Let it be noted that I skimmed through most of the book in the matter of mere hours and I didn't find this book interesting and flashed-out enough to Let it be noted that I skimmed through most of the book in the matter of mere hours and I didn't find this book interesting and flashed-out enough to deserve my attention of reading it word-to-word.
So what's in store for us this time? A heroine who is as funny and clever as a doormat, who is pinned after by two hot guys (one prince charming and one brooding bad boy, any one?), lot and lot of teenage soap operatic love dramas and love triangle which drown out everything else in the story (e.g. the supposedly important conspiracy surrounding the school which has kind of gotten shoved to the background).
Plus what is the deal with a boy telling his girlfriend not to hang out with her other suitor!? Since when it's okay for a guy to tell his girlfriend whom she can befriend!?
Nothing about the conspiracy and the heroine's mysterious family background has gotten any explanation neither, AND NOTHING HAPPENS THROUGHOUT THE STORY. I'm so fucking done. I will drop this series entirely....more
Half Lost: DNF-ed@ around page 50. I'm so dishearted that I don't even give it any rating, because even rating it 1 star feels like a waste of my effort.
I had ran out of patience for this book and this series. I mean, who has patience for 'chasing Annalise' round 2? Plus as far as I can see there is still not much explanation for this fictional world, the author still continues to expect us to take her poor creations serious without asking any question of 'how', 'what' and 'why'.
I will be honest with you, I decided to quit this book after I skimmed to the ending part and found THESE happen:
(1) Gabriel, the LGTB main character, died in the ending part in order to.......to make the ending more tragic and realistic, I guess?
Of course the LGTB teen just needs to die to make the story tragic, right?
(2) Ethan, the bisexual main character, grieved constantly for Gabriel till he decided to finally off himself by becoming a mother fucking tree at 22 years old.
Com' on! Even Katniss Everdeen, who became a total weakling in the godforsaken Mockingjay, didn't kill herself after losing her sister.
Plus, a young man just has to commit suicide after losing his loved ones without having a chance to heal his wounds, move on and find a new love. He just has to off himself and leaves his older brother (who had lost their parents, grandmother and sister within 5 or so years) behind with nothing but an evil bitch sister as company.
To sweeten the deal, we didn't even know Ethan can turn into anything other than animals before he changes himself into a mother fucking tree. Sally Green, you cheater!
(3) I also found that after Ethan survived a traumatizing war, losing his boyfriend, his friends and allies, his older brother Arron still only bothers to visit him twice a month.
It really is a shinning example of brotherly love, right?
(4) Ethan found out his old girlfriend Annalise had given birth to his son, but he won't bother to see said son, not once.
44 pages into the story, and I found this review to be far more entertaining than the book itself.
Note: in the upcoming review, I will continue to use photos from Jean Cocteau's movies, not because Sarah J. Maas' creation deserves to be put in the same place with Cocteau's grand works of art, but because Cocteau's movies deserve more viewing.
Important Note 1: Be alerted Cassandra Clare! Your position as the mighty Queen of Inconsistency and Creator of Terrible Romance and Unlikable Mary Sues is now threatened by a worthy challenger! And the name of this worthy challenger is Sarah J. Maas!
Important Note 2: I don't have many good things to say about Leigh Bardugo's YA novels and her writing, but I feel bad for her book Crooked Kingdom for losing the 2016 Best YA Fantasy Award to A Court of Mist and Fury, because I honestly can't see how Bardugo can do a worse job than SJM here.
Important Note 3: Okay guys. The epic infamous sex which makes mountains trembled is right there at page. 533. It actually isn't as graphic as I once feared. Still, trust me, I have read my shares of demon sex/alien sex/monster sex/supernatural sex for free on a few erotica websites, but I don't remember any of those sex has mountains trembled at its wake!
Important Note 4: Be alerted that this review contents unmarked spoilers for the ending of the first book and this book itself!
Important Note 5: I felt my hope to humanity DYING after Wilde reminded me of THIS:
"And to think SJM is writing a Catwoman novel in 2018. There is no righteousness in this world. None."
There really is no righteousness in this world and I really, really hate to see Catwoman having a go with Batman and all the other hot guys in the Batman comic series. I will definitely hate it.
I can hardly believe it. In my review for the previous book of this series, I'd mentioned the last 100+ pages of ACOTAR is the good part of the story (the first 290 pages are bad), but now........within the first 130 pages of ACOMAF, Ms. Maas has already managed to undo the good things she created in those last 100+ pages in the prequel:
Remember Beauty and the Beast? In this fable, the Beauty got to look beyond the Beast's ugly and frightening appearance, and saw the man within who is still wroth redeeming and loving.
Turns out, THIS does not happen in Feyre's relationship with Tamlin. Turns out Feyre doesn't know Tamlin very well, she hasn't seen anything outside of the High Lord's masked face and his beautiful male flesh.
Talking about beautiful male flesh, we actually have some here:
Turns out there isn't much in their relationship outside of raging sex drive and lust.
In Beauty and the Beast, the Beast finally puts his selfishness aside, becomes willing to sacrifice himself in exchange for the Beauty's happiness.
Turns out, THIS does not happen to Tamlin, because Ms. Maas decided to give him a 180 degree personality shift, undoing the sacrifice he made at the end of ACOTAR, leaving his choice of letting Feyre go to be accounted for nothing.
Turns out, Tamlin also doesn't know much about Feyre, he never acknowledges or respects her strength and personality, and it sucks. It sucks so much.
Oh, so you think now I'm Team Rhysand? No, because Rhys has become so much of a boring, 'can-do-no-wrong' saint in this book that I can't stand him. Not to mention, it's okay for Rhys to drug Feyre, having her dancing half naked in front of everyone, unable to resist anything that was done to her or control her body in the previous book. No big deal, really, because Rhys is hot.
And no, in Ms. Maas's mind, there is no such thing as 'the heroine staying single and getting on with her life independently'. No, nap. Nada.
I have a feeling this novel will be such a feast of Fuck-ery.
Let's do a quick breakdown, first let's start with the characters:
Feyre: Who the hell are you? This MC we get to see in ACOMAF isn't the same person whom I got to know in ACOTAR. First, the Feyre from ACOTAR wouldn't have spent so much time to whine about herself being 'bad' and 'broken', she also wouldn't have tolerated half of the craps she had been subjected to, nor would she have allowed Tamlin to tell her what to do.
Secondly, it really is off-putting to see the MC becoming such a massive Mary Sue that now she has the power of seven courts, she becomes desirable by two powerful High Lords, and she also has become so, so flawlessly beautiful.
Rhysand: Again, who the hell are you? Gone is the mysterious, half-villainous, interesting High Lord of the Night Court from the first book, in his place we get this boring, love-sicked, 'can-do-no-wrong' Perfect Boyfriend who is so loving, so selfless, so open-minded, so 'feminist' that he literally is a saint reincarnated. Plus his awesomeness is never explained. I mean, why would all the High Lords be narrowed minded and stupid but only Rhys alone is the wisest and the most powerful of them all?
Tamlin: I have never been a fan of Tamlin and I HATE to defend him and his behaviors in this book. However, I also truly HATE how SJM had treated him here. Tamlin barely gets any chance to explain himself whilst Rhys can explain himself in great length and his every mistakes and errors in the past are pardoned. It is just so unfair and manipulative.
For example: On Tamlin and Feyre's wedding day, Tamlin just acts (view spoiler)["okay you can take her" to Rhys IN FRONT OF EVERYONE? Without even trying to beat Rhys into a bloody mess first for trying to take his bride away from him? (hide spoiler)] It goes against everything I know about Tamlin from book 1!
Talking about Out Of Character (OOC-ness for short), it takes the cake!
Also, according to Feyre/SJM--it is difficult to tell them apart because the more I read, the more I feel they are one and the same, Tamlin doing bad things out of jealousy is bad and unforgivable, but Rhysand doing bad things out of jealousy (e.g. drugging Feyre and parading her around, threatening both Tamlin and Feyre in ACOTAR) is...excusable? The double standards of this simply leave me gagging.
