tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74912528995982838282024-02-06T21:13:58.941-06:00Tolerably SmartExperiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.comBlogger221125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-80973493670189042162015-08-13T16:09:00.000-05:002015-08-13T16:09:44.890-05:00REVIEW: Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter by Richard Parks<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16223857-yamada-monogatari" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356206887m/16223857.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16223857-yamada-monogatari">Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/510191.Richard_Parks">Richard Parks</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/483139087">2 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
I picked this book up because it was urban fantasy in a Japanese historical setting. I was hoping it would be like the Japanese version of Harry Dresden. I should have looked at the book carefully and noted it was an anthology. What few anthologies I read I rarely enjoyed, and this anthology was no exception. <br />
<br />
The good news was that it was a fast and easy read. I devoured the short stories in one sitting. I didn't need to flip to back to the glossary at the end during the reading. Of course, being a manga fan, I was already familiar with some of Japanese culture. For example, honorifics and a loose fashion sense of the Heian period. Of course, there were some things I wasn't familiar with, but I understood them easily from the context. It helped that the paragraphs generally avoided being overly long and the sentences were straightforward.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the protag</b><br />
<br />
The bad news was the gritty theme, even if it was very mild. I rolled my eyes at the down-in-the-dumps protagonist. I became disdainful when it was immediately revealed that his impoverishment was of his own making in face of the facts that he owned a noble title and was a skilled warrior, two things his society greatly valued. Yup, any sympathy I may had felt for him eroded away completely, and even when shit hit the fan and smacked his face I remained stoic.<br />
<br />
Then, I shook my head in great annoyance when his luck turned worse because of — you guess it — a woman who was a damsel in distress and a femme fatale in a two-for-one bargain. Obviously, it wouldn't be complete without the protag slipping into depression and drinking himself into oblivion. <br />
<br />
Thankfully, the drunken depression only lasted for a few short stories and, not to say the protag completely recovered, the protag got a better outlook on life at the end. Though, that's not saying much since he was basically back to square one... maybe square minus one or two since his grief was still ached some. Well, at least when it comes to his work, Yamada is competent and clever. Not to mention his loyal friends.<br />
<br />
<b>+ tragic galore </b><br />
<br />
Among other things I didn't like was how most of the short stories ended dismally. In other words, only two short stories, in my opinion, ended happily and I'm using "happily" very loosely. For those who likes their fairy tales and fairy tales-inspired work to be traditionally tragic, you'll see it as a pro. For me who likes happy shit, it's a big con.<br />
<br />
The first short story, "Fox Tail," already had my face in my palm, because the stupid kitsune wife could have had a happy life if only she told the truth to her sincerely loving husband. It didn't matter that she couldn't stay in human form for a long time. She only needed to do it in front of humans, and she only needed to do it occasionally since noblewomen are allowed to lead a nun-like life, especially when that noblewoman is part of a powerful clan where spreading rumors would mean to risk one's head. Also, if that one kitsune crone could do it and maintained her deception without any human knowing the better, including her son who she helicopter-parented, the young kitsune wife certainly could.<br />
<br />
Anyway, "Fox Tail" didn't ended resolutely, because sooner or later someone got to tell her baby she gave up custody of that he's part kitsune and part human and will have abilities because of his strong kitsune blood when he grows up and weird shit starts to happen around him. I know this first short story is based on a real Japanese fairy tale so the ending had to be that way to remain close to its inspiration... but must it? I would have much preferred for the author to spin it and say this is how things should have ended if the characters had some good sense clobbered into them.<br />
<br />
Another thing I didn't like was how stereotypical Japanese some of the characters were. Honor, sacrifice, suicide, blah, blah. The motifs were tiresome. The short stories by themselves were not problematic, but together in anthology, the bigger picture painted was a little problematic for me. It made me think a happy Japanese person was like a mythical unicorn. The motifs could have been part of the gritty theme, but that doesn't make me feel any better.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter</i> 2-stars for it was okay. For an anthology, it could have have been worse, but at the same time it could have better. Life is unfair, but these characters just lacked good sense and the kind of courage to fight for their happily ever after. Fighting dangerous monsters they're totally okay with, but fighting for one's happiness and dreams is apparently too much. <br />
<br />
Readers who love everything about Dresden Files and like some grit will likely enjoy this book. The demon hunting in this book is basically detective work with demons involved, most of them needing their evil ass kicked. In short, this book is your typical male protag Urban Fantasy. Readers like me who like Dresden Files moderately but don't care for grit should look elsewhere. At least with the Dresden Files, there is a little humor whereas in this book there is none.
Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-77363629154363257692014-06-03T11:25:00.004-05:002014-06-03T11:25:48.558-05:00REVIEW: Skin Game by Jim Butcher<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19486421-skin-game" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Skin Game (The Dresden Files, #15)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1387236318m/19486421.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19486421-skin-game">Skin Game</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10746.Jim_Butcher">Jim Butcher</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/822590470">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
Book 15 was enjoyable but it was not one of the best books of the series. I had several issues with the characters.<br />
<br />
<b>The Characters</b><br />
<br />
<b>+ Dresden</b><br />
<br />
I'm sick of Dresden's self-reproach. I know it's a personality flaw and it's never leaving because it's book fucking 15 and still no sign of self-esteem growth but I really wish it would. I'm tired of Urban Fantasy protags hating themselves for simply existing. <br />
<br />
Secondly, he spent a year in Demonreach and all he learned was parkour. Granted, he did display a few new spells throughout the book, but these ice spells were still the same blunt force type as his fire spells. He should have learned other types of spells, types that would allow him to detect enemies (e.g. heat-seeking sight), summon familiars (e.g. golems or shikigami), make obstacles (e.g. fog or stalagmites), etc. There's more to magic than calling up a buttload of fire and ice to blast at enemies. For fuck sake, learn a healing spell already!<br />
<br />
I couldn't believe parkour was all that he learned. Dresden is a piss-poor wizard. I hate how Dresden uses the excuse that he might kill people if he goes all out because of his inner demon. Yeah, right. It's not as if burning enemies to cinders or icing them to shards aren't deadly, which Dresden does with no hesitation and does often. <br />
<br />
Dresden had access to Demonreach, an ageless entity of immeasurable knowledge, and he did nothing with it. For someone who believed the Winter Knight job would make him dark and twisted, he didn't research a way out of it. For someone who regularly told the reader Mab is vindictive and merciless, he put more effort into antagonizing the queen faerie than following his common sense.<br />
<br />
I still like Dresden but he disappointed me greatly. The only reason he did not anger me as much as he could have was because I was too busy being annoyed with Nicodemus and infuriated with Butters. Plus, there was mpreg, which was hilarious.<br />
<br />
<b>+ Nicodemus</b><br />
<br />
I know a villain is a poor excuse for a villain when I could have done better in his place. There were several ways I thought Nicky could have screwed Dresden. For instance, he could have made Dresden, as his oath-bound accomplice, kill Butters under the idea that Dresden needed to put down anyone who threatened the heist. And not just Butters, Nicky could have twisted the oath in a way that would force Dresden to choose between his friends and obeying the oath where Dresden would obviously choose his friends but would then die for his choice.<br />
<br />
Nicky regressed severely. Instead of delicious deception, most of his evil acts were all blunt force that is emblematic of a mortal muscle-head. What little deception he did was predictable which totally defeated the purpose of deception. <br />
<br />
Finally, sacrificing that one person was the stupidest thing he could have done. He couldn't bring some of his fanatics along and sacrificed one of them? Trust was the only requirement, and the fanatics have immense trust in him. You gotta be if you're going to dedicate your life to a demonic cult and allow your tongue to be severed. It's not the first time his fanatics died for Nicky in a mission.<br />
<br />
<b>+ Butters</b><br />
<br />
I can't believe he didn't — at the very least — receive a verbal lashing after that stunt he pulled in the middle of the book, risking everyone's lives. Then, at the end he got rewarded and Murphy is on the out? Noooooooo! WTF is the Christian God is thinking? The dude will barely last a second. The only reason Butters got one over on the bad guy was because of divine intervention so unless the Christian God plans to intervene every time Butters is in a fight, a big fat NO. Worst idea ever.<br />
<br />
It was bad enough I was already upset with Butters in the beginning of the book for thinking Dresden was his bitch. HEROES ARE NOT YOUR BITCHES, BUTTERS! They have a life of their own and crap to deal with, especially the perpetually unfortunate Dresden as you very well know. Every time you meet Dresden, you are sewing his insides back inside. And of course, the answer to your question about what he's doing now is paying a debt. DID YOU FUCKING THINK COMING BACK FROM DEATH WAS FREE? No, he doesn't have time to play superhero for the city again!<br />
<br />
Good gracious, if Butters wasn't Dresden's go-to doctor, I would have told the dude to fuck off. I half wanted him to die during that stunt. Anyway, I hope poetic justice will be served in future books now that Butters, in his new role as a hero instead of just as a sidekick, will experience the shit Dresden and others go through. Be happy for now with your new metaphorical giant penis, Butters. It's all shitstorm from thereon out. <br />
<br />
<b>+ everyone else</b><br />
<br />
Damsels in distress ahoy. It's like no matter how strong the woman is, she still needs Dresden to rescue her. Can the damsels rescue themselves for once? At least Valmont was not as bad as what's-her-name in the last book who was so annoyingly helpless and gloomy to the point where I just wanted her to die as soon as she was introduced.<br />
<br />
Ascher wasn't a damsel but I hated how at the end she was treated as one by Dresden. Woman made her life choices just like her partner, Binder, made his choices. I hate how Dresden is pissy towards Binder but not towards Ascher as if both were not similar in many ways. I wish Dresden's bleeding heart quit its sexist tendencies. <br />
<br />
Poor Murphy. I love the idea that vanilla humans can be on the same playing field with the mighty supernatural. Damn Butters for taking that idea away from me. Anyway, I hope Murphy goes back to being a cop. I hate how she is unemployed and lacking a future other than being a sidekick for Dresden when he needs her. Yeah, that's a pathetic future. I also don't care for the potential romance between them for all the reasons a character listed in the middle of the book. <br />
<br />
It was good to see Michael temporarily in action again. I always thought it was silly how he retired because of his injuries in a world where magic exists and it's possible to come back from death. Seriously, why are healing spells non-existent?<br />
<br />
<b>The Worldbuilding</b><br />
<br />
The series wandered in Greek mythology, Hades and his underworld to be specific. It was odd that the reader got to meet Hades, another deity, but still not the Christian God. Instead we meet again one of his lackeys, Archangel Uriel, who made a less than impressive impression. So much for the idea that the enigmatic character knew what was he was doing. Anyway, I wish the series dial down the Christian elements or dial up the other supernatural elements.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>Skin Game</i> 3-stars for I like it. I might rate it up a star for re-readability; we'll see. I was disappointed we didn't learn more about the Outsiders and the Black Council. It made only an inch of progress in the story arc. How long is this reckoning going to be delayed? Anyway, the book was enjoyable but it could have easily been better. Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-35362928794160362152014-06-02T13:25:00.000-05:002014-06-02T13:25:13.920-05:00REVIEW: The Plague Forge by Jason M. Hough<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17262142-the-plague-forge" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Plague Forge (Dire Earth Cycle, #3)" border="0" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363836946m/17262142.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17262142-the-plague-forge">The Plague Forge</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6571700.Jason_M_Hough">Jason M. Hough</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/670188203">1 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
It sucked. Horribly.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the writing</b><br />
<br />
The writing didn't improve an inch. It remained excessively detailed. I swear, if a character went to the restroom to take a dump, the scene would have lasted FIVE full pages. Then, in the next chapter the character would still be shitting and it <i>wouldn't</i> be because of constipation. It didn't matter if there was action, which the book had a lot, the pace moved like molasses. I had less patience for book 3 than for book 2 so I skimmed more. I skimmed <i>a lot</i>. You know it's a bad book when you're skimming the action scenes.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the characters</b><br />
<br />
I ceased caring for Skyler. He did improve from book 1. He did less angsting and more doing. Nevertheless, the character growth was nowhere enough for me to give a fuck whether the protag lived or died. <br />
<br />
Tania, the second protag, improved a lot from the annoying-as-fuck damsel in distress she was in book 1. However, she regressed a bunch in book 3 by obsessing over Skyler. It was annoying enough to watch unrequited love from Skyler's side towards Tania, it was doubly annoying to watch it from Tania's side towards Skyler. The non-communication suffocated me. <br />
<br />
Add in Ana, Skyler's current girlfriend, and a stinky love triangle exploded in my face. I felt bad for Ana because she loved Skyler but Skyler didn't love her as much, not as much as he secretly loved Tania. Honestly, the only reason I believe the two women loved Skyler was because he was the hero of the story and it's standard for heroes to have more than one love interest. In other words, the romance was forced and superficial.<br />
<br />
The love triangle grated on my nerves. Tania and Ana seemed to be defined by their love for Skyler. At least with Tania, she was a protag of her own and had a life outside of Skyler. Though Ana was promoted from a minor character in book 2 to a major character in book 3, she existed solely as Skyler's sidekick. Without Skyler, she would have faded completely to the background. Thankfully, relief came in the middle of the big book when shit was so important that they couldn't afford the luxury of even a minute to obsess over Skyler. It was also depressing that it took that long and that much. <br />
<br />
Samantha, the one major female character who wasn't a love interest of Skyler's, ceased to be my favorite character. I still liked her, which is hugely more than I feel for Skyler, but she wasn't doing anything that I thought was important shit. All she did was run, hide, and fight. It was pretty entertaining in book 1. But as the series progressed, it became boring. She didn't really serve a big role except to be one of the good guys for Skyler to save. <br />
<br />
As for the villains, one of them disappointed me greatly. Blackfield broke character by performing a heroic act. After all that animosity and fighting against our good guys, suddenly he decided to help them towards the end because of, ew, altruism? No. I didn't buy it. I didn't buy the reason given that Blackfield was "varying the pattern," his motto of acting unpredictably to win. There's a thick line between acting unpredictably and acting altruistically, forgetting the fact that you're a despicable villain. What he should have done was backstab our good guys and survive like the cockroach of a person that he was. <br />
<br />
As for Grillo, the other villain, he frustrated me, but it was in the sense that he was a great villain and he was kicking our good guys' ass. He didn't disappoint me as it was the good guys who disappointed me because they couldn't match him in war. What few victories the good guys gained were by luck in my opinion.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the ending</b><br />
<br />
The ending was the worst offender of the book and overall, the series. It was rushed. It had dei ex machina. To add insult to injury, the epilogue was a letter addressed to the reader, telling the reader everything in one fat infodump. By everything, I mean all the things the book withheld from the reader. The reader learned about the reasons behind the apocalypse on Earth, the apocalypse in a galactic empire, the aliens' mission, and the characters' next adventure. The epilogue revealed the entire series as a prelude to the real story where the characters will fight supposedly evil aliens in a galactic war. A FUCKING PRELUDE. <i>Why the fuck was this series not that story?</i><br />
<br />
My feelings were confirmed in <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/738289734?book_show_action=false&page=1">a Goodreads review</a> which said that this trilogy was the first of three trilogies. *facepalm* I doubt that will happen if I have learned anything about series, sales, and publishers. <br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>The Plague Forge</i> 1-star for I didn't like it. My only consolation was that I skimmed and the books were free courtesy of the very nice publisher humoring my requests. This series was essentially an unnecessarily expanded-to-the-extreme version of those prequel short stories you often see in Young Adult series.<br />
<br />
If you read book 1 and didn't care for it but have a compulsion like me to know what happen at the "end," read book 3's epilogue. It's the only chapter that matters.<br />
<br />
---<br />
Review of book 1: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/587817887">The Darwin Elevator</a><br />
Review of book 2: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/662134776">The Exodus Towers</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-49812290496496551512014-04-26T11:16:00.003-05:002014-04-26T11:28:44.592-05:00REVIEW: Crimes Against Magic by Steve McHugh<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18665274-crimes-against-magic" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Crimes Against Magic (Hellequin Chronicles, #1)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1381649748m/18665274.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18665274-crimes-against-magic">Crimes Against Magic</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5819903.Steve_McHugh">Steve McHugh</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/921016909">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
CAUTION: major spoilers<br />
<br />
<b>+ the protag</b><br />
<br />
Nathan was a Gary Stu. Most of the female characters he met wanted to bed him. All of the female characters wanted to be saved by him. It didn't matter if the ladies had powers of their own or that Nathan was amnesic and dazed, they wanted him on that fucking white horse riding to their rescue (figuratively speaking). I expected a Gary Stu, but I didn't expect Nathan to be a James Bond type. I was annoyed how practically all the ladies were made damsels in distress to elevate him as the hero.<br />
<br />
As far as his badassness went, Nathan was too short of it for my liking. I thought there were a few decisions he could have made better. For instance, Nathan should have known that once the bad guys identified him, they would identify his allies because it wasn't as if his social connections were a well-kept secret, especially when you're a famous thief. Running to your allies to recuperate? Are you kidding me? That'll be the first place the bad guys would look. What kind of a thief doesn't have several safe houses and caches? Not a very bright one, that's what.<br />
<br />
The third thing I didn't like about Nathan was how he got emotionally attached to people so easily. It severely weakened his character development as an assassin in the past and an amnesic thief in the present. Trust wasn't a luxury he could afford. He acted too carefree for an eternal denizen of the underworld. I was bewildered when in a late chapter of the past Nathan divulged his entire life story to a dude he had only known for a few weeks. One, it was blatant info-dumping. Two, what kind of an assassin tells their life story like a celebrity confession on The Oprah Winfrey Show? Aren't assassins supposed to be, I don't know, SECRETIVE? *facepalm*<br />
<br />
<b>+ the plot</b><br />
<br />
The plot alternated between the present and a few timelines in the past. I hate flashbacks but I was okay with them in this book. Some of them anyway. My patience wore thin towards the end because the action was rising to the climax and the flashbacks were interrupting that groovy train. <br />
<br />
<br />
SPOILER.<br />
<br />
<br />
The ending was nice, but I did not care for the epilogue. Mordred was one of the two evil bosses and he escaped like a cockroach in the last chapter. In the epilogue, Nathan found him and sniped him. What the fuck? <br />
<br />
It was talked a bunch of times about how Mordred and Nathan were always close to killing the other but never could because the other would escape his doom. Think Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. And finally in the epilogue, Nathan sniped him in a New York minute, which he should have done from the start. Sniper rifle was invented for a long time, long before the amnesia incident, and Nathan never once thought to use the goddamn weapon to take out his archenemy till now? Furthermore, what kind of an evil genius is Mordred to not have anti-bullet magic on his person? The characters were idiots!<br />
<br />
I like wrapped ends but that epilogue was a deus ex machina. One plot hole and it made book 1 of the series pointless. Oy.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>Crimes Against Magic</i> 3-stars for I liked it. Despite a Gary Stu that wasn't much of a Gary Stu and a plot hole of an epilogue, I enjoyed most of the book. I liked Nathan's violent side. It was an odd contrast to his bleeding heart side.
Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-78950634109810505002014-03-25T11:02:00.001-05:002014-03-26T10:38:41.104-05:00REVIEW: Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18210706-broken-homes" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Broken Homes (Peter Grant, #4)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1379380185m/18210706.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18210706-broken-homes">Broken Homes</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/363130.Ben_Aaronovitch">Ben Aaronovitch</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/846652516">2 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
It's book 4 and by far the weakest book of the series. I was never a fan of the writing because it was too dense for my taste, but I tolerated it. Not this time. The writing was too dry and tangential, and it was the yucky result of a meager plot.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the plot</b><br />
<br />
The plot didn't hit the ground running till the last third of the book when Peter and Lesley went undercover to sniff out the perp. It was the only part of the book that held any excitement for me, and just barely. The rest of the book was swamped with boring, irrelevant world building shit.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the protagonist</b><br />
<br />
The characters showed little growth, especially the star of the series. Peter as the bumbling magician apprentice amused me, but the humor wore thin after a couple of chapters. One of the things I liked about Peter was how he experimented and practiced his magic, but book 4 didn't have this. Peter became complacent, and I didn't like it.<br />
<br />
I also didn't like how Peter was jealous of Lesley meeting someone else. What the fuck was that all about? He should have been happy she was moving on with her life. I didn't think Peter harbored romantic feelings for Lesley and that his relationship with her was just camaraderie. I guess I fooled myself into thinking this was one of those rare fictions where the male lead only sees his female buddy cop just as a friend. Genre fiction and TV have taught me better.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the antagonists</b><br />
<br />
As for the bad guys, I'm very disappointed with the peripheral role the Faceless Man had after the book hinted so much about him. Case in point, he only appeared for one moment. The book may have been showing there were other magic-capable villains in the world beside the Faceless Man, the series' Big Bad, but these villains came off as mere distractions. They made the mystery feel like an intermission. <br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>Broken Homes</i> 2-stars for it was okay. The writing was bad but I guess I should be happy it wasn't purple prose like in the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/46662-matthew-swift">Matthew Swift series</a>. Regardless, the book broke my enthusiasm for this series. The plot twist at the end felt like a last ditch effort to make the book not frivolous. Nice try, but the book is still a glorified novella.
<br />
<br />
<hr />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Book Description</b></div>
<br />
My name is Peter Grant, and I am a keeper of the secret flame — whatever that is.<br />
<br />
Truth be told, there's a lot I still don't know. My superior Nightingale, previously the last of England's wizardly governmental force, is trying to teach me proper schooling for a magician's apprentice. But even he doesn't have all the answers. Mostly I'm just a constable sworn to enforce the Queen’s Peace, with the occasional help from some unusual friends and a well-placed fire blast. With the new year, I have three main objectives, a) pass the detective exam so I can officially become a DC, b) work out what the hell my relationship with Lesley Mai, an old friend from the force and now fellow apprentice, is supposed to be, and most importantly, c) get through the year without destroying a major landmark.<br />
<br />
Two out of three isn’t bad, right?<br />
<br />
A mutilated body in Crawley means another murderer is on the loose. The prime suspect is one Robert Weil, who may either be a common serial killer or an associate of the twisted magician known as the Faceless Man — a man whose previous encounters I've barely survived. I've also got a case about a town planner going under a tube train and another about a stolen grimoire.<br />
<br />
But then I get word of something very odd happening in Elephant and Castle, on a housing estate designed by a nutter, built by charlatans, and inhabited by the truly desperate. If there's a connection to the Crawley case, I'll be entering some tricky waters of jurisdiction with the local river spirits. We have a prickly history, to say the least.<br />
<br />
Just the typical day for a magician constable. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18210706-broken-homes">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DYX9OPC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00DYX9OPC&linkCode=as2&tag=fafufa-20">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-64416314372493536252014-03-20T07:57:00.002-05:002014-03-20T11:17:57.111-05:00REVIEW: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21473404-the-lightning-thief" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1395021460m/21473404.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21473404-the-lightning-thief">The Lightning Thief</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15872.Rick_Riordan">Rick Riordan</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/854066580">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
I tried this book twice and put it down on both counts after a few pages. I couldn't get pass the juvenile writing, which was weird because I read Middle Grade, if only occasionally... I must have been in a bad mood those times, because the third time I tried the book, the writing didn't annoy me. Furthermore, I ended up liking the book! <br />
<br />
<b>What I Liked</b><br />
<br />
The book was fast paced. The action was abundant. I never felt like I had to wait for anything to happen.<br />
<br />
The hero and his two companions were likable. One boy coming into his power and destiny, one boy serving as the bumbling sidekick, and one girl keeping the two boys grounded with her intelligence. It's formulaic, but it's true and tried. <br />
<br />
I liked Percy because of his sense of justice and how he stood up for his friends. I liked how quickly he took to battle and how he realized if a certain part of the Greek mythos was real, then he had a way to save his mother. I didn't expect Percy to be tolerably competent.<br />
<br />
Grover didn't endear me because I do not care for bumbling sidekicks. They tend to be a liability and make main characters do stupid things. Thankfully, the satyr wasn't as much of a bumbling sidekick as I dreaded. I admired his resilience and his dream of finding his patron god, Pan, regardless of the abysmally low odds and the super high danger.<br />
<br />
Annabeth was cool for a character with angst and regrets. I liked that despite her loyalty to her patron goddess, Athena, she thought for herself and stood by Percy.<br />
<br />
<b>What I Didn't Like</b><br />
<br />
I didn't care for the gods. They acted more like misbehaving kids than sociopathic gods. I couldn't believe Zeus and Hades actually believed Percy, a 12 year old boy who was new to their magical world and to his water power, stole their symbols of power. Seriously? It was stupid on many levels. <br />
<br />
Another thing I found hard to believe was that Percy could fight Ares, god of war, pretty well. I liked how capable Percy was at fighting, but come on. There's a limit. God of fucking war versus a 12 year old boy with little fighting experience. Percy and his friends should have run for their lives.<br />
<br />
I did say Percy was competent, but I didn't say he always made good decisions. But I don't blame him for this because I liked his sense of justice and he was a growing boy. I simply wish someone had taken him aside and taught him not to provoke supernaturals and gods and made him consider the consequences of his impulsive actions.<br />
<br />
Finally, I wish there was depth to the bad guys, especially with the Big Bad. Making the Big Bad flatly evil and his minion brainwashed was a wasted opportunity. I like a classic Good versus Evil conflict, but there could have been themes of environment, misanthropy, and justice in moral ambiguity. Instead, there were caricatures. It was disappointing to see the villains were not as developed as our heroes.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>The Lighting Thief</i> 3-stars for I like it. Third time was the charm. I'm glad I jumped on the bandwagon and picked up this series. <br />
<br />
If you like this series, try <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/51545-mythos-academy">The Mythos Academy</a>, a young adult series by Jennifer Estep. It has a similar premise.
<br />
<br />
<hr />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Book Description</b></div>
<br />
Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.<br />
<br />
Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/854066580">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0036G8IQS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0036G8IQS&linkCode=as2&tag=fafufa-20">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-75892299569212972052014-03-13T11:02:00.001-05:002014-03-21T12:15:49.438-05:00REVIEW: One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465591-one-man-guy" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="One Man Guy" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1394380884m/18465591.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465591-one-man-guy">One Man Guy</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7258893.Michael_Barakiva">Michael Barakiva</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/792704699">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
I picked this book up because the book description promised humor and romance, and I love humor and romance. Not to mention the book cover was cheery yellow. Sure enough, the book was accurate as advertised. <br />
<br />
I had worried how the theme of homophobia would be presented because I didn't want Alek and Ethan to get hurt. I didn't want to read something sad especially when the book promised humor. I still recall the disappointment of <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16102490.How_to_Repair_a_Mechanical_Heart" title="How to Repair a Mechanical Heart by J.C. Lillis">How to Repair a Mechanical Heart</a>. Thankfully, the theme of acceptance put my worries to rest.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the characters</b><br />
<br />
As I followed Alek's narration, I couldn't help but think about my teenage years. Alek made several bad decisions such as cutting class and lying to his parents. However, I found it pretty hard to condemn him for his decisions because it would be the pot calling the kettle black. As I judged Alek, I also judged myself. I cringed as my memories threw out all the stupid things I did on the front stage of my mind. I know one does not need the moral high ground to point out something that is outright stupid, but I still cringed regardless.<br />
<br />
I had little problem judging Ethan, though. Heh. While most of the blame is upon Alek, Ethan was no innocent. Ethan was awesome for saving Alek from a bully, but it didn't change the fact that he was a bad boy cliche. He was part of a clique called D.O., which is short for Drop Outs and self-explanatory. The D.O. were the last classmates Alek should be hanging out with. If Alek wasn't easily influenced I wouldn't have cared, but he was. Ethan led Alek on the same prospectless path. I liked that Ethan was broadening Alek's world horizon, but they could have done it without delinquency.<br />
<br />
Finally, Ethan wasn't sensitive to Alek's needs, which I found highly ironic. Ethan was making the same mistake with Alek as his selfish ex-boyfriend made with him. I didn't care for Ethan for most of the book, but in the end he won my heart as he won Alek's. <br />
<br />
Alek and Ethan were flawed enough to be believable, but smart enough to realize their mistakes so the story was not frustrating to read. I liked that they were portrayed as teenagers who made stupid mistakes and not stupid teenagers being stupid. <br />
<br />
Honorable mention is Becky, Alek's best friend. I saw the misunderstanding with her a mile away. I'm glad it was quickly fixed. I was relieved she stayed a true friend and supported Alek throughout the book. I loved how bluntly she pointed out that Alek had a crush on Ethan immediately after Alek told her about his new friendship with Ethan. It was funny how Alek could be so oblivious about himself and other people.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the plot</b><br />
<br />
In the beginning, Alek's Armenian heritage was the source of his teenage drama. Alek's family was high-maintenance, and they had high expectations for their children, Alek and his big brother Nik. But later Alek came to realize that as much as the heritage was a pain in the neck for him, it was an important part of his identity and pride. Because of Alek, I learned a bunch about the Armenian history, culture, and food — especially the food. Warning: do not read this book on an empty stomach.<br />
<br />
The romance was slow and nice for one that had several red flags because Alek made bad decisions. The ending was a HEA, which pleasantly surprised me. The most I expected was an Okay For Now ending, not even a Happy For Now ending, because it is a Young Adult contemporary. It was a little unbelievable how quickly some of the characters reconciled, but I confess I didn't care. <br />
<br />
The one thing that book dropped the ball on was the bullying. It was unbelievable that Alek and the bully were on good term after the incident. But based on the many things the book could have dropped the ball on and the overwhelming theme of reconciliation, I let it slide.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>One Man Guy</i> 4-stars for I really liked it. I bumped the book up a star because it left a big grin on my face at the end, unlike <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16102490.How_to_Repair_a_Mechanical_Heart" title="How to Repair a Mechanical Heart by J.C. Lillis">How to Repair a Mechanical Heart</a>. <br />
<br />
For a book that simply promised humor and romance, it delivered a lot more than humor and romance. There were themes of family, friendship, acceptance, and reconciliation to list a few. And then there was the HEA, which was icing on the cake. I can totally imagine the book as a romantic comedy movie.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Book Description</b></div>
<br />
Alek Khederian should have guessed something was wrong when his parents took him to a restaurant. Everyone knows that Armenians never eat out. Why bother, when their home cooking is far superior to anything "these Americans" could come up with? Between bouts of interrogating the waitress and criticizing the menu, Alek’s parents announce that he’ll be attending summer school in order to bring up his grades. Alek is sure this experience will be the perfect hellish end to his hellish freshmen year of high school. He never could’ve predicted that he’d meet someone like Ethan. <br />
<br />
Ethan is everything Alek wishes he were: confident, free-spirited, and irreverent. When Ethan gets Alek to cut school and go to a Rufus Wainwright concert in New York City’s Central Park, Alek embarks on his first adventure outside the confines of his suburban New Jersey existence. He can’t believe a guy this cool wants to be his friend. And before long, it seems like Ethan wants to be more than friends. Alek has never thought about having a boyfriend—he’s barely ever had a girlfriend—but maybe it’s time to think again.<br />
<br />
Michael Barakiva's <i>One Man Guy</i> is a romantic, moving, laugh-out-loud-funny story about what happens when one person cracks open your world and helps you see everything—and, most of all, yourself—like you never have before.
