Category Archives: Challenges

Ember’s Curse

Book Review of Gena D. Lutz’s Ember’s Curse (Prime Wolf, #1)

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Ember's CurseI grabbed Gena D. Lutz‘s Ember’s Curse (Prime Wolf, #1) from the Amazon KDP free list.

Description from Goodreads:
For Prime-Werewolf Ember Stilwell, life has been far from normal. Decades ago, a vengeful Witch cursed her Pack, leaving the women of her line incapable of feeling love. When an organized group of immortal killers begin to stalk and capture wolves from her pack, she sets out on a path fraught with danger. Just when it seems the world as she knows it will be changed forever, she meets Collin, an Alpha Werewolf with a body built for sin. As her heart begins to heal, she comes to find that the demons of her past are not nearly as dangerous as the nightmares she will be forced to face in her future. Can finding her true love conquer all? Or will the ability to feel for the first time be overshadowed by losing everything else she holds dear?

Review: ** Mild Spoilers**
This book had an interesting story behind it. Unfortunately, it seemed to start in the middle somewhere, with the main character, Ember, being mentally molested by a pervy vampire who never reappeared or played any role in the book. (WTF was that about? I’m still wondering.) It didn’t get any better after that. There was absolutely no world building, no character development, and no time between events to allow tension to build.

At one point a character was using a semi-automatic gun to shoot out the tires of a passing motorcycle and I thought to myself, “that’s what this book it like.” It’s literary automatic fire, with action as ammunition. There was no time between occurrences to rest or figure things out or get to know anyone. Further, there didn’t seem to be any real aim. Not to stretch the analogy too far, but like bullets shot in such quantity, there was no need for accuracy. The idea seeming to be if the author sprayed enough ammo at the reader something would hit eventually.

It would be one thing if I could have fobbed this off as erotica, where I wouldn’t expect much plot or character development. But there wasn’t even that much sex and what there was was pretty bland. So I can’t even give it that excuse. 

Now, there was quite a lot of humour in the book. Especially in the way the main group of characters ragged at each other. For example, the bitchy vampire regularly referred to her werewolf counterpart as “mongrel” and he quipped back by calling her “Vampire Barbie.” I liked that. Humour can go a long way toward redeeming a weak plot for me, but in this case, it wasn’t enough. Nor was the fact that the strongest character was a gothtastic female side character. She saved everyones butt on numerous occasions and pretty much rocked my world. I really liked her, but my complaints still continued to pile up the longer I read. I probably would have been better off to DNF this one. But I hate doing that. 

First (or second if you count the Indie-500 pace of the plotting), Insta-love doesn’t accurately depict the speed at which these two main characters fell into ‘true love.’ Seriously, they hadn’t even seen each other’s faces. They shook hands and fell to it. Seriously, 15 seconds, tops! They then instantly exchanged a lifetime of memories. While this neatly negated the pesky need to spend time letting the characters get to know one another, it also denied the reader this same opportunity. I rather like knowing the characters I’m dedicating my time to.

Further, you end up with passages like this, “You’ve been in my head. You know how important my mother is to me.” Really? Maybe he’s been in her head, but I haven’t. It was the first time her mother had been mentioned. I had no idea how she felt about her. So, all that importance she claimed, held absolutely no emotional resonance for me, except maybe a vague resentment for the presumption that I knew something I’d not been entitled to. I simply couldn’t care less as a result.

Next, time didn’t seem to mean anything. People were said to have been off doing things that took numerous hours when they only had one or two available to them. Collin had time to go buy an engagement ring to surprise Ember with, when they had spent the last several days held hostage and or fighting their way to freedom. When did this stuff happen? I’m all for a little suspension of reality for the enjoyment of fantasy, but I still need the bounds of logic to apply. 

Lastly, someone tell me why EVERY single PNR baddie seems to have to be a sexual sadist too. When he started taunting Ember with rape and using Donna, I just groaned. Really, was there no other way to show how bad he was? It’s not that I have any general problem with the use of sexual subjugation in a story, but I feel like I’ve read this same scene in hundreds of books this year and made this same comment over and over again. Do women really enjoy this? I sure don’t. I didn’t used to notice it, but it’s becoming so common it’s now hard to ignore.

