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carol. 's Reviews > The House of Shattered Wings
The House of Shattered Wings (Dominion of the Fallen, #1)
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carol. 's review
bookshelves: urban-fantasy, abandoned-with-prejudice, don-t-count, meh
Jul 31, 2015
bookshelves: urban-fantasy, abandoned-with-prejudice, don-t-count, meh
Such a hard time getting started on this, partly me, partly Bodard. The graphic harvesting of the angels was so dark, unlikable, irredeemable. The fallen angel, the street urchins attempting to harvest body parts, and a dusty, deserted building with a heavily protected woman 'rescuing,' sort of, and the boy who just participated in chopping off her finger. Contrast with California Bones which uses an equally gruesome concept but has action and plotting to keep it moving. I see the echoes of de Bodard's Obsidian and Blood Mayan series here, but the bloodiness there is tempered with characterization. I'm just not sympathetic enough or liking anyone enough to read... maybe I'll give it one last shot before the library claims it.
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Reading Progress
July 31, 2015
– Shelved
April 3, 2016
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Started Reading
April 3, 2016
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Finished Reading
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Tessa
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Apr 03, 2016 04:41PM
Thanks, I'll pass this one up.
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Agreed, agreed, agreed!! Later on the world-building really is lovely but the characterization lets everything down. As you said - too gruesome to have no emotional character connection!
Yeah, this one didn't click for me either. I like Obsidian and Blood much more.
Ah, good to know, Arielle and Paul. I don't know that I care enough to get to the world-building, but thanks for the insight, Arielle. Paul, agree with Obsidian and Blood--I really enjoyed the first couple of books. Good to know how you think this compares with them.
If you weren't impressed with the first half of the book then I wouldn't say you needed to continue. The book does have some interesting world building and characters but ultimately it fails to deliver on any kind of emotional level. It's hard to say exactly what went wrong for me here except that the elusive spark that makes a story really come to life was missing.
I share Justine's opinion. The first half had me in its sway.
Agreed, not enough characterization nor world building. Repetitive and boring in the second half.
I always love it when I can take something off my list. Thanks.
Thanks for convincing me not to buy this one! It was next on my list.
Thanks for the affirmation, Bart.Amy--I don't think it is the book to pull you out of your slump.
Suzanne--I just compared our books. I feel so bad when my poor effort results in a non-read for someone else. For the vast majority of my friends, it was a three star read. Brad has a thoughtful, detailed three star review-- https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... and Jason was the most enthusiastic https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Come on, Carol, life's too short for bad books, or even average books. I'm always happy when your reviews steer me away from something (Dies The Fire, I was always mildly interested in that, your review helped me put it out of my mind for good :) )
You're right, Armin. So much, so little time. However, I know that mood plays a role in my reads at times, so I often feel a little guilty. Still, I've had Shattered from the library for a couple of months without significant progress. Time to throw it back.
Sorry this one didn't work for you. I really liked de Bodard's "On a Red Station, Drifting" and am still looking forward to this one. But both yours and Brad's reviews mention that its characterization is lacking, so maybe I'll delve into the Obsidian trilogy instead.
I'd love to know what you think of it, Beth.
I didn't feel much connection to the characters either. There was a lot of atmosphere and appearance of worldbuilding, but it all ended up kind of hollow.
Well, I don't think de Bodard is popular enough to have a legion of ardent, inarticulate (which is what I think of trolls) fans. I do love her Mayan-based series though.
Thank goodness for this review! I recently read a short by de Bodard that I adored. I'll pass on this one - and I think I'll skip the other works of hers as I'm not a fan of bloody violence. Unless it's dealt by a chick with a sword who has a penchant for men that turn hairy.
Hm, I think that's probably a good choice for you, MrsJ.
Carol. wrote: "Hm, I think that's probably a good choice for you, MrsJ."lol
Ten--it's very interesting and I thought she did a great job capturing how a person in the Mayan culture might have thought. Dark and a little bloody, but well done.
I couldn't get into this book at all, gave up after a few pages. But I loved her other book Servant of the Underworld.
Ditto! Good to know I'm not the only one.
Justine wrote: "If you weren't impressed with the first half of the book then I wouldn't say you needed to continue. The book does have some interesting world building and characters but ultimately it fails to del..."Ditto. I liked The Tea Master and the Detective, which is much more intimate and small-scale, a lot better. I'd still call it emotionally cool, though.
I'm trying to downsize my to-read lists. I think I will trust your review & let this on go. :)