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465591-one-man-guy">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GVRVBWC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00GVRVBWC&linkCode=as2&tag=fafufa-20">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-5819505834587707932014-03-12T10:41:00.000-05:002014-10-04T14:48:32.172-05:00REVIEW: Please Don't Tell my Parents I'm a Super Villain by Richard Roberts<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20525909-please-don-t-tell-my-parents-i-m-a-super-villain" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Please Don't Tell my Parents I'm a Super Villain" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1391006789m/20525909.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20525909-please-don-t-tell-my-parents-i-m-a-super-villain">Please Don't Tell my Parents I'm a Super Villain</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5228940.Richard_Roberts">Richard Roberts</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/824544060">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
This book was so fun I was downhearted when it ended. Penny and her two friends kept me guessing and excited with their capers. It took a couple chapters before the excitement started, but once it did I savored every page of it. <br />
<br />
<b>What I Liked</b><br />
<br />
For characters who got carried away and into deeper trouble when they were trying to get out of it, Penny, Ray, and Claire were marvelously competent. They made Penny the leader of the team because she was super smart. Furthermore, they actually <i>listened</i> to her, avoiding the trap super people on a team commonly fall into in other books of all age categories. Known as The Inscrutable Machine, Penny's team practiced teamwork. They knew when to fight and preen, and when to retreat. They learned from their mistakes and took heed of advice. Not to say they were not reckless because they absolutely were when they could have ceased their mischief at any time. However, they controlled their recklessness greater than I ever expected. <br />
<br />
Penny, Ray, and Claire were so mature that I often forgot that they were young teens on the cusp of high school and not full blown teens. I loved that there was never any condescension against their age. Penny and her friends were <i>dangerous kids</i> and the other characters treated them like <i>dangerous kids</i>. The danger was real no matter that the characters were sometimes playful about it.<br />
<br />
While I loved the entire team, Penny was my favorite character. I loved how the book presented her as the star in more than just making her first person viewpoint as the exclusive viewpoint of the book. She had issues so it was easy for me to relate to her. One of her issues was living up to her parents' expectations, and that was something I totally understood. She had tenacity so it was easy for me to root for her. Hurray for a kickass heroine! Not only that, it was her super intelligence that made her kickass. I loved that the book made being smart cool and a revered trait of strength.<br />
<br />
Finally, I also loved the fact she didn't let her crush on Ray preoccupy her mind. There was a love triangle between her, Ray, and Claire but thankfully, it didn't disrupt their friendship. I loved that the book never made a big deal of the issue and that the issue was kept in the background where it rightfully belonged. The issue popped up occasionally but it always dropped back down in deference to more important priorities, like surviving the next battle. Young Adult protagonists should take notes from this Middle Grade protagonist.<br />
<br />
<b>What I Didn't Like</b><br />
<br />
I didn't like Ray's character development. One, it was severely lacking compared to his friends. I learned a lot about Penny and her family, and Claire and her family. But I didn't learn anything about Ray and his family except for the fact that they were vanilla humans and not as rich as his friends' family. <br />
<br />
Two, I didn't like how he kicked his human talent of intelligence to the curb once he acquired his superpower. I understood his inferiority complex. Nobody likes feeling helpless and seeing injustice. I only wished he had come to realize his complex and that he was overcompensating. It would have been wonderful if he worked with Penny on her inventions and plans. It was such a shame that he pigeonholed himself as the team's muscle.<br />
<br />
The second thing was Generic Girl, one of the superheroes our team fought. It was weird how she appeared practically once and never appeared again till the end like an almost forgotten afterthought. She could have easily been the one to stop The Inscrutable Machine if she persevered, especially when she and Penny knew each other's secret identities. Not to mention the fact that the community of supers worried about her as much as they worried about The Inscrutable Machine. That worry disappeared after it was mentioned once. The plot piece was a loose end, and I didn't like it.<br />
<br />
<b>What I Had Mixed Feelings</b><br />
<br />
I worried a bunch about the karma The Inscrutable Machine would reap. They were dangerous kids and they were marvelously competent. However, it didn't change the fact that they were still kids, and they were kids going against superheroes and seriously bad people instead of sidekicks their age towards the end. Not to mention the collateral damage. <br />
<br />
It was amazing and unrealistic how the gang prevailed every time. The book description was true to its words. Penny and her friends did always come out on top. That said, it was more delightfully and relievingly amazing to me than it was annoyingly unrealistic. <br />
<br />
On one hand, it bothered me that Penny and her friends got off scot-free with some of the characters none the wiser, especially towards the end. On the other hand, I derived enormous amount of entertainment in the book being purely a work of youth escapism. Ultimately, this was the hand that won out. <br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>Please Don't Tell my Parents I'm a Super Villain</i> 4-stars for I really liked it. Totaling 384 pages, the book is big and indulgent. I highly recommend the book if you're looking for a super fun superheroes read.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Book Description</b></div>
<br />
<span id="freeText13323315981115098975">Penelope Akk wants to
be a superhero. She's got superhero parents. She's got the ultimate mad
science power, filling her life with crazy gadgets even she doesn't
understand. She has two super powered best friends. In middle school,
the line between good and evil looks clear.<br /><br />In real life, nothing
is that clear. All it takes is one hero's sidekick picking a fight, and
Penny and her friends are labeled supervillains. In the process, Penny
learns a hard lesson about villainy: She's good at it.<br /><br />Criminal
masterminds, heroes in power armor, bottles of dragon blood, alien war
drones, shape shifters and ghosts, no matter what the super powered
world throws at her, Penny and her friends come out on top. They have
to. If she can keep winning, maybe she can clear her name before her mom
and dad find out.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20525909-please-don-t-tell-my-parents-i-m-a-super-villain">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IH0KG1S/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00IH0KG1S&linkCode=as2&tag=fafufa-20">Amazon</a>
Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-5728999628386847112014-03-09T11:37:00.000-05:002014-03-09T22:39:44.274-05:00REVIEW: Longing for Spring by Mariko Hihara<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16095970-longing-for-spring" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Longing for Spring" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1394383117m/16095970.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16095970-longing-for-spring">Longing for Spring</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4407268.Mariko_Hihara">Mariko Hihara</a>, illustrated by <span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><a class="authorName" href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4820912.Yuki_Amane" itemprop="url"><span itemprop="name">Yuki Amane</span></a> <span class="authorName greyText smallText role"></span></span><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/437512486">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
Story-wise, the book was pretty good. Product-wise, it was pretty bad.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the story</b><br />
<br />
The uke and seme were typical, but they weren't a caricature. They weren't as meek and cruel, respectively, as the book description and cover suggested to me. (Not that I would have minded it anyway.) The uke was fortitudinous, and the seme was sympathetic. I liked the couple in no time flat.<br />
<br />
It was pretty well plotted for a yaoi that I had low expectations for. Not to mention decently translated, considering the publisher. The dubcon smut was hot and plentiful. It took no effort for me to believe the men belonged together.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the sexytimes were too brief for my liking. No scene lasted long enough for me to feel heat. I would have been fine about it were it not for the climax and the censorship. <br />
<br />
The climax had to go serious and sad on me for a couple pages before it got to the HEA. The seme was already sympathetic. I was perfectly fine being told of the seme's tragic past. I really didn't need a flashback to show the sad to me. It was a buzz kill. I wanted the book return to the smut. The HEA was pretty bittersweet. YMMV, though. Some readers may find it heartwarming. <br />
<br />
<b>+ the product</b><br />
<br />
The yaoi was censored. The penises were whitened out. *eye twitch* <i>BUT</i> it's my fault for not reading the book description fully and learning the sexual content would be censored on Kobo. *smack self*<br />
<br />
The book has 80 pages. There are a couple extra pages that the Japanese version doesn't have (or at least the scanlated version of it). The two extra pages at the beginning explains the time period. The five extra pages at the climax contains the aforementioned flashback. You're not missing out on anything if you read the scanlation.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>Longing for Spring</i> 3-stars for I liked it. Mildly. I don't recommend buying it on Kobo, 90% coupon code or not. I strongly recommending buying it on <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/longing-for-spring-mariko-hihara/1113580583?ean=2940015534450" rel="nofollow">Nook</a> where it isn't censored.
<br />
<br />
<hr />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Book Description</b></div>
<br />
Set in post-World War II Japan, this is a story of young Haruomi, an
heir of the prominent Morimura family. Stripped of his aristocratic
title while facing a repossession of his estate, Haruomi finds himself
thrown on the mercy of a wealthy Japanese American, Tsutomu Oshio. <br />
<br />
At
first, Oshio wants nothing to do with a naïve noble. After all, he
hates the Japanese above all else. Yet as the days go by, Oshio finds
himself inexplicably drawn to Haruomi’s innocence. Driven by a desire to
rid himself of his newfound feelings, Oshio sets it upon himself to
disrupt Haruomi’s flawless façade.<br />
<br />
Through the hope of saving his
bedridden mother’s life, Haruomi accedes to Oshio’s scandalous demands
to become his “servant”. Thus, Haruomi’s new life as his master’s
plaything begins…<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16095970-longing-for-spring">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009UD6N36/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009UD6N36&linkCode=as2&tag=fafufa-20">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-84683237771673700442014-03-08T10:01:00.001-06:002014-03-11T10:07:18.152-05:00REVIEW: Switchblade Goddess by Lucy A. Snyder<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10376185-switchblade-goddess" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Switchblade Goddess (Jessie Shimmer, #3)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320501002m/10376185.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10376185-switchblade-goddess">Switchblade Goddess</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/948181.Lucy_A_Snyder">Lucy A. Snyder</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/852730193">2 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
It's hard to believe this is the final book of the Jessie Shimmer series, because it was written like another middle book of the series. The Virtii were still out to kill Jessie. Miko was still alive to kill innocent people. To add insult to injury, a new plot line arose at the last minute that would have our heroes make new enemies. The fuck? As if they didn't have enough already!<br />
<br />
<b>+ frustration #1</b><br />
<br />
Let's talk about the Virtii. In book 2, I was miffed with how our heroes didn't make the Virtii a priority, but I let it slide because our heroes had more immediate concerns. This book is book 3, and there was no more excuse in book 3. Our heroes, or Jessie to be specific, had ample downtime to think about the Virtii. <br />
<br />
It was ridiculous how Jessie spent a total of a few minutes in the entire book to think about the Virtii. It irritated me how she treated the matter like it was a case of the zits and let her father handle the matter of hiding her ass. For a bleeding heart heroine, it never occurred to her that there was a chance the Virtii, with their twisted sense of justice, might involve her loved ones, or the local governing circle our heroes recently made peace with in book 2, to get to her. Talk about irresponsible! And it was just tip of the iceberg.<br />
<br />
<b>+ frustration #2</b><br />
<br />
Further down on the iceberg was Miko. I couldn't believe Jessie helped Miko exorcised the Goad demon that possessed her and paralyzed her from doing evil. One, Miko was a mass murderess. Two, she was a sexual predator. Three, she was a fucking mass murderess and sexual predator. Good grief! I appreciated how the book tried to humanize her. I really do. It was good display of character development. It was very tragic and fucked up what happened to Miko.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, it didn't change the fact that she was a <i>villain</i>. By helping her, Jessie allowed her to escape and kill more innocent people, oath or no oath. Miko was a villain, and villains tend to loophole around oaths. If Jessie wanted to help Miko, what Jessie should have done was put Miko down and end her suffering, or at the very least, imprison her till Jessie could find a way to unfuck Miko. No surprise to learn later on that Jessie got tricked by Miko and ended up getting fucked herself. Literally.<br />
<br />
<b>+ frustration #3</b><br />
<br />
There was so much rape. Rape this. Rape that. Miko got raped. Miko raped her birth father. Shift to present: Miko raped Jessie in her dream. Miko raped Jessie's boyfriend Cooper in her dream. It took the word "mindfuck" to a whole new level! The plot spent a long third of the book on the rapefest!<br />
<br />
I was frustrated how it took a several chapters before Jessie asked another character for help and exorcised Miko from her dreams and hellement. Because despite the daily rapefest nightmares, Jessie was well-adjusted enough to ask for help, and because the book treated sex and violence towards our heroes without crippling lasting impact, which was one of the few good things about the book. No trip to emo-land for this series. A medicine woman, who was treating Pal, Jessie's familiar, was housing Jessie for that entire third of the book of a rapefest. Jessie never thought to ask the medicine woman for help. *facedesk*<br />
<br />
<b>+ frustration #4</b><br />
<br />
Then, there was the issue with Warlock and how he got mindfucked by Miko in book 2 in raping Jessie. I was happy things mended between him, Jessie, and Cooper, Jessie's boyfriend and Warlock's older brother. Yay no for love triangle. But was it really necessary to have Warlock go shacking up with Jeremy, Jessie's older brother? <br />
<br />
It didn't surprise me that Jeremy swung gay because there were hints since book 2, but it did surprise me as much as it surprised Jessie that Warlock swung gay too. If Warlock was characterized as so in the beginning, I wouldn't have cared and in fact, would have been happy for the pair. But he wasn't, and like magic he suddenly was towards the end. It was plain to me that the new character "development" of Warlock was a deus ex machina to guillotine the love triangle. The affair left me cold.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>Switchblade Goddess</i> 2-stars for it was okay only because I’ve read <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/674282232">worse series end</a> it's sad to say. The Jessie Shimmer series is over, but it's incomplete. I strongly do not recommend the series if readers want proper resolution.<br />
<br />
Review of book 2: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/259050987?type=review#rating_23035701">Shotgun Sorceress</a>
<br />
<br />
<hr />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Book Description </b></div>
<br />
<b>Hell hath no fury like a goddess scorned.</b><br />
<br />
When Jessie
Shimmer traveled to a nightmare underworld to save her lover, Cooper
Marron, she gained magical powers . . . which soon seemed more like
curses. Her beloved familiar, the ferret Pal, became a monster. Her
enemies multiplied like demons. Worst of all, she hasn’t found a moment
of peace to be with the man she adores.<br />
<br />
Now a
switchblade-wielding demigoddess commanding a private hell stocked with
suffering innocents is after her. The blademistress’ vengeance sends
Jessie and Pal on a dark journey through strange, perilous realms. Their
quest for salvation will push her newfound abilities—and her
relationship with Cooper—to the breaking point . . . and beyond.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10376185-switchblade-goddess">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LROUWC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004LROUWC&linkCode=as2&tag=fafufa-20">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-34203349436662296872014-03-07T12:24:00.001-06:002014-03-08T10:02:30.224-06:00REVIEW: Shotgun Sorceress by Lucy A. Snyder<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9586201-shotgun-sorceress" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Shotgun Sorceress (Jessie Shimmer, #2)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1326136909m/9586201.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9586201-shotgun-sorceress">Shotgun Sorceress</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/948181.Lucy_A_Snyder">Lucy A. Snyder</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/259050987">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