The writing itself seemed to be ok and, like I said, it’s an interesting idea. Plus, a large chunk of the middle was dedicated to setting up what will obviously be a sequel (since the arranged event will be three months from this book’s happenings and it wasn’t concluded here) so there is room to grow. And there weren’t too many editorial mistakes. So, if the book had been given another 100 pages or so, spaced out among the action, to bulk up the world and character building it could have been pretty good. As it stands I won’t be looking for book two. 

Review of J.A. Pedersen’s Dark Flame Rising (Keegan Crowe Chronicles, #1)

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Dark Flame Risin (Bigger)Author, J.A. Pedersen sent me an ecopy of his new YA novel Dark Flame Rising (Keegan Crowe Chronicles, #1).

Description form Goodreads: 
Keegan Crowe knows nothing of her past. But when she returns to Turtle Spring, the fourteen-year-old discovers that her parents were members of a secret society dedicated to preserving lost magic – a group destroyed for its knowledge and powers. Seeking those responsible, Keegan enrolls in a secretive school and delves into a hidden world of mystical powers, fabled creatures, and enchanted objects. There, she unearths a plot to stop an age-old threat and bring justice to a warring adversary. 

But Keegan rejects her discoveries. The scientifically-minded teen digs elsewhere for the truth, unleashing unexpected consequences. As friends and foes race to find a legendary treasure, Keegan stumbles upon a flaw in the plan. She now holds the key. But to prevail, she must find the strength to push aside her convictions and embrace her family’s shadowy legacy.

Review:
This book tricked me. Not without my complacency, I’ll admit, but it did all the same. When the author sent it to me, he was very clear that it is a YA novel, so I knew. But over and over again, I saw the cover (which is a great cover BTW) on my TBR list and wanted to read it, only to stop and remind myself with ‘but it’s YA, even if it really doesn’t look YA.’ I’ve burned out on YA a little, you see.

In the end, I gave in to my urges. And what do you know; it really is a YA novel. Not only YA, but lower YA, maybe even upper Middle Grade. The main character is 14 and much of the book reads like an Urban Fantasy version of Harry Potter’s time at Hogwarts. She attends a magical school with quirky teachers, talking animals, spells, potions, etc. Heck, it even has houses of sorts, based on abilities and zodiac signs and Muggles, though here they’re referred to as Turtles. Yes, there is a very Harry Potter feel to The New School.

I generally liked Keegan. She was smart and possessed a surprising backbone. She did not, however, feel 14. She was an accomplished hacker, blogger, intrepid journalist, fell in love, etc. In fact, many of the characters didn’t feel their age. As an example, Cody, her love interest was 15 but could drive and held a job. At one point another group of characters of similar ages were shown to be drinking and partying in an abandoned house. I’m not naive enough to think teenagers don’t do this, but it clashed with the idea of the main character being barley out of her tweens. 

I also found her dedication to skepticism in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary tedious at best and eventually even a little infuriating. I starting thinking we (she and the reader) wouldn’t ever be able to move on if she didn’t accept the obvious at some point. That she could retain her denial after the things she saw was almost magical in and of itself, not to mention a little unbelievable.

The writing seemed fine, but I had a serious problem with the use of endnotes to relate educational information. I found them very disruptive to reading the book. But they were also problematic in the sense that if a child is young enough to not know who/what Cleopatra, Excalibur, tarot cards, the Zodiac and many more are then they also probably aren’t old enough to know how to follow a superscript to the end of a chapter. And, honestly, would they be all that interested in a history lesson?

Lastly, the book starts out at a breakneck speed. Information is thrown at the reader so fast that it’s difficult to keep up. Then, once they reach Turtle Springs, things slow down almost too much. Perhaps this reduced pace felt exaggerated after the first couple fast paced chapters, but once Keegan hit the school, everything seemed to creep along. 

