the language and culture, making friends, and ultimately finding a place where he fits. Yeah, that doesn't happen. He has all of the original soul's memories and abilities, as well as the starter capital to do pretty much whatever he wants. Oh, and he is so much better at cultivation... and farming... and fighting... and pretty much everything than anyone else. And everyone loves him or is in awe of him, and yada-yada-yada.... Yawn.
There is no conflict, no tension, no obstacles to overcome. What obstacles there are, a series of coincidence always helps our protagonist along. Well, sorry, but this makes for extremely boring reading. Not to mention, doesn't make me like the protagonist any better. There is no point of mentioning any of the other human characters because their only distinctive features are how much they love/admire Jin.
It's sad when the animals in a book have more personality than the humans. Needless to say, I will not be continuing with this series....more
I was fully onboard with this book for the first 50% or so of the story. Granted, one of the main characters was too stupid to exiStars: 2.5 out of 5.
I was fully onboard with this book for the first 50% or so of the story. Granted, one of the main characters was too stupid to exist, and some of her choices were that of a braindead child. But the story moved along at a good pace, things were happening, there was a big mystery about, so was happy to overlook an annoying character or two. But then the book kept going... and going... and going with no end in sight. Episodes started repeating themselves without bringing anything new to the story, and I was quickly losing interest.
As I had mentioned, the characterizations in this book are... rather lacking. And forget about character growth. I think the only character that has any is Rapscallion, and he is a sentient robot. Which tells you everything you need to know about the other characters. So if you are looking for a character driven story, move along. This ain't for you.
But the mystery of what the heck is happening around Paradise-1 and why all ships sent there stop responding was compelling enough to have me turning the pages for about half of the book. And I admit that the idea of an alien contract that can invade our minds by planting a destructive idea is rather horrifying, because our bodies have no defense against a virus that isn't biological in nature. I also really wanted to discover what was on Paradise-1 that needed to be guarded so fiercely, and why was it worth so many human lives and so many ships to try and get it.
Unfortunately, this book is at least 300 pages too long, so the story started repeating itself. We get to yet another ship that's infected with different version of the Basilisk. We encounter yet another crazy AI and see the horrors that happened to the human crew. We don't learn anything that we didn't know by reading the first half of the book. The characters flee the ship, or are saved, or take the ship over... then the action switches to yet another encounter with another infected ship.
Honestly, I think the story should have ended after their attempt to run the blockade to land on the planet. The 200 pages after that were just filler, with a few exception, like actually encountering the Basilisk, and even that could have been incorporated into the story differently.
Oh, did I mention that the book ends on a cliffhanger? No? Well, it does. 700 + pages end with no emotional payoff whatsoever. We still don't know what happened on Paradise-1 and why it was so important to get there. The story ends mid-action. I guess the reader would have to pick up the next book in the series to find out what happened to the colony on Paradise-1, but guess what?
I won't be along for the ride. I am not willing to sit through another overlong book and follow annoying characters just to find out that the story isn't finished and there is another cliffhanger. No thanks, I'm out.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was honestly a meh read for me. The book just didn't feel polished enough. The story dragged in places, and the plot sagged anStars: 2.5 out of 5
This was honestly a meh read for me. The book just didn't feel polished enough. The story dragged in places, and the plot sagged and meandered. I also couldn't really empathize with any of the characters....more
I loved the first book in this duology so much that I rated it 5 stars. Needless to say, I had high hopes for the second book as welStars: 2 out of 5.
I loved the first book in this duology so much that I rated it 5 stars. Needless to say, I had high hopes for the second book as well. Unfortunately, none of my hopes were realized, so this book left a bitter taste in my mouth and a sense that I had wasted several hours of my life. Now I realize that some of this might be subjective, and some of it might be higher than usual expectations, but I think the biggest issue for me is that the story didn't go in the direction I expected it to go.
I expected a direct continuation of the events that happened at the end of Seraphina - a war with the dragons, and Seraphina, Krieggs and Celda in the middle of it, trying to protect the kingdom of Goredd from the scaly monsters who try to destroy them...