Book 2 picked up where <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6500152-spellbent">book 1</a> ended, with our heroes recovering from book 1’s shitstorm. I liked that it took a while before book 2’s shitstorm erupted because our heroes deserved their rest. And they deserved to have some of their issues resolved.<br />
<br />
It would have broken my heart if Cooper’s kid brothers had to go through another tragedy. One satanic affair is one too many, and I hate it when kids are embroiled. So, I was very glad to see things were improving for Cooper’s family. I was also very glad that the conflict with the local Governing Circle resolved peacefully and unexpectedly neatly. Huzzah! Finally, a government leader who knows what’s what and has an ethical backbone. However, the Virtii, inviolable elemental spirits of judgement, were still on Jessie’s ass. But two out of three ain’t bad.<br />
<br />
That said, I was disappointed how the conflict with the Virtii was completely sidelined. While our heroes had more immediate concerns once they got trapped in Texas, it didn’t excuse them from making the Virtii one of their priorities. All they did was run and hide. Instead, it should have been run, hide, and (at some point in downtime) <i>brainstorm</i> some ideas on how to deal with the Virtii for the long term. Our heroes were very lucky the Virtii didn’t intrude again in Texas to make sure our heroes would meet their ends, instead of gambling on Miko to do it for them.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the romance</b><br />
<br />
Jessie and Cooper’s sexytimes caught me by surprise because it’s uncommon for urban fantasies to be this explicit, but I didn’t mind. I thought it was good that Jessie and Cooper had a healthy sexual relationship, and wow, did Jessie have a libido. It was refreshing to see a woman as the pursuer and not someone paranormal who needed sex for sustenance.<br />
<br />
The scenes allowed me to learn more about their relationship, which left me concerned because our horny duo were damaged characters. The series held a great chance for a wheelbarrow full of romance drama. For the most part, the romance drama didn’t happen. Key word: <i>for the most part</i>. There was a misunderstanding towards the end, but to be fair, our characters were being played by the villain.<br />
<br />
<b>+ my least favorite part</b><br />
<br />
My least favorite part of the book was when Miko, book 2’s villain of the week, kicked our heroes’ ass. The demigoddess of death could mind control people and liked to wield sex as a weapon. To remind, our heroes were damaged characters so it was easy to predict how things were going to go. This series really knew how to put out effective villains. To my relief, our heroes were capable and were not greatly injured as my pessimistic side feared, but the rape scenes were more than I could bare.<br />
<br />
What was egregious was the ending. The conflict with Miko was left hanging. The ending wasn’t an ending of a book; it was an ending of a chapter. <br />
<br />
<b>+ my favorite part</b><br />
<br />
My favorite part of the book was when Jessie practiced her newfound abilities from book 1. She was quick to recognize the side effects, quick to determine she had a little demonic possession going on, and quick to put her abilities to battle despite those obstacles. Most importantly, she didn’t refuse help when it mattered. For instance, she asked her familiar, Palimpsest, to watch over her when she spiritually visited her hellement.<br />
<br />
I also liked how Jessie adapted to the new development of her blood family. I was worried the issue would fester because the lack of family is what caused her to be damaged. There were too many issues that could have sent the heroine deep into emo-land, but thankfully, the heroine kept her feet on the ground. <br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>Shotgun Sorceress</i> 3-stars for I liked it. Alas, I do not recommend the series. I finished book 3, the final book of the series, and it was not good.<br />
<br />
Review of book 3: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/852730193">Switchblade Goddess</a><br />
<br />
<hr />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Book Description</b></div>
<br />
<span id="freeText15018621668105564622">BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE<br /><br />For
Jessie Shimmer, everything changed when she went to hell and back to
save her lover, Cooper Marron. After tangling with supernatural forces
and killing an untouchable spirit lord, Jessie finds herself gifted—or
perhaps cursed—with dark powers. And when she and Cooper make love, her
pleasure throes light the whole house on fire. What is a sorceress to
do?<br /><br />Jessie is about to find out. The circumstances of her birth,
the mystery of a father she never knew, and the help of a cuddly ferret
turned fearsome monster have made Jessie not just an outlaw from mundane
society, but an accidental revolutionary in the magic realm.
Encountering portals stitched into thin air and a fiercely sexy soul
harvester, Jessie rushes headlong among enemies, horrors, wonders, and
lovers into a place of self-discovery—or destruction.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9586201-shotgun-sorceress">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003F3PLUS/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003F3PLUS&linkCode=as2&tag=fafufa-20">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-22172316161273328342014-02-25T10:31:00.001-06:002014-03-08T12:59:59.486-06:00REVIEW: The Pirate's Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15714476-the-pirate-s-wish" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Pirate's Wish (The Assassin's Curse, #2)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1352903412m/15714476.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15714476-the-pirate-s-wish">The Pirate's Wish</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5331983.Cassandra_Rose_Clarke">Cassandra Rose Clarke</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/844872472">2 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
CAUTION: spoilers<br />
<br />
Book 2 wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be after reading a negative review. Make no mistake. The book was bad, but it was not insufferably bad. I credit my endurance to my love of manga.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the characters</b><br />
<br />
<b>Ananna</b> was a complete brat. I went from liking her in book 1 to hating her in book 2 in one second. She showed no appreciation for the food Naji brought to her, the concern he showed for her, or protection he provided for her. She whined about everything. She threw a tantrum virtually in every chapter. <br />
<br />
Hell, immediately in the beginning the reader could see how cold hearted she was when she showed no grief over Eirnin’s death, the wizard who was helping her survive on the deadly island. The wizard may have been amoral and catfighting with her love interest, but he was nice enough to overlook Naji with and help Ananna regardless. All that goodwill, and not a fucking shred of grief. She even went on to befriend Eirnin’s killer. I wanted to push the brat off a cliff. <br />
<br />
I was shocked how quickly and how well Ananna and Eirnin’s killer got along. Not only did the killer kill Eirnin, she was also a man-eating beast. Or perhaps it said a lot that only someone like Ananna could be friends with a man-eating beast. As they say, birds of a feather flock together.<br />
<br />
The only reason I could tolerate Ananna was because she was a classic <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tsundere" rel="nofollow">tsundere</a>. Tsundere is a common trope in manga, especially in the harem type. When one reads as much manga as I do, one inevitably builds tolerance for tsunderes. It’s either that or give up manga altogether (not a chance in hell).<br />
<br />
<b>Naji</b> was the most pitiful character in the story, never mind that he was an assassin with rare, powerful blood magic. Afflicted with a curse, abused by Ananna, stuck on a godforsaken island, bedeviled by supernaturals from another dimension, enslaved eternally to an order of assassins, ostracized because of his scary magic. Could his life be more miserable? <br />
<br />
I totally understood why Naji was always stoic. How else could he survive? I hated how he never got compensated for his suffering. Talk about no good deed goes unpunished.<br />
<br />
<b>some supporting characters</b>: For a man-eating beast, Ongraygeeomryn the manticore was surprisingly high maintenance and funny. She turned out to be pretty nice. <i>She was nicer than Ananna.</i> Go figure.<br />
<br />
Pirate captain Marjani and Queen Saida were wonderful. They were women of authority, queer, and in a happily renewed relationship. The book won points for feminism, diversity, and a healthy romance. Though they were only supporting characters, the pair balanced out the emotional heroine (to put it nicely) and her manly stoic love interest in terms of gender dynamics. The ladies also helped keep the angst down.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the plot</b><br />
<br />
The plot didn’t go anywhere till the middle of the book when Ananna and her companions finally escaped the island and resumed their adventure. High points were hit and miss. For example, the scene where Marjana reunited with Saida and the one where Ananna reunited with her family both felt flat. I didn’t receive the “I love you, and I’m never letting you go out of my sight ever again.”-like reaction that I wanted.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>SPOILERS.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
In addition, the entire plot pivoted on dei ex machina. Apparently, one manticore is all that’s needed to conquer battleships and keep the unscrupulous in check, nevermind how outnumbered and outmatched our heroes and their very tentative allies were. The super rare starstones needed for the second impossible task to break the curse? Oh, Ananna’s family had them all along. The third and final impossible task to break the curse? Magic shamelessly pulled out of one’s ass. Even so, I didn’t give a fuck because anything that got the plot moving along and wrapping up loose ends was good apple juice. I was ready for the book to be done since chapter one. <br />
<br />
Speaking of the ending, it stinked. Ananna and Naji finally got together only to separate because Ananna wanted to return to her pirate life and Naji had to return to slavery as an Order assassin. They said they’ll see each other again, but who the fuck are they kidding? Long distance relationships don’t work out. After all the crap they went through and what I had to put up with, the pair went back to their old lives. It rendered the series pointless. <br />
<br />
Thankfully, the ending wasn’t as cold a slap in the face as it could have been. The relationship was abusive because of how awful Ananna was to Naji. Naji deserved better. I think the reason he came to love Ananna was because he didn’t think anyone else could love him and his life was a big pile of shit. Anyway, I found some consolation in the optimistic romance between Marjani and Saida, so it was not like I was left with completely nothing.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>The Pirate’s Wish</i> 2-stars for it was okay. It wasn’t 1-star because I’ve read worse, and the writing was at least succinct. Thank hell the series was only a duology. If you plan to pick the series up, I strongly recommend librarying it.
<br />
<br />
Review of book 1: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/327550562">The Assassin's Curse</a><br />
<hr />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Book Description</b></div>
<br />
After setting out to break the curse that binds them together, the
pirate Ananna and the assassin Naji find themselves stranded on an
enchanted island in the north with nothing but a sword, their wits, and
the secret to breaking the curse: complete three impossible tasks. With
the help of their friend Marjani and a rather <i>unusual</i> ally, Ananna and Naji make their way south again, seeking what seems to be beyond their reach.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately,
Naji has enemies from the shadowy world known as the Mists, and Ananna
must still face the repercussions of going up against the Pirate
Confederation. Together, Naji and Ananna must break the curse, escape
their enemies — and come to terms with their growing romantic
attraction.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15714476-the-pirate-s-wish">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ALB4XH4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00ALB4XH4&linkCode=as2&tag=fafufa-20">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-35319875115185513392014-02-21T01:07:00.001-06:002014-02-21T01:16:00.368-06:00REVIEW: Shanghai Sparrow by Gaie Sebold<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18143949-shanghai-sparrow" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Shanghai Sparrow" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1392935215m/18143949.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18143949-shanghai-sparrow">Shanghai Sparrow</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4385310.Gaie_Sebold">Gaie Sebold</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/854379784">2 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
For a historical fantasy that contain “Formidable Devices, Fay, Etheric Science, Espionage, Opium, Murder and Bartitsu” — exciting stuff, it was restrained. Blech. Fantasy is supposed to be fantastic, not restrained. I found the book lacking in many ways. <br />
<br />
<b>+ the characters</b><br />
<br />
I liked <b>Eveline</b> from the start. She was clever and wisely distrustful. She didn’t let the bad guys break her composure. She didn’t need anyone to tell her how much danger she was in. She knew when she was being bullshited and knew how to bullshit back. In short, she had a functional brain, unlike the many YA main characters I have read recently (<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13206828.Cress" title="Cress by Marissa Meyer">Cress</a>, <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17457717.The_Seers" title="The Seers by Julianna Scott">The Seers</a>, <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12849229.Cold_Fury" title="Cold Fury by T.M. Goeglein">Cold Fury</a>, <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15714476.The_Pirate_s_Wish" title="The Pirate's Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke">The Pirate's Wish</a>, and <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16140922.Altered" title="Altered by Gennifer Albin">Altered</a> to name a few).<br />
<br />
I had only one gripe with Eveline, and it’s really more of a grip with the plot than with the heroine. I didn’t expect her to succeed at every turn, but at the climax I wished she had the upper hand. I wished it was pure wit that saved the good guys, not by convenient luck and improvisation. I wanted Eveline to be the heroine in her full glory, but instead she got nudged out of the limelight.<br />
<br />
I also liked <b>Beth</b>, Eveline’s friend. Usually, the geek sidekick is a guy, but it was Beth instead, and I found it very refreshing the geek sidekick was a girl for a change. Along with <b>Madeleine</b>, I loved how there were women scientists and how they played a big role towards the end. What I did not love were how the scientists were passive, particularly at the rising action. If Eveline was absent, Beth and Madeleine were up the creek without a paddle.<br />
<br />
Speaking of helpless female characters, there were too many for my liking. For a book eulogizing women’s empowerment, it seemed to love the damsel in distress trope. Thankfully, the plot lines for <b>Treadwell and Charlotte</b> wrapped up quickly and kept the angst down.<br />
<br />
I hated <b>Holmforth’s</b> viewpoint. He was a big sack of self-loathing and prejudices. Being in his head, even though it was only 3rd person, pushed my limit for the foul character. I had to skim his viewpoint to salvage my enjoyment with the book. Thankfully, his viewpoint ebbed towards the middle of the book and didn’t rise back till the rising action. Just like how the heroine was nudged out of the limelight, so too was Holmforth in his role as the main bad. As a result, his comeuppance did not feel as satisfactory as it should have been. It was more like an afterthought really. <br />
<br />
As for <b>Liu</b>, I wanted to like him, but the guy was too mysterious. Mysterious Liu is mysterious. I recognized that was the intention, but it really impeded me from getting to know him. I couldn’t get any sense of him other than the fact that he wasn’t an enemy of Eveline’s. At least, not intentionally. Plus, it didn’t help that he was around Eveline’s age. I kept thinking of him as her love interest. You know you read too many YA when you automatically assign any boy whom the heroine immoderately interacts with as the heroine’s love interest. Finally, it bothered me that the one important Asian character in the entire book and he was mysterious and exoticized.<br />
<br />
The only characters who were more mysterious than Liu were the <b>Folks</b>, which the book called the faeries. And they weren’t mysterious as they didn’t have any character development. Throwing out a couple ubiquitous details such as how the Folks have magic and how they’re immortal does not constitute character development. Despite what a big deal they were, the Folks were never more than hazy, shadowy background characters. <br />
<br />
<b>+ the plot</b> <br />
<br />
I hated the long ass flashback at the third of the book. Seriously, it was really long. It fucking took up 16% of the book. Yes, I counted. I liked Eveline but I did not need to learn in minute detail how she lost her bourgeois family and became a hardened street urchin. I wanted Eveline’s backstory but I did not want it in one constipated infodump of a giant sob story. No. Just no. <br />
<br />
In regard to the setting, the sense of England was strong, but the sense of China was pitifully weak. Even though the setting alternated between England and China, it was set in England like 80-90% of the time. The few scenes that did take place in China honestly felt like they could have taken place anywhere else. The book would have been better off set entirely in England and in a Chinatown of England. “Far Eastern steampunk” my ass. <br />
<br />
Well, at least there was steampunk because there was not much of anything else. The espionage was underwhelming. The etheric science was nebulous. The historical side was thin. It’s like expecting real fruit juice but receiving some carbonated shit made with 10% real juice. This reader was highly disappointed.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>Shanghai Sparrow</i> 2-stars for it was okay. The book was a classic case of all that glitters was not gold. The only thing the book got right was the dynamic heroine. On the bright side, this book was still better than the <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7114825.Spiritwalker_trilogy" title="Spiritwalker trilogy by Kate Elliott">Spiritwalker trilogy</a> by Kate Elliott beginning with the fact that the book isn’t a dragged out trilogy.