I did appreciate the implicit moral of facing the consequences of your actions. There is also an exciting twist at the end. An observant reader will see it coming, but it still opens up some interesting possibilities for future books. All in all, I’m torn on what to feel about this book. I didn’t hate it but didn’t particularly care for it either. However, I would bet 12-15 year olds might.

C791

Book Review Eve Langlais’ C791 (More Than Macines, #1)

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C791I grabbed Eve Langlais‘ C791 (More Than Machines, #1) from the Amazon free list. At the time of posting, it was still free.

Description from Goodreads:
Machines aren’t supposed to feel, but this cyborg can’t help falling in love.

Assigned as a specimen collector for a captured cyborg, Chloe is intrigued by the machine disguised as a man. Kidnapped during his daring escape, he shows her that despite the chip in his brain, his humanity is not completely lost.

Formerly known as unit X109GI, Joe is on a quest to discover his origin. While he doesn’t find the answers he’s looking for, he does discover that affection and lust aren’t just for humans. But when it comes to a battle between logic and love, which side will the cybernetic organism–once a man–choose?

Evaluating his feelings will have to wait though because the military isn’t done with Joe. But their threats against him pale in comparison before the shocking discovery of project C791, the revelation of which stuns the rebel cyborgs–and ignites a fury for vengeance.

Review:

I’ve read a couple of Eve Langlais’ books now and I generally enjoy them for their smouldering sex, blithely paired with enough levity to ensure the reader isn’t too cheesed out. I mean, a plot can get pretty corny and still be really enjoyable as long as it doesn’t try to take itself too seriously. I think this is where Ms. Langlais shines. However, I have to admit that this book is hovering around the 2.5 star mark and threatening to sink. It was not one of my favourites. 

This isn’t to say it was all bad. There were still some good one-liners. The sex was still hot. In the middle section Joe turned from the alpha bad-boy cyborg to a cute, confused cyborg with disarming boyish charm that I really liked. The C791 reveal was a good one. Seth and Solus were fun sidekicks. As with so many of Langlais’ heroines, Chloe is described as beautiful and sexy as well as rounded, plump even, thereby breaking from the narrow societal standards of beauty. And though opening itself up for sequels, the story did end. There were some appreciable aspects to the story. So I didn’t hate it.

But I did hate the four important aspects of it. To start with, Joe’s dialogue was painful. Now, this was addressed. He was said to have not fully grasped human syntax. Fair enough, but there were some awkward passages, especially in the beginning. His first couple sentences in the book made me laugh out loud, and not in a good way. (It did seem to get better as the book progressed.)

Secondly, his character seemed unstable. Like I said, he started out as a strong, bad-ass leader of the cyborg rebellion. Then went all googly-eyed and little boy-like. Then ended up practically a basket case. He was inconsistent at best. Likeable, but undependable. 

Third, the air at the end of the book got really, really thick with heavy sentimentality and overplayed emotions. Sci-fi erotica just doesn’t have the gravitas to support it, so it felt horribly unnatural. 

**Spoiler***Lastly, and to me most importantly, the book employed the infuriating and cheap plot device of providing Chloe a history of sexual abuse that contributed absolutely NOTHING to the plot. It was COMPLETELY unnecessary. It was pure dirty TITILLATION. It provided opportunities for her to be called a dirty whore and threatened with future abuse, and nothing more. 

This didn’t heighten the suspense for me. It just made me ask, “Why was that necessary?” Answer: It wasn’t. Sure, if a history of rape (repeated gang rape or otherwise) is an important part of a plot, I’ll endure it. But it wasn’t here. The rest of what was done to Chloe was enough to provide her with the necessary anger to move the story along. The periodic victimisation references were not needed. They were overkill to the extreme, unpleasant and came across (to me, anyway) as evidence that the author couldn’t or wouldn’t dig a little deeper than such a trite overused cliché. For anyone who’s read many of my reviews, you know this is a hot button for me. Pretty much ruined the book. 

I have no doubt that this won’t be the last Langlais book I read. Not as long as she keeps popping them up on the free list, anyhow. But this will remind me to be a little more cautious as I approach them from now on.