Instead we get this road movie where Phina travels to different places throughout the book, meeting new people that she will never talk to again once she leaves, in search of the other half-dragons she saw in her mind garden.
It makes for a very disjointed and rather boring story, to tell you the truth. Gone is the sense of urgency we experienced at the end of last book. Yes, Seraphina has a deadline by which to reach her final destination, but it has nothing to do with the imminent war with the dragons. And honestly, the book drags until about three quarters of the way through when things finally pick up.
The issue here is that I, as a reader, don't care about the new people Seraphina encounters, and the author doesn't give me enough time to get to know them to actually care about them before the story moves towards another location, leaving them behind. And I am once again introduced to a whole different set of new characters who stay on the page just as fleetingly.
But I think my biggest problem is the villain in this story. Jannoula is so overpowered that it's almost laughable at the end. Also, her powers are inconsistent. First, it's mentioned that she can only control one person at a time, and even that tires her, but by the end of the book, she is suddenly able to control all the half-dragons and make her aura "glow" so that it's visible to humans, and she can manipulate humans at her will. Not to mention that she always seems one step ahead of Seraphina, no matter what she does or what happens. And the way she is defeated at the end stinks of deus ex machina as well.
Finally, I really hated the ending. I think it wasn't fair to the characters, especially to Seraphina. She spent all her life hiding and lying. She decided at the beginning of this book that she would not lie about herself anymore... yet she agrees to be the other woman? To live in shadow? To live a lie for the rest of her life? How is that a good ending for her? Not to mention that this paints Krieggs in a horrible way as well. He is a coward who just manipulated her into doing what he wants, not considering how that will impact her life.
Anyway, this was a huge disappointment, and I am kinda glad this was only a duology, because I would not have picked up another book in this series.
When I read the blurb of this book, this sounded like it should be right up my alley. Unfortunately, the execution was decidedly uStars: 2.5 out of 5.
When I read the blurb of this book, this sounded like it should be right up my alley. Unfortunately, the execution was decidedly underwhelming. And the opinions of my Goodreads friends are split on this one. One absolutely loved, and another one DNFed it. I'm tending to agree with my second friend on this one, though I managed to finish the book, and I now think that I shouldn't have bothered.
I have several issues with this book, so let's talk about the biggest two.
First of all, this book feels rudderless. This less of a cohesive story than a series of events that happen to Aelis. A bear attacks the sheep, some mercenaries bring cursed gold, then a villager seemingly goes crazy and attacks his brother, then all of a sudden we get a detour to kill a Demon tree... You get the picture. Aelis isn't the driving force behind this story. It feels like she is just a leaf being dragged along the current of things that happen around her. She is reacting to external forces all the time.
And this isn't a bad thing, if done well. In fact, there are book that managed to create a compelling story around a protagonist who had no agency of his/her own. Unfortunately, this is not that book.
The problem is that Aelis has no stakes in the events that happen around her. She has no goals to reach and, honestly, nothing to loose. So there is really no sense of urgency in the unfolding story. Which also means that the story meanders without a clear goal, just like Aelis and Tun in the wilderness. I grew bored following them, to tell you the truth, because I didn't particularly care if she caught up with the crazy brother. And even when the stakes seemed to finally get bigger (like the discovery of a rogue enchanter a few days away from the village), I was already too disengaged with the story to care.
And that stems from the second issue I have with this book - the character of Aelis herself. To put it bluntly she is a pretentious and extremely unlikeable. She is extremely condescending to EVERYONE around her, just because she went to the Lyceum of magic, and they are "simple peasants". Yes, because her having purely academic knowledge and no field experience in pretty much anything is so much better than the experiences of people who have been through a war, or who learned to survive in a harsh environment since their birth.
I would have been better able to stomach this if she learned and evolved throughout the book, made mistakes, got her nose bloodied, and came out humbler and wiser on the other side. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen. In fact, there is no character growth for Aelis whatsoever. She is just as unlikeable at the end of the book as she is at the beginning of it.
