This book just wasn't for me, which is a shame. I felt frustrated by it basically from the start but kept powering through, hoping it would get betterThis book just wasn't for me, which is a shame. I felt frustrated by it basically from the start but kept powering through, hoping it would get better. The entire story hinges on the most silly miscommunications and it makes both the main characters very frustrating to read about. They both kept making things worse.
I also didn't like any of the side characters very much. Which means I'm definitely giving up on this series. The two characters the other book are about already annoyed me in this one.
Just not the book for me. It didn't have the fun atmosphere I was hoping it would have....more
This series should probably have ended 3 books ago. This ending was not very good, not very satisfying and also very drawn out. It felt like this seriThis series should probably have ended 3 books ago. This ending was not very good, not very satisfying and also very drawn out. It felt like this series was stretched out so much to earn as much money of it as possible, and that made it less enjoyable.
I still really enjoy this universe and its characters, but a lot of them felt like shells of their former selves. Rose wasn't nearly as honest as she used to be, and some of her choices in this book seemed downright mean. I also didn't know what to make of Dimitri, and a lot of the side characters felt weird too.
The other thing that bothered me about this book was the plot. It was all over the place, with way too much going on at once. It felt incoherent and like it was only made to tie up the biggest amount of loose ends in the shortest amount of time, without caring too much if it made sense or not. A few of the plot twists were done well, but there were just as many that just felt completely fake to me. (view spoiler)[ The one I liked was who ended up being Lissa's sister, that had been set up well. But who the murderer was seemed very strange and out of the left field. Especially her reasons for setting Rose up. Really? We're making this drama all about romance and about how irresistible Dimitri is? Okay. (hide spoiler)]
I don't know the details, obviously, but to me it seems like this series got a bit too popular for its own good. As much as I enjoyed this world, I'm not entirely sure if I'll be reading the sequel series or not. At the very least, I'll take a long break before attempting it....more
I know one thing for sure now and that is that I'm not giving this series another chance. I've waited 3 books for it to get less superficial and more I know one thing for sure now and that is that I'm not giving this series another chance. I've waited 3 books for it to get less superficial and more engaging but it just isn't happening.
The action completely falls flat. What was that fight at the end? It seemed to take five second with no risks at all. There's no compelling story, no interesting worldbuidling and the most likable characters are the least important ones. I can't stand Vhalla and I especially can't stand Aldrik. He is the WORST love interest I've seen in YA in a while, and that's saying something. (view spoiler)[The way he drinks through this whole book and then at the end over a simple misunderstanding calls Vhalla a whore and a slut is something I can't believe the author had a character do that was supposed to be sympathetic. It's disgusting. (hide spoiler)]
I can handle bad characters if the plot is interesting but it's not. 99% of this book focuses on the terrible romance. I remember wishing they'd just get together already in book 1 and 2 but now I almost wish they weren't. It seems like the author kept manufacturing conflict for them so they'd stay interesting, but it felt incredibly repetitive and flat.
I think this series shows that quantity over quality is not a good motto when it comes to books, the story could probably have been condensed in less books with more plot in each. ...more
I had quite a few issues with Air Awakens, the first book in this series, but still decied to give the sequel a go. The world in which this series is I had quite a few issues with Air Awakens, the first book in this series, but still decied to give the sequel a go. The world in which this series is set is interesting enough to keep my attention, and I'm a sucker for pretty covers.
I did not love this book, but I liked it better than the first.
The good: - More action and less sitting around feeling conflicted about magic. - Character development for Vhalla. She seemed to stand up for herself some more and come into her own. - More character interactions with people that are not her love interest. - More insight into the world and how it works, giving the reader a better idea of the way things work outside of the palace.
The bad: - The romance - Aldrik - Aldrik - Aldrik - Aldrik
I just do not like him and the way he treats Vhalla. The romance in this book was slowly killing me as I got through it. For about 60% of the book they dance around each other while new obstacles appear to stop them from getting together. (view spoiler)[ But it hardly gets any more interesting once they do. Their conversations are stilted and awkward and I cannot get over the fact that Aldrik thinks mocking her for repeating his words by calling her "my parrot" is romantic in any way. (hide spoiler)]
The amount of focus the romance got in this book was baffling to me, because it just felt like the same kind of focus it got in the first one. Will they or won't they? Obviously they will at some point, just get on with it. I felt like it was drawn out just so there could be some romantic drama in the book, but no one really thinks Vhalla will leave the prince (view spoiler)[for Daniel of all people (hide spoiler)], so the tension is lost and it just gets tedious.
