4
Followers
5
Following
Sassapphras
A lass with sass / Who's full of class / Yet has the brass / To pass gas / To kick your ass / To be crass
I am so glad to finally be done with this trilogy. After 4 days of reading, my heart can finally relax. I haven't read a book (or series) that put me through an emotional wringer like this one has in a long time. I think I might need something mindless to read now.
I don't know why I'm giving this 4 stars. I seriously dislike Kiera. Why do authors insist on giving female protagonists shitty personalities? And the writing isn't always very good. One of my pet peeves [in writing] is bad dialogue... and there's plenty of that to go around. But something about the story draws me in enough to keep trekkin', and although it often drags and feels like it's going nowhere, it's just interesting enough for four stars. I almost feel like a copout to myself... oh well.
All I really want to say right now is I don't particularly like innocents and people with self-esteem issues. I like my heroines bold, confident, and independent--but not brattily so. Other than not liking Kiera as much as I'd hope to like a first person narrator, there's a decent amount of anguish to suck you in.
I LOVED that the female protagonist was in a band, and not just crushing from the outside. Unfortunately, it felt like there wasn't enough of anything (except for moping and self-sacrifice).p.s. if anyone reads this and knows of other romances with female band member heroines, please let me know!
Giggling and tears are just not sexy. It's as unromantic as a 5 year old--so I could have done without those aspects in a romance novel. Also, though the miscommunication was kept to a minimum, it's always frustrating and seemingly, in my opinion, a copout. But I really did enjoy the story and the characters.
I love that the author doesn't shy away from sexual jokes and flirting. It was refreshing that the female protagonist wasn't an innocent (I can't seem to find any romance novels without them). But I have to admit that the O thing was annoying. I don't understand why authors insist on prolonging sex until the very end. Maybe to get in all the verbal foreplay. But her O going on hiatus didn't sit too well with me. It felt like a cheap excuse to prolong the sexual tension between characters. Otherwise, I LOVED the characters, and I LOVE this author's sense of humor.
I really liked that the big breakup had nothing to do with jealousy or cheating. I liked the characters and the story, but there was something missing. I just didn't FEEL the emotions. Every once in awhile I did, but this was supposed to be some epic emotional rollercoaster, and it just couldn't get me deep enough.
Although I've kept up with this series, I have a hard time saying I actually liked it. It's mostly the angsty teenage drama I can't handle. The decisions that they make are completely retarded. I never liked Sabine. I don't like Emma's situation. I love Tod, but I hate how things happened with Nash (throughout the entire series). And one of the biggest things that have always driven me nuts is how Kayley is always blamed for everything--well, that and that she seems to be the only one who's not pretty. Yes, I'm shallow enough for that to bother me. The demon situation got kind of old too. With all that crap, I had to put this book down about halfway through, and read two others in-between, before I could get myself to finish. Since the beginning of this series, my main feeling has been disgust--at every situation, action, feeling, and person.As far as the completion of this series, finding Kayley's mom's soul would have been nice. And it would also be nice if Kayley and Tod could make themselves physically look older. Seeing everyone grown up and moved on just gives the impression that Kayley has been left behind. In my opinion, she might as well be fully dead. At least then she could move on and start over instead of lingering on in a life where everyone but her (and Tod) change(s). To me, the ending was just depressing.
Is this even written by the same author? This is what the Kara Gillian series should have been from the start. Not the crap from the first four books.
I've started (and put down) this book many times, but never got very far into it. Something about the writing always threw me off--like eyeroll threw me off. But every time I try to look for a book in this genre, the Kara Gillian series is recommended. Not this book, specifically, but the later novels. And looking at later novel reviews--they're so much better than this book. Now, I don't know if that's because people gave up on the series after this book, and only fans continued on (I often wonder that with incrementally higher book series ratings), but it's made me want to read the series. Hence my start and stop with this one. So, I finally pushed through MotD, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it was worth it.
I'm giving this four stars because I think the idea was brilliant. The execution, though not bad, left a little to be desired. Most of the story felt rushed--events, conversations--and that was frustrating. More details could have gone into the story and conversations could have been slowed down a little to give it a more natural feel (it just felt off somehow. Somewhat jarring). People seemed somewhat two dimensional--the bad guys were all bad and the good guys were all good. But overall, a very interesting read. I'd like to see more from with author.
Finally this story is going somewhere! Unfortunately, I'm still not entirely hooked on Charlie. There's just something about her I don't like much.
Once again Faith Hunter delivers a good mystery, yet an unsatisfying romance. Once again platonic relationships prevail /sigh/. Oh well, the story was good and worth the read.
I liked the way this ended, but I tell you what, I hated Charlie for more than half the book. She's probably the most depressing heroine I've ever had the misfortune to read. I hated her to the point where I even hated her kid. Which isn't totally surprising (to me) because I generally don't like other people's kids (hell, I can barely tolerate my own most of the time). A little past the halfway point, however, she became a little more likable. But the things that really irritated me about Charlie are:1. Her denial. I try to acknowledge my shortcomings, even if I'm not willing to go out of my way to change them. To do otherwise is a weakness and something I find intolerable. If there's something about yourself you don't like, you meet it head on until it's fixed or you accept it.
2. Her prudishness. There is a whole world of 'lack of confidence' smothering Charlie (and anyone else who slogs through her personal issues for half the book). Get the stick out of your ass and let go!
3. Her sMOTHERING. As a mother, one thing I've always tried to do with my kids is not hold them completely back from reality. Parents nowadays throw such a thick blanket over their children's eyes to hide them from the ugliness of the world. How the hell do you expect your kid to protect themselves if they don't know what to look out for? And not only that, but Charlie holds back from her sister and her daughter so much to try to "protect" them, that she doesn't even know who they are. She's made them into an image she's comfortable with and can't seem to see past it to who they really are. What shitty, fictional relationships she has.
I'm sure I can go on and on in detail about little things here and there that really bothered me, but it's late and I'm tired. I'm just glad Charlie's attitude started shaping up, and I hope it continues to do so throughout the series. I haven't read about the next book, but if she goes back to the original Charlie I started reading, I'm putting the series aside. Reading from her earlier attitude kind of makes me feel like she should do us all a favor and commit suicide (but maybe do it right this time).
Julie James's books get worse and worse as I read them back to back. It feels almost like the same story over and over, with the same things that always drive me nuts. Continually holding back on sexual intimacy in novels is unrealistic to me. I'll be the first to admit that I, myself, am not very experienced, but I find it hard to believe that most people would be interrupted as much as all her characters are, and would stop the deed with the most idiotic reasons. Without the romance, none of her stories would hold (because they're romance novels), and the romance between characters feels more and more frustrating.I think in order to fully enjoy Julie James's books, you have to A) be in the mood, and B) read several other novels in between each one.