So I finished this story, but I have no desire to continue with this series, because I really don't care about Aelis di Lenti and her overinflated ego.
PS: I received and advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
I hate giving up on new authors, but this book simply can't keep my interest any longer. It was slow to start, but I hung on in there, hopiDNF at 30%.
I hate giving up on new authors, but this book simply can't keep my interest any longer. It was slow to start, but I hung on in there, hoping that the action will pick up with the story. Well, we are 30% in, and neither the story nor the action ever picked up.
This book could have used a trim. So many useless words! That whole opening chapter could have been slashed in half if not more, and that would have made the story only better.
My other complaint is that the characters are uninteresting, and the Jens is downright unpleasant to follow. I get that the author was going for the socially awkward genius that is somewhere on the spectrum, so has issues understanding human emotions. Well, that didn't work for me, because this depiction is inconsistent. In one chapter he struggles with understanding why some of his colleagues want to be touchy-feely after he comes back, and in the next he can read the emotions of the people he interrogates like an open book.
It's also a big fail on the genius investigator part... yeah, he Jens would be a genius if all the other cops were kindergarten kids who never learned police procedures or interrogation techniques. Seriously, the way he investigates crimes scenes or talks to witnesses and suspects would have him fired from any police precinct IRL, no matter how understaffed they were. It was painful to read through.
Also, 30% in, I still have no clue where this book is going. Yes, there is a suspicious fire in a warehouse and seven bodies. Yes, it is probably murder, and there is another possible murder that may or may not be related to that case... and that's it. We are over a quarter of the book in, shouldn't we have learned a bit more at this point? In any case, I am not sticking around to find out.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
This is another example of a book where the idea sounds great when you read the blurb on the back, but the execution is sorely disStars: 2.5 out of 5.
This is another example of a book where the idea sounds great when you read the blurb on the back, but the execution is sorely disappointing. Honestly, the most I can say about this book is meh.
The idea of a technology that allows humans to travel the multiverse is amazing, and there are so many ways a story like that could go! One of the best examples so far was The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson . Now that story had a heart. Unfortunately, this one doesn't.
Oh, it has plenty of interesting ideas. The worlds of Pandominion are fascinating, and the idea that in some version of our Earth, primates might not have evolved to dominate the land is intriguing. The fact that most of those diverse races manage to coexist peacefully is also wonderful to see.
However, a long story like that can't win on worldbuilding and concept alone. It needs engaging characters to carry the narrative and keep the readers engaged. And the characters in this book are extremely unlikeable. They are selfish to the extreme, unable to take responsibility of their own actions. They make often horrible decisions and commit atrocities and manage to justify it. I couldn't stand most of them. The only character I could more or less relate to was Paz, because she was mostly an innocent bystander at the beginning, and any actions she took afterwards were fueled by her sense of right and wrong. But we meet Paz a lot later in the book, and for the first 35% I really had nobody to root for, so this story was almost a DNF for me.
Also, we have an empire that spans countless parallel universes and includes a diverse variety of "selves", who manage to coexist even though some of them evolved from primates, others from wolves/cats, and even others from herbivores. But that empire itself is a repressive regime, where the only political actions seem to be strike first and annihilate the (possible) treat and ask questions never. Are you telling me that with all the bright minds available in all the multiverse, the Pandominion couldn't come up with a better form of government?
Why is it that this mighty and very technologically advanced empire didn't even try to communicate with the machines when they stumbled upon the mechanical civilization? Seriously, not a single attempt at communication was even considered. Or, you know, just leaving them alone. There are infinite Earths in this multiverse, so why not just blacklist this particular one and go explore somewhere else? No, the solution is to invade and annihilate. Without provocation, mind you. And they wonder why they get pushback? Or that they are being destroyed in response?
