Sorry, I'm too lazy to tag spoilers so SPOILERS BELOW, BEWARE, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED NOW BEGONE.
Just kidding.
Shadow and Flame was slightly disappointiSorry, I'm too lazy to tag spoilers so SPOILERS BELOW, BEWARE, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED NOW BEGONE.
Just kidding.
Shadow and Flame was slightly disappointing, and I much preferred the previous installment. In this book, I LOATHED, HATED, SWORE AT AND WANTED TO PUNCH CORWIN, THE WORLD'S BIGGEST DICKHEAD.
Okay, he was controlled by Gavril. Fine. Okay, he was controlled by Gavril to marry the princess. Fine. Oh wAIt sOMeoNe's FALLING IN LOVE WITH SAID PRINCESS EVEN THOUGH HE CLEARLY KNOWS KATE IS ALIVE.
I was, and still am, DISAPPOINTED in Corwin. I hated him so much I wanted him to fall off the face of the earth and just never come back. Kate deserved way, way better.
I mean the sad short speech at the end about how he truly loved her didn't even come across as that genuine to me. I'm sorry, but I keep seeing Corwin kissing Eravis. AND ENJOYING IT. I REPEAT, ENJOYING IT. It's disgusting, hideous and a betrayal.
I have to give it up to Corwin -- he sure knows how to make others hate him.
And then of course, at the end, ABRUPTLY, out of nowhere, we have the RUIN. OUT OF NOWHERE. It was so random I nearly fell off my seat. Okay, now Kate's going to lose her magic, everyone else is going to lose their magic. I was ready for it.
uNTIL THEY DIDN'T LOSE THEIR MAGIC.
It is apparently a punishment for Kate to keep her magic. Eh, hello? Do ya hear me?
Sure, there were some things she could have done better. And perhaps invading other's privacy was wrong. But most of her decisions, I agreed with her. Call me cold-blooded, but killing the soldier was the right move.
We don't wait until it's too late, and then there's nothing left.
Breaking through Corwin's mind WAS THE RIGHT MOVE. Yes, it invaded his privacy. Yes, it made him feel like Kate was Gavril. But it was thanks to SOMEBODY *cough cough himself* that there was a rift between the two.
Oh and to make matters worse? Evaris came to Rime as well. Oh and some more? SURPRISE, KATE'S BLOOD IS USED TO REGAIN GAVRIL'S POWER.
Oh did I mention the gang was captured at least fifteen times on thirty different occasions?
This is probably one of the lowest rating I've ever given a book that is not a DNF. Nothing was redeeming about it safe perhaps the occasional decisions of Kate. Signe was hiding major secrets, DAL'S DEATH WAS UNNECESSARY and just there to prolong the sorrow and add some tension at the end, we got maybe one paragraph of his funeral and that's it, boom, bye Dal. Disgraceful :( He didn't have to die oh wait, plot convenience.
I hope I'm not offending anyone, I just dislike the book, not the author. I will read other works published by the author if I like them, but just for this book, I rate it 1.75 stars....more
Hi fellow friends, like the idiot I am (and I acknowledge it myself), I decided to finish this story. Yeah, bad move.
The first half and second half wHi fellow friends, like the idiot I am (and I acknowledge it myself), I decided to finish this story. Yeah, bad move.
The first half and second half were so abruptly connected that when I continued the story I was simply confused. The "heroes" (not that you can even call them that, I literally DETEST every. single. one.) changed so suddenly it was almost scary. It was almost anticlimactic when they didn't betray her.
But you know what?
I. Don't. Even. Care.
At that point in time the story had completely lost me and I only read to finish the story. I'm still keeping the "dnf" tag since that was my original plan but honestly, I can't believe I spend so many regrets on this pathetic excuse for a RH novel.
And judging by the reviews for the second story?
Hell no.
Rage-quit Review
I CAN'T DO THIS.
I CAN NO LONGER TORTURE MYSELF LIKE THIS.
DNF @50%
This story is frustrating, annoying and I have NEVER wanted to punch someone in the face as much as the freaking too stupid to live prostagonist.
