Overall Rating: Passable with a vague hint of interesting
Characterization Rating: Protagonistic-did you forget there were other characters?
The Recommended Caffeinated Beverage for accompaniment: I wouldn’t waste a good cuppa on this.
Though this book certainly has its moments, the literary merit is negative. I can smell my brain rotting as I turn the pages, and yet, I keep turning pages. Huh. Alexander is not what I would call a genius or a wordsmith, however she is a decent storyteller. Her plot seems at times to be a little far-fetched, and certain characters (*cough* Asher *cough*) seem to be obviously written in with a single, predictable purpose in mind. This gives her writing something of a formulaic quality which is only counterbalanced by a certain amount of barely contained chaos. There comes a point in the plot where, though interesting, I felt as if plot twists were just thrown in there last minute. So yes, parts of the story are unpredictable, but not through sheer cleverness of the author, but seemingly through complete randomness. I sometimes wonder if Alexander was wracking her brain for what could possibly happen next in the story while jittery from too much coffee and slaphappy. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the story, and I will be reading the next book, but as far as writing quality, the book is sub-par.
Then there’s characterization. Edie, the protagonist, is herself a strong independent woman (like so many of the heroines in the Urban Fantasy genre), however, the way she is portrayed is devoid of the stereotypical ways authors create “strong independent women”. I found this refreshing, and greatly enjoyed it. I love that the romantic interest for the story is not some swoon worthy gary-stu model of perfection, however I wish some of the other characters were given a greater range of characterization. This is where problems with the plot and characterization intersect. If some characters were just given enough time to develop more, I feel that Alexander would be able to do a somewhat impressive job with it, but because she didn’t some things just don’t add up. At all. Like she took 2+2 and made that equal 27. Of a sudden we were totes chill with Sike, and of a sudden Anna became super attached to Edie (which sort of makes sense…if you squint and tilt your head).
So…it was entertaining…for the most part.
I don’t have a favorite part/passage.
Characterization Rating: Protagonistic-did you forget there were other characters?
The Recommended Caffeinated Beverage for accompaniment: I wouldn’t waste a good cuppa on this.
Though this book certainly has its moments, the literary merit is negative. I can smell my brain rotting as I turn the pages, and yet, I keep turning pages. Huh. Alexander is not what I would call a genius or a wordsmith, however she is a decent storyteller. Her plot seems at times to be a little far-fetched, and certain characters (*cough* Asher *cough*) seem to be obviously written in with a single, predictable purpose in mind. This gives her writing something of a formulaic quality which is only counterbalanced by a certain amount of barely contained chaos. There comes a point in the plot where, though interesting, I felt as if plot twists were just thrown in there last minute. So yes, parts of the story are unpredictable, but not through sheer cleverness of the author, but seemingly through complete randomness. I sometimes wonder if Alexander was wracking her brain for what could possibly happen next in the story while jittery from too much coffee and slaphappy. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the story, and I will be reading the next book, but as far as writing quality, the book is sub-par.
Then there’s characterization. Edie, the protagonist, is herself a strong independent woman (like so many of the heroines in the Urban Fantasy genre), however, the way she is portrayed is devoid of the stereotypical ways authors create “strong independent women”. I found this refreshing, and greatly enjoyed it. I love that the romantic interest for the story is not some swoon worthy gary-stu model of perfection, however I wish some of the other characters were given a greater range of characterization. This is where problems with the plot and characterization intersect. If some characters were just given enough time to develop more, I feel that Alexander would be able to do a somewhat impressive job with it, but because she didn’t some things just don’t add up. At all. Like she took 2+2 and made that equal 27. Of a sudden we were totes chill with Sike, and of a sudden Anna became super attached to Edie (which sort of makes sense…if you squint and tilt your head).
So…it was entertaining…for the most part.
I don’t have a favorite part/passage.
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