Finally, even though this book is about 500 pages long, it doesn't even resolve part of the story that is hinted at in the first chapters. It just sets up the stage and brings all the main characters together. Yes, I understand that this is the first book in a series, and that there is an overarching story. But you need to give the reader some kind of payoff for investing hours of their time into this book. At least one story arc should have been satisfyingly concluded by the end of this book. Unfortunately, it wasn't. And honestly? I won't stick around for book 2 to find out what happens to the Pandominion.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I am not sure why this was published as a book. As far as story goes, it's only Part 1 of a bigger book. The part that sets up the Stars: 2.5 out of 5
I am not sure why this was published as a book. As far as story goes, it's only Part 1 of a bigger book. The part that sets up the characters and the premise and doesn't nothing else. By the end of Steel in the Blood, the main conflict of the story was set up, alright, but no questions were answered, there was no emotional payoff for sticking with the story so far. It just ended. So if you want to learn what this story is actually about, you have to buy the next book.
Unfortunately, there is nothing I hate more in a book than a cliffhanger designed solely to make you buy the next book, so I'm afraid that this series and I will be parting ways. Which is a shame, because from the little I have seen of the world and history in this small installment, it might be an interesting story.
The human empire has existed for thousands of years, ruled by an immortal Empress. It's big, safe and prosperous (or so we're told), but it has stopped growing. Innovation is discouraged, exploration is non-existent. It's a well-oiled machine designed for one purpose only - to keep trade flowing to the capital worlds. No part of the Empire is self-sufficient. They all depend on each other for food, raw materials, trade, or goods. Each section of the empire is governed by members of different genelines, who have been cloned and enhanced to rule their sections for millennia as well. There has been no war in a thousand years, after the last Medicant Wars have ended. But now one is brewing...
Wonderful premise for an exciting book, right? That's what I thought as well. I already mentioned the first problem with this story - this book is only a set-up. A transit point from one geneline is seemingly attacked by agents of another geneline, even though the Executor of that geneline never ordered the attack he is accused of. He has to find those who are responsible and clear his name or a civil war will break out. He leaves to do just that and puts his daughter in charge of their whole sector... And that's it. That's where the story ends.
If you are expecting answers to all the questions asked in this book, you will have to purchase the next book in the series.
My second problem is that while the world setting is intriguing, the characters are a lot less so. Erick seems very naïve and indecisive for a leader who supposedly ruled his corner of the Empire for 400 years. Bryn seems a little more interesting, but we haven't really been in her head enough to get attached. In fact, the character I found the most interesting and whom I could empathize the most with is the Medicant. Yes, an android is has more personality than the humans in this story.
The ending also feels a bit flat - we are introduced to a whole assault team of characters we've never seen before who have a brief battle to capture a saboteur at a fold array. Said saboteur explodes, literally, damaging the array. The end. Again, if you were looking for answers and emotional payoff for sticking with this story for a few hours, buy the next book.
Maybe the story will get better, maybe not. I am out either way.
PS: I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
I feel bad giving this book less than a stellar rating, because it raises some pretty important issues about inclusion and the casuaStars: 3 out of 5.
I feel bad giving this book less than a stellar rating, because it raises some pretty important issues about inclusion and the casual mistreatment of those who are different. It also talks about trauma and healing and finding your purpose in life. So all the things that should be right up my alley, right? Yes this book left me pretty much cold. I see several problems with the narrative that made it so this book didn't work for me.
First, there is too much going on. There are demons ready to buy your soul and the competitive world of violin music. There are aliens escaping the collapse of a distant civilization. There is a traumatized transgender kid who is trying to find her way in this world that has never showed her kindness. There is the Queen of Hell, who already damned the souls of six of her most brilliant violin students and only need to collect one more to buy back her own.
On each own, all these stories would make a wonderful book. Reading about Katrina finding her own voice and melting the Queen of Hell's heart in the process would have been wonderful. Reading about Lan Thran building a new life on Earth for her family and finding a modicum of happiness. And also realizing that music might be just the thing that could heal the soul of her dying civilization. Or even reading about the strange and cutthroat world of violin competitions and the violin repair shop owner who had the power to repair and exorcise cursed violins. And it is also a story about immigrants and refugees who are trying to rebuild a life on distant shores, as demonstrated by the Asian diaspora in California.