Save yourself money and just DON'T READ THIS SH*T. It's terrifying. Terrifying as in I-wanted-to-tear-my-hair-out-and-kill-myself. Reading this makes you lose brain cells.
QUICK WARNING: YOU WILL THROW AT WHATEVER YOU'RE HOLDING IN YOUR HANDS RIGHT NOW, SO IF YOU'RE PLANNING ON READING PLEASE PUT DOWN THE ITEM DOWN. Yes, it is this bad. Please trust me.
It is a disgrace to the RH community. I cannot fathom, for the life of me, why anyone would even read through this.
There's nothing redeeming about the story, I hate everyone and the plot, world-building, pacing don't even exist.
I regret wasting my time on this story. And if you don't want to have regrets, turn around right now and don't even touch the story. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Ps. I would have given it a negative six stars if I could. Yeah, those of you who had read this crappy book would understand. Sorry if I offended anyone (or the author), but this book and I... *shudders*...more
I'm really confused...is the series name right? I think it should be changed to Chris Brooks :/
Remember Chris in Moon Tortured? (Btw, tSPOILERS AHEAD!
I'm really confused...is the series name right? I think it should be changed to Chris Brooks :/
Remember Chris in Moon Tortured? (Btw, the book title should be MoonStarrisa Tortured instead) Well, fans of Chris, pleasant surprise for ya'll!!! Chris makes a HUUUUUUGE appearance in this book. In fact, I think she is the forgotten main protagonist in the synopsis! :O
How many times does Chris's name make an appearance in the book? around 430 plus/minus times. Congratulations -- our occasionally TSTL protagonist Skylar has been replaced! Three cheers!
I remember the last book aka the first book quite well. It exceeded my expectations quite a bit, though I gave it three stars, but I remember giving it mostly favourable remarks. I remember resonating with Skylar, and appreciating the necessary cruelty of the werewolves/vampires. WELL I TAKE EVERYTHING BACK NOW.
For some reason, I really did not enjoy reading the book. It was by sheer willpower and curiosity (oh, how I hate curiosity, you'll see why later) that I managed to grit my teeth and got through the book. Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad and there were some humorous stuff, but mostly I felt myself facepalming. I mean, the first book was forgiven since Skylar was still new to the er, stuff and everything but ohmygod it's the second book and she's the same???
There are sooooo many things that I find could be improved on in this book, and even NOW I still think the same. :( which is sad since I was really really expecting a lot of things for this. *sigh*
First of all, let me take a selfie oops wrong thing! I mean let me take a quick look at my notes. YES I'VE MADE NOTES SINCE IT WAS SO FRUSTRATING TO GET THROUGH THE BOOK AND I NEEDED AN EMOTIONAL RELEASE
The most irritating problem: CHRIS.
ohmyCHRIS
First of all, what's up with Ethan??? (it relates to Chris I swear) NOT SO SPOILER ALERT I can't believe the two of them actually get back together!!! Like. What. NO! I mean, he's supposed to be like the Beta of a pack and ohsosmart so I guess why not hmm? I mean I would totally date my ex who threatened to kill me and has allied with my (kinda but not quite) Evil Enemy of All Time. I swear of Ethan is the love interest that I think he is...HE IS A SUCKY LOVE INTEREST!!! sorry but I can name like, ten other guys in the book who will be better heroes than Ethan. Like seriously, half the time Skylar (ohh wait is she the protagonist??? ahhh I just remember) hides from him and the other half she's trying to get him to spill his secrets...I see no romance there -.- I feel no chemistry between them either. And Skylar has not, I repeat, SKYLAR HAS NOT HAVE ANY SORT OF ROMANTIC FEELINGS TOWARDS HIM. Except for maybe minor lust. And she feels NOTHING when she sees him naked (not so spoiler alert: YEAH CHRIS AND ETHAN ACTUALLY GET CAUGHT RED-HANDED BY JOSH AND SKYLAR WHY HEY WHY NOT HM). tbh I'm rooting for Quell. I like him.
