Review: Fool Me Twice

Title: Rules for Reckless #2: Fool Me Twice

Author: Meredith Duran

Date of Publication: March 25, 2014

Formats Available: Paperback, E-book

Buy This Book: Amazon.com

Synopsis: Sensible and lonely, Olivia Mather survives by her wits—and her strict policy of avoiding trouble. But when she realizes that the Duke of Marwick might hold the secrets of her family’s past, she does the unthinkable, infiltrating his household as a maid. She’ll clean his study and rifle through his papers looking for information.

Alastair de Grey has a single reason to live: vengeance. More beautiful than Lucifer, twice as feared, and thrice as cunning, he’ll use any weapon to punish those who fooled and betrayed him—even an impertinent maid who doesn’t know her place. But the more fascinated he becomes with the uppity redhead, the more dangerous his carefully designed plot becomes. For the one contingency he forgot to plan for was falling in love…and he cannot survive being fooled again.

My Review:

Fool Me Twice started off with a lot of potential. I loved the idea of a maid searching the house of a rich Duke to clear her name; however as the novel quickly started to take on darker tones the less I started to like it. Though the writing itself was good I just couldn't get my self into the story because of how much I ended up hating the characters and lackluster plot.

The number one thing I disliked about this novel was our hero, Alastair. Cruel, abusive, and brooding, the more I read about him the more I hated him. There was absolutely no affection between him and Olivia and he spent the bulk of the novel plotting all the ways in which he wanted to hurt her and then (sort of) forcing her to have sex with him. Though she never said no she never said yes either and that bordered so closely to the edge of rape that I just wasn't okay with it. Not only that but Alastair didn't even feel a bit of remorse later, I might have had at least a smidge of respect for him if he felt bad later, but he only got more abusive as the novel went on, making me absolutely hate him. 

Olivia wasn't as bad as Alastair but I didn't particularly care for her either. She had an interesting back story but I spent most of the novel just plain confused about what that whole back story was. I think Duran was going for a slow reveal of information to keep the reader guessing but she didn't reveal enough in the beginning of the story to make me curious about what happened next, I was just plain confused. Not to mention she was such a pushover when it came to Alastair; instead of standing up for herself she lets him use her over and over again. There were moments she was so dumb I wanted to throw this novel across the room. 

Honestly, the only redeemable aspect of this novel was the cover, and maybe some of the side characters. Polly, Jones, and the other maids occasionally me laugh and even though they irritated me a little sometimes I enjoyed the banter between them and Oliva. They were the most real characters in the whole novel, though annoying they added at least a bit of lightheartedness to an otherwise dark and abusive tale. I didn't like them, but they were honestly the most likable characters in the whole novel.

Though the premise sounds interesting I just can't recommend this novel. Fans of Fifty Shades of Grey and the like may enjoy it but as someone who doesn't care much for semi- abusive characters and dubious consent I just couldn't enjoy this one.

1/5

Review: Outlander

Title: Outlander

Author: Diana Gabaldon

Date of Publication: August 10, 1998

Formats Available: Hardcover, Paperback, E-Book

Buy This Book: Amazon

Synopsis: The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon — when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach — an "outlander" — in a Scotland torn by war and raiding Highland clans in the year of Our Lord ... 1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into intrigues and dangers that may threaten her life ... and shatter her heart. For here she meets James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, and becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire ... and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

My Review:

Outlander started off okay, a little slow, but okay. However, the farther I got into this novel the more and more I began to hate it. Not only was it mind-numbingly boring but Jamie and Claire were two of the most horrible characters I have ever read about. With annoying Scottish accent writing and a plot that go increasingly weirder as the novel went on I ended up absolutely hating Outlander.

I absolutely hated both Claire and Jamie. Claire had little to no personality and Jamie wasn't much better. What really ruined both of them for me was that Jamie beats Claire, and even worse, Claire lets him and even accepts it. I don't really care how historically accurate that is but as soon as I read that I was DONE with this book. No matter how nice Jamie was later I hated him from that page on and I hated Claire even more for letting him get away with it.