It ends on quite a cliffhanger (view spoiler)[in which it seems to say Aldrik may die. (hide spoiler)] but I sort of doubt it's going to be as bad as it looks in the next book. (view spoiler)[ I can't imagine that the author would kill him off after building him up so much, even though I wouldn't mind if she did. (hide spoiler)]
Again, I am intrigued by the series and if I try to ignore Aldrik and the romance between him and Vhalla, it's quite an interesting story. I will probably try the third one too, hoping there's an upward slope in how much I like each book.
Edit 27-7-2018:It's been nearly a year since I read this book, and since then I have had almost no desire to pick up the next one. When I wrote this rEdit 27-7-2018:It's been nearly a year since I read this book, and since then I have had almost no desire to pick up the next one. When I wrote this review, I was intending to continue the series. But now I have to admit to myself that I simply don't want to. I'm still somewhat curious how it will all end, but the idea of having to sit through more of Maas' romance writing (with all the focus on ~~maleness, lack of LGBT main characters and Aelin and Rowan constantly being horny for each other) just doesn't feel appealing. I'm also still angry about Manon and Dorian, much like I was when I read this book. There are things I like about this series, but there are a lot more things I don't like. The good things I can get in other books as well, so I'm officially dropping this series. I might read a summary one day to see how it ended, but there is just too much that bothers me to continue. ---
I'm starting to have a very complicated relationship with this series.
See, I'm giving it 3 stars even thought his review will largely focus on the negatives. Why? Because there are a lot of negatives for me with this book and the direction this series is headed in, but I still somehow can't give it up. I don't know if anyone else is having this problem, but I felt myself rolling my eyes a lot and even skipping bits (mostly romance) on purpose, but I still was unable to put the book down and give up on it. And even after finishing it, I do want to see where the story goes.
But I'm starting to think Maas is getting too caught writing the romance department of the story. The way she writes romance just does not appeal to me in general, and in fact make me either laugh or gag in the worst cases. I don't get why she has to include steamy sex in this book when the series started out as young adult. I get that you want your series to grow with your reader but just adding sex doesn't make the book more mature, in fact I could argue the opposite. It feels out of place, and there were too many times where the book felt like it was veering dangerously close to a bodice ripper. Which is a terrible shame in my opinion.
She also has a bad case of 'pair the spares', where she tries to pair up every other character in neat heterosexual boxes. Aside from Aelin/Rowan there is(view spoiler)[ Aedion and Lysandra (yawn), Lorcan and Elide (kind of interesting but I would have preferred a friendship by far), and Dorian and Manon (WHY!?) (hide spoiler)] I'm not really a fan of any of these pairings, mainly because they felt very much forced. (view spoiler)[ Especially Dorian and Manon. He seems completely different around her and I don't believe for even a second she would let him be so dominant. It felt kind of sexist to me, the way it was written, with all the references to his ""maleness"" and how she just couldn't help but submit to him. It was horrible, in my opinion. (hide spoiler)]
Another big issue I'm starting to have with these books is that it seems like Maas can only write a few different types of characters. And they're all very similar types too. There's either broody and sarcastic or flirty and sarcastic, and not much in between. I'm convinced that you can grab a scene of one of the pairings above, change the names to one of the other pairings and it wouldn't seem different at all. It's become more obvious now that she's getting all her characters together for the big conflict. Manon and Aelin feel very similar, as do Rowan and Lorcan and Aedion and Fenris, among others. They are also all incredibly powerful and special, something that grows tiring really fast.
A last complaint I have is just the writing. I don't know if it's becoming worse or if I'm becoming better at spotting it, but there were phrases that were starting to really get on my nerves after a while. The word 'wicked' for example, or 'feline' as a descriptor for either 'feline grins' or 'feline grace'. There were also a lot of bobbing throats in the latter half of the novel, which is an expression that just takes me out of any serious scene because it sounds so silly to me. I am grateful she seems to have retired 'eyes lined with silver' to mean tears, because that just kept making me picture everyone with silver eyeliner and left me very confused.
So why am I, after all these complaints, still keeping up with this series? Why not give up on it and just move on? Why still give it three stars?
