Wow. So far I have loved everything I've read from this author (see for instance here and here), so this one came as a surprise to me.
Good points:
Characterization: This was one problem I had with this book, so I will discuss this below.
World building: There were some interesting elements with regards to world building: I was interested in finding out more about the different supernatural races and their history. For example we are told that there are three main races of animal shifters (i.e. cat shifters, wolf shifters, and bear shifters). There are two other mysterious races which the animal shifters are trying to conclude an alliance with at the opening of the novel, namely the Golgoth and the Eldritch. The Golgoth appear to be shifters as well, who shift not into animals but into demon-like creatures.
...So there were some interesting details to the world building.
Plot: This was one problem I had with this book, so I will discuss this below.
Bad points/constructive criticism:
Characterization: This was, honestly, not very well done.
Once again this book retreads old sexist terrain by having the 'little woman' female character be a helpmeet for her man, who is the leader. There is never a whisper of a possibility, among the animal shifter main characters of this novel at least, that a WOMAN might be the leader. When the main male character and his two (male) leader allies among the animal shifters meet, she takes care of things by making sure everyone has been fed, etc. Because of course macho male leaders would never think to see to these things themselves, or offer help with this, or get involved in anything of the kind. I honestly thought it was pretty telling that while this female character was trying to prove she could pull her weight by joining other fellow shifters in recon-type and/or combat missions, the traditionally 'female' tasks tended to fall to her without question because the male leader (i.e. her new mate) never even considered the idea of offering help, even when he might conceivably have had time to do this.
In other sexist aspects, we see that this female character, who is supposed to be an important figure in the pride through her mating with the leader (and don't get me started on that again, please), is revealed to be an ocelot, which is apparently a smaller type of wild cat. Because of course she couldn't be a physically imposing specimen once shifted, no siree. That wouldn't be FEMININE, now would it?
Anyways, putting the above aside, all I can say is that nothing very interesting happens with regards to the characters. The main female character follows a jerk around for YEARS, literally, though he never steps up to do anything with or for her except the occasional casual f*ck. Then she actually *agrees* when he sends her into a situation which may result in her death, because she has realized he sees her as expendable (don't worry about why and about whether or not she was right that he thought this way, it's honestly a long and not very interesting story). Then, she agrees to become another fellow's mate despite the fact that this is not exactly a consensual situation (i.e. she has come to try to convince him to come back for the good of their people, and he says he'll come back if she risks her life to shift and becomes his mate). This other fellow eventually feels bad about doing this to her, but doesn't tell her right away that he was not serious about it, so she risks her life several times and almost dies. And offers him sex, 'for the good of the pride'. Yikes times 100,000,000,000.
...So while she did finally tell her ex to take a hike (you should know that this was the one who had sent her to her apparent death), this was too little too late for me to see her as any kind of interesting character.
The main male character, as I already described, begins the book by treating the main female character like shit and being a complete douchecanoe, as I already described.
...Oh, I'm sorry. Was I supposed to root for this asshole?
Meanwhile, there is the lovely ex of the main female character who may have been okay with sending the main female character to her death (i.e. see above), and who may or may not have been a traitor (see below). But who knows whether this was actually the case? I sure don't, after reading this book.
No other character receives much in the way characterization: there is an Eldritch male who tries to warn them about a plot among his people. Unfortunately this idiot decides it's a good idea to try and kidnap the main (male) character rather than, you know... doing something as banal and reasonable as trying to TALK to the guy. Which results in both the main characters fighting back and the female main character killing the Eldritch fellow's brother. This Eldritch then blames the female character for his brother's death, even though she was only defending her leader/mate who was apparently being attacked. Because, like I said, it made more sense to attack them, rather than try to TALK to them (did I mention the explanation for why this was the case NEVER.MADE.SENSE?). So this Eldritch guy winds up being an unlikeable asshole who insults the main female character throughout the book, mostly because he himself was a dumbass.
That was pretty much the extent of the characterization in this book. Huzzah!