Not only were the characters unbelievably awful but I was bored out of my mind by about 95% of this novel. Pages and pages and pages were dedicated to the day to day tasks of Claire who isn't even an exciting character to begin with. For every 100 pages of boredom there were about 10 pages of excitement and even then they were always tainted because of how much I didn't like the characters. I didn't even understand the point of the novel, the only things Claire did were heal people and... well heal people I guess. She literally did nothing in the entire novel but heal people and follow Jamie around.

As if it wasn't bad enough to be  not only boring, with horrible characters, but it was weird as well. I picked this up hoping for a historical romance but instead this book just left me with an uncomfortable feeling that I couldn't shake. All the "romance" scenes were pretty very graphic and while that doesn't usually bother me they were just.... sleazy for lack of a better word. I couldn't sense any kind of mutual affection between Jamie and Claire and it seemed that their relationship was based more on lust than love (oh and the fact that Jamie ENJOYED beating her, at which point I just threw this book on the  floor and quit reading to preserve my brain cells).

The one (and only) thing I'll give Gabaldon is that Outlander is obviously very well researched. I could tell that Gabaldon put a lot into her research and did her best to make the novel as historically accurate as possible. However, that just didn't make up for how disgusted I was by this novel. By far one of the worst novels I've ever read, I would honestly give it less than one star if I could.

1/5

Bannon & Clare #1: The Iron Wyrm Affair Review

Title: Bannon & Clare #1: The Iron Wyrm Affair

Author: Lilith Saintcrow

Date of Publication: August 7, 2012

Formats Available: Paperback, E-Book

Buy This Book: Amazon

Synopsis: Emma Bannon, forensic sorceress in the service of the Empire, has a mission: to protect Archibald Clare, a failed, unregistered mentath. His skills of deduction are legendary, and her own sorcery is not inconsiderable. It doesn't help much that they barely tolerate each other, or that Bannon's Shield, Mikal, might just be a traitor himself. Or that the conspiracy killing registered mentaths and sorcerers alike will just as likely kill them as seduce them into treachery toward their Queen.

In an alternate London where illogical magic has turned the Industrial Revolution on its head, Bannon and Clare now face hostility, treason, cannon fire, black sorcery, and the problem of reliably finding hansom cabs.

The game is afoot..

My Review:

I'm not going to lie I absolutely could NOT finish this book. I feel horrible writing a review when I haven't even read the end but I feel that it says a lot when I got to over page 200 and just couldn't do it anymore, especially when I almost never stop reading books once I've started them. When I sat down to right this review I racked my brain to come up with something nice to say about this novel but I literally couldn't come up with a single thing. I've read books by Saintcrow before that I have enjoyed but just something about this book just didn't click with me.

Maybe I missed something important in the beginning or two important pages got stuck together but I was completely LOST during this novel. I had no idea what was going on, I had no idea who was who, I had no idea why the characters did a single thing they did. I've never been so completely baffled by a plot and struggled so intensely to put important events together. I didn't understand what a mentath was, I couldn't figure out a single thing Emma was doing, I never understood Shields or Mikal's role in the story, somewhere along the line I got lost and just couldn't find my way back.

If being completely confused wasn't bad enough the characters had absolutely zero personality. Both Emma and Archibald did absolutely nothing but walk around an alternate version of London and search for... something. I could never figure out what they were searching for or even what they were doing. Their relationship with each other was nearly non-existent and their voices were so similar half the time I forgot who's side of the story I was reading. By page 200 I was so frustrated with them and the confusing plot I just couldn't go on anymore.

I know I didn't finish the novel so my review may not be 100% credible but I honestly could not do it. When I begin to dread reading and start doing other things to avoid the book I know there's something wrong. The brain dead characters paired with the incomprehensible plot just made for a horrible time and in all honesty I don't think I've read a book I disliked this much in a long time, sorry to Saintcrow because she really has written some good books, but this one just wasn't for me. At all.