I honestly can't tell you. The story has managed to captivate me, and at this point I just want to see how it goes. This book did have some very interesting developments in the main story and the ending was very brutal in a good way, so I will stick with this series, but I grow more and more skeptical with each book.
The next book doesn't seem to be a direct sequel to this though, which worries me. While I liked Chaol, I didn't actually miss him that much in this book. A whole book just about him and his adventures seems risky, especially since literally every other character we care about is in this book so (presumably) not in the next book. It seems late in the game for such a drastic shift, and the cynical part of me feels this is a very obvious cash grab in an attempt to stretch out the series for longer than strictly necessary. I will reserve judgement, however, as I seem to be stuck with this series for a while longer....more
I wasn't the biggest fan of Birthmarked but there were parts of the story I liked enough for me to keep reading the series. One of those things was GaI wasn't the biggest fan of Birthmarked but there were parts of the story I liked enough for me to keep reading the series. One of those things was Gaia as a main character. Unfortunately, in Prized Gaia seems to have become a completely different person. She spends most of the book doing nothing, which is very different from the active protagonist we got in the first book. I feel like most of her time was spent in a love square with three different boys, which was very annoying and unnecessary.
One of the guys is Leon, from the first book. I have do admit, I didn't really like him too much in that one, but at least he was consistent as a character. In Prized he seems to change his personality every few chapters, acting completely differently without much reason or explanation. He's also really mean to Gaia a few times and I'm having a hard time believing she would actually like someone so awful to her.
I had a bit of a problem with the Sylium as a whole. First, it didn't make sense to me how the minority had the power. If there are 10 times as many men as there are women, I just don't believe that the women have all the power.
I also sort of resent the way a female led society was shown in this book. It seems to me that when it's a male led dystopian society, everyone suffers and is opressed pretty much the same way. But when it's a female led society, it's almost cartoonish in it's oppression of the men only. They can't vote, are seen as only good for making babies, and can be put in jail for attempted rape if they as much as hug or kiss a girl in public (???), even if she says it was consensual . It's very hard to believe and I found myself rolling my eyes a lot whenever they talked about how bad the men had it here.
I also found it really weird (view spoiler)[ that Gaia gets elected leader at the end of the book. Really? You're asking the sixteen year old girl who's only been there for a few months to be your leader? I don't care what she accomplished in her time there, it's just not a thing people would do. (hide spoiler)]...more
After reading the fantastic first book of this series, the mediocre second book and now the disappointing third one, I'm firmly convinced this series After reading the fantastic first book of this series, the mediocre second book and now the disappointing third one, I'm firmly convinced this series should have been a stand alone and ended after Half a King
I can't say nothing happened in Half a War, but somehow despite the large amount of action, I was still bored. I couldn't get myself invested in any of the new characters and I found myself not caring much about any of the old ones either. It's a bad sign if a big character's death leaves you cold.
I also found a few of the things that were uncovered in this book strange, some things (like the plot twist about the elf ruins) just came a little too much out of the left field for me.
There was romance in this book but I didn't care for it at all. Rin and Koll were a weird match because I always thought she was a lot older than him. They had no chemistry and seemed to only be put together so Koll had some conflict to work through. The other romance between Raith and Skara felt even less natural. Both pairings had no build up, they felt really flat.
I'm sad this series ended on such a bad note for me, but I won't forget how much I enjoyed Half a King....more
If you take the first book and add some slight differences, annoying slang, a more unlikeable Tally, a complete assassination of Shay's character, andIf you take the first book and add some slight differences, annoying slang, a more unlikeable Tally, a complete assassination of Shay's character, and a forced love triangle, you basically have this book.
The plot of Pretties really is very similar to the plot of Uglies. Tally starts out living in the city, not questioning anything about her life until a new friend shows her there is more to it. She ends up escaping the city and living in the wilderness for a while and then meets up with the rebellion. (view spoiler)[ And the endings are very similar too, it looks like she's dragged back to the city again to be operated on again. (hide spoiler)]
All the hope I had for a decent female friendship between Tally and Shay is crushed. The love triangle that develops in this book is also really irritating and further ruined the book for me.
I have no interest in the third book, Tally only became more and more unlikable in this one and I have no hope for her, or the plot, to improve. ...more
This book was absolutely terrible. Everything that was even vaguely interesting about Matched was stripped away completely in this sequel. None oNope.