World building:
There were some interesting elements with regards to the world building as discussed above, however this entire world was still rather summarily drawn out/explained for the reader. For example, it was briefly mentioned that humans found out about the supernatural races in the 19th century and that there was a war between supernaturals and humans, and that's pretty much all we are told regarding world building. One thing I would have liked to have known, for instance, was whether human technology and supernatural tech were equivalent in the 21st century, where this book presumably takes place (i.e. modern technology is mentioned and used a few times). If human technology was more advanced, could this lead to another war with humans? It is mentioned in passing that shifter females don't need birth control because they have a 'fertility switch' they can turn on when they feel like it, unlike human females. What this means exactly is not further detailed and I was left with this in my brain:
I also wondered why the supernatural races don't seem to have hospitals, if they have access to modern technology: even with lower numbers than humans and with more efficient healing thanks to shifting, wouldn't medical care often be a necessity?
All in all, the way I would characterize the world building is 'half-assed'.
Plot: This was my BIGGEST problem with this book. The book opens with the two main characters trying to broker a peace settlement between the shifter races and the two other supernatural groups/races. There is a subplot involving traitors among the leadership of the Eldritch, as well as the king of the Golgoth trying to use the negociations as a way to off his brother and start a war in one fell swoop.
The problem here is that these somewhat complex subplots remain nebulous to the reader, because the viewpoint of the novel (i.e. through the shifters) remains external to these events. This also leads to a lot of TELLING with relatively little SHOWING. In other words, we are informed that the Golgoth king has begun attacking bear shifters elsewhere and that they eventually attack the cat shifter compound which is where our main characters for this novel are located. (Note that most of the fighting near to the cat shifter compound also took place 'offscreen', as it were, which was another reason why this all felt pretty sterile and I felt very detached and uninterested in what was taking place.) There is also an internal attack whereby bombs are set off in the cat shifter compound and many people die, but we never find out who planted the bombs. Was it traitors among the shifters? One of the other two races? Some combination thereof? We are never told this, so the whole thing feels rather pointless.
There is also the possibility that Shay, the leader's (i.e. main male character) second and the ex of the main female character, may be a traitor (i.e. he disappears and they don't find a body, plus they know he had some mysterious meetings with some among the Eldritch). Whether or not this was the case and whether he was indeed a traitor is never revealed or dealt with in this book.
...One of the biggest problems with this book was that there never was any real CONCLUSION to the events of this book: a bunch of essentially faceless characters attack another bunch of unimportant (to us, anyways) characters. Nothing is explained with regards to whether there were traitor(s) among the animal shifters, as well as what the details of the plots among the two other races (i.e. Eldritch and Golgoth) were. Presumably, such a conclusion would involve buying the next 10 books in this series, which I'm not going to bother with, thank you.
I DESPISE endings that feel like a manipulation -i.e. you MUST buy the other book(s) in the series in order to have any basic answers with regards to the novel.
I will also reproduce here what I consider to be an ending vs. a non ending in a continuing book series (i.e. which I originally posted in this review).
While it is all right and even desirable to have a continuing storyline if one intends to write sequel(s) to follow the current novel, having a novel in which the major plot points of the story are in no way resolved and which leaves the reader feeling as though they read only part of a book is simply annoying.
For example, consider the following two (silly!) plots. In the first, two hypothetical main characters (Tweedledee and Tweedledum) find their dog's murderer and hand him over to the authorities. Unfortunately, they also find clues which suggest he was part of a larger conspiracy of dog-hating catlovers. This larger conspiracy is left to be explored in further novels. The novel ends with T&T tearfully burying their beloved pet.
In the second, Tweedledee and Tweedledum are racing to find their beloved dog's killer. A clue suggests he might have a house in Scarborough, Ontario. They are rushing to find the man and enter his house when something goes boom. The novel ends.
Of these two plots, which would you say constitutes a complete novel?
My point here is that many novels take the second route and try to make readers keep reading by publishing one novel as two or more separate novels. This is highly annoying to me, as a reader. The talented writer will manage to keep me reading *without* such (cheap) artifice. This novel has an 'ending' (I use the term loosely here) which resembles the second scenario. Very frustrating.
AUTHORS AND PUBLISHERS NEED TO STOP DOING THIS. BECAUSE THIS DOESN'T MAKE ME WANT TO READ THE REST OF THE SERIES. ON THE CONTRARY, IT MAKES ME WANT TO DROP THE WHOLE THING LIKE A HOT POTATO AND CONSIGN IT TO THE FIFTH DIMENSION OF HELL.
Honestly, words fail me when it comes to expressing how very *frustrating* I find this particular trend.