Obviously I don't recommend this novel in the least but I have read some good reviews on it and maybe if I hadn't gotten so lost in the beginning I would have ended up liking this novel I lot more. This novel was most definitely not my cup of tea this time around.

1/5

The Farm Review

Title: The Farm

Author: Emily McKay

Date of Publication: December 4, 2012

Formats Available: Paperback, E-Book

Buy This Book: Amazon

Synopsis: Life was different in the Before: before vampires began devouring humans in a swarm across America; before the surviving young people were rounded up and quarantined. These days, we know what those quarantines are—holding pens where human blood is turned into more food for the undead monsters, known as Ticks. Surrounded by electrical fences, most kids try to survive the Farms by turning on each other…

And when trust is a thing of the past, escape is nearly impossible.

Lily and her twin sister Mel have a plan. Though Mel can barely communicate, her autism helps her notice things no one else notices—like the portion of electrical fence that gets turned off every night. Getting across won’t be easy, but as Lily gathers what they need to escape, a familiar face appears out of nowhere, offering to help…

Carter was a schoolmate of Lily’s in the Before. Managing to evade capture until now, he has valuable knowledge of the outside world. But like everyone on the Farm, Carter has his own agenda, and he knows that behind the Ticks is an even more dangerous threat to the human race...

My Review:

I'm starting to become a bit wary when it comes to vampire books but when I saw the interesting premise of The Farm I was willing to give this one a try. Unfortunately I misjudged this novel, full of Twilight references and annoying characters I had a really hard time getting into the story. At over 400 pages The Farm ended up being one of those horribly long books that don't get bad until you're in too far to go back.

Right off the bat Lily annoyed me a little bit. On edge and constantly complaining about having to take care of her sister she was far too snappy and distrustful for my taste. While her attitude sometimes worked in her favor and I knew her heart was in the right place I just couldn't relate to her.  On the other hand, quite possibly the only thing I liked about this novel was the chapters from Mel's point of view. Because she's mentally handicapped I thought her points of view were really interesting and the author did a fantastic job conveying the story while still telling it from Mel's tilted perspective.

As the novel moved along the plot wandered farther and farther away from the original objective of getting of the farm and surviving the Ticks and into what-on-earth-am-I-reading territory. With a ridiculous back story explaining the invention of the Ticks and the revelation that there are real vampires, not to mention Lily's sudden superpowers, I was scrambling to make my way to the end before more crazy revelations where exposed. Between that and the author contradicting herself the plot at the end of the novel was a mess.

While the ending did throw me for a loop I'm not sure where the author is going with the story. Unless she plans on contradicting herself again I just don't know what she's going to do with what she has left. Although I'm a little curious to see how she's going to continue the story the dislike I had for this novel is enough to keep me from coming back for the second one.

Its always hard to say but The Farm is just not a book I would recommend. Even though the novel did have some strong points didn't outweigh the weaker ones. Paired with the hefty length of this novel fans of YA vampire fiction may want to at least wait for the library to get a copy or skip it all together.

1/5

Song of Scarabaeus Review

Title: Song of Scarabaeus

Author: Sara Creasy

Date of Publication: April 27, 2010

Formats Available: Mass Market Paperback, E-Book

Synopsis: After being kidnapped from her job with the Crib, the evil organization that rules over every planet and world imaginable, Edie's not sure being kidnapped is such a bad thing. However when her capturers electronically leash her to a body guard, Finn, and implant a bomb in his head that will explode the second he strays too far from her side, Edie makes it her goal to escape and disable the leash. Edie' abilities with the equipment used to keep worlds alive surpass even the most talented operators, making her extremely valuable. As the rebels that have kidnapped Edie use her to destroy the Crib and make planets a better place for their inhabitants its soon becomes clear that not everyone is what they seem and someone is determined to betray the team and destroy everything they have worked so hard to achieve.