And don't you tell me Rhys had done all these with good intention, Tamlin's behaviors in ACOMAF can also be justified in the same way!
Lucien: Once again, who the hell are you? Gone is the loyal Fae warrior with a leveled head and quick wits, who used to be my favorite character. Now he is only a ghost of himself, now he is a wimp who doesn't dare to do anything against Tamlin's order. In fact, in this book, this guy has done NOTHING.
Rhysand's Inner Circle: Oh, they are the fun, exciting 'cool' kids whom Feyre befriended. I have absolutely no interest in them. Like Rhys, their open-mindedness and awesomeness is unexplained. Plus I also have a hard time believing 500+ years old, supposedly seasoned Fae warriors like them failed to foresee or at least guess at The King of Hybern's scheme and the betrayal of some certain people.
Feyre's sisters: Actually their scenes are the more interesting parts of the story! Almost makes me wish that this story is about them instead of Feyre and Rhys!
The King of Hybern and his army:Who cares about them, who!? The plots about the King and his evil scheme to invade the human world and the land of faeries are so vague that they are entirely overshadowed by Feyre's romantic dramas and the entire mate business.
Can any one tell me had this 'bonding' and 'mate' business ever been mentioned in ACOTAR? What is the point of the romance in ACOTAR if everything could be easily canceled out and excused in the name of 'he/she is my mate'!?
I need to remind you once more I have never been a fan of Tamlin/Feyre, but if they needed a change of heart then I at least had expected this change of heart and change of partner to be done in a somewhat realistic and meaningful way! Not this SJM's 'but he/she is my mate' treatment!
Did I mention there isn't even a love triangle in this story? What SJM had done is simply shoving the old boyfriend (Tamlin) aside to make way for the new love interest (Rhysand). And it's so, so cheap.
Later, Feyre finds out Rhys has every reason to hate Tamlin and his people ((view spoiler)[Tamlin seemingly has a hand in the murder of Rhys' mother and sister (hide spoiler)]), but she still doesn't second guess Rhys' motive of being nice to her?! Instead she decides within the next heartbeat that Tamlin must be the bad guy while Rhys is the noble one. I must admit I can't quite see her logic.
Remember by the end of ACOTAR, Feyre had made a bargain with Rhys so she must stay in the Night Court for a whole week in each month for the rest of her life? Originally I was very curious to see how this bargain will play out, I want to see Feyre making new discoveries at the infamous, nightmarish Night Court and getting to know the Court and its people, I want to see how she balances her separated lives in both the Spring Court and the Night Court. But no, SJM cheated me of all these by getting Feyre to (view spoiler)[to stay in the Night Court full time within the first 100 pages! (hide spoiler)] So what is the point of this bargain!? What is the point?
As to Rhys/Feyre, if Ryhsand constantly saying lame one-liners and Feyre constantly calling Rhys 'Pig' or other names is supposed to be a romantic development. I'm out of here.
Last but not least, it isn't like Feyre is such a mature person when relationship is concerned, in the first book her relationship with Tamlin is clearly based more on lust than understanding; then when Tamlin starts showing flaws in personality and behaviors, it doesn't take long for Feyre to dumb him (and she only write a crappy letter to inform the guy she isn't going back MONTHS after disappearing, she can't even do a face-to-face break up like a grown up). In this book, Feyre seems to lust after Rhys because HE IS PERFECT, but when Rhys so much as keeping *one* secret from her, then she blew up right in his face. Some other reviewers had already pointed out Feyre doesn't love neither Tamlin nor Rhys despite their flaws, she is attracted to them only when they are seemingly perfect to her and giving her everything (e.g. sense of security, material comforts, freedom, etc) she wants. That's it.
And the world building...there isn't much logic beyond the world building, a lot of things just simply are, because of magic. You know? MAGIC.
Magic can do so much wonder and explain away so many things that like for example, (view spoiler)[Rhys could conveniently hide an entire city and its people from Amarantha and The King's notice, and wiped everyone's memories about this city. I'm talking about an entire city here! (hide spoiler)]
Comparing Brandon Sanderson with SJM feels like a huge insult to Mr. Sanderson. Because honestly, when authors such as Mr. Sanderson, N. K. Jemisin and Robin Hobb working their fingers into bones to create their complicated high fantasy worlds, SJM wasn't even trying when world building is concerned! For example, there isn't much religion and mythology in her faerie society aside from a few mentions about a Mother goddess, some priestesses and that...magical thing which supposedly created the world.
Just as convenient is that Rhys (view spoiler)[has two Courts instead of just one, and all the bad things he and the Court of Nightmare had done are only a cover for the noble, good-natural Court of Dreams. (hide spoiler)] Talking about blenching Rhys to make him look like a good guy and canceling out all his bad reputation!
To put insult to injure, all of the characters talk like they live in the modern world instead of some mythical faerie realm, these faeries even swear the same way we modern readers do with 'Fuck' and other swear words.
It's quite worth mentioning that although there is no love lost among me, Karen Marie Moning and her Fever series (I gave her books mostly 1 or 2 stars), yet I honestly think KMM has a better imagination and world building than SJM. Plus is it just me, or is it Feyre being able to sense The Book of Breathing looks very similar to how Mac can sense the evil Book in Fever series?
Also, let me talk about the lack of logic and common sense in this story in general:
In ACOMAF, Rhysand reveals that he has a (view spoiler)[hidden city within the Night Court, which has stayed hidden for thousands of years. Not only this, Amarantha also failed to catch wind about this city for a long 50 years because of magic, of course.
Yet, said hidden city has always been wealthy and awesome when everyone else were suffering under Amarantha's thumb.
Why are they wealthy, you ask? SJM tells us they are rich because the city has been doing TRADES with other people.
What other people, you ask? We never know. Because even when there are magic and wands to wipe travelers' memories about this hidden city, they have still managed to find their way back to said city and do trades with them and keep them rich. (hide spoiler)]
Don't ask me where is the logic of all these, just don't.
By around page 40 or 50, Rhys reveals that he wants Tamlin's association so they can join force to face down The King of Hybern's upcoming invasion. OMFG this sounds like a joke coming from Ryhs' mouth! Seriously, who would threat the person who is an potential ally with his girlfriend's life? Who would order said potential ally to kneel and bow? Who would (view spoiler)[spirit his potential ally's bride away from him, right in front of everyone (hide spoiler)] ? What is the logic of all these?
Plus The King of Hybern---this guy is so evil that he doesn't even have a name, not to mention he is also one of the few unpretty characters in the book because, you know, evil people must be bad looking! Anyway, The King, who rules his smaller island kingdom, still plans to conquer the seven faerie Courts AND the mortal realm which are larger in size and theoretically have more manpower at their dispose. Somehow, The King's scheme reminds me so much of how the Japanese Empire trying to conquer China back in World War II, and we all know where the Japanese's ambitious plan had led them to. Okay...China had endured eight years of bloody battles against the Japanese invaders before they were eventually driven off but...I think you get my message here, right?
Now, let's talk about the sex:
First thing: I'm disgusted to see so much *in detail* sex within in this book which is marketed as a Young Adult novel, it sickens me not because I think teenagers shouldn't read about sex in a YA book, but because the sex in this book is highly romanticized, unrealistic and there is no concern over protection or the real consequences of sex. Basically, SJM has just penned down some crappy sex scenes you can find in badly written romance novels (for adults) and sold it to sexually curious teenagers (namely 12 years old and above teens, mind you) without a care.
I mean, even Kresley Cole, who tends to write a few CHAPTERS of sex scenes for each of her adult paranormal romance novels, has the decency to tone down the sex in her YA paranormal books!