...So all in all, don't bother with this one!...more
Honestly, the way I felt about this book was very similar to how I felt about this book: in both cases I felt as though I had read two books, or a booHonestly, the way I felt about this book was very similar to how I felt about this book: in both cases I felt as though I had read two books, or a book with multiple personality disorder. On the one hand, I liked the world building and was very interested in the arc which will continue in the next two books in the series (rated 4 stars). On the other hand, the romance part of the novel was... zero to one star. Abysmal. Craptastic.
The 2.5 star rating is therefore an average of these two ratings.
Good points: -As mentioned, the best part of the book was the world building. (IMHO) I found myself really interested in the ongoing war between the light and dark courts.
Bad points: -The main characters were incredibly annoying. The main female character, Sophie, insisted on proving she was a MODERN WOMAN who would not be cowed by a man. Because she was a MODERN WOMAN. GOT THAT? OR SHOULD I BE EVEN MORE UNSUBTLE ABOUT THIS BECAUSE THIS IS ACTUALLY WAY MORE SUBTLE THAN THIS CRAP BOOK EVER WAS.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a feminist myself. But you can be damn sure that, in a war zone, my civilian ass would be listening and even taking the orders of any soldier(s) I happened to be with. Why? Because I like to think I'm not a complete moron and I like being alive. Apparently this dumbass Sophie doesn't, however. So, she'd rather argue than bother considering that there is a time and a place to argue and the middle of a battle and/or warzone probably isn't it. (Mind you, it is true that the main male character, Nikolas, did discount how useful she could have been to their efforts and he was overbearing as I describe below. However, for at least some of their interactions in the book, I call bullshit.)
And ahhh... Nikolas. The overbearing asshole. Sophie herself describes him in much the same terms in the novel, yet somehow she inexplicably falls 'in love' with him. With regards to her falling in love with him, honestly, I call bullshit again... because I felt we never really got to see what these characters had in common at all, really, other than wanting to shag each other silly. By the end, he was still an overbearing ass and he still had not learned basic courtesy or consideration, yet he was a hulking alpha male(TM) and so of course he got the girl despite being a really, really, really boring jerk.
I repeatedly found myself skimming through the sex scenes between these two and would have to catch myself (not because I felt this romance subplot deserved it but because I try to read things through before writing reviews). I actually considered skipping the sex scenes altogether but refrained, because I'm a masochist that way.
Finally, another problem with this book, IMO, is the fact that rather than being the first of an actual trilogy it is the first of three related books. What I mean by this is that when I had heard this was a trilogy, I was expecting all three books to focus on the same characters. To find that this wasn't the case felt unsatisfying to me: while I can't say that I loved the main characters of this novel, to shift to a new set of main characters in the next novel means that I, the reader, will have to reinvest in new characters and a new point of view to the story. I can honestly say that I would have preferred to find out more about the underlying arc from a single set of characters (although perhaps not these two, for the reasons I have detailed above) as this would have felt more like a continuation and less like an almost complete shift to a new story 'venue'. To be honest, I find this a bit frustrating and annoying -why not write this trilogy as a true trilogy with the same main characters? This would also have given the author more time to explore the romance and (hopefully) establish what exactly these two characters had in common in a more credible way than was presented in the book, so it would certainly have had the potential of improving the romance aspect of the book as well.
NB: Reviewer's note... After some reflection, I am reinstating the reviews I had deleted and will hold off on deleting the rest. I will link to an expNB: Reviewer's note... After some reflection, I am reinstating the reviews I had deleted and will hold off on deleting the rest. I will link to an explanation at my blog page ASAP. ---------------- As a general comment, here is a link to a more general complaint of mine regarding romance novels (this novel was cited as an example of the problems I discuss in my complaint).
Good points: Most of the story was truly wonderful. I loved the characters. I loved the admiral (i.e. main male character) who was aware of his own faults and was kind. I loved the main female character and I love how they both wound up creating a community of misfits in their own home. (Also the details of the problems with the home were truly hilarious.)
This was how things stood for the first part of the book, anyways. Then the book seemed to suffer from multiple personality disorder, or something, because it felt to me as though it had morphed into a different book altogether (i.e. THE ROMANCE NOVEL FROM HELL).
Bad points/constructive criticism:
All in all, there were two things which completely ruined the book for me, which took place near the end.
My first serious quibble is with the plot and the characters' reactions to events.
I realize this is purely my opinion. I also realize that class was a *huge* factor in the England of the time, so I can sympathize when there was little the admiral could do to fix the situation in the end. That is where my sympathy for him ended, though.
