Tag Archives: romance

A Promise of Fire

Book Review of A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles #1), by Amanda Bouchet

Leave a reply

A Promise of FIre

I won a copy of Amanda Bouchet‘s A Promise of Fire from Night Owl Reviews.

Description from Goodreads:
Catalia “Cat” Fisa is a powerful clairvoyant known as the Kingmaker. This smart-mouthed soothsayer has no interest in her powers and would much rather fly under the radar, far from the clutches of her homicidal mother. But when an ambitious warlord captures her, she may not have a choice…

Griffin is intent on bringing peace to his newly conquered realm in the magic-deprived south. When he discovers Cat is the Kingmaker, he abducts her. But Cat will do everything in her power to avoid her dangerous destiny and battle her captor at every turn. Although up for the battle, Griffin would prefer for Cat to help his people willingly, and he’s ready to do whatever it takes to coax her…even if that means falling in love with her.

Review:
Oh man, I have SUCH disappointment about this book. Authors, could you explain to me why you would set up a whole world around a female character, give her god-like powers, training, skill and intelligence, then infantilize her and allow her to be overpowered by a man for an ENTIRE book? Why? WHY?!

Cat seemed to have boundless powers that develop as needed—very deus ex machina of the moment sort of thing. She defeated dragons, killed thirty soldiers with a single breath, had prophetic dreams, was a soothsayer, was protected by gods (plural). Yet, in the face of one man she’s helpless. What’s more, she’s also presented as unreasonable and needlessly angry that he kidnapped her. Literally, she asked why he expected her to accept him and her situation and he said, “I expected you to be reasonable” and she internally agreed. Excuse me? He abducted her, unknowingly exposed her, threatened her friends and adoptive family. I’m pretty sure surliness and trying to escape IS the reasonable response. And she is kidnapped in the very beginning, so she’s basically a helpless captive for the whole book.

So, I’m angry that the supposedly strong female was basically, ‘strong, but not as strong as the men’ but I died a little with each cliché that was thrown in. The scene where she got accidentally high as a result of her own actions and lets all her guards down, acting inviting and sexy, but being “happy like a child” and needing protection. The one where the scorned woman went homicidal. The one where ‘her body betrayed her’ by being attracted to the man who kidnapped her. The ones where she had to be a virgin because good heroines never have sex with anyone but their hero. My god, this book was practically a cobbled together series of romantic fantasy clichés. It was also repetitive as hell.

The writing, it was fine and I appreciated that when Cat’s curvy body was compared to her thin counterpart she was the one found most appealing, on more than one occasion. Those who don’t mind seeing their women dominated by their romantic lead will probably enjoy it. I personally want to burn the darned thing, but instead I’ll put it in my Little Free Library and hopefully someone in the neighborhood will enjoy it more than me.

The Night Circus

Book Review of The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern

Leave a reply

The Night CircusI picked up a hardback copy of Erin Morgenstern‘s The Night Circus somewhere. I’m not even sure where. I imagine I’m not the only one this happens to. Right? Right!?

Description from Goodreads:
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices plastered on lampposts and billboards. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

Within these nocturnal black-and-white striped tents awaits an utterly unique, a feast for the senses, where one can get lost in a maze of clouds, meander through a lush garden made of ice, stare in wonderment as the tattooed contortionist folds herself into a small glass box, and become deliciously tipsy from the scents of caramel and cinnamon that waft through the air.

Welcome to Le Cirque des Rêves.

Beyond the smoke and mirrors, however, a fierce competition is under way–a contest between two young illusionists, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood to compete in a “game” to which they have been irrevocably bound by their mercurial masters. Unbeknownst to the players, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will.

As the circus travels around the world, the feats of magic gain fantastical new heights with every stop. The game is well under way and the lives of all those involved–the eccentric circus owner, the elusive contortionist, the mystical fortune-teller, and a pair of red-headed twins born backstage among them–are swept up in a wake of spells and charms.