Unfortunately, mashing them all together into the same narrative did a disservice to all of the stories.
First, it felt like a clash of ideas, but more importantly, there wasn't enough time to develop each story to the extent that it needed to be developed. There were too many characters to keep track of, as a result, almost none of them felt fleshed out. I could honestly say that the only two characters that felt "alive" to me were Katrina and Shirley. Ironic, isn't it, considering Shirley is an AI?
As it stands, I felt like all the stories were underdeveloped then forcibly woven together to create a happy ending.
Also, I found that for a book that seemingly had such high stakes - the souls of two women in jeopardy, aliens fleeing the destruction of their civilization, etc. I never felt any urgency in the narrative. We are told that the stakes are high, but we aren't shown that. Apart from that last competition where Katrina plays her heart out, I never felt like any of the characters were in real danger.
It might also be because violence is glossed over or threated with a passing shrug and nothing else in this story. Katrina is raped by her roommate and it is barely mentioned afterwards. I mean, she was betrayed by someone she trusted, yet again, but we will not dwell into that? Or when Lan's son casually kills a civilian and then Lan just disintegrates his friends so that they wouldn't go to the police? There is no aftermath for her for that. Oh, we just killed four people. Oh well, moving on. That felt very callous to me, especially in a story that talks about how music can heal our souls.
The ending is also something I didn't like about this book. I understand the author's desire to end the story on a good note, to create a happy ever after ending. Unfortunately, it cheapens Katrina's sacrifice and self-realization during the violin competition, and also Shizuka's real sacrifice after it, when she chose to forfeit her soul instead of damning Katrina. Shizuka was bound to Hell. That was the choice and the sacrifice she'd willingly made. It would have made for a heart-breaking, but beautiful ending of the book. One that I would have remembered and praised. Getting her out of that bargain by cope out space aliens was wrong, in my opinion. It sends the message that no matter what horrible things you did in your life, you can always escape punishment if you have the right friends.
I would also argue that the way this book treated Katrina's trauma was very "fairy tale" ending as well. She has severe PTSD from all the abuse she'd suffered from her family and those around her. She has self-loathing and self-image issues. Winning one competition and finding her music won't solve all that. Finding one person who loves and support you helps, but doesn't eliminate the trauma. Katrina needs serious therapy and years of work and recovery to be whole. Yet that part is completely glossed over.
So yes, I like all the ideas in this book and a deep dive into violins and music was fascinating. I just didn't particularly like how they were blended together in this book.
PS: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review....more
The premise was promising, but the execution is disappointing. Overwritten prose. Some glaring historical errors that could have beeStars: 2 out of 5.
The premise was promising, but the execution is disappointing. Overwritten prose. Some glaring historical errors that could have been avoided if the author had done a little bit of research before referencing certain things. The US Air Force wasn't officially established until 1947. During the war they were part of the US Army. Yes, a small detail, but it matters, and Google would have given you the correct answer in like 2 minutes.
My other problem is that there were no characters I could root for in this book. I didn't particularly care for Seraphina, and the supporting cast of characters aren't very fleshed out. They are there to serve a purpose, or possess one distinguishable treat and that's it.
I particularly didn't like the fact that the women in this book are all either older than Seraphina and thus fulfill the role of the town gossip or the wise "motherly" figure. And those who are her age or close are either dead, or rather unsympathetic. It's the usual trope of portraying the heroine as better (wiser, more beautiful, virtuous, etc.) as everyone else by making other women less than her. Ugh, I hate that trope.
Also, the idea that London somehow has less active ghosts than a little town in New Forest is rather ridiculous. London has been inhabited for thousands of years and saw its fare share of tragedies and deaths. For someone able to see ghosts, the city would be positively teeming with them.
I didn't particularly care for the romance between Seraphina and Ross either. It read rather lukewarm to me. Like the author just wanted to add a romance into the story to draw a parallel between Seraphina and Ross and Rose and Elliott.