I mean, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out 'selling smuts to teenagers=money' is such a 'sure win' formula, and I'm sure SJM and her publisher are no fools. Therefore I'm really shocked to see some reviewers actually think what SJM is doing here is about 'sexual freedom' and/or 'feminism'! My ass! If SJM cared one bit about feminism, she wouldn't have put that crappy 'a woman invited a man to have sex = she is an evil woman' (this slut-shaming things happens around pg. 236, check this out yourself) shit in her own book!
I have read my share of paranormal novel/paranormal romance novels too, but the sex description in this book is so crappy that I needed to roll my eyes at this:
Rhysand laughed in a way that skittered along my bones, and slid in. And in. And in. (pg. 531)
Further more: do I want to see the MC having a man's fingers inside of her or she stroking the male lead's rock hard cock in a YA? The answer to this question is 'No', and I'm sick to my stomach.
Last but not least, our heroine's vagina has been described as 'glowing' during one of the sex scenes. Don't laugh, guys. So after the glowing vampires from Twilight....we now have...glowing vaginas. Don't laugh.
Finally...let's talk about the ending...
Well...there isn't much to be said about the ending, because nothing but crappy romance/love triangle has taken place during the first 500 pages of the book, the threat of the Evil King only resurfaces in the last 100 or so pages, and the Evil King just..........(view spoiler)[lets everyone escape in the last minute? He doesn't even kill Feyre's sisters off on the spot just to hurt Feyre? (hide spoiler)] OMFG! That Evil King is just so very, very scary! I mean it!
The Final Words: I desperately need more Jean Cocteau related 'people shooting themselves in the heads' gifs for this review because that's how I feel about this book. But since there aren't enough gifs, let's make do with this one:
For starter, now I can confidentially say I've finally encountered a book which can make Cassandra Cla20 'one of the worst books ever' Negative-Stars.
For starter, now I can confidentially say I've finally encountered a book which can make Cassandra Clare's, Stephenie Meyer and Marie Lu's novels look like decent literature, and this book is My Blood Approves, by Amanda Hocking.
So you ask what has gone wrong in this book...? Oh let's me think about it.......just where should I begin?
Warning: F-words here and there, don't like don't read.
(1) The story is a Twilight's doppelganger
Plain Jane main girl meets mysterious handsome boy who saves her from danger? Checks. Endless details of the boring daily life of the Plain Jane main girl? Checks. Vampire boy finds the girl irresistible because her blood is 'special'? Checks. Vampire boy has a rich adoptive family of attractive older vampires? Checks. All of the vampires in the boy's family are sexy and hot-as-fuck? Checks. Plain Jane main girl eagerly wants to ditch being human and embrace vampirism without a backward glance at her mortal family? Checks.
Need I go on?
(2) Meets Alice, an irredeemable spoiled brat and a Mary Sue who can put Bella Swan into total shame
Before I started reading this book, I just couldn't believe how irritating and hateful our Plain Jane main girl, namely Alice, can get. Now it's official: comparing with Alice, Bella Swan from Twilight suddenly looks like a decent and thoughtful character. Plus only Clarissa Fray from City of Bones can outdo Alice at being a completely hateful spoiled brat. Oh boy, how sad.
For example, Alice and her younger brother Milo are raised by a single mother. Said mother has been working 12 hours per-day, 70-plus hours per-week to make ends meet,but has the 17 years old Alice ever thought about getting a part time job to help her family? No. Never. The thought has never crossed her mind.
Plus, instead of looking after her 14 years old younger brother Milo when their mother is absent, Alice allows Milo to take charge of housekeeping duties. So Milo has to cook and wash FOR BOTH OF THEM whilst Alice is out wandering around streets and clubs at night, hanging out with her BFF and hooking up the hot guy Jack, whom she had just met.
To make things even better, Alice doesn't care about her own education, she refuses to do homework even when her brother Milo has to step in to remind her. Look, see. Alice even thinks (view spoiler)[immortality and being a vampire is far more important than continuing her education. (hide spoiler)]
*sighs* Because we all understand making out with your hot, perfect undead boyfriend is far more important than learning and going to school. Totally makes sense.
By the end of the book, Alice's mother is mad with her for being away from home *all night* without even one phone call, and instead of apologizing Alice runs away from home and goes stay with her rich, hot vampire boyfriend.
Not to mention, Alice is...to be frank, stupid. Even though I fully understand we can't expect every single 17 years old kid to be mature and smart, still how stupid must you be to step into the car of a total stranger in the middle of the night, especially right after you had just narrowly escaped being harmed/gang-raped? How stupid must you be to trust a guy who messed with your phone when you passed out? How stupid and thoughtless must you be to throw perfectly fine vegetables away just because you accidentally cut your finger (especially when your family isn't so well-off)? Just how stupid must you be to remain entirely carefree when hanging out with...blood-drinking VAMPIRES who are struggling not to eat you for dinner? I truly have no word.
(3) Creepy relationships gets disguised as romance, creepy guys get disguised as sexy love interests
Since the story is a photocopy of Twilight, so I am not the one bit surprised that Jack, the vampire, is attracted to Alice because her blood is special and irresistible. 'I want you, I love you because you smell so good I want to EAT you!' How romantic.
Trust me, I'm a huge vampire fan but all the talks about the vampire guys get excited by the sound of the girl's pulsing and the smell of her blood is just so fucking goddamn creepy, and gross. If a guy talked like this to me I swear I will tear him apart.
Plus, Jack also inserted his own phone number into Alice's cell *without consent* while the girl passed out. I have no word.
As to love interest number 2, we get Peter, who is a even bigger creeper than Jack, his 'younger brother' (alright, alright, so instead of a werewolf as the third wheel, we get a vampire one). I don't have many things to say about him aside from the fact he toys with Alice in a 'hot and cold' way, like a cat would toy with a mice it is about to kill. And at the very end the guy finally (view spoiler)[drinks Alice half to death (hide spoiler)], but Alice still lusts after him anyway! Again, just how fucking romantic.
(4) Alice is the most annoying narrator ever.
It is not easy to hear the thoughts of a 17 years old kid for an entire book, it is nearly unbearable to hear Alice's monologues (which make her sound like a dull eight years old) and her endless complaints about...well, everything and everyone.
(5) Many things in the story are just ridiculous.
Jack is a 20-something man who is jobless and out of school, he also lives off his older brother, but he is still considered by everyone (especially Alice) as a dreamboat.
Everyone--- and I do mean everyone, wants to jump Jack's bones. Alice wants him, her brother Milo wants him, their mother wants to push him to the floor and do him then and there. To tell the truth it really is embarrassing.
Just as embarrassing is the fact that 100 pages into the story, we get two hot male vampires interest with our Plain Jane main girl Alice already.
Since this book is a photocopy of Twilight, therefore all of the vampires that show up have to be unbelievably hot and attractive.
The story and the writing itself is so immature that it reminds me of an eight years old little girl playing Princess Game with her Barbie dolls while daydreaming about hot undead boyfriends. And you are telling me books like this get printed and people actually pay to read them? How sad.
(6)Where is the plot? Where is the story?
200 pages into the story, I realize this book is one big fat fucking piece of NOTHINGNESS. Things happens but there is barely a story, there is no development, no character's growth, no revelation, no plot twist, no moral lesson, no climax, NOTHING. All we get is a Mary Sue drooling over hot guys.
Reading this book felt like a fucking chore, I nearly gave up for many times before I crawled my way to the ending...which mocks me and laughs at me right in my face with its absolute POINTLESSNESS. So here is the final insult: I'd wasted my time for NOTHING.
Final words: with this fucking piece of crap (which I decline to call it a 'novel'), Amanda Hocking successfully wins the honor of being a worse author than Stephenie Meyer and Cassandra Clare. Good job, Ms. Hocking. Good job.
PS: and I honestly have no idea whether this simplified Chinese translation got any permission from the original publisher or not...
Edited@17/07/2016:
70 pages into the story, I am told that everyone loves the male lead, namely Jack, and I do mean everyone: the Main Girl Alice loves him, her younger brother has a crush on him, their mother wants to jump the guy's bones since the first time she meets him.
That is getting ridiculous, and embarrassing.