This book was absolutely terrible. Everything that was even vaguely interesting about Matched was stripped away completely in this sequel. None of the characters were likable, none of the questions left by the first book were answered, the romance was boring, nothing really seemed to happen, and the attempts at poetic prose kept making me roll my eyes as I was listening to the audiobook.
For the first half of the book, Cassia is looking for Ky. They find eachother and then almost nothing of interest happens until the very end of the book,(view spoiler)[ where Cassia is sent back to the society. (view spoiler)[
It might have gotten 2 stars if it had introduced some interesting new characters, but while Eli was okay, Indie was incredibly hard to like. She lied and stole but we were still supposed to like her. It didn't work.
This entire book felt like an waste of my time, I only finished it through sheer willpower and hope that at least the end would be satisfying. It wasn't.
This book was alright but didn't really impress me. While the author did a great job of creating an atmosphere and making you feel like you were in thThis book was alright but didn't really impress me. While the author did a great job of creating an atmosphere and making you feel like you were in the past, the characters weren't very well written or developed. The story got confusing and dragged on at times and the romance between the main characters felt very forced. The only reason they seemed to have for falling in love was that they spent 2 weeks together and they were a man and a woman.
I did really like the ending of the book but I feel like the story overall could have been done better....more
My opinion of this book plummeted down so fast near the end that it almost made me dizzy. It was alright through the first parts, I wasn't a fan of thMy opinion of this book plummeted down so fast near the end that it almost made me dizzy. It was alright through the first parts, I wasn't a fan of the romance but I never really am so I didn't mind it too much. I was still interested in the worldbuilding and the story, despite the slow build. One of my favorite bits was (view spoiler)[ Feyre and her sisters getting along better when she returned home. (hide spoiler)] So I thought I was going to enjoy the end, despite the bland romance and unnecessary sex scenes.
Then it started going downhill for me so quickly that I felt like I was in a rollercoaster going down. (view spoiler)[ I liked the first trial with the maze and the worm, but after that... (hide spoiler)]
Basically one big thing that made me change my opinion of this book was one character. He seems very popular but I could absolutely not stand Rhysand. (Warning: there's a rant here) (view spoiler)[ The way he treated Feyre was disgusting, the drugging and sexually charged public humiliation were extremely uncomfortable to read about. I don't care why he did it or what he did after, it's unforgivable in my eyes. Especially since he admits to wishing he could have done more (translation: rape her while she's drugged) but only didn't do it because of Tamlin. It makes my blood boil that a character like that can be written sympathetically afterward and be given a tragic backstory to make fans forgive him for anything awful he did before. The queen barely gets any depth and her reasons for doing what she did were extremely flimsy and also frankly sexist. (women only do anything because they want men!! obviously!!)
I also thought that making Feyre immortal at the end was kind of a cop out. (hide spoiler)]
I only started really disliking this book at the end so this entire review is basically a spoiler, but I'm really disappointed. I'm not judging you if you liked the character I hated because that's the way he's written, you're supposed to like him. (which is why I got so annoyed) And I'm only glad that so many other people did enjoy this book, I guess it just isn't for me.
I might read the sequel when it's out because I do like the world and most of the story but I most likely won't. ...more
I want to give some parts of this book 4 stars, but then there are other parts that I want to give barely 1 star. I feel so conflicted about this bookI want to give some parts of this book 4 stars, but then there are other parts that I want to give barely 1 star. I feel so conflicted about this book and the direction the series seems to be going in, I’m really not sure how to feel.
I’m going to discuss parts of this book separately in an attempt to sort out my feelings.
Aelin Okay, so I have no problem with Aelin herself. Or at least, I mostly don’t. I don’t mind that she’s good at everything and sassy and sort of exaggeratedly perfect a lot of the time, I can handle that. What I do mind, is that every time we switch POV to a different character, they have to spend at least 3 pages having an internal monologue about how perfect/beautiful/wicked/smart/ect she is. It gets so tiring after a few times, especially when it’s Rowan or Aedion, who both seem to do nothing but fawn over her and start off like two dogs fighting over her like she’s a bone, which is sort of creepy.
Another thing that bothered me about Aelin was the way she talked about her past as Celaena. She acts like whatever she did when she was Celaena is completely in the past, like she is a completely separate person from herself, and like she completely hates everything about her and the life she had as her. This is just weird to me, you can’t just look at your past actions and be like “Oh that was a different person, and she’s dead now,” and go on like that.