<br />
<br />
<hr />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Book Description</b></div>
<br />
Shanghai Sparrow is a Far Eastern steampunk tale of espionage, distant empires and thrilling exploits, with a dynamic heroine.<br />
<br />
The British Empire is at war, both within and without.<br />
<br />
<b>Eveline Duchen</b>
was once a country child, living a life of privilege, touched by the
magic that still clings to the woods and fields of Victorian England.
Now she is a street urchin in a London where brutal poverty and
glittering new inventions exist side by side, living as a thief and
con-artist under the wing of the formidable Ma Pether.<br />
<br />
Caught in
an act of deception, Eveline is faced with Mr Holmforth, a gentleman in
the service of Her Majesty’s Government, who offers her a stark choice.
Transportation, or an education – and utter commitment to Her Majesty’s
Service - at Madam Cairngrim’s school for female spies. The school’s
regime is harsh. Eveline has already learned harder lessons. She plans
to take advantage of everything they can teach her, then go her own way.
<br />
<br />
But in the fury of the Opium Wars, the British Empire is about
to make a devil’s bargain. Eveline’s choices will change the future of
her world, and reveal the truth about the death of her sister Charlotte.<br />
<br />
Shanghai Sparrow is set in an alternative England and China. It
contains Formidable Devices, Fay, Etheric Science, Espionage, Opium,
Murder and Bartitsu and may not be suitable for those of a delicate
disposition.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18143949-shanghai-sparrow">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1781081859/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1781081859&linkCode=as2&tag=fafufa-20">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-61362337135058626532014-02-09T10:48:00.003-06:002014-02-09T20:57:28.756-06:00REVIEW: Honor's Knight by Rachel Bach<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16131473-honor-s-knight" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Honor's Knight (Paradox, #2)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1378928941m/16131473.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16131473-honor-s-knight">Honor's Knight</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6572837.Rachel_Bach">Rachel Bach</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/846297632">4 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
Every bit as good as book 1, and more; book 2 dazzled me. Every time I thought I knew a character or the situation, the book blasted me with new details and showed me how wrong I was and how little I knew. I know the saying “there are two sides to every story.” I knew it was the message the book was sending. Nevertheless, I still got my ass handed to me.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the plot</b><br />
<br />
The book started off slow for me because I didn’t like following memory-wiped Devi. I hate to see beloved main characters in a helpless position. The inexplicable emotions, the strange floating creatures only she could see, the “dreams” she was having. Devi began to doubt her sanity. Who wouldn’t? Thankfully, the torment didn’t last long, and that was when the book really began for me.<br />
<br />
Once she quickly regained her memory, she gained some answers from Caldswell. Hurray for answers! I LOVE IT when a series doesn’t make me wait for them. Those answers were the phantoms, those strange floating creatures only plasmex users could see. And somehow she could too, because she was not a plasmex user. The phantoms were invulnerable aliens who traveled around outer space, and occasionally a big one would effortlessly destroy a planet for no discernible reason. The human governments kept it a secret because imagine the panic. The fact that only plasmex users, less than a hundred in existence and very short-lived, could kill these phantoms? Panic.<br />
<br />
Devi immediately realized it was the virus she contracted on the alien ghost ship back in book 1 that gave her the special sight. The virus also made her The Most Wanted Person In The Universe. It’s no exaggeration to say she could save the world or bring it to its end. It’s a fucking <i>virus</i>. Book 2 is about what Devi going to do with it as the only carrier. Cue moral choices. Lots of them. <br />
<br />
The action was nonstop and BREATHTAKING. My pulse rate and mind was never at rest. I was constantly wondering how the fuck was Devi going to escape her predicament and what was she was going to do next. Every path seemed to be a death trap. One wrong move and BOOM, everyone dies. No do-over.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the characters</b><br />
<br />
I loved Devi. Loved her. She was fucking tough as nails. The only time I thought she made a stupid was when she went to a Paradoxian noble for help after everything she had learned about the conspiracy with the phantoms. I swear, her Paradoxian loyalty will be the death of her. Thankfully, things quickly worked out. It was amazing to watch Devi make like a contortionist and pull a Houdini. Go, Devi!<br />
<br />
I still don’t really care for Rupert, but I admit he’s growing on me. It helped that Devi immediately stopped being a lovestruck fool when her memory was restored and gave the bastard some deserved asskicking in more than one way. <br />
<br />
Mabel being a warrior was a surprise because I should have seen it coming. I knew there was more to that overly cheery, super-competent mechanic. Nevertheless, she still remained an enigma like her cat. In book 1, I learned about Nova and Hyrek. In book 2, I learned about Basil, Ren, Caldswell, and Brenton. Now I understand why Basil is so perpetually cranky. Everything about Ren was tragic all around, and I was grateful the action-packed plot saved me from dwelling on the matter, along with all the other sad matters. <br />
<br />
With Caldswell and Brenton, I couldn’t keep from thinking one was the bad guy and one was the good guy. It took me a while to learn that no matter how much I learned about these characters, I wasn’t going to ever get the “full story.” That for all my attempts to judge them and play god, I couldn’t. It didn’t feel right. Matters were so gray. Even loony Maat was sympathetic, and I trust her as far I could throw an elephant.<br />
<br />
The only characters that didn’t have my sympathy were the war-loving, man-eating, slave-owning xith’cal race. I cannot imagine in any way they would be misunderstood. <br />
<br />
Finally, Anthony. He wasn’t in the book, not even as a passing reference. In book 1, Anthony wanted to help Devi, and she cut him off. During her escape, I would have thought she contact him for help. But no, she went to a Paradoxian noble stranger. Ergh. Kind of a plot hole where Anthony is concerned.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the moral choices</b><br />
<br />
Some examples: Is biological warfare ever acceptable? At what point is the cost of saving the world too high and inhumane? Could the cost ever include sacrificing your children? Sacrificing the few for the many, where does the line stop? <br />
<br />
That last question was the one I thought about the most. I couldn’t help but feel the characters’ thought process, including lawful Caldswell’s, were distinctly American. To be specific, culturally individualistic. Sacrificing the few for the many, no matter how inhumane, is a no-brainer for some collectivistic cultures. I don’t know how to feel about the lack of representation of that ideology in the book and how the closest thing to such a representation are through the aliens. At any rate, I don’t envy the characters for the responsibilities they’re forced to bear. <br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>Honor’s Knight</i> 4-stars for I really liked it. Book 2 was a thriller science fiction, and I was definitely thrilled. The series got EPIC. Please let the series ends well. <br />
<br />
Review of book 1: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/718718277">Fortune's Pawn</a><br />
<br />
<hr />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Book Description </b></div>
<br />
The rollicking sequel to <i>Fortune's Pawn</i> <span class="st">—</span> an action packed science fiction novel.<br />
<br />
<b>Devi Morris has a lot of problems. And not the fun, easy-to-shoot kind either. </b><br />
<br />
After a mysterious attack left her short several memories and one partner, she's determined to keep her head down, do her job, and get on with her life. But even though Devi's not actually looking for it <span class="st">—</span> trouble keeps finding her. She sees things no one else can, the black stain on her hands is growing, and she is entangled with the cook she's supposed to hate.<br />
<br />
But when a deadly crisis exposes far more of the truth than she bargained for, Devi discovers there's worse fates than being shot, and sometimes the only people you can trust are the ones who want you dead.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16131473-honor-s-knight">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://amzn.to/1fPvaQF">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-1845642291059931642014-02-08T14:35:00.001-06:002014-03-12T22:24:03.210-05:00REVIEW: Cress by Marissa Meyer<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13206828-cress" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Cress (Lunar Chronicles, #3)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1379083526m/13206828.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13206828-cress">Cress</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4684322.Marissa_Meyer">Marissa Meyer</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/746042306">2 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
I was disappointed with book 2, but I still liked <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/62018-lunar-chronicles">the series</a>. <i>Cress</i> is book 3, and yup. It’s official. The series has lost its luster for me. Scant progress. Scant character growth. Book 3 was essentially the same as book 2, more running away and hiding. Yeah, there were some plot twists here and there and a couple new characters, but our heroes were still running away and hiding, and doing a piss poor job of it. <br />
<br />
<b>+ the plot</b><br />
<br />
The book started remarkably slowly considering what had happened at the end of book 2. I had hoped the momentum would persevere. The action didn’t pick up till almost a third into the book, and it only happened because our heroes let down their guard again for like the tenth time. The action lasted for a few chapters, ebbing back to boredom. Cress and Thorne’s plotline, the meat of the book, was minimally interesting because they did very little progressing the plot. <br />
<br />
In sum, action scenes were far and few and frustrating. They only seemed to happen because our heroes could not for the sake of their lives maintain vigilance. How many times must they get ambushed before they learn to stick in group, always carry assload of weapons, make exit plans, and so forth? <br />
<br />
Making matters worse, their plan to save the world was to crash Queen Levana and Emperor Kai’s wedding so Cinder could reveal the truth and demand the throne back in front of the cameras. Bitch please. Queen Levana would sooner grow a bouquet of flowers out of her asshole before she ever surrendered. I couldn’t believe this was the best our fairy tale heroes could come up with. Thankfully, Cinder reunited with Dr. Erland who told her straight up how incredibly stupid her plan was and gave her another plan. <br />
<br />
The new plan was to go to Lunar and start a revolution. Bring the fight to the tyrant and bring the oppressed people hope and the truth to their face that their Princess Selene was still alive and fighting for them. Of course, like the unprepared dimwits our heroes were, they didn’t have any idea of how to do it. I kid you not when I say our heroes hoped luck would accomplish things for them. By the way they were constantly improvising, it was sure as fuck weren’t going to be through intelligence and strategy. About the only time our heroes knew what the fuck they were doing was at the climax, which was a merciful relief however brief it was.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the characters</b><br />
<br />
<b>Cinder & Kai</b>: I thought Cinder experienced significant character growth at the end of book 2. I thought too optimistically. While it was frustrating watching her trying to control her Lunar abilities, what was really frustrating was watching how terribly she lead our heroes. As a cyborg, she has no excuse. Download some leadership guidebooks and stop operating on ignorance. She also should discard her silly fear of becoming like Queen Levana because of her powerful Lunar abilities. It’s fucking ridiculous how Cinder thought she could become anything like that tyrant. At this point, I don’t give a shit for realism and wish she would Mary Sue up.<br />
<br />
At least Cinder and Kai are a perfect match. To say Emperor Kai is a terrible leader is to put it nicely. Dude’s an idiot, too idealistic for his own good. I still cannot get over the fact that he accepted Levana’s marriage proposal in book 2 and continued to think things will somehow work themselves out in book 3. The dude actually thought he was saving millions of lives by sacrificing his to the evil queen. On the bright side, he didn’t deny the sure-as-fuck chance the tyrant would kill him quickly after their exchange of “I do”s.<br />
<br />
<b>Scarlet & Wolf</b>: Scarlet got captured and Wolf turned uselessly emo. Scarlet’s contribution in book 3 was to only introduce the reader to Winter, the next damsel in distress for book 4. Wolf’s contribution was to be a listless meatbag for Cinder to practice her Lunar mind control power over.<br />
<br />
<b>Cress & Thorne</b>: These were the star couple of book 3, the eponymous damsel in distress and her dashing rogue of a spaceship captain. I liked Cress in the beginning because of how shamelessly honest she was of her role as a damsel in distress and how funny she was in assuming Thorne to be her knight in shining armor. Their romance poked fun at fairy tale tropes. However, the humor wore off quickly for me, and I became bored and impatient for Cress to toughen up. <br />
<br />
Thorne, I liked. He was one of the very few characters who were useful. Even when he became blind, he didn’t let his handicap stopped him from kicking ass and rescuing Cress again. As silly as Cress was with her helplessness, dreams, and sob story, her romance with Thorne was still a big step up from Scarlet and Wolf’s angst-filled romance. Cress and Thorne were honest and open about their feelings, which is a lot more than I could say for the other fairy tale couples.<br />
<br />
<b>everyone else</b>: I still loved Iko, Cinder’s sassy android. I eyerolled at Dr. Erland and his sob story, pardon my cold heart. I thought he could have done a lot more to help our heroes and his poor self, but mostly our heroes. Seriously, our dimwit heroes needed all the help they could get. I hated how the doctor succumbed to his regrets at the end. Queen Levana was still as wonderfully hate-able as ever. I had hoped for some character development and to learn how she became a tyrant, but didn’t get it. Oh well. Maybe in book 4.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>Cress</i> 2-stars for it was okay. I expected too much from it, but meh. The only thing I can really say is that the book didn’t disappoint me as much as it could have, and that I haven’t lost all my excitement for the next one, unlike with the <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16140922-altered">Crewel</a> and <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12983100-world-after">Angelfall</a> series.<br />
<br />
If you loved book 1 and book 2, ignore this review and pick up book 3. You’ll likely love book 3 too.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Book Description</b></div>
<br />
<i>Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard. </i><br />
<br />
In this third book in Marissa Meyer's bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.<br />
<br />
Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who’s only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. <br />
<br />
When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13206828-cress">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://amzn.to/1ecWjug">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-20944985207276115872014-02-05T16:39:00.000-06:002014-02-09T11:13:25.365-06:00REVIEW: Vodnik by Bryce Moore<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13544043-vodn-k" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Vodník " border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1331834246m/13544043.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13544043-vodn-k">Vodník</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/588329.Bryce_Moore">Bryce Moore</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/294823440">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
The book was fun as expected. What attracted me was the non-American setting and an underused mythology. The book delivered Slovakia and Slavic mythology. The mythology portion consisted of a fire spirit, a water spirit, a ghost, and a grim reaper. I admit it sounds generic. But as a big reader of urban fantasy, anything that isn’t vampires and werewolves, Greek/Roman mythos, Celtic mythos, or Norse mythos is a cheery break. Unfortunately, it was a shame that the basis for the Slovakian setting was flimsy.<br />
<br />
<b>+ bad parenting</b><br />
<br />
In the beginning of the book, I didn’t think much of Tomas’s family moving back to his mother’s homeland. They moved back because they wanted to maintain their middle class-ish lifestyle. Their money would go further in Slovakia with what little they had left after their home burned down. I was skeptical about his mom becoming a teacher (and thus, the breadwinner) and his dad becoming a writer, but I didn’t think it was particularly impractical.<br />
<br />