Edited@24/07/2016: Thoughts before finish reading the whole book:
I've read 150+ pages into My Blood Approves but absolutely nothing has happened, all I've gotten so far is the Plain Jane main girl Alice's monologues which bored me into tear (who wants to read a teenager girl's monologues when the thoughts in her mind makes her sound like a dull 8 years old?) and the long, useless description of the irresistible male vampires and their irresistible perfection.
So far I can tell you this book is even worse than the infamous Twilight, but I shouldn't be so surprised because bad writing like this can also be found in the Trylle series by the same author. The story and the writing is so immature that it reminds me of an 8 years old girl playing Princess Game with her Barbie dolls while day-dreaming about a handful of hot guys drooling over her.
And you are telling me books like this got printed and people have been actually paying their hard earned money to read them? How sad.
This review and this particular paragraph concludes my feeling to this book so beautifully:
This book is annoyingly TOO similar to Twilight, it could be it's awful cousin Martin. Where Twilight sucked, this one sucked even WORSE. At least Twilight was an original idea (with Bella and Edward's undying [pathetic] romance and the sparkling, and etc, etc, etc) but My Blood Approves was just...no. I see why the author self-published the book, because she knew she sucked so bad that no publishing company would allow such crap (although her Troll series, or whatever it's called, is getting published, but I didn't read those yet and it's beside the point).
Note: the only reason I read this book is I've kept seeing it popping up everywhere on Goodreads.com for over a year. So when I saw it on the library'Note: the only reason I read this book is I've kept seeing it popping up everywhere on Goodreads.com for over a year. So when I saw it on the library's bookshelf, I picked it up and borrowed it, I read it with zero expectation, I can see potentials in the story but in the end, I'm underwhelmed.
I'm utterly underwhelmed.
What I like:
(1) the author's willingness to expose readers to violence and the harsh reality of a Rome-inspired slaves-and-masters society. Rape? Murder? Raid? lower casted citizens being suppressed and mercilessly crushed down by their overlords? The author mentioned them all.
(2) the world building isn't so bad. I mean, it is far from being good, but at least it isn't eye-poppingly bad.
(3) the story is okay-ish enough and entirely readable for me to read to the end in a relatively short time.
(4) the idea of masked deadly warriors is kind of good.
What I don't like: (1) the story as a whole is a big fat case of 'been there, done before' to me.
Some other reviewers pointed out the all too familiar sister-saving-her-sibling scenario, teenagers-being-ordered-to-fight-to-the-death, boarding school setting, the Main Characters' fates being tied to some foretelling (You are the Chosen One, blah blah blah), rebellion and the suppressing society, and the all too familiar The Hunger Games vibe. To tell the truth I'm not so bothered by these similarities, but honestly An Ember in the Ashes brings nothing new to the table.
(2) the all evil teenage love-square.
Come on! There's an rebellion and a deadly contest going on! Ain't nobody got time for teenage romance angst!
[image]
(3) the wooden characters
Now, here is the real deal-breaker.
Elias: our male lead is a supposedly awesomely skilled young masked warrior who had been set to join a deadly contest in order to win the position of Emperor. But for most of the time, I can only see him moaning and ranting about his mommy issues and his love troubles.
Plus Elias is an asshole to his best friend, and it bothers me Elias didn't act, think and talk like someone who had been through hard training and had to be on guard for nearly his entire life.
Laia: a young girl who lost her entire family to the Empire and its soldiers. In order to save her brother, she accepted a mission to go to the training school for the Empire's masked warriors (who killed her family) and spied on the most dangerous person in the Empire. You think Laia would take her mission seriously, use her wit and pretend to be an obedient slave to get her mission done? You had guessed wrongly!
Despite of the dangerous situation she was in, Laia still managed to act out in front of her overlords, she just opened her mouth and talked without caring about whether there might be spies among the slaves, she snaked out to meet with the rebels without seemingly cared about being followed, she danced with a stranger and enjoyed a Festival when a slave supposedly shouldn't take part in said Festival. She makes her mission looks like it is a cakewalk. Even a rebel told her: "You don't know the first thing about spying."
Good grief, how true.
I don't like heroines who have special power which they did nothing to earn, but a useless heroine like Laia is no better; for too long she just kept telling herself she is weak and useless, and I'm like: "Girl, get over it already! Tough up! Your life and your brother's life depend on it!"
Last but not lest, for most of the book Laia's life mostly revolves around saving her brother and Elias, the hot guy.
Helene: probably the only female character whom I like to a degree, but sadly her existence still revolves around Elias.
(4) women can only be victims, obedient bystanders or evil bitches in this world.
Although I'm actually glad that the author didn't shy away from mentioning rape and rape in slavery, but in this case rape has been repeatedly mentioned for too many times and somehow Laia, our heroine is saved from the threat of it, because Elias swung in and saved her from being raped.
I don't know about you, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
(5) Talking about evil bitches, the only woman in this book who is in power is an abusive evil bitch.
And it is nothing new. Because in the realm of YA, if you were a woman and you also happened to want power and/or in the position of having power, then you must be a bad woman. (6) the characters talk like they live in the modern America.
I'm not kidding, the characters talk like they are citizens of the modern United States of America, not some Rome-inspired fantasy world. (7) the world building is thin and far in between. After reading this 400+ book, I still don't know much about this fictional Empire and why said Empire became what it now is.
(8) (view spoiler)[the rebels turn out not the good guys (hide spoiler)] It looks like the same-old, same-old The Hunger Games cliche.
(9) the ending is quite stupid.
To be fair, it is not the worst ending ever, but I rolled my eyes at how convenient many things had turned out.
I'd forgotten to mention, I also can't take the idea that people would just select four teenagers and let them fight to the death in a contest so the winner would become the new Emperor seriously.
It may sound like I hate this book, I don't. This book just sort of bored me. Still, I'm going to read the sequel if I could get it for free....more
There is one word I think is the most suitable for this supposed Alice in Wonderland retelling, and this word is ridiculous.
(1) Calling this book an Alice-retelling is equated to lying. All of the Alice-references are so poorly done and senseless (a bunch of teenagers throwing a regular beer-and-disco-music party is equated to the Mad Tea Party, great isn't it?) it feels more like an insult to the original text than a respectful homage.
(2) This book is more about stupid teenage high school drama and over-the-top love triangles than Alice. I'm not kidding.
(3) The heroine Alice (aka Ali) spends a lot of time drooling over the masculine bad boy love interest Cole and fantasizing about making out with him (again I'm not kidding) than grieving over her dead family and worrying about the crisis of zombies going around eating people for dinner.
(4) As to the zombies....they only have spiritual forms and they are 'eating' the goodness in people then in turn making them zombies too. Why would they do this? Because they are evil. Not because they are hungry or need human flesh to keep their bodies functional.
Zombies with no physical forms? Zombies who eat people because they are evil!? Then why would those creatures be zombies at all? Why don't call those creatures 'phantoms' or 'wraiths' instead? Is the author so eager to ride the success of the recent zombie hyper, e.g. The Walking Dead and all those zombie movies out there?
(5) All the bullshit about Christianity and God and Good vs. Evil
I know, the heroine and her family are Christians, but must she keep talking nonsense about God so very often? I mean, do real-life Christians talk like this? It's so annoying.
To make thing worse, even Christian rock bands get mentions here and there. *facepalms*
And the nonsense about how the war between zombies and people who can 'see' them is the epic Good vs. Evil battle is also annoying as hell.
(6) The basic concepts about man-eating monsters and people who fought them could have worked out just fine if the author actually has some basic writing skill and style to save her life. But she doesn't, so the entire story turns out to be very flat, toneless and fake. The heroine lost her entire family? Monsters stalking her and wanting to eat people? I never felt worry about her and her friends, the writing is just that bad.
(7) Last but not least, the heroine's dear dead mother taught her teenage daughter that her virginity is a gift when the good woman was alive.
