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Book Review of Shadows of Asphodel (Shadows of Asphodel #1), by Karen Kincy

I grabbed a copy of Karen Kincy‘s Shadows of Asphodel from the Amazon free list.

Description from Goodreads:
She never asked for the undying loyalty of a necromancer.

1913. Austria-Hungary. Ardis knows better than to save a man on the battlefield. Even if he manages to be a charming bastard while bleeding out in the snow. She hasn’t survived this long as a mercenary without some common sense.

When she rescues Wendel, it isn’t because he’s devilishly handsome, but because he’s a necromancer. His touch can revive the dead, and Ardis worries he will return from the grave to hunt her down. Besides, a necromancer can be useful in this world on the brink of war.

A gentleman of questionable morals, Wendel drops to one knee and pledges his undying loyalty to Ardis. She resists falling for him, no matter how hot the tension smolders between them. Especially when she discovers Wendel’s scars run much deeper than his skin, and it might be too late to truly save him from himself.

Review:
Wow, was I ever disappointed in this book. Not just because it was a disappointing read, but because it was a disappointing read that was almost something wonderful. It’s that close shave with loving a book that serves to exaggerate ones disappointment.

The problem really comes down to the romance and the fact that it’s not at all supported. Ardis meets Wendel on the battle field and on discovering he’s a necromancer, she’s so afraid of him that she’s not even willing to let him die (for fear he’ll come back from the dead for revenge). Further, she so disgusted by him she can’t even touch his hand with her fingers.

Then, less than a day later she’s grabbing him by the back of the neck and dragging him down for an impassioned kiss, but turning down sex because she wants something more than just a one-night stand. But the reader sees NOTHING to change her opinion or feelings toward him and honestly in less than 24 hours what conceivably could?

Then the next time they meet, meaning they’ve now known eachother a collective 36 hours (at most) and very little of that time is spent in conversation, they have sex and he’s telling her he loves her. They then are swearing to defend eachother to the death, etc. etc. etc. It’s not insta-love, it’s just insta-meaningful relationship. And there is nothing at all in the story to leave the reader feeling as if they’ve seen this relationship grow. What’s more, Ardis’ love seems to be wholly based on some cliché female need to heal the broken soul of an abused man. Ugh, please.

Plus, I was embarrassed for Ardis and the way she always seemed to be subtly demanding love from Wendel. She always behaved as if their relationship was more than he was offering. It was like seeing a woman trying to trap a man into marriage. Now, I’m fairly sure it wasn’t meant to feel like that. I think she was supposed to just have a big heart that she was offering to Wendel and that is what he responded to and changed his rogue-like ways. But it didn’t feel like it to me. She just felt clingy and demanding. (Though I appreciated her demanding nature in the sex scenes; I like encountering a female character who knows what she wants and is willing to say it.)

So, since the romance that was the reason the two characters were together to do the things they were doing felt hollow and unsupported, nothing else in the book felt believable to me either. Every-time Ardis ran off to save Wendel again, I wondered why. Every-time Wendel declared his adoration for Ardis, I wondered based on what. Every-time Ardis disregarded people’s warning about Wendel I thought, idiot, they’re probably right. The underlying scaffolding of the story was weak, thus everything else felt wobbly.

Beyond that, the story is mildly interesting, until the end when you reach a patently ridiculous ending where the ultimate baddie essentially allows them to waltz in, fight and waltz out again. How is that believable?

The writing is fine. The editing is fine (a few hiccups, but not many). The dialogue is fine. I liked the idea behind the book and the world. I almost liked the characters. I thought that Ardis, for a mercenary, was awful weepy and Wendel’s fragility felt contrived. But, for the most part, it was all passable.

I’d also like to comment on the cover. It’s a cool cover. I like it, but I don’t understand it. One can only assume that is meant to be Ardis on the cover, but quite a big deal is made out of her appearance in the book. She’s half Chinese and half American. She inherited her mother’s eyes and her father’s corn-silk blond hair. Why do publishers insist on putting characters on covers that look nothing like the characters are described in the book? It’s a huge pet peeve of mine. Either make them match or don’t bother, is my opinion.

Book Review of Talking to the Dead, by Bonnie Grove

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I’m making an effort this year to read books that have been on my TBR for more than two years. I downloaded Talking to the Dead, by Bonnie Grove from the Amazon free list on November 15, 2012. So, it qualified for my TBR challenge.

Description from Goodreads:
Twenty-something Kate Davis can’t seem to get this grieving widow thing right. She’s supposed to put on a brave face and get on with her life, right? Instead she’s camped out on her living room floor, unwashed, unkempt, and unable to sleep-because her husband Kevin keeps talking to her.

Is she losing her mind?

Kate’s attempts to find the source of the voice she hears are both humorous and humiliating, as she turns first to an “eclectically spiritual” counselor, then a shrink with a bad toupee, a mean-spirited exorcist, and finally group therapy. There she meets Jack, the warmhearted, unconventional pastor of a ramshackle church, and at last the voice subsides. But when she stumbles upon a secret Kevin was keeping, Kate’s fragile hold on the present threatens to implode under the weight of the past . and Kevin begins to shout.

Will the voice ever stop? Kate must confront her grief to find the grace to go on, in this tender, quirky story about second chances.

Review:
Before I get into the review of this book I should fess up to some discomfort. I downloaded this thinking it was Women’s Fiction and it passes as it until about 90% into the book, when the main character had a clear Transcendental experience with the “One True God” and the rest of the book was heavily Christian. Looking at the rest of the book through that religious lens also changed my interpretation of a lot of the previous events.