But as the story unfolded and I learned more about Slovakia, I learned it was a wonderful place to visit but a horrible place to live, especially if you’re Roma, a.k.a. Gypsy. Racism ahoy. Tomas was only a quarter Roma, but he looked Roma enough to be discriminated against. Pretty much, being Roma in modern Slovakia was like being black in the civil rights years of America. Not only that, he was also rejected by the Roma because he was too foreign. <br />
<br />
In Slovakia, there is universal healthcare, which seems good... until the reader learns bribery is a way of life. I got eye sore from eyebugging hard at Tomas when he thought going into crippling debt to get healthcare in America was on the same level as needing to bribe unreliable, untrustworthy, racist doctors to get healthcare in Slovakia. As if! <br />
<br />
Let me put everything on the table. Tomas was an outcast in school back in America because of his scars. (I believe the isolation had to do more with his being shy, but for the sake of argument let’s take Tomas on his words.) When he moved to Slovakia, he was <i>still</i> an outcast. Only this time instead of just being discriminated against for his scars, he was also being discriminated against for his race by everyone, including his own race. Police treated him like a crook; who gives a fuck if he’s the one needing help, no such thing as a good Roma. The local boys bullied him; just what a shy boy could ever want, being ignored back in America was boring~♫. The doctors would have to be bribed if he get hurt; money does go further in Slovakia, physically into other people’s pocket as bribes. Tell me again why his parents wanted to move back to Slovakia. <br />
<br />
Let’s not forget the supernatural things that wanted Tomas dead. But I don’t blame his parents for that. Everything else I do blame on his parents. Oh my gawd, these parents! I don’t doubt they love him, but I seriously question their parenting. They knew these things, but they moved back willingly anyway, and for such flimsy reasons. Had the reason been that a high-paying job forced them to, I wouldn’t have been mad as hell. This leads me to think it’s not so much a case of poor parenting as it is a case of poor writing. To be specific, a poorly thought out reason for the hero to be in Slovakia.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the characters</b><br />
<br />
On the bright side, there was no Disappearing Parent Syndrome. Tomas’s family played a big role, especially towards the end. Tomas’s cousin Katarina was kickass despite her illness. It was nice to have strong female sidekick that wasn’t the hero’s love interest. I chuckled when Tomas learned Katarina was his cousin. <br />
<br />
I didn’t care much for Tomas in the beginning, but that’s because I don’t care much for self-pitying heroes. There were moments when I didn’t like him, and those were when he got bullied. Logically, I knew he couldn’t fight back, but emotionally, I wished he did, logic be damned. My sense of justice demands satisfaction! It took some while but I eventually liked Tomas as he shed his shell and unleashed his inner fire (figuratively). I liked how his strength came from his self-confidence and how he work hard to build it chapter by chapter. For all the abilities he discovered he always had, they were useless to him if he didn’t have self-confidence. I liked how he overcame his fears and turned them into his source of power, literally in the supernatural sense.<br />
<br />
As for the antagonists, the supernatural characters were too wishy-washy for my liking. It was dizzying how one moment they wanted Tomas dead and the next moment they helped him. Good grief, make up your damn mind. There’s a limit to how much a character can be trotted out as a red herring.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>Vodnik</i> 3-stars for I like it. The book concluded satisfactorily despite a few loose ends. While it doesn’t take a lot of effort for me to imagine how those loose ends might be resolved thereafter, a second book would be a joy to have. Not only was the book fun, it was meaty. It surprisingly covered a lot of issues: social, youth, health, and family. I really wish there was a second book.<br />
<br />
<hr />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Book Description </b></div>
<br />
<i>Teacups: great for tea. Really sucky as
places-to-live-out-the-rest-of-your-eternal-existence. Very little elbow
room, and the internet connection is notoriously slow. Plus, they’re a
real pain in the butt to get out of, especially when you’ve gone
non-corporeal.</i><br />
<i> </i>
<br />
When Tomas was six, someone–something–tried to drown him. And burn
him to a crisp. Tomas survived, but whatever was trying to kill him
freaked out his parents enough to convince them to move from Slovakia to
the United States.<b> </b>Now sixteen-year-old Tomas and his family are back in Slovakia, and
that something still lurks somewhere. Nearby. Ready to drown him again
and imprison his soul in a teacup.<br />
<br />
Then there’s the fire víla, the water ghost, the pitchfork-happy city folk, and Death herself who are all after him. All this sounds a bit comical, unless the one haunted by water ghosts
and fire vílas or doing time in a cramped, internet-deprived teacup
is you.<br />
<br />
If Tomas wants to survive, he’ll have to embrace the meaning behind the Slovak proverb, <i>So smrťou ešte nik zmluvu neurobil.</i> With Death, nobody makes a pact.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13544043-vodn-k">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007HCVWPQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B007HCVWPQ&linkCode=as2&tag=fafufa-20">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-17519032834384035892014-01-26T09:46:00.001-06:002014-03-10T12:48:03.477-05:00REVIEW: Wallflower by Heidi Belleau<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17971428-wallflower" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Wallflower (Rear Entrance Video, #2)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1369282451m/17971428.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17971428-wallflower">Wallflower</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5365291.Heidi_Belleau">Heidi Belleau</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/650866880">1 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
I thought this book would be a fun read. I thought WRONG. It was HORRIBLE. I thought, hey, what could go wrong with a main character who is Asian, an art student, and MMORPG addict, a cross dresser, and more importantly, Asian? Represent! Robert sounded like a cool person. Eeeeecccck. Not if he’s an emo. Oh My Gawd was he such an emo. <br />
<br />
<b>+ the main character</b><br />
<br />
Robert Ng sucked. Reason number one, he had a Loser Complex the size of a stinking hill of manure. I would have felt bad for him were it not for the fact that the only reason his life was crappy was because <i>he</i> made it crappy. He had no one to blame but himself. He constantly threw one pity party after another. Rarely did his thoughts ever stray from how much he sucked. Honestly, it would have been a miracle if he spent a few seconds to think that other people might have problems too. It would probably blow his mind if he read the news and learned about all the bad things that happen in the world. Robert used up all my patience by chapter two.<br />
<br />
Reason number two, his character development was piss poor. Art student, MMORPG addict, and Chinese descent? These traits were window dressings. The reader only ever see him taking one art class, Introduction to Art Principles. While one art class is enough to make him an art student, he was a poor excuse for an art student. He worked in the video store and moped at home more than he ever did anything as an art student. As for the MMORPG part, playing video game a couple times does not constitute a person an “addict,” especially not someone who played <i>two times</i> in the entire story. As for his Chinese background, the main character could have been switched with a white person and it wouldn’t have made a difference. He may have a Chinese last name and Chinese look but other than that, his character was whitewashed.<br />
<br />
Reason number three, and this one pissed me off the most, his character was defined by his transgender status. I understood transgender is a big theme in the story, but it came at the cost of developing Robert as a real person. If Robert wasn’t transgender or decided not to be transgender anymore, he would be a nobody in the sense that the trans part of him, his Bobby identity, was the only thing that mattered and without that he’s nothing. Put it another way, it’s kind of like defining a woman by her fertility status. If she can’t pop out a baby, she’s nothing. People are the sum of their parts, and this was forgotten when Robert was developed as a character. The fact that he was an art student, a MMORPG addict, a Chinese-Canadian, a brother, and a son among other things? It was like these things could matter less because whatever.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the transgender theme</b><br />
<br />
Ironically, considering the emphasis of the theme, I thought it could have been executed better. Sometimes it came off as the author’s narration instead of Robert’s narration, and it came off as preachy. It was preachy in the sense that the important messages had to be said point-blank because the reader couldn’t be trusted to learn them from the characters’ action. I felt this diminished the impact of the messages.<br />
<br />
I also got the feeling that the one of the reasons Robert became Bobby, his female self, was because he was uncomfortable with his homosexuality and needed a safe way to express it. It seemed like half of the time he became Bobby, he flirted with guys or had lusty thoughts about men. After all, it is hard to be rejected or worse, gay-bashed if one is a pretty girl and not a shy weak gay male. Plus, towards the end he didn’t feel the desire to be excessively effeminate when he tried on an androgynous look and didn’t mind being a man for Dylan. <br />
<br />
<b>+ the plot</b><br />
<br />
It wasn’t till the middle of the book that the romance finally started and the emo part was put on a break, if only for a few seconds. One thing that jarred me was the weak sense of time. Where did Robert have the time to play video games, go to college, take yoga with his sister, work in a video store, date Dylan, and most importantly, mope? The answer is he didn’t because some of his roles were window dressing. The one part the plot did get right was Robert working in the video store, <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/103339-rear-entrance-video">Rear Entrance Video</a>, which is the name of the series. I get the feeling that if it wasn’t the name of the series, Robert being a video store worker would have been on the wayside along with the other roles. <br />
<br />
My least favorite part of the book was the sexual assault. It felt too much like obligatory external conflict and a very cheap way to push the main character into self-reflection and growth. Yay, another book where rape is used as a plot device. /sarcasm. Well, the bright side was that the bad guy got his comeuppance.<br />
<br />
Finally, I didn’t care for the smut. If there was anything that could have redeemed the story for me, a smut freak, it would be the smut. While the sexy times were hot, they were on the low side of hot, even with the sexy dirty talk. <br />
<br />
<b>+ what I liked</b><br />
<br />
The only part I liked was Dylan. He had issues but he was likeable and very enjoyable to read about. Not to mention his character development wasn’t whitewashed on an oversight. I would like to say Dylan could do better than Robert but that’s only because I don’t like Robert. I hate to admit it but Robert and Dylan do make a good match. <br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>Wallflower</i> 1-star for I didn’t like it. The first half was unbearable to read. The second half was barely tolerable. I would have enjoyed the book if Robert wasn’t emo. Had he been like Dylan was, confident and couldn’t care less about what other people think (or pretend not to care), I would have enjoyed the book. A kickass crossdresser, now there’s a main character I can get behind with.
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17971428-wallflower">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://amzn.to/1mKrH8E">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-75413682055191728192014-01-24T11:02:00.001-06:002014-01-24T11:02:02.751-06:00REVIEW: Lockstep by Karl Schroeder<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17910135-lockstep" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Lockstep" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1374762041m/17910135.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17910135-lockstep">Lockstep</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19169.Karl_Schroeder">Karl Schroeder</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/677170740">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
This was one of my most anticipated books for 2014. I enjoyed the read but I was not wowed as I had hoped to be.<br />
<br />
<b>What I Like</b><br />
<br />
<b>+ the world building</b><br />
<br />
The world building confused me, which I should have expected because the book was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_science_fiction" rel="nofollow">hard science fiction</a>. It wasn’t till the middle of the book that I finally understood what lockstep was, and I felt giddy when I did. It took some time but it was worth it. I was amazed by how sophisticated and creative the world building was. <br />
<br />
It was very interesting reading a world where human civilization had expanded into the endless outer space yet they didn’t have superluminal travel. I must confess; I was resistant to the idea because I really do believe one day — in the far-off future — humanity will have superluminal travel, and I didn’t like reading something that would challenge that belief. Now that I have read this book, I’m not greatly resistant to idea of a world where superluminal might never be possible. I could perfectly imagine how people can live on the same timeline despite the immense distance between worlds, the different planetary cycles, and other forces of time.<br />
<br />
One of the things that surprised me was the underlying environmental theme. There is a saying that “money runs the world.” In this distant future, resources run the world — all of the worlds. No matter how far human civilization may have expanded into outer space, the message in the book says we will always be restricted by natural resources and we will fight amongst ourselves over them. <br />
<br />
Another thing that surprised me was how there were robots yet humans still had to do menial labor, and some of them, specifically the very poor, even worked for the robots. The idea of lazy robots outsourcing their jobs made me chuckle. It reminded me of the robots in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama" rel="nofollow">Futurama</a> but without <a href="http://theinfosphere.org/Robots" rel="nofollow">the sassy personalities</a>.<br />
<br />
The only thing about the world building that left me thinking was the fate of trillionaires left on Earth. What happened to them after the McGonigals took over? The book never really did say.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the main character</b><br />
<br />
I liked Toby. For someone who woke up fourteen THOUSANDS years into the future, discovered he was the heir of an empire and a Jesus-like figure of the empire’s religion, and slapped with the fact that his once-loving family wasn’t too keen on reuniting with him to put it nicely, the guy had a level head on his shoulder. He did panic of course, but he didn’t go into a mood and give up on life. He fought as befitting of his role.<br />
<br />
I was very grateful to follow a main character who commanded common sense and caution. I liked the fact that even though he began to have feelings for Corva, he didn’t automatically think what was best for her would be best for him and follow her like a puppy, doing whatever she wanted. In other words, he didn’t think with his dick. The fact that he was careful in whom to place his trust gave me a book erection.<br />
<br />
<b>What Could Have Been Better</b><br />
<br />
<b>+ the main character’s father</b><br />
<br />
For someone who played a pivotal role, he was rarely talked about. I recall only three times, and two of those times were very brief. Say what? I would have thought with certainty that the reader would get to learn what happened to him after the rift with his family. All the reader learned was that he remarried and nothing after that. Whether he had other children or if his second wife was still alive, we never know. I still didn’t really understand how everyone else in his first family was still alive, yet he wasn’t, or why his family was famous with a religion built around them, yet he faded into obscurity. Carter McGonigal was a major character, but the book inappropriately treated him like a minor character. It fell into the trap where just because a character is dead a long time ago, it doesn’t mean he’s not important to the story and his influence on the other characters should be any less than a stranger. <br />
<br />
<b>+ the ending</b><br />
<br />
It was kind of flat, emotion wise. I liked the happy ending and the reconciliation, but considering what had happened, how human civilization was at stake, and the bad feelings and trade of threats among the characters, the ending felt too neat to be real. I found it hard to believe the revolution happened without bloodshed. <br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>Lockstep</i> 3-stars for I like it. The book description led me to believe the story would be on epic scale, but the only thing truly epic about book was the setting. When I take away the fancy setting, the book is about a broken family. A missing son; a traumatized little brother who grows up to be a tyrant; a typical middle child of a sister whose life became all about her brothers; a grieving mother and an absent workaholic father. The plot was about Toby finding his way, trying to make things right, and saving his family, even if some of them wanted him dead. It’s almost like a literary fiction.<br />
<br />
The book was a good read, and I do recommend it but with the caveat that the reader check their high expectations.