My Review:

Originally I was really excited to read this book, the leash idea intrigued me and I was really looking forward to some sci-fi romance and an exciting plot line, however the farther I got into Song of Scarabaeus the more apparent it became that my dreams would not come true. Bogged down in overwhelming technical terms and a weak plot, finishing this novel proved to be a real struggle.

The first fifty pages or so of this novel were almost incomprehensible to read, filled with nothing but technical terms and detailed descriptions of made up devices, I understood probably every fifth word. It took me almost the whole book to figure out what the plot actually was because it was deeply hidden under unnecessary descriptions and made up words. I do like science fiction novels but I felt that Song of Scarabaeus went completely above and beyond what was necessary for the story.

Both Edie and Finn were poorly written characters, between their vapid personalities and dull interactions with each other I just couldn't make myself care about them. Their relationship is impossible to understand, one moment they had just met and the next moment Edie is refusing to do anything without him and fighting for his life, it would have been an "insta-love" if there had been any romance at all in the novel, but thankfully there wasn't. I found myself constantly forgetting about characters because of their lifeless personalities and no real role in the novel.

Besides being weak the plot also moved at an unbearably slow pace. The entire novel is spent with Edie examining and repairing equipment and searching for a way to free herself from Finn, with hardly any action at all. When there was action it was so bogged down with dialogue and Edie operating equipment that the little action there was wasn't even exciting.

Unfortunately I would have to say this is one of the few books I would not recommend. Between the impossibly slow pace, the incomprehensible writing, and the awful characters I just didn't enjoy this book. Fans of science fiction that enjoy complex gadgets may enjoy this one, but it definitely wasn't for me.

1/5

Goddess Interrupted Review

Title: Goddess Interrupted (The Goddess Test #2)

Author: Aimee Carter

Date of Publication: March 27, 2012

Formats Available: Paperback, E-Book

Synopsis: When Kate arrives in the Underworld after spending six months away from Henry she is disappointed to find that Henry won't even so much as look at her and is keeping secrets to boot. Kate loves Henry but it's becoming more and more apparent that Henry doesn't seem to love Kate the way she loves him. Meanwhile, Calliope is desperate for revenge and will do whatever it takes to destroy Kate, even if it means waking a being that could destroy the entire world. When Henry is kidnapped Kate is determined to find him, even if it means finding the one person Kate hoped she would never face, Persephone. As a devastating war threatens the gods Kate must save Henry and hope to win his love in the process.

My Review:

The Goddess Test hadn't necessarily been my favorite book but I liked it well enough to pick up Goddess Interrupted, which turned out to be a huge mistake. I could not stand this book, I knew all the characters were a little dense but this book was ridiculous. The characters constantly blundered into one trap after another, frustrating me more with every page.

I could not stand Kate; she went around picking unnecessary fights and moaning about how Henry didn't love her. Between her constant moaning and complaining she somehow managed to subdue Calliope but that was about the extent of the action in the entire novel. Henry was much the same, moping and complaining about Persephone then magically falling in love with Kate. All the other characters kind of blur together, flat and two-dimensional none of them have a personality or role worth remembering.

 With almost no action, no romance, and no character development I constantly found myself bored and counting down the pages I had left; which is never a good sign. The beginning of the novel did start out interesting enough but after almost 300 pages of listening to Kate complain while she does nothing I started to get a little annoyed. I will say that throwing Persephone in was an interesting idea but just wasn't executed properly.

I'm sorry to say I really did not like this novel, I hate having to write bad reviews. Fans of The Goddess Test, especially older fans, may want to seriously think before reading this novel. I felt that the first book did well enough as a standalone novel and this book seemed a little unnecessary. With the amount of good teen fiction out there I would recommend skipping this one, or at least waiting for the library to receive a copy.