Chaol Chaol’s character seems to have changed a lot for no good reason. He was a lot less likeable to me at the start of this book and then largely absent for the rest of the story. He was a very interesting character to me in previous books, and now he seemed to be largely swept under the rug so there could be more screen time on perfect Rowan. I think a lot of this has to do with…
The Main Romance Because it feels obvious to me that Chaol’s change in character and his constant fights with Aelin over petty things were only there in an attempt to stop people from shipping them. This, in order to make way for Aelin/Rowan. I personally find Aelin/Rowan a mind numbingly boring and also slightly creepy ship. During the scenes where Aelin was teasing him with her flimsy nightgowns I had to roll my eyes so hard I probably broke something. Not only that, but the way the romance in this book was written almost felt like a bad fan fiction to me. I mean the kind of fan fiction where the author of the fic doesn’t agree with the canon ship and writes a “what if” story where their otp becomes canon and the canon pairing breaks up. The problem is, that all characters involved have to act very OOC for that to happen, which is how it felt here. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to write “what if” fan fiction, but I do think that if your published sequel to an earlier book feels more like a revision than a continuation, there’s definitely an issue.
Aedion I don’t understand why he got so much screen time compared to some other characters. He’s dull as a brick to me.
Rowan Largely the same as with Aedion, except that he had more extremely details thoughts about how perfect Aelin is. The scenes that were supposed to be sexy honestly just made my skin crawl, in a bad way.
The sad part is that I didn’t dislike Rowan in Heir of Fire, in fact, I really liked his relationship with Aelin back then. But the moment it turned romantic in this book, it was ruined for me. This is partly because of the way the romance was written, and party because I was really hoping for a strong platonic bond between the two. I really want more strong m/f friendships in Young Adult fiction without strange sexual tension or the feeling that they have to date before they become friends. I guess that can only happen in this series if the boy and girl are related to each other.
Also, there were way too many moments where people were just awe struck by how amazingly beautiful and/or strong he is. Honestly, I get it after the first time.
Manon Like in last book, I really liked the storyline of Manon and her witches. I personally like it when books have different stories going on at different locations, it makes for some nice variety.
I really loved Manon’s relationship with the new character Elide, and I was rooting for them to end up together. After a while, as they continued to have scenes together, I even had some hope of this happening. I don’t know if this was naïve of me, but I really wanted to see a canon LGBT relationship in this series that isn’t just in the background of one book. But then the weird Dorian/Manon hinting happened and I lost all hope for her and Elide to ever be together like that. I’d still like it, of course, but it seems extremely unlikely.
I don’t know if this is bias talking, but Manon and Dorian seems like the most random of pairings to me. It just looks like Maas realized these two heterosexual characters that never met and have nothing in common were both single and she put them together to pair everyone up. This is also a little how I felt about Chaol’s new love interest. Though I do like her as a character, their relationship came out of nowhere and it felt just like another way Maas wanted to suddenly discourage people from shipping Aelin with Chaol.
Action This book wasn't lacking in action and I really liked that. There were so many awesome scenes that it almost sort of cancels out my annoyance at other parts of the book.
But at the same time, I feel like between these action scenes, there are a lot of pages where nothing super interesting happens. I don’t need to read pages of them lounging at Aelin’s apartment or hanging out there on the roof or walking through the city buying food. I feel like this book could (and should) have been a lot shorter.
Lysandra The saving grace of this book for me, and my largest reason for giving this book 3 stars instead of 2 despite my many problems with this book. What this series has lacked since Nehemia’s death was a strong female friendship, and we finally got one again.
I remembered Lysandra from the Assasin’s Blade novellas. Back then, I was really annoyed at how she was portrayed as shallow and vain, and how Celaena treated her as if she had no feelings of her own. So when she returned in this book, and befriended Aelin, I was really happy. Her backstory made so much sense to me and I liked the way she interacted with Aelin,how quickly they became close and that she became a part of Aelin’s court. There were plenty of times where I was sort of bored with what was happening and I was just quietly hoping Lysandra would show up to make the scene more interesting. Honestly, she could have gotten a bigger role and I would have enjoyed it a lot.
