Tag Archives: fantasy

Incubus

Book Review of Incubus (The Incubus Saga #1), by Amanda Meuwissen

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IncubusI grabbed a copy of Incubus, by Amanda Meuwissen, from the Amazon free list.

Description from Goodreads:
Nathan only ever wanted a normal life, but for him, life, family, and love are anything but normal.

On the other side of the Veil, dark and light fae exist outside the knowledge of most humans. Nathan Grier was born human, but his twin brother Jim is a changeling. On the run since they were children, time for both of them is running out. Turning to fae hunter Sasha Kelly for help, Nathan must soon face his growing feelings for the other man while trying to save himself and his brother from a fate worse than death.

Review:
Having just finished Incubus, I think I can say with some certainty that Ms. Meuwissen didn’t set out to write a book. She wanted to write a television screenplay. The chapters are even referred to as episodes and every chapter or two completes a mini adventure (as one would expect from an hour long weekly show). 

Actually, I can be even more specific. Ms. Meuwissen wanted to write a Supernatural spinoff/fanfiction television show. I don’t think I’m the first to point out the obvious similarity to the show and its characters. Nathan would be Dean and Jim would be Sam. (It has been literally years since I sat down and watched a primetime television show, so if I’m catching such a similarity it must be pretty obvious.)

Also like popular, ongoing television programs, the book doesn’t wrap up by the end. In fact, between all of the distracting side adventures and the rather heavy focus on the romance, the main plot of saving Nathan from his dark fae bounty was lost. It felt very, very much like watching a show week after week and then finally realising that due to its new-found popularity, the writers, producers, etc have decided to add endless filler to stretch it into another season, and then another and then another, until you no longer even remember where it was originally going anyway. 

It was well written. I liked the characters and I liked the plot. I just didn’t care for the plotting. The book is way too long, there are too many forays into adventures that go nowhere, and there are a lot of extra bits—Alex and Jim’s issues, for example. All of this sets the series up for future books, sure, but it’s incredibly frustrating to read. Both because the plot feels diluted, but also because you reach the end knowing almost nothing more than you did when you started, which feels like a distinct waste of time. 

I did think the GFY aspect was sweetly done. There was very little ‘but I’m not gay’ angst and it therefore felt much more like falling in love with a person, instead of an appropriate gender. I liked that a lot. 

Now, a lot of people love this book and, being as it feels like a clone of the television show Supernatural, anyone who likes it will probably like the book. If it had been a stand-alone and I didn’t feel like I had just spent two days reading for no final payoff I would probably rate it higher than I am. As it is, I’m going with not baaaad, but could have be soooo much better.

Post review discovery: Big World Netwrok (the book’s publisher) states that their goal is to provide a “… way to enjoy both fiction and non-fiction in an episodic format, not unlike a television series….” So, while I didn’t much care for the format, I have to give the book credit for being true to it and its publisher’s aim. (Plus, I feel a little smug about having recognised it.)

Of course, it goes on to say, “Unlike a traditional novel with a clear endpoint, series on BWN continue for as long as their readers want more and new seasons are renewed. The average series episode is between 4-10 pages…” Which to me means, without end and no hope for a satisfying conclusion. Again, much like almost every TV series I’ve ever become invested enough to try and watch regularly. I’m fairly sure I’ve never actually made it to a final season, final show ENDING. Part of why I stopped bothering.

Book Review of The Pack or the Panther, by Tara Lain

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The Pack or the PantherI bought a copy of the Pack or the Panther, by Tara Lain.

Description from Goodreads:
Cole Harker, son of an alpha werewolf, is bigger and more powerful than most wolves, tongue-tied in groups, and gay. For twenty-four years, he’s lived to please his family and pack—even letting them promise him in marriage to female werewolf Analiese to secure a pack alliance and help save them from a powerful gangster who wants their land. Then Cole meets Analiese’s half-brother, panther shifter Paris Marketo, and for the first time, Cole wants something for himself. 

When Analiese runs off to marry a human, Cole finally has a chance with Paris, but the solitary cat rejects him, the pack, and everything it represents. Then Cole discovers the gangster wants Paris too and won’t rest until he has him. What started as a land dispute turns into World War Wolf! But the bigger fight is the battle between cats and dogs.

Review:
Goodness, I’ve had rotten luck lately in the book department. I’m not one of those ‘find fault with everything’ readers. I promise I’m not. But this one ticked very few boxes in my ‘likely to love it’ listing.

The writing itself is fine. It seemed pretty well-edited, and Cole is to die for. He’s an endearing mix of big, tough alpha wolf and tongue-tied, flustered cutie. Oh, and there are some cool side characters. I liked Cole’s best friend, Lindsay, though it was pretty darned convenient that he had so many connections and could do all the save-the-day type things he could. But I liked him. And it was pretty awesome that Cole’s mom is so kickass on her own. But that’s where my praise ends. 