Okay, I'm alright with the 'don't do it when you are not ready and certain' message, but what the actual fuck about this 'virginity is a gift/valuable' BS? It's just downright backward and sexist. Have you ever heard a guy's virginity is a gift before? No? Like never? Now can you see what I mean?...more
Note: I read the Chinese translation of this book.
Rating: 'mediocre' is the word to describe this final book 2 stars.
More importantly, I decided to blacklist Leigh Bardugo, if she doesn't bother to do sound research for her books and she has nothing outstanding to offer in the departments of plots and character development, then I can't see why should I bother with her creations.
Ruin and Rising isn't terrible, but it isn't remarkable neither, this book is among the thousand YA books with little creativity, mediocre fantasy setting, mediocre characters, mediocre plots and mediocre writing. Entirely forgettable and 'Meh'.
The saddest thing about this book is, it actually has a tiny bit of potential to be outstanding and awesome, but it doesn't live up to any of its promise.
actual review starts here:
The beginning part of this book can easily win 4 stars, because for the first time, our MCs and their friends seem to know what they're doing and they are doing things with a plan. Our heroine, Alina shows a bit of a backbone and manages to keep the shadowy Apparat at check; the supporting characters are doing great, even Mal, Love Interest No.1, proves himself to be a capable fighter and a loyal, supportive friend instead a jealous little boy who stomps his feet when his favorite toy gets stolen by this other boy. (Yes, that's how I see his reaction toward Alina after she gets the attention of Love Interest No.3, Nikolai)
You might ask, what can go wrong with this book? Well, a handful of things have managed to go wrong after this promising beginning:
(1) Alina:
We have already established that Alina isn't all that smart, she doesn't have much of a backbone to be spoken of neither, to make things worse she has a strange determination to be as unimportant and invisible as she can get and of course she is uncomfortable with her power because you know, a *normal* girl can't enjoy or at least be comfortable with having power, a *normal* girl can't dream of having anything outside of a boyfriend/husband and a bunch of kids.
Dear Lord, I'm so sick of YA girls who are afraid of being powerful/using their power. It's like the authors are telling us: normal girls cannot have power, if you happened to have power and/or enjoyed being powerful, then you are a freak, or a bad woman, or a crazy woman, or all of the above.
Plus. Alina also has the gut to whine about how difficult her life has become when the Kingdom is in some deep shit and everyone else is also suffering and/or having their own problems.
Girl, get over yourself.
To be fair, Alina isn't as awful as she had been in book 1 and book 2 (finally the girl is making some decisions for herself!) But all in all, she isn't a terribly interesting character, I'm more interested in what David, Genya and Zoya are up to than I'm with Alina.
(2) Everyone is none the wiser
The characters fail to (view spoiler)[figure out one of their 'friends' is a traitor (hide spoiler)] when it's just so obvious, no wonder The Darkling, a.k.a Love Interest No. 2, manages to outsmart them for so many times.
Talking about The Darkling, a.k.a Love Interest No. 2, in my opinion he isn't all that great even since book 1, but in this book he is as anticlimactic as an arch villain as he can get.
(3) Author wrapped everything up with a pretty ribbon and then called it a day
In the end everything has been wrapped up *too nicely*, so it loses whatever bittersweet effect it might have on the readers. I mean, (view spoiler)[Mal is dead for a second, but then barely 2 pages latter he's alive and well again. *groans*
In my opinion, it would have been better if Mal winded up dead and left Alina to deal with the aftermath alone. (hide spoiler)]
(4) The 'final plot twist' is not convincing.
I mean, really? Really? (view spoiler)[The author doesn't even have the gut to kill Mal off and instead she let him 'die' for two pages and then be revived shortly afterward? (hide spoiler)]...more
If you had read the first three books of the Hush, Hush series, you will know the author, Becca Fitzpatrick, has nothing new to offer; she did nothingIf you had read the first three books of the Hush, Hush series, you will know the author, Becca Fitzpatrick, has nothing new to offer; she did nothing to redeem her creation, she made no attempt to make anything in her story better.
In short, it's one hell of an uninspiring, boring, dull book, stuffed with bad YA romance, Mary Sue heroine, cardboard cutout sexy bad boy love interest, villains who are as badly written as the good guys, charmless and toneless *utterly boring* writing, and nonexistent tension and suspense. In fact this book is just so dull, its characters so utterly stupid and unrealistic (but they think they're all so smart and complicated!) to a point I find it difficult to write a proper review about it.
In other news, this final book demonstrates Ms. Fitzpatrick knows not a damn thing about world building, about writing battle scenes, writing characters with personalities and depth. Plus it also demonstrates she cannot handle writing anything with a slightly more complicated angles than a simple cliched love triangle and stupid teenage dramas, that's it.
One more thing, I find it really stupid for the male lead (an angel who has been around for unmemorable time) to act like a horny teenager all the time. It's also stupid for fallen angels to travel from one place to another by *driving in cars*.
And it's super stupid for the heroine, Nora Grey to care more about whether her boyfriend is cheating on her or not than about a war which is going on around her and her people. *sighs*...more
I am finished with this book and this series, and here're the major things that pissed me off:
(1) By the end of this book, half of the human populatioI am finished with this book and this series, and here're the major things that pissed me off:
(1) By the end of this book, half of the human population is killed by the Unseelie Faes, but have we managed to feel the future of human race is grim? Have we seen humans being slaughtered on the streets or in their homes left and right? Have we seen refugees running for their lives? Have we seen riots breaking out and people killing one another for food? No.
Instead humans are still going to club and doing Fae drugs.
(2) Dani, a 14 years old girl, is envious of Mac, the MC, for getting the attention from one rapist after another.
(3) The nonstop romance melodramas between Mac and What's His Name.
You think these two would have better and more meaningful things to discus when they're in such a grave situation? No, you're wrong.
(4) What's His Name and his crews (a bunch of supposedly ageless, powerful immortals) talk like they are a bunch of feeble, complaining old bitches.
To spice things up, What's His Name has been bitching nonstop about Mac making out/flirting with other guys.
Hey, What's His Name! So what if Mac (view spoiler)['betrayed' you (hide spoiler)] and kissed another guy? As an immortal I thought you would be a less of a drama queen about these things. In short, you're one of the most annoying and uncool supposedly Dangerous Powerful Alpha Males I have ever seen.
(5) The death of Mac's sister doesn't break her, the death of billion innocent people doesn't break her, but (view spoiler)[What's His Name's death (hide spoiler)] breaks her!?
I can't even...
(6) Must every single man in this story be 'dangerous sexy'? Even Christian's uncles have to be dangerous sexy middle age men too! Just...what's so wrong with ordinary guys?
(7) Mac found out (view spoiler)[What's His Name has been watching her every move ever since their first meeting, (hide spoiler)]and that makes she think it means he loves her?
I'm very sick of all these typical bullshits you can find in every single cheap romance novel, I actually rolled my eyes when Mac kids herself about how her sister's true love and a freaking baby might have changed an ageless immortal for the better.
Great, go try change your grandfather's behaviors and see how many months, if not years will it take before you start with a hundreds thousands years old immortal.
(8) Characters being forgotten for the longest of time, then being brought back to the storyline in a hurry to drive the plots onward.
(9) The ending is as anticlimactic as you can imagine. Great battle between the Unseelie Faes and humans? Final showdown between the MCs and the villains? Shocking revealing of hidden truth? Mac finally womans-up and saves the day? No, we get none. (view spoiler)[Instead the Lord MasterLM is killed off randomly, the Unseelie King takes out the villain and saves the day. (hide spoiler)]
(10) The pacing of this book is truly awful. It feels like the author had to tie up too many loosed ends within the space of one book---well in my opinion she should have long started tying up some of those ends in the previous books instead of rushing things in the final book, and she messed this up.
(11) If Dani said 'feck' and 'dude' one more fucking time, I'm fucking ready to destroy her.
(12) But still...I'm going to read Iced, because...guess what...KMM is still leaving some more loosed ends out in the open for the sequel.