Next: SKYLAR. ohmygod
Is she a block of dead wood??? (technically a block of wood is already dead so er,) Let me show you a quote: (it's the START of a chapter btw)
Chapter 7
Josh and Chris were sitting at the library table with a collection of books sprawled over it. She blew out an exasperated sigh as she slouched down in the chair across from Josh, propping her legs on the table. She seemed so relaxed in the pack's home with Josh as her partner in research.
Me: oh. It's Chris's chapter *pretends to be surprised*
Next line:
When I finally walked further into the --
Me: HOLD UP! It's SKYLAR'S chapter?? *genuinely surprised*
The thing is, Skylar spends half her time describing to us in detail what other people are doing and how they react to each other. It's like the author thinks: hey, I need to show other characters' interactions so...Skylar becomes a narrator. I don't know how she feels. How she thinks. I don't want to read a book with the protagonist narrating. I want a book where if someone walks into the library and treats her in a specific way, we get an inkling of what our H feels. Does she feel irritated when she is ignored? Upset? Resigned? Unaffected? It seems like, despite the fact that Skylar is kinda like a Special Snowflake, she does absolutely nothing. She's special for just existing :/
And of course, OHYMYCHRIS
The thing is, when the book series is called "Sky Brooks" and the synopsis sets Skylar as some sort of protagonist, YOU EXPECT HER TO BE THE MAIN PROTAGONIST WHICH ISN'T THE CASE. Halfway through the book she just disappears and then we get Chris! Whee. NOT.
No offence, but if we were to take Chris out of the picture will anything change? No. The truth hurts, but Chris is of little significance in the story. Despite how she is portrayed as so special for being a badass human, she is NOT.
Why? Apparently she has survived for like 7 years in the hunting industry which is rare. And I am shocked. By the fact she has survived so long when: 1) She lets emotions get the better of her and sleep with Ethan in view of public (kinda but not quite)<-- if Josh and Skylar are considered public lol 2) She jumps into fights randomly despite one of the creatures having severely wounded the Third of the Werewolves. I'm all for fighting but when you KNOW you will win. 3) Basically, if technology were to fail one day Chris will fail too. She uses guns. Cool. But the act she relies on them kinda heavily (every time there's a fight she whips out her gun magically the creatures are killed by shots) 4) Despite being a "professional" she lets her emotions get the better of her again and has some intense stare-off with Winter because of some weirdy jealousy. OH get out .-. 5) FINALLY MOST DUMB OF ALL she attack the sorta King of Vampires aka Demetrius. I mean why not??? (I am sad she doesn't get killed tbh) Also Chris' curiosity is disgusting. YES. How many times is the word curious said by Chris? Around 9 different occasions. Curiosity kills the catChris (hopefully)
Oops sorry for the messiness but just remembered: Skylar is slightly stupid and dumb when she reveals herself as a Werewolf to David. *sigh* *shake my head* *cries in a corner*
Oh yeah, one of the reasons why I'm not giving this one star is because usually I reserve one stars for DNF and despite everything the storyline has me hooked. My Achilles Heel TT I won't elaborate on it but I guess more stuff gets explained here but there are also large chunks of information being dropped randomly. Seems like Josh is doing most of the Telling here -- no Showing :(
Some things I like a lot are Quell...Quell...and Quell! I wish he's the love interest instead boohoo :( And also I really enjoyed the humour bits as well. Skylar's sarcasm never fails to amuse me hehe. I'll be checking out the next book but if it's still kinda bad then...I may be taking a LOOOOOOONG hiatus from the series temporarily
Anyway, you guys can give it a try. Maybe you'll like it better than me! :) To conclude, I give it 2.35 stars rounded down to 2 stars...more
It was a torturous journey that I undertook in order to finish the book. I wanted to DNF it A LOT OF TIMES but I was determined to give this book, thiIt was a torturous journey that I undertook in order to finish the book. I wanted to DNF it A LOT OF TIMES but I was determined to give this book, this book with its glorious cover and promising content, a chance. My determination led to a complete and utter waste of time. It is through only the sheer goodness of my heart pity I felt for what could have been a legendary book that I rate it 1.5 stars rounded up to 2 stars.