SPOILERS AHEAD.... * * * * * * * For those who want to know, his wife's (i.e. main female character) first husband committed suicide after being accused and convicted of criminal negligence involving inferior provisions being provided to the (British) navy, a horrible episode which led to soldiers dying. However, he was actually innocent but couldn't defend himself because he was only a lowly clerk and the actual culprit, his superior, was brother to a viscount. The young man in question eventually committed suicide and, since the money was never recovered, his widow was assumed to have hidden the money. (They still assumed this despite the fact that she lived in abject poverty and was forced to watch as her little son died as a result of that penury, and the only way for her to get them to leave her alone was to use her maiden name and seek employment elsewhere.)
After all this, when it comes out, the admiral (i.e. main male character) eventually goes to confront the guilty...sort of. He first discovers that the records of the proceedings have disappeared and chews out the head of the Admiralty (which is a good thing, at least). He also goes to see the brother (i.e. a viscount) of the (now dead) superior of the young man who had been falsely accused, who admits the truth but then tells him that if he tries to do anything he will ruin him because he was (and still is) protecting his brother.
At this point (and while the admiral had already told the man that he hoped his brother would rot in hell), I do think that the main male character could and should have looked the man in the eye and encouraged him to visit the pauper's grave of the little boy whose death he had caused by his interference (i.e. to cover up his brother's guilt). I would think it would have been more satisfying also, then, to have the admiral at least tell the man that he was also a unworthy piece of excrement and that covering up for his brother in the way he did made him just as culpable. And that he sincerely hoped there was another more just world in the afterlife, where he would be roasting next to his departed brother.
The point is that the character just... walks away, basically, which was incredibly unsatisfying to me in what should have been a particularly dramatic moment in the book. In other words, yes, he can't do anything about it, but he could have at least told this lordling that he was a piece of shit before walking away.
The second point was that, when the admiral found out that his wife had essentially been too afraid to tell him the truth about her identity, he treats her like garbage and basically pats himself on the back for being magnanimous enough not to throw her out on her ear. Or something.
While he may have felt bad about it later the fact that, despite living with her for months and *knowing* that she was a good person, he didn't trust her or even give her a chance to explain was very wrong of him. The fact that he also turned out to be an (emotionally and even physically, as it turns out, as he did injure her with some kind of glass ornament which he threw against a wall right next to her at that point) abusive asshole, well... I didn't much care for him after that.
This plot point also brought forth for me the fact that this ALWAYS happens in crappy romance novels: the main female character hides something from the main male character (usually for a stupid reason, although the reason actually made sense in this particular book) and he finds out and goes ballistic. Will true lurv prevail? It's a 'plot' point that has been done to death and to have this happen in this book as well was a bit disappointing, particularly when the admiral/main male character acted like such an asshole jerk at this point in the story. (He was such a jerk, in fact, that while the main female character forgave him in the end, I didn't have in me to do so.)
Another book to consign to the dust heap! Huzzah! ...more
I like historical romance, in general. I can't say anything good about this at all, though. This was truly awful. It reminded me an earworm, actually: it was basically this godawful thing that I *wished* I could do away with but made myself finish because I'm a masochist like that and wtf why do I do this to myself???? So it never ended and I really WANTED it to end and go away but it just didn't. So I'm venting a little here.
Bad points:
Characters: The main character, Violette, throughout the entire book, always had things done TO her and never BY her. So since she took so little space as a character in this narrative, I am going to exemplify just how passive she was by not saying anything more about her here.
All the characters were insipid and uninteresting. However the one I absolutely HATED was the main male character, Blake.
This is what I would have liked to see happen to Blake.
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Why? Simply put, the guy was a complete and utter asshole and a waste of space.
...He knows that a vulnerable young woman is married to a much older man. He realizes that there is an attraction between them. He also realizes that she came from a difficult background and yet he pursues her regardless (i.e. he actually makes out with/kisses her).
Remember: he pursues her despite the fact that an affair between the two of them might cause her irreparable harm (while he didn't know she was an orphan who had lived on the street at this point, it was obvious she was from the lower classes and had 'married up', so it wouldn't have been difficult to conclude that proceeding with caution might be the ethical thing to do here). But apparently this is a-okay because this woman is the main female character and he just couldn't help himself.