1/5

Kitty Norville #1: Kitty and the Midnight Hour Review

Title: Kitty Norville #1: Kitty and the Midnight Hour

Author: Carrie Vaughn

Date of Publication: November 1, 2005

Formats Available: Mass Market Paperback, E-Book

Synopsis: A secret werewolf and a late night DJ at a Denver radio station Kitty Norville inadvertently ends up creating "The Midnight Hour", a radio program that quickly takes the world by storm. Soon vampires and werewolves begin calling her looking for advice, some even calling from desperate situations.  As murders begin to take place in Denver Kitty soon puts the pieces together, finding out that the perpetrator may be closer than she thinks. With the help of a werewolf hunter that tried to kill her and her best friend T.J. Kitty must solve the murder, and stay alive as threats from her radio program continue to pour in threatening the life that has been almost taken from her.

My Review:

I found myself very unimpressed with the first installment of the Kitty Norville series. The story starts off extremely slow, after the first 100 pages or so the plot starts to pick up but not much. Full of random events and repulsive characters my opinion of this novel continued to drop with every page.

The characters in this novel were disgusting; every man in the novel walked all over Kitty, abusing her and bringing her down and even more disgusting was that Kitty not only let them but liked it. Throughout the entire novel she "loves" her pack leader, Carl, and her "best friend" T.J. while both of them abuse her the entire time. Kitty had absolutely no back bone and every time she did stand up for herself every character in the novel told her that she was too full of herself and that she needed to back down.

While the plot of the novel was bearable most of the events seemed random and unrealistic. When Kitty announces that she is a werewolf there is no skepticism, no questioning, everyone just quietly accepts that she is a werewolf and a few pages later the world seems to have magically come to terms with werewolves and vampires. Most of the characters motives were hardly explained, making their actions seem random and unrelated.

I was extremely disappointed with this book; from the abusive characters to the random plot events it was a miracle I finished this book at all. I would not recommend this book at all; I was utterly repulsed by all of the male characters and their treatment of women. I would strongly suggest skipping this series; it is not worth the time.

1/5

The Vespertine Review

Title: The Vespertine

Author: Saundra Mitchell

Date of Publication: March 20, 2012

Formats Available: Hardcover, Paperback, E-Book

Synopsis: The year is 1889 and seventeen year old Amelia van den Broek, from rural Maine, is spending the summer with her fashionable cousin Zora in Baltimore in hopes of finding a husband. While in Baltimore Amelia starts to see visions of the future, soon word of her visions spread to even the most popular circles in Baltimore and Amelia is being called "Maine's Own Mystic". From stolen kisses on balconies at balls with attractive Nathaniel Witherspoon, a man most certainly out of her leauge, and giving seances at sunset Amelia begins to love Maryland. However her visions have a price, a price that may destroy all that she holds dear.

My Review:

I'm afraid that the only positive thing I have to say about this novel is that it was beautifully written. From the flowing descriptions of Baltimore to the vivid imagery of Amelia's visions the writing was fantastic. However the rest of the novel fell flat in all regards; full of random pointless events, no plot, and two dimensional characters I found myself disliking The Vespertine more and more with each passing chapter.

The book possessed no plot; Amelia has her visions, she suddenly is in love with Nathaniel, they kiss in secret, and she goes to balls. Throughout the entire novel I found myself asking "So what?". There is no purpose to the novel, Amelia does not grow as a character, she does not come to an understanding about herself or others, she is exactly the same at the end of the novel as she is at the beginning.

There is no rhyme nor reason to the characters actions, for the majority of the novel I was confused as to their motives. There was never an explanation as to why Amelia had visions or any conflict as she told the future of her friends and family. The ending was predictable and unsatisfying, leaving unanswered questions and unresolved conflicts.

The beautiful writing does not make up for all the faults in this novel, I was extremely disappointed. Despite the short length I found finishing this book a struggle as I became more and more frustrated with the characters and the plot. This is one of the few novels I would not recommend to anybody under any circumstances.

1/5