The protagonist is an insufferable and extremely dumb ahem, moronic eighteen year-old who was described, more often than I would have liked, as "plain, ugly unattractive". IT WAS SO OFTEN SHE WAS DESCRIBED AS UNATTRACTIVE THAT I WAS LIKE ,"I KNOW SHE'S NOT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PERSON OUT THERE, CAN WE STOP FOCUSING ON HER LOOKS PLEASE??" Seriously though. It felt like the whole point of the book was to dwell on her um, less than flattering looks. Don't believe me? Hereby lies the LIST of people who were shocked that she was the "hundredth queen" MERELY because of her looks. Please choose the correct option a. Her "sisters" at the temple thingy b. The headmistress/teachers/whatever at the temple c. The rajah's other wives d. The rajah's courtesans e. The benefactors f. All of the above (view spoiler)[Ans: f (hide spoiler)]
Another thing that kind of annoyed me A LOT was the instalove between protagonist and love interest. THERE WAS NO SUSPENSE, NO BUILD-UP, NOTHING TO MAKE ME SQUEAL AND GO "AHHHHH!!!". It was simply, flat. Their relationship could have been believable for Kaladin (the love interest (ummm I know his name starts with D but I sort of forgot it) was the first male she had ever seen in her life) but what was in it for the love interest huh? Also, (view spoiler)[it is BEYOND cliche and overused for Kaladin to control FIRE of all things. Hello. How overused is that element? Ans: VERY! (hide spoiler)]. And why are we led to believe that all girls are meant to be either servants, courtesans or wives of the males and THE RAJAH'S COURTESANS are even PASSED AROUND LIKE SALT OR STH FOR THE BENEFACTORS TO SHARE. TO SHARE. YEP YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT. WHY IN THE WORLD SHOULD SUCH A THING BE ENCOURAGED? Oh yeah, apparently apart from main protagonist Kalinda and bestie Jaya, all other girls mentioned in the book are horrible, selfish girls who care only for themselves. Did I mention everyone is prettier than Kaladin? (since everyone appears to be oh so beautiful and pretty, why the heck is Kaladin ugly then? Not that I'm saying the reason I dislike her is because she's ugly, but just curious. EVERYONE IS DESCRIBED AS SO FREAKING BEAUTIFUL!!!!! It makes no sense)
A brief summary of the story: so, there's this king who is the "rajah" and he can have up to 100 wives, and as many courtesans (basically mistresses hmph) as he wants, Kalinda (our dumber than dumb sweet and um kind) protagonist is chosen to be his 100th wife to EVERYONE'S surprise because she is apparently about as attractive as a bamboo stick that has been tossed around in cow manure and splattered with horse pee or sth. Then she finds out that the rajah is *gasp* evil and she has to stop some butha dudes (is that the correct spelling? Oh well, I can't be bothered to check) kill the rajah and get back this ancient powerful book. Oh yeah, the rajah is going to use said ancient powerful book to revive his dead first wife. Yeah. Oh, did I mention there was like a twist thingy which I happened to guess like, halfway through the book? Said twist thingy is revealed near the end tho, so please kindly applaud me for having the patience to get through the book with the less-than-bright protagonist who can't figure it out ;) *jkjkjkjk NO NEED FOR APPLAUSE but I would really appreciate it xD
So yeah. I think I have ranted for long enough already because no one wants to hear about the dumb decisions that the protagonist made, right?? FYI she challenged like the strongest wife there aka Lakia (?? is that her name??) to try and "prolong the death of another wife who ran away *long story*" and actually *gasp* ended up winning miraculously!! :DD but then the said about-to-be-executed wife died anyway (mind you, she died while being whipped by said first wife (Lakia, Likia whatever) because the protagonist saw her friend and was like "hey, what's she doing here?" and ran over to her. Of course she lost her friend in the crowd and by the time she regained her brain it was too late to ask the rajah to spare the wife who was to be executed Yeah. Total waste of time and energy in my opinion. -.-
Overall, the plot is unoriginal,the society the world is build on is absolutely REPUGNANT and the protagonist is created with way too many flaws and too few compensating qualities with classical and overused elements tossed in the mix, like instalove, character being treated "specially" despite her apparent lack of specialness and (view spoiler)[her ability to control fire. FOR THE LAST TIME, WHY IS FIRE SO OVERUSED??? (hide spoiler)]