Later, when the main female character is charged with a murder she didn't commit, he does help her, but basically he never lets her forget just how far above her he is. For example, there is a point in the book where she tries to ask him about himself and why he doesn't want to marry, and he cuttingly remarks that she is not allowed to ask him that question (I am paraphrasing here, but this was the gist of it).
It takes most of the book before he admits that he loves her, ostensibly because (for a good part of the book at least) he supposedly wasn't over this woman he had 'loved' (the quotes are mine) in the past. However it really felt that the main reason was that the main female character was just never good enough for him. This impression was reinforced by the fact that he and his family were supposedly friendly to this woman but would bemoan her taste in clothes, her manner of speaking, her everything really, and encourage her to 'better' herself by becoming more like them. It is only once she is sufficiently like them that he begins to see her as a potential wife, really.
World building: The world building (e.g. details about England of the time) were not too badly done, although briefly touched on. (Okay, I guess I managed to say something nice after all.)
Plot: OMG but the plot was dumb.
[image]
I agree with you, Jean-Luc. I really, really do.
It starts out with Violet/te (*gag*) being mistreated by most of the village where she moved to with her first husband. Her first (elderly) husband dies after six months of marriage (she is eventually accused of her husband's murder, as I describe below, in large part because the husband's daughter is a horrible witch -didn't you know that women who are not young and/or physically attractive are ALWAYS horrible witches?). It is discovered the first husband was bankrupt so he actually left Violet/te (*gag*) with nothing. She runs away to London where eventually Blake/asshole finds her and he gets her a job and gives her some money. Then it turns out there will be a trial so he marries her so that she can be tried in the House of Lords rather than as a commoner (what is peculiar here, as I saw another review here point out, is that she already wasn't a commoner as a result of her first marriage, but whatevs, I guess).
She and Blake marry and agree to have the marriage annulled once the trial is over but then of course they realize they are crazy about each other (what they actually had in common I never knew, but okay) and do the deed. She realizes that he will never love her so she leaves London despite the upcoming trial, and goes to live in Paris.
...Of course, once she arrives in Paris she realizes that she is pregnant, and (of course) she decides not to tell Blake (I'm not touching the ethics of that one with a ten foot pole, either). There is a useless other lord character who is courting her. She argues with Blake once he comes to Paris and finds out about the baby -by this point, you should also know that Blake is now engaged to another woman who was a longtime friend of his family (i.e. named Catherine) and who was the one who actually taught Violette how to 'better' herself.
...I'm also skipping over a lot of idiocy here: Blake's older brother got injured while protecting Violette from the lecherous advances of some lordling who knew just from hearing her talk that she 'wasn't a lady'. He becomes paraplegic and he and Catherine (who actually love each other) agonize over the impossibility of their union now that he can't knock her up for the good of the Earldom. Or something. So she gets engaged to the guy's brother, even though she doesn't love him and the brother (i.e. Blake) loves Violette.
...Meanwhile there is Ralph Horn who is another orphan she grew up with on the streets of London and who saved her, when she was a child, from a procurer/pimp (of course she never saved herself!). Of course Ralph wants Violette as well and he is a suspect in the first husband's murder.
Violette goes back to England to give their child to Blake's family because he can 'give her a better life'. She is of course arrested and thrown in jail, and only rescued when the real killer is caught.
...wtf did I just read?
Do you know, I really, really want back the time I spent on this crap?
Truly, one of the most godawful books I have EVER read. Don't bother!!...more
I found this one to be pretty disappointing, honestly.
Good points:
In general, I liked several of the ideas the author had for this story.
Characters:I found this one to be pretty disappointing, honestly.
Good points:
In general, I liked several of the ideas the author had for this story.
Characters: I liked the idea that the main character was supposed to be (more on my qualifying this sentence later) someone who thought of others first and who did her utmost to help her family. I liked the fact that some of this wasn't purely typical romance fare in that the main (female) character's mother had been a prostitute yet was not shown in a bad light. I liked the fact that the main male character was also trying to do right by his family, taking in his orphaned nieces and trying to find a mother for them.
World building: I liked the idea that the main female character's family was trying to survive and save her family in the face of some difficult circumstances in 19th century America (i.e. not the easiest time for women).
Plot: The plot moved along well enough (this was a romance novel after all so it's not like our main lady is being attacked at every turn by exploding fireballs).