In the end, Shadowfever is worthy of 2.5 stars and I'm not going to give it anything more. At least it isn't as awful as some of the prequels before it, Mac is a few shades less stupid and annoying and selfish, the concepts and the setting about Fae are both great, still...the entire book comes off feeling very ill-handled to me. If only KMM had made up her mind about whether she wanted her book to be a typical romance or a badass-ed, all-out paranormal urban fantasy novel, this final book of the Fever series would have done so, so much better....more
I once thought if nothing else, the cover of A Temptation of Angels is very pretty, but then I read this review and learnt how unoriginal it really isI once thought if nothing else, the cover of A Temptation of Angels is very pretty, but then I read this review and learnt how unoriginal it really is.
*sighs*
Note: It's more like a summary of my thoughts about this novel than an actual review:
Warning: F-words here and there, don't like don't read.
(1)The heroine is a useless dead-weight. She needs the guys to save her all the time, she can't do anything but somehow still manages to save the day, she is beautiful but doesn't know it. In short, she's a big fat fucking Mary Sue. She is also Too Stupid To Live, refusing to listen to warnings and choosing to be stubborn when it can cost her and her friends their lives.
(2) Four novels into her career as a professional author, Michelle Zink shows barely any sign of improvement in writing skill, world building, research and characters' development.
(3) All of the characters are cardboard cutouts.
(4) Zink can't write any descent combat scene to save her life.
(5) The love triangle is fucking ridiculous: (view spoiler)[the heroine falls for a dude who had ordered her own parents and many other innocent families to be killed. (hide spoiler)]
(6) The story supposedly takes place in the Victorian London, but Zink did an absolutely shit job to describe this 'Victorian London'. In fact she didn't even bother to throw in much historical details to make her story a bit more believable.
(7) The writing is slightly better than Twilight, but it still doesn't say much.
(8) The story as a whole is one hell of an unconvincing make-believe.
(9) Lots and lots of Fuck-ery, for example: (view spoiler)[The MC talks her friends into entrusting their lives and the safety of the entire world to a known traitor and murderer. (hide spoiler)]
(10) The mythology is a total mess.
(11) The good guys, the villains, the world, the mythology, the tone, the atmosphere, the action scenes are all painfully flat, bland and underdeveloped.
(12) Last but not least, the heroine reacts quite coolly when an old man who had selflessly helped her, is found murdered by the bad guys.
After reading to page 83 and skimming a bit further into 120+ pages, I'm putting this book on hold.
I think The Looking Glass War and its spin-After reading to page 83 and skimming a bit further into 120+ pages, I'm putting this book on hold.
I think The Looking Glass War and its spin-off comic series Hatter M are better Alice's reimaged stories.
Well, I admit there are some interesting ideas beyond the story, the concept of a dark, twisted, murderous Wonderland is always welcomed, and the author at the very least seems to have done her homework with Alice's Adventures in the Wonderland. That much I can appreciate.
However, here are something I can't overlook or tolerate:
(1) How men/women or boys/girls interact in the story: it makes me feel like women's rights movement never exists. I mean....I lost it when I saw the heroine's father signed to have surgery done to his supposedly mentally ill wife, whether she wanted it or not.
Not to mention, said father also made a decision on whether his daughter should go to London for study after he discussed the issue with said daughter's male friend, but not with the daughter in question. I guess we just can't trust a girl to make plans for her own future, right?
(2) How mental illness is presented in the story: I won't pretend I know a lot about mental illness and how said illness should be treated, but when I was reading the part about the heroine, Alyssa's supposedly mental ill mother and how she was treated in the asylum, I have a strong feeling that the author was simply dishing out some scary stereotypes instead of writing something realistic about mental illness after doing her research.
(3) The goddamn love interests: I want to smash something into pieces whenever I remember how Jeb, a.k.a Love Interest No. 1, referring to Alyssa's virginity as "an important part of you" and how she shouldn't lose said "important part" by getting it on with some other guy.
DIE, FUCKER, DIE!
As to Love Interest No. 2, I hadn't seemed so much of him, but he seems to be like those jerk-ish guys who are your typical dark, brooding, jackass type of YA love interests. *sighs*
(4) The fucking love triangle: must we really go there!?
(5) Here is a bonus, I don't really like a heroine who kills insects off just because they annoy her by trying to talk to her.
(6) Here is another bonus, neither The Crow and Brandon Lee need Alyssa's stupid, stupid little remarks anywhere near them, they just don't.
I'm not sure I still want to read any further, probably not....more
I see him and I know what this turmoil inside of me means: He's the one. My forever.
Fucking great, so you know you want to spend the rest of yourI see him and I know what this turmoil inside of me means: He's the one. My forever.
Fucking great, so you know you want to spend the rest of your life with a dude whom you had barely talked to/interacted with before when you're at the tender age of seventeen?
Not to mention, this twenty-something dude (or was he supposed to be 19?) had been eyeing the heroine and thinking about making her his mate back when she was sixteen years old.
I need to calm the fuck down.
Moonlight is a dull, extremely unoriginal Twilight rip-off which isn't even worthy of a proper review, the only difference between this book and Twilight is that this time around the sexy hot brooding guy is the werewolf.
Did I mention that the gender roles and love relationships in the book is Dark Age level of backward as well? It's as though sex revolution and feminism never happens....more
I will always love D'espairsray, and Zero is one of the cutest guys ever! *fangirl's scream*
When I find a photo for Alina, I will post it up as well.
thoughts I have for 'Siege and Storm' after actually finished reading the book:
Warning: There are unmarked spoilers for the previous book and its ending in the follow part:
In the end I still can't understand what's so awesome or attractive about The Darkling and I still can't find a suitable photo for Alina Starkov, but at least I manage to find one name which would be perfectly suitable for Alina, our main character of the series.
So, we have an important character who's called The Darkling; as to Alina, the name which would suit her character and strength is...
The Weakling.
Guess what? The Darkling, even though he's the bad guy, but he still manages to display a lot of determination and he actually is making himself stronger by using his own willpower and pain. On the other hand, Alina's power is also increased, but instead of using her willpower to strengthen herself, Alina relies on magical objects to make herself more powerful.
Dear Goodness, it seems to speak volumes of Alina and the strength of her willpower, which isn't much as far as I can see.
To be fair, Alina gets a bit better in the end, but her tiny improvement still can't justify the annoyance and boredom I'd suffered when reading through an entire book.
Plus I honestly think it's stupid and unrealistic for Alina to (view spoiler)[ become the leader of the Grisha after she had done abandoning a bunch of Grisha and other people in the Shadow Fold, after she had left those people for monsters, at the end of book 1.(hide spoiler)] I mean, who in his or her right mind would want to follow a girl who had done this kind of crap to them? But no, in the book those Grisha just swallowed this whole crap down and listened to Alina's command without any problem, how freaking amazing.
Don't even get me started with the stupid romance between Mal and Alina, these two are just as equally annoying and idiotic that they really do deserve each other.
Did I mention that aside from Mal, Alina also gets extra two suitors: The Darkling and Nicolai?
Alright...in every stupid YA book, the heroine needs to be desired by Every. Single. Man. In. The. Story.
Not to mention, the supporting characters (e.g. Zoya, Nicolai etc) are in fact a great deal more badass and interesting than Alina, Mal and The Darkling adding together?
(P.S I really like the development with Genya, I really do)
Again, to be fair the ending part of the book is nice and if the main characters aren't so annoying and the story was excised a lot more skillfully, Siege and Storm can easily become a four stars book, but sadly it isn't the case. ...more
This book actually gets better and also worse than the first book at the same time. I do feel some of the plots have potentiality, but sadly the storyThis book actually gets better and also worse than the first book at the same time. I do feel some of the plots have potentiality, but sadly the story as a whole is being put-together in a poor way.
Let's do a breakdown:
Note: I read the Chinese translation of this book, won't bother to read the English text, nor consider buying any of this author's books with my good money
(1) In the book, the author dropped a Mary Sue missile on us all
You think the MC can't be a bigger Mary Sue than she had been in the first book? Think again!