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17910135-lockstep">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0765337266/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0765337266&linkCode=as2&tag=fafufa-20">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-87725690852443312592014-01-13T15:01:00.002-06:002014-01-24T11:11:18.100-06:00REVIEW: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18807353-crazy-rich-asians" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Crazy Rich Asians" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1384533255m/18807353.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18807353-crazy-rich-asians">Crazy Rich Asians</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/634694.Kevin_Kwan">Kevin Kwan</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/818112966">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
CAUTION: spoilers<br />
<br />
With a title like that how could I not pick up the book? The last adult contemporary book about Asian characters I read was the <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7763.The_Joy_Luck_Club">Joy Luck Club</a> by Amy Tan, and that was less than 10 years ago. I actually saw the movie before I read the book. Even though adult contemporary is not my cup of tea, I liked Joy. I had hoped to repeat that experience, and I got it with Crazy. <br />
<br />
Like Joy, Crazy had multiple viewpoints, multiple plot lines, and plenty of drama. Different from Joy and predictably, most of the characters in Crazy were shallow and unsympathetic. As many reviews of Crazy pointed out, and this review will also, the book constantly name dropped, brand dropped, and beat the reader over the head with how “crazy rich” and highly connected these characters were. There was a lot of info-dumping. <em>A lot</em>. Let’s not forget the footnotes in almost every chapter (was there even a chapter without footnotes?). I managed to finish the book in a day by skimming the parts that didn’t interest me. Without a doubt, the book was overwritten. Usually, I hate that shit, but in this book it was kind of charming. The book was a fountain of knowledge in Singaporean culture, which made the book highly re-readable. What really entertained me was the family drama because it was like watching one of those trashy reality TV shows. <br />
<br />
I didn’t bother keeping track of the characters and their relationships to each other. Thankfully, the book regularly stated how each character were related to one another so I was rarely lost and when lost, only momentarily. All I cared about were couple Rachel and Nick, and Nick’s cousin, Astrid. <br />
<br />
<strong>+ Rachel and Nick</strong><br />
<br />
I loved Rachel. She was the character I most related to. Nick, I was not a big fan of. Right from the get-go, I wanted Rachel to break up with Nick, no matter how nice the guy was, because I saw the trainwreck Nick’s family had in store for her a million miles away and was mad that Nick didn’t. I could not believe after two years of dating, him visiting her family many times, but him never once talking about his family, Nick suddenly “introduced” her to his family as one would “introduce” a deer to a pack of wolves. Yes, let’s take an Americanized Asian-American middle-class girl to visit your super traditional, demanding, old money, multi-generational, bloodline-obsessed family who is quick to look down on outsiders and rich people who aren’t “crazy rich” enough. That will go well. <br />
<br />
What frustrated me the most and put a stick up my ass was how offensively naive Nick was in regard to his family and Rachel. When Astrid warned him about the culture shock and he didn’t heed her, I wanted take the stick out of my ass and whip him with it. There was absolutely no excuse for that kind of naivety. I couldn’t believe he actually said he thought she would fit in with his family and friends and win them over with her winning personality (she did have a winning personality but not the point). My gawd. I wanted to upgrade my whipping stick to a fold up chair. <br />
<br />
<strong>+ Astrid and Michael</strong><br />
<br />
Even though Astrid and Michael had been married for five years, they continued to face the same problems as Rachel and Nick. Like Rachel, Michael was middle-class. But unlike Rachel, I didn’t pity him. Not an ounce. I had no pity for a coward who couldn’t simply communicate his problems to his loving wife who would have done anything to make things better. I wanted to kick him in the shin for how much he hurt Astrid. Rachel had bigger balls than Michael, telling her lover straight off how large and suffocating the differences of their worlds were.<br />
<br />
Even though Eleanor, Nick’s mother, and her co-conspirators were the villains because they wanted to wreck his relationship with Rachel, it was really “nice” Nick and coward Michael that made me see red. It wasn’t their background that made these guys jerks. It was how they acted upon it that did. Nick denied the reality of his background, and Michael had an inferiority complex with his.<br />
<br />
<br />
SPOILERS<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>+ the ending</strong><br />
<br />
The ending was abrupt. Many things were left unresolved. Rachel dumped Nick but he made a grand gesture by quickly reconciling her with her mother. I would like to blame Nick’s family for causing the rift between two women but Rachel’s mother had a long time to tell Rachel the truth about her “dead” father. Rachel deserved the truth no matter how painful it was for her mother to share it. <br />
<br />
Nick chose to fight for a chance with Rachel over money and his super snobby family. The way the book left things between Rachel and Nick was optimistic. I like to think Nick and Rachel got back together. <br />
<br />
Astrid. I’m not sure. I want her to be happy, but she think happiness lies in getting Nick back. I think she should move on. Specifically, I think she should move on and back to Charlie, her first fiancé. Charlie was the only one to recognize she was having personal problems and stood by her. Michael was so low of a coward he concocted a scheme to make Astrid think he was having an affair so she would dump him because he didn’t even have the decency to break up with her himself. I didn’t know there was a worse way to break up someone than over an impersonal short text message, but there you go. To add insult to injury, one of the problems he had with Astrid was how no matter how much money he could make, he would never make ever enough to cover the cost of more than one dress whenever she, as a fashionista and the It girl, goes shopping with her money. What the fuck? He couldn’t stand the thought that his wife had more money than him? If there was any chance I could sympathize with Michael, there it went. The last fuck I give. <br />
<br />
Like Nick, the book left Astrid fighting for her love. Unlike Nick, I don’t really care if she succeeds or not because Michael isn’t worth it. Still, as someone invested in Astrid’s happiness, I like to think Michael finally sees how high his head is up in his ass and do a lot of self-flagellation.<br />
<br />
<strong>Conclusion</strong><br />
<br />
I rate <em>Crazy Rich Asians</em> 3-stars for I liked it. The book was more than about Rachel and Nick, and Astrid and Michael. I only chose to focus on these characters because they were the characters who most interest me. Despite the loose ends in the ending, I enjoyed the bubble gum book. I wouldn’t mind reading a sequel.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18807353-crazy-rich-asians">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AP2VQEM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00AP2VQEM&linkCode=as2&tag=fafufa-20">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-20846205995323530112014-01-08T23:24:00.001-06:002014-01-24T11:10:50.390-06:00REVIEW: The Six-Gun Tarot by R.S. Belcher<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15793094-the-six-gun-tarot" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Six-Gun Tarot" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1344318831m/15793094.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15793094-the-six-gun-tarot">The Six-Gun Tarot</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3312940.R_S_Belcher">R.S. Belcher</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/465198692">1 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
I picked this book up thinking it was an urban fantasy in the Wild West, and what I read wasn’t far off from that impression. It’s a small town fantasy; not a big difference. Where I went wrong was thinking it would be exciting. It wasn’t — <i>at all</i>. The book was goddamn awful. It was so awful it took me 2-3 months to finish, speaking as a reader who in a motivated mood can finish 2-3 novels in a single day.<br />
<br />
One chapter in and I already knew this book wasn’t going to be rated more than 2 stars. Two chapters in and I started to feel the urge to DNF. Three chapters, skim, I chanted to myself, skim in the way a woman giving birth chants to herself to push. To say the beginning was slow is an understatement; the beginning was DAMN FUCKING slow.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the plot</b><br />
<br />
The ENTIRE BOOK was DAMN FUCKING slow because the flashbacks would not desist. The plot kept flashbacking all the way up to the middle of the fucking climax! The climax, I say! Every time the plot felt the whim to explain, it did so in flashbacks. Like buy 1 flashback, get 2 flashbacks free! And these were NOT <i>short</i> flashbacks. I get the point was to show, not tell, but this was showing beyond ridiculous. (Funny enough, I later read <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17334309-project-cain">a book that was all tell and no show</a>.) I swear, one-half to two-third of the book was flashbacks.<br />
<br />
The multiple viewpoints exacerbated the problem. There were way too many of them as if it couldn’t be decided who were the main characters and who were the supporting characters; everyone needed their own fucking flashback. Let me tell you who the main characters were: runaway Jim, Deputy Mutt, housewife/assassin Maude, and Mayor Pratt. Everyone else needed to back off from the motherfucking stage, especially the angel dudes.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the characters</b><br />
<br />
Every. single. character came with a goddamn sob story and a gold-pan full of secrets. “Look at me! Look at me! I have layers. I am complex.” The book wasn’t as pretentious as it just tried too hard. It was done in the belief that only characters with baggage are interesting and worth analyzing for literary value, e.g. Maude with feminism and domestic violence (domestic violence doesn’t discriminate against kickass immortal woman) or Pratt with religion and homosexuality (Mormon and gay, enough said). Characters couldn’t just be characters; they existed only for points to be made or things to be analyzed. Message heard loud and clear and bluntly smashed to the head for good measure.<br />
<br />
Ironically, most of the characters were developed in a superficial manner and with self-defeated purpose. For example, Ch’eng, as a Chinese immigrant, lend the book more diversity and showed racism in a thought-provoking way that wasn’t your usual “white people back then were racists.” He was a Chinese mafia boss of the small town and he showed the reader racism on the Chinese side and how racism played a big role in survival on the American frontier, but in a respectful way that didn’t diminish the racism of the white characters and make it into a “but they did it too” whine. It was too damn bad that he got pigeonholed as the <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicalAsian" rel="nofollow">Magical Asian</a> to dispense esoteric wisdom to ignorant white people, or in this case, to a white kid (Jim) like in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Karate_Kid_%281984_film%29" rel="nofollow">The Karate Kid</a> (the 1984 version). Bzzzzzz, subversion fail. And Ch’eng was only a supporting character. The main characters were greatly more problematic (<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/512721547">this review</a> goes in-depth about it).<br />
<br />
Anyway, no surprise for me to say I did not connect with any of the characters and cared very little whether they lived or died. If anything, I wished more would die so there would be one less viewpoint I was forced to read, excuse me, skim through. The only character I had a handful of sympathy for was Jim because he was only an ordinary kid stuck in shitty situation forced upon by irresponsible adults. All right, and because Jim was the first character introduced and thus taking all the servings of my sympathy pie.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the world building</b><br />
<br />
Not a big complaint in comparison to what has already been complained about, but it’s worth the discussion. I didn’t mind that the world building was Christian-oriented in the way TV show <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernatural_%28U.S._TV_series%29" rel="nofollow">Supernatural</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepy_Hollow_%28TV_series%29" rel="nofollow">Sleepy Hollow</a> is Christian-oriented. I was, however, disappointed that non-Christian religions were made subordinate to the Christian belief, token in their references, and that all of it comes back to the almighty G. Well, at least the book challenged the idea of blind faith.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>The Six-Gun Tarot</i> 1-star for I didn’t like it. The book was ambitious, I can tell you that. It aimed for the moon; however, it missed and hit the fiery fatal sun instead. It was a total DISASTER and read like an unedited, overwritten self-published work.<br />
<br />
The ending sucked. It was dreary and it unnecessarily left some things up in the air. It’s like there was a rule in the book that the characters could not simply be happy that they were still alive or have a fresh start. It’s like... what was the point of stopping the apocalypse? How pointless.<br />
<br />
Please note that the book is shelved as steampunk on Goodreads, but there’s nothing that is steampunk or even steampunkish in this book.
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15793094-the-six-gun-tarot">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0765329328/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0765329328&linkCode=as2&tag=fafufa-20">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-36215876938009611102013-12-09T10:07:00.003-06:002013-12-09T11:29:51.082-06:00REVIEW: The Backup Boyfriend by River Jaymes<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19059695-the-backup-boyfriend" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="The Backup Boyfriend" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1385797196m/19059695.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19059695-the-backup-boyfriend">The Backup Boyfriend</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7136995.River_Jaymes">River Jaymes</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/784003908">2 of 5 stars</a><br />
<br />
This was a nice contemporary romance. I have no major criticisms. It just didn’t work for me.<br />
<br />
<b>What I Liked</b><br />
<br />
<b>+ the characters</b><br />
<br />
Alec got off on the wrong foot with me in the beginning. I found him whiny, and I feared he was going to be a doormat. I perfectly understood he was grieving over the breakup of his two-year relationship, but I wanted Alec to express it in anger and bitterness and be all revenge-y. Thankfully, he quickly improved. He showed some anger and backbone (in his own mild mannered way), and he had Dylan to carry the revenge part for him. I came to like Alec more than I thought. I didn’t think I would.<br />
<br />
I also liked Dylan. I liked his sense of justice and how he put his anger (as an angry person with issues) to good use, by helping Alec get back at his ex, Tyler. Dylan could have easily come off as emo because of his issues because, boy, he had a lot of them, the poor guy. I was amazed how well-adjusted he was.<br />
<br />
My favorite character was Noah, Alec and Dylan’s flamboyant friend. There’s a lot of bad romances out there that can be majorly improved if they have a supporting character like Noah. Sometimes characters make stupid choices, and they need some sense slapped into them. Noah slapped some sense into Alec and Dylan. He was the best friend a main character in a love story could ever ask for.<br />
<br />
I never cared for Tyler. I’m surprised and miffed that he’s going to be the main character in the next book of the series. However, I did appreciate that he didn’t turn out be to the Evil Ex the book introduced him to be, and that his new boyfriend Logan was nice and not the new bitchy jealous lover. One of the great things about the book was that it didn’t play into stereotypes.<br />
<br />
<b>+ the plot</b><br />
<br />
Another great thing about the book was the plot. The book didn’t drag out the revenge plot line. The confrontation between the exes happened early in the story and on time for reader’s satisfaction. Once it played out, the book moved onto other things and didn’t go back to rehash it like a worn sock. From the start the plot put Dylan on front stage next to Alec, and it never once switched him out for Tyler. The plot was always about Alec and Dylan with Tyler in the dark background, and this is very rare for a romance with this kind of premise. Usually, the ex would be on the front stage and fighting our destined lovers for the spotlight, making a lot of drama. That didn’t happen in this book.<br />
<br />
The plot had angst. How can there not be with the amount of issues Alec and Dylan had? But the angst was moderate and never became a sticking point for me. I really like how plot brought up heavy topics like HIV and sexual orientation confusion without making things preachy or depressing to read.<br />
<br />
I do confess that it greatly helped that there was smut to make up for any dispiritment the angst caused. I was amazed that the book actually pulled off having a healthy dose of smut without sacrificing an inch of the plot or bogging down the pacing. Hot damn. It’s an award-winning feat.<br />
<br />
<b>What I Didn’t Like</b><br />
<br />
Though the book had many good points (smut being the biggest, ha!), the book didn’t work for me. <b>First reason:</b> It felt emotionally subdued. My interest never wavered from the story, but I couldn’t seem to maintain an emotional connection with the story. For instance, when the characters were angry, their anger didn’t rise beyond the page.<br />
<br />
<b>Second reason:</b> As much I wanted to wanted Alec and Dylan to be together, I wanted more for them to get over their issues (or at least some of them) before they got together. Alec just got off from a long-term relationship, and the last thing he needed was to be with someone, like Dylan, who had a fear of commitment and hopped from one bed to the next and, oh yeah, was straight. Not to mention that when Alec gets into any sort of a relationship he invests all of his heart in it, which makes one night stands poisonous to him.<br />
<br />
I liked Dylan, bless his heart, but I didn’t want him to hurt Alec or be hurt himself. I didn’t like how they didn’t take Noah’s advice and keep their relationship platonic or dissolve it if they couldn’t. I hated how they kept their relationship undefined and uncertain up to the end because the men were afraid to face their fears and <i>fully</i> fight for their love. Their relationship was a fiery trainwreck waiting to happen.<br />
<br />
Fortunately, that didn’t happen but the fact they would choose to walk on that incredibly emotionally dangerous path, no. I couldn’t accept it. I can’t accept characters who ignore the warning sign of falling rocks and keep on walking when there is an alternative path, a safer path, that will still allow them to get to their destination.<br />
<br />
<b>Third reason:</b> There were two niggling inconsistencies. <u>Inconsistency #1:</u> Alec is a doctor for a clinic who treats the homeless, and Dylan is a mechanic at a busy autoshop and is the only mechanic at the autoshop. Both own their own businesses. Both lead busy careers, especially Dylan who told Alec right from the get-go how super busy he is. Yet, after the beginning of the story, they never once failed to make time for each other or needed to reschedule. How? It’s next to impossible, if not outright impossible! The conflict of their schedules and the discussions of making time for each other just suddenly stopped. When Alec had social events to go, Dylan quickly agreed to go to them without a thought of checking his schedule if he had prior appointments.<br />
<br />
<u>Inconsistency #2:</u> Noah didn’t miss a beat warning both Alec and Dylan who were friends of his about how dangerous it would be for them to be together. Not a single beat. As soon as he found out about the true nature of their relationship, he visited them the very next morning. Yet, he never once warned Alec and Tyler, also a friend of Noah’s, about how the two didn’t suit each other? That he had a feeling they would break up sooner or later? It didn’t sound like Noah at all.<br />
<br />
<b>Fourth reason:</b> I still don’t get how Tyler broke up with Alec. The book did explain why they broke up (and why they couldn’t work out as a couple), but it omitted from explaining what prompted the breakup. All the book said was that one day Tyler simply literally walked out on Alec, and that’s it. That didn’t satisfy me.<br />
<br />
<b>Fifth reason:</b> It annoyed me how it never dawned on Alec that the reason Dylan was a commitment-phobe was because he had abandonment issues, which could be seen from a mile away. Come on, Alec. Work on your cluelessness. It’s the biggest reason why your relationship with Tyler failed.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
I rate <i>The Backup Boyfriend</i> 2-stars for it was okay. It read differently from the usual mm-romance, but unfortunately it just didn’t work for me. I would recommend it for readers who like contemporary romance. But for readers like me who prefer paranormal romance, I say pass.
