Tag Archives: fantasy

Bearly Awake

Book Review of Bearly Awake (Providence Paranormal College #1), by D.R. Perry

I picked up a copy of Bearly Awake, by D. R. Perry, from Amazon. It was free at the time.

Description from Goodreads:
Bobby Tremain’s life used to seem charmed, but since his dad’s crippling accident, he has an avalanche of problems. He’s the first in his family to have a shot at college, also the first to head north of Louisiana. An early snow calls his Bear to hibernate a week before finals, but he needs to pass or he flunks out of Providence Paranormal College.

Lynn Frampton’s loneliness is almost more than she can take. She went to college on the other side of the country to get away from the persistent curse of unpopularity in a small town. Once at college, Lynn’s prickly personality has pushed everyone away yet again. At least, she’s at the top of her class.

Bobby needs Lynn’s help to stay awake and pass his exam, and she discovers she needs companionship more than she’d ever imagined. Lynn’s all set to transfer to a school back home, but Bobby thinks she’s his mate. Can he keep awake long enough to pass, and more importantly, convince his love to stay?

Review:
So, this wasn’t necessarily bad. It fit the bill of being fluffy and non-taxing, which is what I wanted when I picked it up. But I didn’t feel like it held together very well. The plot jumps around and a fairly large mystery isn’t solved. Worse though, was the main character, Lynn. She’s supposed to be smart and sassy and snarky and sarcastic. I know this because her internal monologue tells me, the reader, about it a dozen times. But I just found her unpleasant. Sure, there’s some fun nerdiness, that I and a large portion of the female populace recognize and appreciate. But it’s treated like she’s something special for it. And her constant, “I’m not like other girls because I’m smart,” is a blatant insult. It infers that other women aren’t smart. Duh. Basically, it felt like the author was trying way too hard to be funny and it just fell flat on its face.

The Black Tides of Heaven

Book Review of The Black Tides of Heaven (Tensorate #1), by J. Y. Yang

I borrowed a copy of J. Y. Yang‘s The Black Tides of Heaven (The Tensorate Series) from my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
Mokoya and Akeha, the twin children of the Protector, were sold to the Grand Monastery as children. While Mokoya developed her strange prophetic gift, Akeha was always the one who could see the strings that moved adults to action. While his sister received visions of what would be, Akeha realized what could be. What’s more, he saw the sickness at the heart of his mother’s Protectorate.

A rebellion is growing. The Machinists discover new levers to move the world every day, while the Tensors fight to put them down and preserve the power of the state. Unwilling to continue to play a pawn in his mother’s twisted schemes, Akeha leaves the Tensorate behind and falls in with the rebels. But every step Akeha takes towards the Machinists is a step away from his sister Mokoya. Can Akeha find peace without shattering the bond he shares with his twin sister?

Review:
I so wanted to love this more than I did. I liked it, ok, but I didn’t love it. In fact, I checked out book one and two from the library and, though I enjoyed book one, I still returned book two (The Red Threads of Fortune) unread. I liked the non-western fantasy setting. I liked the genderless children (even if the singular use of they clashed with the plural they on occasion, since there were two main characters). The writing is lyrical and I liked that too. But when it comes right down to it, I’m not a fan of that sparse writing style common in Chinese writing. This book covers 30+ years in a novella. As a result, I never felt I really got to know the characters or was invested in the building rebellion. I’m claiming no lack of quality. I can sense that it’s well-written. This just isn’t a style I personally like very much.

Cursed with Claws

Book Review of Cursed with Claws, by Asta Idonea

I received a copy of Asta Idonea‘s Cursed With Claws through Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
A dragon dwells atop the mountain that overlooks Ode’s village. Every year the surrounding villages gather to make an offering to keep the beast at bay: chests of gold and a human sacrifice.

When the wise men choose his beloved sister, Malle, as the latest sacrifice, Ode immediately offers to take her place. But instead of a dragon on the mountain ledge, he meets a mysterious young man.

Review:
I’ve learned. It took a little while, but it’s finally sunk in. Less Than Three Press publishes a certain sort of novella that I dislike. I always get caught by the blurb, but now I know not to be fooled. I read Alexandria Bellefleur’s Frostbite last year, which is also by LTTP and essentially the same plot as Cursed with Claws. I felt about it the same as I did this one. Meh. That’s it.

Cursed beast in a mountain cave? Check. Ingenue young man encounters him? Check. Almost instant attraction, despite one party being deadly/monsterous (both dragons)? Check. Love developing in too short a time? Check. Happily ever after? Check. Everything is very shallow, very linear and very Mary Sue/Marty Stew. It’s not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with it. There’s obviously a market, so those that enjoy it. I’m just not one of them. I was not impressed by Idonea’s Cursed with Claws, but it was the book that finally taught me what to be on the lookout for, so I can avoid reading it or its ilk again.