-- Well, it turns out I had a lot more feelings about this book than I thought. I’m disappointed, since a lot of the story wasn’t the way I wanted it to be, but I’m also hopeful that some of the things I liked so much about the second and third book will come back in the future books of this series. Despite my problems with Queen of Shadows, I’m still really invested in this series and will probably read it until it’s done. ...more
This one was a let down after The Selection. The love triangle got dragged up again way more than I expected and there seemed to be a whole lot of useThis one was a let down after The Selection. The love triangle got dragged up again way more than I expected and there seemed to be a whole lot of useless romantic "drama" just to fill the pages. They kept repeating themselves and it got boring really fast. (view spoiler)[ I only started liking this book a little when America did her speech and the rebels came to see Maxon.
It was so weird to me that the thing with Marlee affected America's relationship with Maxon negatively and not her relationship with Aspen. They started seeing eachother in secret almost right away, didn't they at least worry a little that they'd get caught and have the same fate? Surely they could keep it in their pants a little longer?
The king suddenly being super evil caught me by surprise. I never thought he'd be a super sympathetic guy with the state the country is in but showing him in such a negative light so quickly just felt weird to me, like a little more build up was required.
I hope the third book has more actual interesting plot and less unnecessary love drama. (hide spoiler)]...more
Reading this book feels like being dropped in a strange city in a country where you don't speak the language and you don't have a map. The author starReading this book feels like being dropped in a strange city in a country where you don't speak the language and you don't have a map. The author starts telling you about the fictional world without really explaining anything, even at the end of the novel I felt like I hadn't completely understood everything I was supposed to.
Besides this, the plot dragged on. I hated the romance, Curran was a jerk and that seemed to be part of the supposed appeal. (I will never understand this) The twist came out of nowhere and didn't seem to make much sense to me. The "snarky" lines came off as fake and there was a lot of graphic violence against women that felt like it was added only for some shock value or to make it "dark and gritty".
I picked this book up on a whim at the library but I definitely won't do the same for any of the sequels....more
I'm not very impressed with Hunting Lila, I pretty much wanted to stop reading it as soon as I started but I wanted to give it a fair chance2.5 Stars.
I'm not very impressed with Hunting Lila, I pretty much wanted to stop reading it as soon as I started but I wanted to give it a fair chance. The second half of the book is better than the first, which is the only reason I finished it at all.
The first half of the book is nothing but romance, and annoyingly written romance at that. Lila can move things with her mind, but she spends more time obsessing over Alex than she does wondering about her weird powers. She could literally not stop thinking or talking about him for more than two pages, and it seemed like she didn't really care about anyone else in the world, not even her brother.
I personally find the age difference between Alex and Lila a little big at their age, especially since they seemingly basically grew up together. Lila claims to have been in love with him her whole life, often thinking back to things she did as a kid like planning their dream wedding when she was a little girl. This aspect of her feelings for him made it feel a little weird to me.
The story picks up in the second half but then it felt very rushed, the pacing just felt off. I think if the first half had had a little less swooning over Alex and a little more action, it would have felt more natural. The author doesn't really take the time to flesh out any of the characters aside from Lila, even Alex feels kind of flat. Lila's brother was very hard to understand or sympathise with, I don't like how Alex trusts Lila more and believes in her more than her own brother does.
The romance basically killed my enjoyment of this book for me, as well as any interest I had in the sequel. ...more
I was actually sort of surprised by how much I liked this book. When I started, I wasn't sure what to expect. The first half was really stro3,5 stars.
I was actually sort of surprised by how much I liked this book. When I started, I wasn't sure what to expect. The first half was really strong. I liked the world building, the characters and the plot all very much. It was in the second half of the book that it went a little downhill.
The romance is basically the reason why this book doesn't get a 4 star rating from me. It's very much instalove with little to no build up. I didn't believe these two characters were in love with each other, which made the pieces of the plot that depended on this hard to swallow.
I also felt like the ending was a little weak. (view spoiler)[ I get what the author was going for with the cliffhanger, but this didn't feel like the end of a book to me. It felt like it stopped in the middle of a scene. (hide spoiler)]...more
Rush had such an exciting and original premise, but it turned out to be just a cliche YA romance with a few alien fights. I swear, 70% of this book isRush had such an exciting and original premise, but it turned out to be just a cliche YA romance with a few alien fights. I swear, 70% of this book is just about Miki and Jackson having the hots for eachother with huge, weird infodumps about aliens in between.