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19059695-the-backup-boyfriend">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://amzn.to/1iPQqM7">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-21213141635196612882013-12-03T15:23:00.000-06:002013-12-03T15:23:04.965-06:00REVIEW: El Presidio Rides North by Domashita Romero<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15834395-el-presidio-rides-north" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="El Presidio Rides North" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1345285533l/15834395.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15834395-el-presidio-rides-north">El Presidio Rides North</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6471957.Domashita_Romero">Domashita Romero</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/662363361">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
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A fun and playful mm-romance... in a zombie apocalypse and it’s not a parody. Say what? But there it is, and it was refreshing!<br />
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The story kicked off with our narrator under a zombie attack, about to die a lonely death, when out of nowhere a guy whacked the zombie and rescued him. Zombies 0, Shovel 1. Naturally, the two men teamed up afterward. Ain’t nobody else but them and the zombies. Not wanting things to get personal and be all sad shit if something bad happened, savior dude nicknamed our narrator “Gaga” and himself “Mercury.”<br />
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I completely understood Mercury’s reasons for his nickname policy. Nevertheless, because of his resistance to open up it took me a long while to warm up to him. Gaga, I liked him instantly. I also pitied him, and I must confess I pitied myself for how much I could relate to him. Moving on.<br />
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Though it’s a short story, a word count of 19,000, I learned surprisingly a lot about Gaga and Mercury. As the two men journeyed north, they had zombie scenes, fun scenes, and zombie fun scenes. The zombie stripper scene was one of my favorite. I loved how the men never acted dumb and forgot about their zombie apocalypse reality, but at the same time they continued to enjoy life regardless. For them, Hell was a state of mind, not their reality.<br />
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If you take away the zombie apocalypse, it’s a simple road trip story of two men getting to know each other, and later developing feelings for each other. Their interaction was riveting. At the end when they finally did the horizontal I went “yes!”<br />
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Unfortunately, the post-coital bliss wasn’t as blissful as it could have been. Another opportunity to deepen the intimacy arose but Mercury rebuffed it by continuing with his nickname policy.<br />
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<b>Conclusion</b><br />
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I rate <i>El Presidio Rides North</i> 3-stars for I liked it. Despite being one step short of a completely satisfying story, the mm-romance was a great story overall, and it’s free. Recommended if you’re looking for something light and refreshing to read to improve your mood.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15834395-el-presidio-rides-north">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/798554?view_adult=true">Read it for free</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-61512292321205627762013-12-02T12:31:00.000-06:002013-12-02T12:31:10.965-06:00NEWS: a new look for the book blog<b>Tolerably Smart news:</b><br />
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If you're reading this post from the RSS feed, check out Tolerably Smart for the new look. It's significantly different from the last 2-3 looks, which were simple background and color change. The new look is bland but it's smoother and easier on the eye. The web elements no longer disjoint, and the background no longer distract. I'm aiming for a <a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/05/13/principles-of-minimalist-web-design-with-examples/">minimalist web design</a>.<br />
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Due to spam, comments on Tolerably Smart have been restricted to registered user, which virtually changes nothing because I receive all of my comments on Goodreads anyway.<br />
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Please support Tolerably Smart by reporting any writing mistake, broken link, design issue, and the likes. To report, leave a comment on Tolerably Smart, Goodreads, or Booklikes. I also made a blog button, which you can find on my (slightly) updated <a href="http://tolerablysmart.blogspot.com/p/about.html">About page</a>. Thank you again to <a href="http://www.galavantinggirl.com/p/about.html">Cassi</a> of Galavanting Girl Books for the used bookstore photo to serve as the blog button's background.<br />
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<b>Social networking news</b>:<br />
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I opened an account on <a href="http://experimentbl626.booklikes.com/blog">Booklikes</a>. Had one for several weeks now. It's all right. Though I despise <a href="http://soapboxing.net/2013/10/by-the-numbers-an-analysis-of-the-reviews-deleted-in-the-goodreads-policy-change.html">Goodreads's censorship</a>, my main hangout will still be Goodreads and my reviews will still be posted on Goodreads and Tolerably Smart.<br />
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And here's why: Most of my friends are staying on Goodreads (think Facebook), and Goodreads's database remains the best in the world. I won't post my reviews on Booklikes, because posting it on Goodreads and this book blog is more than enough I can tolerate. Not to mention that the end of the day, regardless of how friendly Booklikes is (<i>now</i>), Booklikes is a social networking website in which the products are the users. Like all social networking websites, they will either <a href="http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2013/9/30/dead-social-networks-and-the-value-of-history">shut down because lack of use</a> or cash out because it ain't a charity. (Sometime they cash out <i>and</i> shut down like in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodgeball_%28service%29">the case of Dodgeball</a>. Yikes.) I will stay with the devil I know, which is Goodreads. /rant<br />
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Moving on. I, Experiment BL626, am still active on <a href="https://twitter.com/ExperimentBL626">Twitter</a>. Didn't think I would be. If you have been wondering why I cease posting news on Tolerably Smart or why I rarely post them on Goodreads, it's because I tweet them now. It's easier, and I'm lazy.<br />
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That's the end of the news. Happy holidays. May everyone have no life so they can have time to read.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSrr5uOC0OubW4RF90HLhz2x0ukr_V0ieznTHiUhnGVYbMymI_1rNw1aStk-qRmuGyW8sv1fe9kMvsFaYJJaBCQe49dK4kjxRS0dORRdCNXggCy5TvP85RQBlFBKVYodsLO3kCKJILH1E/s1600/life+interrupts+reading+time.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSrr5uOC0OubW4RF90HLhz2x0ukr_V0ieznTHiUhnGVYbMymI_1rNw1aStk-qRmuGyW8sv1fe9kMvsFaYJJaBCQe49dK4kjxRS0dORRdCNXggCy5TvP85RQBlFBKVYodsLO3kCKJILH1E/s1600/life+interrupts+reading+time.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/155092780891148248/">source</a></td></tr>
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Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-29368517024630278562013-11-30T23:13:00.000-06:002013-11-30T23:13:13.077-06:00REVIEW: Terminated by Rachel Caine<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15790603-terminated" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Terminated (Revivalist, #3)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1365044052m/15790603.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15790603-terminated">Terminated</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15292.Rachel_Caine">Rachel Caine</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/398115159">2 of 5 stars</a><br />
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CAUTION: spoilers, rant<br />
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The first book was kind of good and really promising. The second book — not so good, because it was too angsty for my taste. The third book (this book) was better. Less on the angst (and Bryn’s internal whining), more of a thriller with Bryn literally taking names and kicking ass. She still whined some but this time she got the message that it is not who, or rather what, you are that makes you a monster, it is what you do that does. About damn time. <br />
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<b>+ What I Didn’t Like: a lot</b><br />
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Unfortunately, book 3’s better wasn’t good enough. To see that this book is the final book of the series saddens me. The series had so much potential, but never fully realized it. In book 1 through 2, the story danced around the ethical issues. I accepted this because I thought the issues were going to be dished out in pieces throughout the series. This was back when I was ignorant of the fact that the series was only a trilogy. In book 3, the story completely sidestepped it by paint brushing the entire zombie technology as evil and something that should have never been invented. The book did so much wrong there.<br />
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1) Talk about anti-science. Seriously, talk about it. The characters never once thought, “hey, maybe this technology could be modified not to make people zombies but instead to enhance their natural healing abilities (within constraints, without them dead first, of course).” But oh no, the zombie technology is absolutely evil is what the book went for. The technology must be destroyed. Never mind the facts it’s the evil people who use the thing for evil and that there were equally destructive AND MORE destructive inventions in existence.<br />
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2) It’s lazy writing, considering that the story is a what-if. This story was about what if death could be cured with a drug. Evidently, that was just a flimsy setting for a mediocre thriller fiction. Largely flash and little substance.<br />
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<i>SPOILERS AHEAD.</i><br />
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3) And the ending. It sucked! Seriously, a kill switch? Seriously? There’s a blatant deus ex machina if I ever see one. The characters actually thought the kill switch would be the end of things. <i>The fuck it isn’t.</i> They never once thought people might figure out a way around the kill switch of a hack as people usually do because there’s no such thing as an unhackable hack. They never thought that other bad guys might accept the kill switch thing as an acceptable risk, kidnap a bunch of innocent people, and turn them into disposable mind-controlled zombie super soldiers to inflict the maximum damage before the enemy realizes they’re zombies and activate the kill switch... assuming they have the high technology on hand. Hell, they never even thought that invention could still be used as a biological weapon and be modified to make it more contagious, e.g. infect people by air or drinking water. Just because there is a cure for something does not make that something any less dangerous, smallpox for example. Come on! It’s weaponology 101.<br />
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Beside the ethical issues, book 3 also skimped out on the Evil Corporation, Massive Conspiracy, and Global Domination plot. The reader never got to learn the entire extent of it. For a story where the world was at stake, it was absurdly provincial. In other words, the story told the reader the world is at stake but what was happening felt more on the scale of a national level rather than a global one. I hardly doubt Americans were the only players in the game, but in the series that was all who the reader sees. If there was any mention of international stuff, it was in the abstract and distance. The farthest and most foreign place the characters ever went in the story was Alaska. Honestly.<br />
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Other things I hated was how some Bryn’s allies turned out not to be trustworthy to say the least. After all they have been through together, it made me mad how easily the team could break. Granted, they all pulled through in the end but I felt the side road drama was unnecessary and the time could have been much better spent on world building and plot depth building.<br />
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Another thing I didn’t like was how practically all the villains were 100% evil. They were either psychopaths or people just blindly following orders. The black and white-ness of things felt juvenile.<br />
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The deaths at the end felt overly dramatic and contrived because obviously the kill switch had to come with a high price. Oh please. Spare me the tragic tough choice. The kill switch could have easily come with no price at all with the way the book made up the science stuff.<br />
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The ending was abrupt. I was shortchanged of an epilogue. The series ended with a belief that the loose ends were wrapped up, and they were. But it was in a way that could easily be unwrapped with another book if the author decided to continue the series.<br />
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<b>+ What I Liked: a little</b><br />
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The only things I liked beside Bryn’s kicking ass was how the romance between Patrick and Bryn continued without angst and stupid issues. I was thankful that at the very least the series allowed the two to survive at the end together.<br />
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<b>Conclusion</b><br />
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I rate <i>Terminated</i> and the entire series 2-stars for it was okay. I don’t recommend this series. It promised a basketful of things it never delivered. I recommend the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/series/54966-white-trash-zombie">White Trash Zombie series</a>, a MUCH better zombie series.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15790603-terminated">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://amzn.to/1dIGOAB">Amazon</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7491252899598283828.post-10585234325295009672013-11-28T12:11:00.002-06:002013-11-28T12:11:48.260-06:00REVIEW: Whitetail Rock by Anne Tenino<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12215609-whitetail-rock" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Whitetail Rock (Whitetail Rock, #1)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1312068870m/12215609.jpg" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12215609-whitetail-rock">Whitetail Rock</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4831235.Anne_Tenino">Anne Tenino</a><br />
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/764195809">3 of 5 stars</a><br />
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Smutty and free. The book appealed to every one of my romance kinks, and the romance was interracial to boot (not something I commonly come across). This book would have been rated higher than 3 stars, but it wasn’t for two big reasons.<br />
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<b>First reason: the main character</b><br />
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Nik wasn’t likable as I wanted him to be. I get his issues. I get his anger. But I couldn’t excuse him taking his anger out on undeserving Jurgen. Jurgen had been nothing but nice to Nik. Meanwhile, Nik was rude and selfish to Jurgen. Nik acted as if he was only the person in the whole world who had issues. Bitch, please. Get some perspective. The guy has a loving family, caring friends, and a decent job. I wished one of the characters would have told Nik to get the stick out of his ass and thrown a glass of cold water in his face for good measure.<br />
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I didn’t like how Jurgen was the only one of the two to face his issues (Jurgen has a fear of commitment). I was a little baffled at what Jurgen saw in Nik to love because I couldn’t see it. Love is blind, I guess.<br />
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<b>Second reason: the ending</b><br />
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The ending was abrupt. The climax occurred at the last minute, and then it was over as quickly as it started. WTF? Where’s my falling action, and that’s not a proper dénouement.<br />
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<b>Other reasons</b><br />
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I didn’t take off any points for these reasons but I thought it was weird how Nik was home with his family for a visit yet the reader really never got to meet his family. I didn’t mind that most of the sex scenes were fade-to-black; I did mind that a non-fade to black sex scene took place at Nik’s office at the university during business hours. Ew, the couple should have some respect for other people and found an isolated place to fuck.<br />
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<b>What I Did Like</b><br />
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This quote:<br />
<blockquote>
“Sam. I've got news for you. Not every childhood trauma can be healed by finding the right penis." [said Nik]<br />
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Sam looked devastated. He opened and closed his mouth, eyes wide, then suddenly slumped back against the railing, unable to support himself anymore. "You mean," his voice was barely a whisper. "All those romance novels lied?”</blockquote>
LOL. Hey, a person can dream, can’t they? It was nice to see Nik could be humorous sometimes... in a blue moon. Anyway.<br />
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I also liked the college setting, particularly how Nik shared his frustration of being a TA to the reader. He sounded exactly like one of my college instructors.<br />
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<b>Conclusion</b><br />
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I rate <i>Whitetail Rock</i> 3-stars for I like it. It could have been better book. It needed a few more rounds of editing. But as it is, the story was good and definitely hooked me into book 2.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12215609-whitetail-rock">Goodreads</a> | <a href="http://annetenino.com/books-2/whitetail-series/">Read it for free</a>Experiment BL626http://www.blogger.com/profile/06393854872150879160noreply@blogger.com0