(2) We meet some of the most naive court members in the court of The Evil King
Prince Dorian? He seems to be a nice person but he also seems to be too naive to survive in his father's court.
Captain Chaol Westfall? He is not very smart neither.
Both of these two young noblemen are supposed to have lived under The Evil King's iron fists for at least 10-plus years, but why would they still wear their hearts on their sleeves? Why would they still have time to pin after some pretty girl when they should busy figuring out how to get a head start at the court's power game in order to.......you know, SAVE THEIR OWN LIVES AND THEIR LOVED ONES'?
(3) Here we go again...the most unrealistic 'best assassin of the kingdom world'
In this book, Celaena Sardothien, the best assassin of the kingdom world, has left her post to dance with her love interest, she also busy herself lusting after a certain love interest and having sexy time with him instead of figuring out how to solve the crisis at hand.
Finally, when (view spoiler)[a certain someone died (hide spoiler)], Celaena becomes Bella Swan and broods in her room from day on end. I have to admit this one is just classic.
(4) You just can't escape from Stupid Young Adult Romance!!!
Love triangle! Awkwardly written romantic scenes! Two teenagers stealing glances between each other! Half-baked sex scenes which can easily make you feel embarrassed! You name them, they are there!
(5) Things fail to make sense
For example, the King's assassin is walking openly in the palace and everyone seems to more or less know who she really is and what she has been doing for the King; whilst in Robin Hobb's fantasy books, her assassins and spies take pain to hide their true identities.
Plus, the MC continues to go into secret tunnels and passages *without any back up plan*.
Final Words: A bad series continues to perform badly....why am I not surprised? It is the second book already but there is no improvement in sight, the stupidity of the characters and the story itself is getting into my nerves.........and all I feel about this second book is........numbness. I feel like I'd wasted my time for nothing.
Suggestion: trust me, you have no need to buy this book. To be honest, you shouldn't bother yourself with it if you happened to have better stuff to read. ...more
I read a few reviews about this series only to find out not only the MC is beautiful, famous, a deadly assassin (by the author's words only, but the people I talked to believe she is NOT a good assassin) and she just also happens to be (view spoiler)[the lost queen? (hide spoiler)]
If it doesn't scream Mary Sue I don't know what else does.
Plus, I think someone should inform Saah J. Maas that as a female prisoner/infamous former assassin in a mine/labor camp/prison, being beautiful *and* not knowing to hide it would only get you raped. I don't care how skilled and finely trained the MC is supposed to be, in prison there are always enough guards to hold her down while other men have their ways with her.
Edited@07/09/2015:
I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression, women fall victim to sexual violence regardless of whether they are beautiful or not. However, in my opinion if Sarah J. Maas knew or cared about a single thing of the harsh reality of imprisonment, slavery and women being trapped in bad situations, she would have mentioned the threat of rape instead of letting her MC go with the 'I'm the famous assassin no one can touch me even when I'm being reduced into a slave' BS.
Actual review starts here:
Note: I read the Chinese translation of this book, won't bother to read the English text, nor consider buying any of this author's books with my good money
Why 2 stars? Sorry, rating has been lowed to 1.5 stars. Here are a few points:
(1)The Main Character is a ridiculous self-inserted Mary Sue
Please take a look at the original 2012 version of the book cover and the photo of the author at the back of the book, then tell me the MC isn't the the younger, prettier version of the author's very own self inserted Mary Sue. Go ahead.
Plus, in the book the MC just can't wait to tell you she is a beautiful girl, and the author also cannot wait to tell you how lovely the MC looks, with every chance she has.
Aside from being the author's self inserted Mary Sue, this MC, who is supposed to be the most feared assassin in the kingdom but for most of the book her awesome skills has only been told to us, but never showed through the story telling. For example:
At the ripe old age of 18 years old, this MC is the 'most famous and feared assassin in the whole kingdom', very realistic, really.
People can get in and out of the MC the most famous and feared assassin's room freely, and she is none the wiser.
In the very night before the King's deadly contest begins, the most famous and feared assassin the MC read books till four am instead of training herself up or taking some good rest.
And, the most feared assassin in the kingdom the MC is unhappy because NO ONE HAS INVITED HER TO THE ROYAL BALLS! And when she finally sneaks into a royal ball in disguise, she just has to catch so much attention with her fancy dress, beautiful hair, pretty mask and she just has to go dancing with the crown prince! SO, WHAT IS THE POINT FOR HER DISGUISE?
Also, the most feared assassin in the kingdom the MC gets herself in trouble during the final battle: (view spoiler)[ she is easily drugged, then she is beat half to death, and eventually a supernatural figure needs to step in to save her ass (hide spoiler)]. *rolls eyes*
The most feared assassin in the kingdom? My ass.
As the most famous and feared assassin in the kingdom, all she seems to have in mind are pretty dresses and other luxuries.
As the most famous and feared assassin in the kingdom, she also should have mastered her anger and emotion, she should have put her impulse under control, she also shouldn't waste time to save someone else's life when it doesn't sever her interest.
But no, in the fictional world of Throne Of Glass, the most famous and feared assassin of the whole kingdom doesn't have to play by any rule and she also doesn't supposed to possess any wisdom and common sense. *sighs*
Need I go on?
(2) Many things just don't make much sense and they also don't look realistic
First, the most famous and feared assassin in the kingdom the MC had killed 23 guards while trying to escape from the salt mine, but she wasn't heavily punished for it after she was caught? (getting whipped doesn't count as a heavy punishment in my book, not when so many guards were killed and the authority had lost so much face) No torture or at least beat to the inch of her life? Very realistic indeed.
As the most famous and feared assassin in the kingdom, the MC is very skilled in playing piano, dancing, putting on make-up and reading books, instead of having talent with weapons, tracking and other useful skills? (Okay...again we are told she has talent on weapons etc, but her skills haven't been showed. )
(3) The narration
Is this just me, or is this the way the POVs shift in the middle of the story telling looks really weird and unnatural?
(4) The characterization...or the lack of it
I had already pointed out Celaena Sardothien, the MC is an awful piece of work, and the other main characters aren't so much better. I have a hard time trying to tell the two male leads: Chaol Westfall and Prince Dorian Havilliard apart because both of their characters are just so paper-thinned, even the friendship between Chaol and Dorian has nothing remarkable about it.
Princess Nehemia Ytger is probably the only character I like and care about, but sadly (view spoiler)[she is going to die in one of the sequels (hide spoiler)], that is bad, isn't it?
(4) The *really* unnecessary love triangle
Since this is a YA book, so guess what is coming our way? Oh yes...badly written love triangle!
Since Celaena the MC is so pretty and awesome so guess what...the crown prince and the chief of his royal guards are both head over heels for her!
But...what are you saying here? What do you mean a crown prince should have possessed enough common sense to know not to tangle himself with an assassin? What do you mean a royal guard should have kept his head clear and been on guard when facing an assassin? WHO CARES! These three people must fancy one another because...teenagers' hormone and also because the girl is SOOOOOO desirable!
The world building and the plots
FINALLY we get to the parts which potentiality shows itself! The fictional world in ToG is although not being very original, still it actually is...surprise, surprise, interesting to a degree. And I quite like how the mysteries parts surrounding the main story line. And a few of the court members and the King himself seem to be someone who are using their brains when dealing with all the court's schemes and power play. What more can I ask for in a YA fantasy novel?
However, by the end of the book it's mentioned by the author that it took her ten years to work on this book, which makes me gag in disbelief. WTF? It took you ten years and you dished out this highschooler's writing project level piece of crap to us!?
Suggestion: Read it for free, no need for buying....more
To me, The Iron Daughter is a book ruined by the horror known to readers as silly unrealistic YA romance love triangle. [image]
Can you see the horror? To me, The Iron Daughter is a book ruined by the horror known to readers as silly unrealistic YA romance love triangle. [image]
Can you see the horror? I think we need an exorcist here...please...somebody, HELP! [image]
I actually like the setting about feys, I also like the description about the otherworldly landscapes and the different fey kingdoms, I enjoy the concept about the Iron Feys and the little twists and turns the author had offered.