Though I must admit that the concept that ghosts might exist on different planes from each other and not be able to see other ghosts or communicate with those that aren't on the same plane is interesting. I don't think I saw anything like that before.
My biggest issue is with the identity of the killer though. I found that it came out of nowhere. There was no foreshadowing anywhere in the book before the big reveal, no crumbs disseminated throughout the story to make the protagonist, or at least the reader suspect anything. It was just "bham! He is the killer! Queue evil laughter". It's almost like the author decided to make him the bad man just for shock value. I am all for shocking reveals, but they need to be justified.
PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
While this was a dark and immersive world, I didn't particularly enjoy it for several reasons. Firstly, the pacing was off in this bStars: 2 out of 5.
While this was a dark and immersive world, I didn't particularly enjoy it for several reasons. Firstly, the pacing was off in this book. There is no sense of urgency or how much time actually elapsed between different events. There is talk that the three brothers need to reach Cernunnos before his resurrection, but exactly how urgent is that? This whole book just reads like a long road trip movie where they just meander around and take their time.
This would have been fine if I had enjoyed the characters, but I didn't. Tommy, Fiddler, and Betty are horrible beings. Yes, they act according to their nature and the purpose for which they were created, but that doesn't make them any less monstrous. Or does it make me less inclined to follow their stories. I don't care if Betty gets a new heart. I don't care if the Wheel turns and they are reborn. In fact, I'd rather they just pass into oblivion and not repeat the pain and suffering they seem to joyfully rain onto humankind.
I didn't particularly like Megan either. I found her mopey and dull. But then again, I haven't read the first book, so she might have a good reason for being this depressed, but it makes for a very unlikeable character to follow.
But I think my biggest gripe with this story is just how hopeless it is. The monsters win in the end. The Wheel is turning again, the weirdkin are running free to murder and torture and terrorize humankind again, and the only human in the group died without accomplishing anything she wanted. She didn't free her husband. She didn't get her revenge. She didn't even get closure, because her husband's murderer was resurrected and forgiven despite everything he had done. Talk about a depressing end of the story.
I know that this ending opens the door for another book in the series, but I have no desire to read it. Yes, the world is fascinating, in a dark and horrifying sort of way, but it lacks even a ray of hope or a character I want to root for, so I think I'm done.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
I will not be leaving a star rating for this book because I just couldn't finish it. The idea behind this book is really good, and there is DNF at 37%
I will not be leaving a star rating for this book because I just couldn't finish it. The idea behind this book is really good, and there is a good story somewhere in there, but to me it's drowned by strange narrative choices, and lackluster characters.
First of all, the writing style put me off from the get go. It's a constant barrage of run-on sentences, or sentence fragments, or stream of consciousness from the viewpoint of whichever character we are following in each chapter. It made my teeth hurt from grinding them in frustration, which in turn made it hard to concentrate and follow the story. I powered through, thinking that I could get used to it if I immersed myself long enough... Alas, it was just as frustrating at 37% into the book as it was on page 1.
My second issue is that I couldn't care less about the characters and their motivations... Or what the story was trying to empathize - namely the relationship between the humans and the Kmeth instead of what I thought would have been the main focus of the story.
I mean, you have a human from Earth suddenly popping to human colonies that had centuries to evolve in isolation. Some of them have created thriving communities on their new worlds. And this human says, "Hey, you need to pack it up and leave right now. Like now! Or something undefined, but definitely bad will happen." Can you imagine the disbelief? The horror? The sheer trauma of such an undertaking on millions of people?
Yet that is barely touched in this book. It happens in the background, while our protagonists deal with Kmeth-Here. I'm sorry, that's not the story I was interested it.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
The blurb for this book is what drew me in, and for the first 50% of the book I was a happy camper joyfully following the story anStars: 2.5 out of 5.