I don't even get why Miki likes Jackson even a little, he is a jerk to her constantly, doesn't tell her a lot of information that would help her significantly, and to top it off, he stalks her. He literally shows up out of nowhere at her house twice even though nobody seemingly gave him her address.
Then there's Miki's "best friend" who is really mean to her for no good reason throughout the entire book but we're supposed to think she's a kind and loving person. I don't see it.
The cliffhanger at the end was not enough to draw me in for the sequel. (view spoiler)[ The big twist is that Jackson disappeared/might be dead, but I don't care about him even slightly, in fact, I think the story might improve if he did die. (hide spoiler)] So unfortunately, I won't give it a try....more
This book had potential, but I found myself getting angry and rolling my eyes a lot. I also have one particular problem with it, that really got to meThis book had potential, but I found myself getting angry and rolling my eyes a lot. I also have one particular problem with it, that really got to me.
So, the main character is a "strong female character", with this I mean that she's supposedly a strong character just because she kicks ass and fights bad guys. She seems to have little sympathy to girls who are in a different situation and can't physically fight to get ahead, and seems to treat them with little more than contempt.
This is especially glaring in a moment in the story where she silently judges a victim of rape for not fighting until she died instead of allowing herself to get raped. It's sort of implied that Deuce changes her stance on this later on, but it's not really explicitly said. This is just an incredibly fucked up message to put in a book aimed at teenagers.
On top of that, the guy who allowed said girl to get raped and also is said to have raped a lot of girls himself (for the sake of "breeding") is shown as a good guy and even a potential love interest for the main character. She seems to almost have more sympathy for him (for doing what he "had to do") than she has for the actual victim, and he is treated as just another one of the protagonists.
I had a big issue with how rape and victim blaming was handled in this book, and I really can't recommend it to anyone. I had other issues with the story, (like how some of the world building doesn't seem to make much sense) but I don't even feel like I can judge the book on it's storytelling when it has this big glaring issue that I can't get past. ...more
A solid 3 stars. While I liked the story and most of the characters, this book didn't really blow me away.
The setting was interesting but I'm not surA solid 3 stars. While I liked the story and most of the characters, this book didn't really blow me away.
The setting was interesting but I'm not sure how much sense it made for people to live like that. There's some nice world building but some of it feels unrealistic.
I liked Gaia and her motivations during the story made sense, but I feel like she didn't always get to interact with very interesting people. Her love interest, Leon, was sort of boring to me. He seems to exist purely to either help Gaia out in critical moments or to create some inner conflict for her when she isn't sure if she can trust him (when it's obvious to the reader that she can). I feel like their relationship wasn't very well developed, I might have liked it better if it wasn't supposed to be romantic (view spoiler)[ but when they kissed at the end, it felt forced. (hide spoiler)]
The story dragged on unnecessarly a few times, but the action packed last few chapters sort of made up for it. The ending was really interesting to me, (view spoiler)[ it seems like there will be complete new surroundings to explore in the sequel. (hide spoiler)]...more
I enjoyed the first part of Incarnate a lot, which is largely because the reincarnation idea was a really cool concept. But once that had been establiI enjoyed the first part of Incarnate a lot, which is largely because the reincarnation idea was a really cool concept. But once that had been established and the story moved onto the actual plot, the book went downhill incredibly fast.
There was so much potential with the mysterious city, the dangerous creatures and especially the reincarnation but the book never explored any of this, instead it devoted pages and pages to an incredibly boring romance. If I wanted to read a romance novel, I would pick one up. I've come to accept that almost every young adult book has romance as a large part of the story, but it should never overshadow the rest of the plot.
The romance itself felt very flat and unrealistic, Sam kept sneaking off and keeping secrets from Ana for no good reason but she never gets angry about it or calls him out on it. There's also the issue of age, because Sam has been reincarnated countless times, his mind is like 5000 years old. The relationship between him and 18 year old Ana becomes weird to me because of that, even if their bodies are the same age. It's actually discussed a few times, like Ana thinks to herself about the possiblity that he would have had a much older body at this time and how she wouldn't have been attracted to him, even though in that scenario his personality and soul would have been exactly the same. It just seems awkward.
If I had to summarize this book, I'd say it's a badly written romance and a missed chance to explore a very interesting idea. ...more
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