I hated Paris. He was like some amped-up caricature of a sassy, slutty (in the fun way, if you know what I mean) bottom. He was selfish, and a lot of his issues weren’t well explained. He seemed to be damaged in some way but claimed to have had a happy life. 

Then there was the sex. OMG, the sex. It was just wrong in so many ways. It was effortless, crude, rushed, and the things they said…cringe. I’m embarrassed for them, and that’s before I factor in the howling. No, it didn’t do it for me. I didn’t find it arousing AT ALL.

Then there was the sappy, ‘everyone apologises and tells them how great they are’ ending. I mean, it’s great that Cole’s parents finally came around, but that whole scene in the new house was hard to swallow—like trying to drink straight agave. Not happening. And the twist at the very end? It made no sense. Why keep that hidden throughout the whole book? I can think of a number of times that ability would have smoothed already difficult situations.

So, on the whole, this is a failure for me. There were things I appreciated, and, again, the writing ok. But on my ‘personal preferences’ list, it didn’t score well.

Savage Hunger

Book Review of Savage Hunger, by Shelli Stevens

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Savage HungerI grabbed a copy of Shelli Stevens’ novel Savage Hunger from the Amazon free list. At the time of posting, it was still free.

Description from Goodreads:
Being the daughter of a world-renowned scientist, Sienna Peters has struggled to carve out her own career in the field. But her world is sent spinning when she discovers a secret species being held in the lab where she works, and the horrible things being done to them. Compelled to do more than hand off an information-packed jump drive to her father, she sets out to free the creatures.

The minute his team enters the compound, federal agent Warrick Donovan knows their mission will have more trouble than they bargained on. Unfortunately, trouble comes in the form of Sienna Peters, the younger sister of his close friend. Now not only does he need to save her pretty ass, he needs to discover just how involved she is with the imprisonment of the shifters.

Sienna knows she should trust no one–not even the man she might still love. But as the danger escalates and past passion ignites, her heart has other ideas. Even when the shroud of mystery is ripped off more than one stunning truth…The man who vows to protect her may be her biggest threat.

Review:
This book has a cool cover (that really doesn’t represent the book at all), but that’s about it. I suppose a lot of it comes down to personal preferences in the books we read, but this one made me grind my teeth. Everything from odd uses of male and feminine as descriptors. For example: “…but instead a surge of confidence at the feminine awareness in her eyes.” What the hell is “feminine awareness?” Or when the characters say, “I love the way you feel,” she murmured. “So hard. So…male.” Which was why they worked well together. Why, because he’s a man and she’s a woman? Is that really all it takes to fit together? Remind me to grab the next man that passes me on the street, then. To the fact that as soon as they had sexy-time for the first time, Warrick was all of a sudden “baby” this and “baby” that was annoying. 

But mostly, I didn’t like the fact that I was bored silly for most of the book. Seriously, it was a fairly consistent pattern of 5-6 pages (or some similarly long time) of angsty, “I want him/her, but can’t have her/him blah, blah, blah,” a paragraph or two of plot-related action, another series of pages about how sexy Sierra is or Warrick is or how they wished they could be together or not. All multiplied by about a million. 

Plus, there’s just no joy here. Every-time the characters engage in anything that should be a moment of bliss–sex or cuddles or basic kindness–it is immediately followed a fight, anger and mooooore angst (mostly because Warrick is a total jerk). This left no light moments. 

Also, the plot is really pretty weak in general. I mean, Sierra is hunted by the organization for having a jump drive that proves their nefarious deeds (and “jump drive” is used about a 1,000 times, BTW). Sure, OK. But then it turns out the whole thing is legal–contracts are signed, etc. So, why hunt her down at all? What’s more, the big bad guy is just some random person who plays no real role in the book, you never get to know, and whose motives are never disclosed. Meh. 

Plus, everyone acts like Sierra is soooo stubborn to not give up the information she has. But a highly trained, hardened para-military group pretty much just politely asked her to tell them and then backed off when she said, “No.” What? Really? So unbelievable. 

Lastly, and just as important as the boredom, is the basic predictability of it all. At 50% through, I posted a status update that said, “So, we all know how this is going to wrap up and end, right? Right.” And I did. Everything worked out just the way I expected it to. 

For those readers who love a story that is almost entirely based on two people working their angsty out, drooling over one another, and moving toward sex, this is a good book for you. For those who need a little more plot or who have a low BS tolerance, maybe not. The mechanical writing and editing were all fine, one way or the other, though.