Bad points:
Characters: The reason for my stating that the main (female) character was "supposed to be someone who thought of others first and who did her utmost to help her family" is that this was something we were mostly told and not shown. The main female character (i.e. Everly) was shown (once!) doing some sewing to get some extra $$ for her family. The only other example of this was that relating to the main plot point device of the novel, in that she tried to find a man to marry before her 21st birthday. So in general, we were told that she had spent years trying to help her family (i.e. because her father was a jerk who had made her mother his mistress while marrying someone else) but this was never something which was shown. We are also told that, because of her father most likely, she does not and has never trusted men. We are told in passing of another instance (i.e. in the past) whereby she had thought a young man had been courting her but really wanted to make her a 'non respectable' offer (i.e. read make her his mistress).
We are also told but not shown that her two younger sisters differ in their trust in men with one sister believing in love while the other does not (i.e. the only thing which is shown in this regard is their differing attitudes is that one sister wants her to go through with an arranged marriage or at least to consider it because, apparently, she believes in true love, while the second is not so sure).
We are told but not shown that the main male character (Ben) almost married a woman he didn't love but that they remain friends. We are told but not shown that the marriage was broken off because Ben's cousin caught the fiancée kissing another man. We are told but not shown that Ben and this woman remained friends. We are told but not shown that Ben and his cousin Jake grew up together and are very close.
We are told and not shown that Ben and Everly spend a lot of time together over the three weeks she is in town (i.e. she was originally from Chicago). We are told but not shown that she comes to care for Ben, his family, and the entire town: the text actually skips over most of the time she spends in town, so that most of what we get to see is her arriving and she and Ben deciding to marry. We are told but not shown much about Ben's two young nieces: they say a few words here and there but that's pretty much it.
Which brings me to the biggest flaw in this book: I never got an actual sense of any of the characters, or why I should care about them. Or about what was going on in this book, for that matter.
World building: The setting was not really elaborated on in the story. It is briefly mentioned that Ben raises cattle and horses and is pretty well off financially. It is mentioned in passing that Ben's town is a quiet small town which contrasts greatly with the hustle-bustle of Chicago. I didn't get much of a sense of Chicago as a city, either, from this book.
Plot: Despite the relative simplicity of the plot, some elements didn't entirely make sense to me. For instance, while I understand that Everly's father's wife and son knew about his mistress, I didn't understand how it was the everyone around Everly and her mother knew, given that she hadn't worked as a prostitute in years (probably decades) and led a pretty quiet life with her three daughters. I mean, Chicago, even in the 19th century, was a pretty darn big city. Also, prostitution and gambling took place in particular areas of the city which Everly's family would likely have avoided given that her mother had given up prostitution a long time ago (and she had been involved in prostitution to avoid starvation, mostly). And the fact that so many people in Chicago knew about them (and that they couldn't have moved somewhere else in Chicago to avoid these people who knew, since this was, again, a BIG CITY), is never explained in the book.
A rather silly plot element takes place when Everly's stepmother actually tries to ruin her stepdaughter's life by following her to Wyoming and somehow arriving there with her son (who thought he was going there to become the financial partner of Ben's family for some reason which was never explained much). Honestly, while I understand this woman was bitter about her husband's infidelity and so on, it seems to be a ridiculous amount of trouble to go to, especially when she was actively engaged in fighting the will which would have given a lot of her husband's money to his former mistress and her children.
...So all in all, I'd suggest not bothering with this one....more
Honestly, this one was really, really disappointing.
To be honest, the word that comes to mind, when I think of this book, is 'stinker'.
Why?
Good points:
Characters: The characters were somewhat likeable, at least initially. I liked the fact that the main male character was trying to save his people, who were in the middle of a covert war (i.e. against a mysterious group of people who seemed to be abducting shifters). I could respect the fact that he was keeping secrets (i.e. his inability to take a mate for magical reasons, which is explained in the book) in order to try to keep his people unified in their fight against their new enemy. I could also understand Olivia's (i.e. main female character) reasons for hiding away and being afraid of her power.
World building: Some interesting elements of world building were introduced in the story and, quite honestly, it was mostly those elements which kept me reading until the end (more on this later). For example, the story of witches misusing their powers and seeking greater power by killing shifters was very interesting. The hate between the two 'races' (i.e. witches and shifters) was an interesting story element. The importance of the bond between an alpha and his mate did provide a useful 'anchor' for the story, in that it explained to the reader WHY the search for a mate was so important to shifters (i.e. it was explained that the bond between the alpha and their mate created magic that helped strengthen the entire pack and their bond to each other).