THERE MAY BE OTHER PEOPLE WHO APPRECIATE AND LVOE THE BOOK SO UM, SORRY FOR THE RANT!!! If it makes anyone happier, the main character has ONE redeeming quality at least, she's kind. Yeah. That's ummmmm about it....more
***Possible spoilers ahead*** I read this a looooong time ago so I really regretted reviewing it NOW but I was sorting through my books and saw it lyin***Possible spoilers ahead*** I read this a looooong time ago so I really regretted reviewing it NOW but I was sorting through my books and saw it lying there... practically begging me to review it so...here I go *sigh this will end badly
I'm giving this a 2.5 stars because I remember vaguely that I didn't really like it when I was reading it and found the protagonist kind of dumb and irritating (sorry!) but since my initial rating was 3 stars I found it way too unbelievable so I skimmed through the book again and downgraded the rating (sorry!) :/
I remember having a sense of instalove (?) and that the protagonist was chasing after the badboy once again. Something about:
fallen angel human vessel thingy ex-girlfriend out for revenge
sooooo
I remember thinking that Nora was quite reckless and dumb and impulsive when she rushed in after Patch during the final confrontation where Vee was held hostage (sorta) and THEN previously when she kept chasing after Patch even though she felt something was amiss (right?? she chased after him right??) I can't quite remember sorry!
Like the story focused to much on the romantic aspect and less on the angel bit for me. Since my memory failed me utterly in moments like this and I couldn't actually recall enough of the book to make a fair and justified evaluation of Nora and Patch, I may have to end this review super early.
I just have the feeling of getting irritated with Nora when reading the book (except I remember her being rather brave, I guess, when she volunteered to sacrifice herself for Patch) as she seemed um, not very bright. as in kind of dumb. I wished there was less of the whole who-was-Patch-was-he-good-or-bad stuff and more action. Also, I was hoping Nora would be more independent-ish I guess and saved herself from situations (like for the one in the rain with the old woman (omg how did I remember that??) I THINK she needed Patch to rescue her?? I'm really sorry if I get this bit wrong)
so I guess I found the book generally lacking in the plot department as well as it did not live up ot my expectations. I was intrigued at the prospect of fallen angels but once again they seemed doom from the start :( Maybe if there was more action and less contemplating it would be more interesting?
but it's just my preferences once again. Some of you may like it more than I do :)...more
***Probably no spoilers ahead*** I am very sad to say that this is my first proper DNF. I have decided to give up this book :( This book has been sitt***Probably no spoilers ahead*** I am very sad to say that this is my first proper DNF. I have decided to give up this book :( This book has been sitting on my "currently reading list" for as long as an eternity. There is nothing much I can say regarding this book which I am about 45% through (?), this book that is sadly not my cup of tea, this book that I have not touched in months. Sad to say, I have given up on this book long before today, just that I refused to believe it and keep denying and stalling until finally, today, I decide to mark this as a DNF.
From what I can remember of the book, which isn't a lot, to be frank, it isn't exactly very interesting. There is as much description going on as there is plot -- meaning, excessive details that are kind of overwhelming to me, and deficiency of plot which makes for a rather tedious journey. Which is disappointing, to say the least, because based on the cover and synopsis I was expecting...well, something more exciting and engaging. I think the problem (for me) lies in the fact that I have already set a targetted expectation bar that is too high for this book to reach.
The main character can control the dead, but there is little necromancy at work other than that. Much of what I have read seems to be lacking in the action and "wow!" department. I did not get into the book when I was reading it a few months ago. Perhaps the second part of the book will improve, but I don't wish to waste more time on a book that does not suite my preferences :c
I will probably not be picking this book up again for a looooong time, but I will try to read this again maybe in a year or two. Who knows, I may even enjoy it then :)
To anyone who enjoys the book, I mean no offence with what I have written above. Everything above is a matter of my personal opinions and I speak only for myself XD...more
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