But when Celia discovers that Marco is her adversary, they begin to think of the game not as a competition but as a wonderful collaboration. With no knowledge of how the game must end, they innocently tumble headfirst into love. A deep, passionate, and magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

Their masters still pull the strings, however, and this unforeseen occurrence forces them to intervene with dangerous consequences, leaving the lives of everyone from the performers to the patrons hanging in the balance.

Review:
This is one of those books that has been on my radar for a long time and a lot of my friends loved it. I thought it was ok, though I certainly see what its die-hard fans love so much. It’s very descriptive and has a pleasant, sedate narrative pace that is easy to fall into.

But as a reader, I most appreciate getting to know characters deeply and the only character I felt I knew well in this book was the circus. Every detail seemed to be described. And it’s pretty to read, but I wish the same attention had been lavished on the living, breathing, human characters and their interrelationships. I never felt I knew them well enough to care particularly about them.

Similarly, leaping back and forwards in time, which is just what this book does, personally always annoys me. There’s nothing wrong with either of these things. It just meant I wasn’t an overly happy reader, even if I could objectively see that it is a cleverly written book.

In the end, I thought it was a fine book, just not one that matched my own preferences well.

Book Review of Clockwork Heart (Clockwork Love #1), by Heidi Cullinan

Leave a reply

Clockwork HeartClockwork Heart, by Heidi Cullinan, is one of many books I bought in the sale Samhain Publishing had last year, when they claimed to be closing.

Description from Goodreads:
As the French army leader’s bastard son, Cornelius Stevens enjoys a great deal of latitude. But when he saves an enemy soldier using clockwork parts, he’s well aware he risks hanging for treason. That doesn’t worry him half as much, however, as the realization he’s falling for his patient.

Johann Berger never expected to survive his regiment’s suicide attack on Calais, much less wake up with mechanical parts. To avoid discovery, he’s forced to hide in plain sight as Cornelius’s lover—a role Johann finds himself taking to surprisingly well.

When a threat is made on Cornelius’s life, Johann learns the secret of the device implanted in his chest—a mythical weapon both warring countries would kill to obtain. Caught up in a political frenzy, in league with pirates, dodging rogue spies, mobsters and princesses with deadly parasols, Cornelius and Johann have no time to contemplate how they ended up in this mess. All they know is, the only way out is together—or not at all.

Review:
It kept me entertained for an evening, but I didn’t love it. I struggled with the first half a lot. I felt like the challenge of narrating a story in English, with one character that spoke French and another that spoke German left Cullinan no choice but to tell everything and show almost nothing. Honestly, I almost just gave up on the book. But eventually, after the two men had lived together for months, one finally mentioned he spoke English and the other went, “Oh, I do too.” As if you wouldn’t try every language you know, especially if you speak several, to communicate with the person you’re living with!

Basically, that is the level of believability with this story. I had to suspend a lot of disbelief as either irrational, overly convenient, or just basically unbelievable things happened over and over. This extended to the characters too. I couldn’t get down with Conny’s kinky side. I actually really like that Cullinan allowed a main character to be a slutty, exhibitionist, submissive and allowed a successful romantic pairing that didn’t end in monogamy, but was still presented as good. However, outside of the bedroom (or wherever they were getting down) he came across as a fairly staid, straight-laced sort of chap. So, when he broke out the dirty talk and kinky sex it was jarring. Similarly, I struggled with Johann’s age. He felt much older than 18, but having been in both the army and a pirate, I couldn’t really believe him to have been as oblivious to sex as he is presented as. The villain is evil just because he’s evil. Side characters make amazing sacrifices for unknown reasons, etc.

Again, my point is just that there were a lot of things I had to consciously tell myself to overlook in order to enjoy the story. I did enjoy it. Don’t get me wrong. The writing is good, outside of the clunky language issues. The characters are likable, even if their love for one another is a little too solid a little too easily. I like the pairing that was set up for the sequel. I’d read it, happily. But the book didn’t stand out as stellar.