Plot: The plot moved along pretty quickly, but this was also a bit problematic (more below).
...I'm also really not an expert and I haven't conducted a review of this scientific literature by any means, but here is an interesting discussion (not written by me) of wolf behavior, discussing the notion that the concept of the male 'alpha' wolf as lord of all he surveys may not be accurate. (See also here, for a reference to (and summary of) a scientific article on leadership behavior in wolves.)
(I actually took a course in animal behavior a while back and it was really really interesting, including the discussion we had in class about how human prejudices have often shaped our interpretation of animal behavior over the years.)
In light of the idea that the popular conception of wolf (i.e. Canis lupus) behavior in the wild may well be tainted by our own misogynistic worldview, perhaps we could all do women a solid and stop with the bullshit in werewolf/shifter books? Because seriously, if I read another were-whatever novel where the woman/female shifter has to be saved by the male, exists merely to engage in a 'fated to be mated' scenario with the male protagonist in which she has little to no say, and does fuck all otherwise, I swear I'm gonna have to buy myself a punching bag. Or a vomit-bag. Or maybe take time off to schedule an epileptic fit?
And that doesn't even touch the notion of consent in these books. So many rapey tropes, so little time.
(...I think at some point I should write a treatise on the notion of fated mates and how in and of itself this trope can be problematic: what does this mean in the context of today? Is this yet another literary (note that I use the term loosely here) context where consent becomes fuzzy?)
What's even more mind boggling to me is that so many of these crap books are written by WOMEN.
WTF ladies? /rant
Anyways, this was yet another book where the 'fated mates' angle was evident.
To conclude on our characters, one problem with this book was a relative lack of character exploration. In other words, the two main characters' motivations were explored only as far was was needed to get them bumping uglies, and then that was pretty much it. The ONLY characters who received any attention and development were the two main characters: Jaxson's (i.e. male main character) two brothers apparently are 'wounded souls' but why is never explained. Olivia's aunt makes an appearance, but her character is never developed much -all we seem to learn about her is that she is a witch who is part of a local coven and that she somehow left her niece to be raised by the foster care system. Yet we are supposed to believe she cares about said niece, which makes no sense as this is not *explained*, other than to state that Olivia/her niece wanted it that way (i.e. wanted to be left alone), which makes no sense since said niece was a child at the time. Other secondary characters also appear (e.g. some potential female mates for Jaxson) yet their personalities and quirks are never detailed either, except to say that one was a lawyer with an MBA who was horribly boring/staid and the other an artsy type. There is also an evil witch who cursed an important character, who is basically just shown to be evil.
I kid you not, that was the extent of the characterization in this book.
World building: As I stated above, some interesting tidbits were put forth (e.g. witches and wolf shifters being long enemies because of witches' evil actions) but nothing is ever really detailed.
For example, it seems as though many people may know that shifters exist, but it's never made clear whether this is general knowledge in the human population. How witches came to exploit innate shifter magic and whether there are witches who are not evil is never really explained (the fact that the main character and her aunt help Jaxson evidently suggests there probably are, but how widespread these 'white' witches are as opposed to the evil ones is not explained). Apparently 'mating' formally in shifter circles involves the female wolf getting bitten by the male wolf, which has something to do with their innate magic, but this was not detailed a whole lot either.
Whether other supernatural races exist in this world/universe is not stated. Some information is provided suggesting that special units in (or at least under the purview of) the U.S. military may have been created using shifters... however how shifters interact with the human government was never made clear. Whether other shifter races exist was never really detailed (i.e. was it only wolves)?
...I could go on here, but I think you get the picture.
Plot: Basically, this consisted entirely of the two main characters lusting after each other and sexing each other, aside from a few moments where the reader is shown that SOMEONE is kidnapping shifters.
...WHY shifters are being kidnapped and who is kidnapping them is never explained, if you can believe that (presumably finding out would involve reading the next 10 books in this crap series).
The rest of the series consists of essentially cardboard cutout characters (i.e. see above about characterization in this book) getting kidnapped by equally cardboard cutout bad guys (see above about the lack of explanation of why anyone would do this).
All in all, I'd suggest not bothering with this one....more
Coucher de soleil
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Books:
worst-of-2018
(12)
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