The blurb for this book is what drew me in, and for the first 50% of the book I was a happy camper joyfully following the story and getting creeped out by the excellent descriptions... Then the book started to drag. The descriptions were still excellent, but there was no "meat" to them. There are episodes that didn't bring anything to the story but took up extra pages, like when Vera drives several towns over to go to a bar... only to leave because the bartender is too chatty. That added nothing to the overall story or Vera's character that we didn't' already know. And of course the ending was a total miss for me. I expected a twist, but what the author choose for a twist simply didn't work and made no sense, at least for me.
So this leaves me with a sense of frustration and disappointment. I was ready to love this book to pieces and give it my first 5 stars of 2024... then I was so mad I almost 1-stared it. But upon reflection and some cooling down, I will give it 2.5 stars for the excellent first half.
I think the biggest problem is that there are no good people in this story. Vera is an awful person. The more you read about her, the less you want to spend time with her. I mean it's one thing to have mixed feelings about how you should feel about your father. On one hand, he is a serial killer that literally tortured and murdered people in the basement of his house. On the other hand, he is still your dad, and he loved you when your mother really didn't. So I understand why Vera still loves him and clings to her memories of him, and why she feels guilty about it.
But as the book progresses and you discover more and more of Vera's past, things turn very creepy and plain wrong. Just reading about her childhood and her reactions to what her father did made me feel dirty on the inside. Not a feeling I particularly enjoy, thank you very much. Also, not a character I want to root for. And I cared less and less for Vera the more the book progressed, so I quickly lost interest.
All the other characters are just as awful and honestly got everything they deserved, but also, not interesting to follow along with. So this left me with a protagonist I ended up hating and a story I grew more and more disinterested in. So this was a miss for me.
PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I think I am getting more and more disillusioned with Cassandra Khaw's writing. I have tried her Rupert Wong series, I have tried Stars: 2.5 out of 5
I think I am getting more and more disillusioned with Cassandra Khaw's writing. I have tried her Rupert Wong series, I have tried her standalone offerings, and now I have tried this series... and this is just not for me. Which is very sad because the blurbs of these books are excellent, and I get so excited to dive into them, but I emerge back out with a sense of disappointment and confusion.
This particular book was very short at barely 70 pages, but it felt like it dragged for at least double that amount. And the reason for this, in part, is the overwrote prose. Why use a clear and simple sentence when a monstrosity full of adjectives, adverbs, subordinate clauses and quirky comparisons will do? I appreciate interesting prose from time to time, and I love evocative prose as well as any reader, but here it feels just too much. The prose gets in front of the story and trips it. I can't appreciate what's happening or get to know the characters if I am constantly stumbling over clever similes and metaphors.
Well, in this case, there isn't much of a story to go on, since it's so short. And the characters feel a bit... meh, for the lack of a better word. I had noticed it in the Rupert Wong series as well - I can't related to her characters. In some cases, like in the Nothing but Blackened Teeth, I can't even visualize them or care about what happens to them. The same thing happens here.
I can't empathize with John Persons. He is a cardboard cutout of a "classic" private eye from noir series, but there is no personality beyond that. Nothing that makes him unique. Which is a shame since he literally is an ancient being inhabiting a human body. But we have no background on that, and honestly, we don't see much of his ancient being powers in the story either, even in the showdown with the big bad.
As for the other characters, they are just as unremarkable. Honestly, I am starting to believe that this author just isn't for me. All the books I read so far are overwritten story that lacks a soul....more
I just couldn't get into this one, no matter how I tried. The premise sounded intriguing, but the execution was just not for me. This just DNF at 11%.
I just couldn't get into this one, no matter how I tried. The premise sounded intriguing, but the execution was just not for me. This just reminded me once again why I don't read romance in general. What mystery and paranormal element there was to this book wasn't enough to keep me interested.
I didn't feel invested in the characters or their romantic trials and tribulations. I guessed the parentage of our female protagonist just by her description and her "malfunctioning" powers. And I wasn't invested enough to stay and see what made the whole town forget a day in their lives. Call me old and cynical, but I simply didn't care.
This is a case of it's not you, book, it's me, hence why I am not leaving a star rating on this.
PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review....more
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