But what I can't stand is Meghan, the main character, acting like a whinny, impulsive, lovesick teenager, not to mention she's a total fool to believe in every single thing other people tell her. She's an opened book even after she had been warned not to show her weakness in front of the feys. Last but not least, the love triangle between her, Ash and Puck is sickeningly unrealistic.
[image]
Evil love triangles, stay away from me!!!!
The romance between Ash and Meghan is so bad that I don't know whether I should LOL or start crying. But eventually I decided crying is more suitable. [image]
Ash and Meghan fall in love? Just...when did it happen!?
As to Puck, I know from the very beginning he doesn't stand a chance no matter how nice and funny he is, for this dude has 'friend zone' written all over his face. [image]
Puck is doomed at the very beginning, because there's a LAW for every YA girl to fall in love with the brooding, mysterious bad boy. I'd told you before!
Plus, I really don't think neither Ash nor Puck act and talk like they're powerful immortals who are hundreds if not thousands years old.
There're still some plot holes in the story, for example (view spoiler)[Meghan's power is supposed to be sealed off by Queen Mab, supposedly the seal cannot be broken without the help of Queen Mab or Meghan's own father King Oberon; but at the end of the story she can use her power all of a sudden without any explanation. *sighs* (hide spoiler)]
And the book turns out to be a bit too predictable, (view spoiler)[I dare say Meghan will turn out to be Iron Queen later. (hide spoiler)] It's too big of a dead giveaway....more
Well, the heroine Meghan is an annoying immature little whinny, and she's also Too Stupid To Live for most of the book. I mean, how could anyone with Well, the heroine Meghan is an annoying immature little whinny, and she's also Too Stupid To Live for most of the book. I mean, how could anyone with normal IQ decide to trust a popular guy who obviously has reasons to hate her and wants to humiliate her? Who in her right mind would fall in love with a Winter Prince who has no reason to care about her!?
Plus, a lot of things in the books fail to add up, for example: the feys in the book are supposed to be afraid of iron and steel, then why would there be feys living in human's cities? Wouldn't all those iron and steel-made items/buildings/cars make them ill?
But the concept of the fey races and the ending makes up for part of the flaws, so I give Iron King three stars....more
The Wall between human world and the Faerie land is about to collapse, the lives of thousands of oblivious humans are at great risk; the Lord Master, the evil murderer of an innocent woman and many others, is still at large. It is up to Mac, our Super Special Innocent Snowflake Heroine, and this what's-his-name Dangerous Bad Boy Male Lead (I've long decided I'm not going to dignify this guy by remembering his name), to stop all Hell from breaking loose.
In Faefever, the stake is being raised even higher than before! So you think I'm going to at least care about the safety of the oblivious humans and whether Mac is going to make it or not? Ah, you had guessed wrongly!
Frankly, I want Mac to die, throughout reading the entire book I kept thinking "Why can't this little bitch get eaten by a monster already!?" Oh yes Mac pisses me off this badly, it has been so long since the last time I hated a fictional character with so much passion that I actually can't wait to see her dead.
I don't even bother to say things about the what's-his-name Bad Boy Male Lead, he hasn't been in the story enough for me to make any comment; and here are my problems with Mac:
(1) Well, I have to admit Mac doesn't piss me off as frequently as she had been in the first two books, but it still doesn't say much.
(2) For a supposedly toughened-up woman, Mac takes too much time dolling herself up and thinking about dresses and makeup.
(3) According to Mac, being a skilled fighter is still not as important to a young woman as being beautiful.
Give me a break, I don't think I would care about my look or any one else's if I lived in a world where evil feys are wandering around looking for humans to eat.
(4) Mac is still selfish as fuck, and she never lifts a finger to help any of the innocent human. Instead, she tricks (view spoiler)[a cop to consume addictive fey flesh just because she thinks she needs a backup/an insurance just in case the what's-his-name Bad Boy Male Lead betrays her. (hide spoiler)] Mac, you really are in no position to accuse anyone for being selfish or having their own hidden agendas.
(5) Mac is also Too Stupid To Live, (view spoiler)[evil feys are killing people on the streets and many of them are pretending to be human cleaners and workers within the city, but Mac still thinks the Wall is going to be fixed and she still has one more year to solve things out? (hide spoiler)] Are you kidding me?
(6) Mac is even more of a Super Special Innocent Snowflake than before, she is so very special that she is the last one of her kind and no other sidhe seer is as powerful and special as she is.
GIVE. ME. A. FUCKING. BREAK!
To be very honest, I don't give a damn about (view spoiler)[Mac getting raped in the end. (hide spoiler)] On yes, I know how this might sound to you, but I DON'T CARE! (view spoiler)[Rape is being used as a cheap excuse to draw emotion and sympathy out of readers! I'm not going to buy this!
Come on! Why it seems to be a LAW in the urban fantasy, Sci-Fi, advanture and fantasy novels that if a woman became badass, then she just needs to be raped first? Why aside from yaoi novels/manags, I have never seen a male character needing to be raped first before he becomes badass? Why? (hide spoiler)]
But sadly I know Mac is not going to die any time too soon because the author, Karen Marie Moning still needs her around to milk more money with the two sequels after Faefever.
Plus, I need to point out despite the great risk of the evil Unseelie feys invading Earth, nothing really happens in the book, or when important things happen, Mac is never around to witness it and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. This makes Faefever reads like one hell of a filter book.
After three books, we are still not getting any closer to have some answer: Who what's-his-name Bad Boy really is? Who is the Lord Master and what's his grand evil scheme? Where is this all-evil Book now and what is its real purpose? We still get no fucking answer.
It's a "I'm deeply disappointed and why on earth everyone else seems to think it's awesome? What's wrong?" 1.5 stars.
Once again, I ran into serious prIt's a "I'm deeply disappointed and why on earth everyone else seems to think it's awesome? What's wrong?" 1.5 stars.
Once again, I ran into serious problem with the main characters.
Barrons is a jerk even though he's supposed to be a dangerous, powerful and attractive bad boy. In Bloodfever he is still his controlling, overbearing old self. But at least he didn't pretend to be anything but and he hasn't made excuse for himself.
And here's my reaction to the series's 'heroine', MaKayla:
In book 2, Mac is still annoying as hell, and now after spending a few weeks in the world of the supernatural, she's talking in such an entitled, smarter-than-you tone that she totally pisses me off again. Listen up, a few weeks worth of experience doesn't make you a seasoned warrior woman, Mac. When will you grow up!?
Beside that, she's so damn self centered. First she is angry that the seer woman from Darkfever refused to help her when evil feys are around. My question is, Why must anyone risk his or her neck for you, Mac!? Can you stop being so self centered for once!?
Mac wants us to think she had changed, but her actions and choices tell me she hadn't changed. In fact she's as Too Stupid To Live as before.
Still, Mac being self centered and stupid isn't even the worst part, the worst part is that she goes out of her way to accuse other people (the sidhe seers' leader, the other sidhe seers) for not doing anything to save her sister and the oblivious humans (mind you, the seers didn't know her sister at all), but at the same time whenever she sees evil fey doing something horrible to oblivious humans, she just ducks her head and murmurs "I need to save myself first". My goodness, what a double standards little bitch.
I have to admit the ending is quite nice, but once again I'm unable to suppress my disbelief when the author created such a massive plot convenience in order to keep Mac alive.(view spoiler)[ The evil vampire, who had killed a well built bodyguard with a single hand in the first book, captured Mac and then kept beating her and beating her and beating her, but Mac is still not dead yet? How come!? (hide spoiler)]
However, I'm very disappointed that the murderer of Mac's sister is no where in sight for almost an entire book. And after two books we still know not a thing about this person, I think such an empty villain is getting annoying .
Loading...