I say all of this because I’m ok with Women’s Fiction, not so much with Christian fiction. I literally stuck my finger in my throat and made gagging sounds at my Kindle. I would not have read the book if I’d known where it was going. This is not a condemnation of the book, just an informative statement of genre classification. So, the rest of what I have to say should probably be taken with the above in mind.

My primary response to this book was, “I’m apparently not a nice enough person to read this.” Now, acknowledging the religious bent of the book, I can understand that forgiveness is obviously supposed to be important and the book focuses solely on Kate’s experience. BUT, and this is a big BUT for me, none of the characters who do her seriously wrong ever get their comeuppance. Hell, Kate never even says a cutting word toward them let alone does anything that leaves the reader feeling satisfied that the bad guys got what was coming to them. NONE!

Yeah, yeah, ‘all things before god. It’s not her place to pass judgement. She’s a better person for not.’ Bla, bla, bla. They got off too easy and I wanted to at least see them being told what shits they were…preferably in public, with significant and measurable consequences. Didn’t happen.

The book is well written and I didn’t really see any serious editing issues. And I did really like Jack and Maggie reminded me of someone I know and love in real life. I appreciated the representation of how easy it is to get trapped in the mental health system. I’m not even blind to the small kindnesses of the people who did Kate so wrong, giving their characters a bit of grey. (Too bad all those kindnesses were in response to situations they created and threw her unsuspectingly into.) So there is something worth praising here.

I just get stuck because the very things that are supposed to provide emotional satisfaction and closure for the reader (they are there for the right reader), mean nothing to me. Therefore, I’m left in the cold still waiting for a happy ending I’ll never get because what I want to happen wouldn’t be ‘Christian.’

So, if you’re the type of reader who likes to see a woman totally and unfairly destroyed by her corporeal life in order to accept God into her life, this is a must read. I’m not that reader. In fact, I tend to actively avoid such books. It’s a shame I got sideswiped by this one.

Looking forward to 2015 and reading challenges

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Ok, so it’s apparently 2015…and where’s my hover-board, McFly? 2015! This is mind-blowing to me, but hover-board or no, I do have a whole new year ahead of me…we, we have a whole new year ahead of us. It’s a blank slate, just waiting with unlimited potential to be… well, something, anything.

For me, it will undoubtedly be full of books, books and more books. Then of course, these pages will be full of me pontificating about said books, because that’s what the space is dedicated to—me, books and my opinion about books. Makes me sound a little megalomaniacal, but it is my blog.

So, 365 days and probably several hundred books are in my immediate future. I need a plan. I need to share that plan with you, so you know what to expect and I’m held to some manner of accountability…and, frankly, so I can pretend to have accomplished something.

I’ Screen Shot 2015-01-01 at 18.06.30 m breaking it down like this. On the broadest, most general level, I have committed to read 200 books, with no limiting factors, as my Goodreads challenge. Honestly, I’ve committed to 200 books the past two years and upped it partway through both times—to 225 the first year and 250 the second—and still surpassed it both times. So, 200 is probably on the low side. However, like the past two years, I hope to stop reading so damned much and concentrate more on my own writing. I always seem to fail at this. Screen Shot 2015-01-01 at 16.55.12

Anyone who claimed reading can’t be an addiction is full of horse caca. I need the emotional fix as badly as my caffeine and considering I practically need to be surgically removed from my tea or coffee cup (depending on when and where), that’s saying something.

I’ll also be participating for a third year in book r3vi3ws‘, Indie Fever challenge. I consider this an easy challenge, really, since the vast majority of the books I read these days are Indie/SP. But I’ve signed up at the Fanatic level. This requires I read 75 or more Indie/SP books in the coming year. I don’t anticipate a problem on this front.

Unexpectedly, I’ll also being doing book r3vi3ws’ First Reads challenge. I say unexpectedly because I accidentally signed up for it, meaning to register for Indie Fever. But in the end, I figured I might as well stick with it. I read plenty of new-to-me authors and I really like letting fate have it’s way on occasion. I’ve committed to the Expert level, or 51-75 books written by authors I’ve never read before.

Next, I’ve also signed up for Samantha Lin‘s Author A-Z challenge. Last year, I made a point to read a book by an author for each letter of the alphabet, but I never officially signed up for a challenge. This year, I’m getting credit for my effort. I think this challenge is fairly self-explanatory. No levels or anything like that, just trying to make sure each letter of the alphabet is represented by the last name of an author.

I’m also signed up for Evie-Booksish’s TBR pile reading challenge. Lord knows I need this. I buy books so much faster than I read them. As the name would suggest, the goal here is to read books that have been sitting on your To Be Read pile for a while. It isn’t specified, but I’m setting my limit at two years or more. I’ve signed up for the ‘First Kiss’ level, which requires I read 21-30 such books.

I’ll also be participating in The Mad Reviewer‘s Reading and Reviewing challenge. I signed up for the Mad Reviewer level, which means reading and reviewing 104 books. They can be Indie, SP or Traditionally published. Again, I anticipate no difficulties in achieving this goal.

Lastly, though not really a challenge per se, I’m committing to read at least 36 review request books. By this, I mean books I’ve received from authors requesting reviews. That’s three a month.

I’ll be starting the year with Liberty and Other Stories, followed by There Will Be Phlogiston, which is an Amazon freebie, BTW. They’re both by Alexis Hall and constitute Prosperity, #2-5. I’ve had these books for a while, but saved them to read in the new year. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Hall and wanted to ensure I gave myself a good chance at starting 2015 on the right foot. Here’s hoping!