This book doesn't have much plot but it's fine. But after just finishing a Felicity book where Felicity is helping the patriot militia uncover a plot This book doesn't have much plot but it's fine. But after just finishing a Felicity book where Felicity is helping the patriot militia uncover a plot in the American Revolution, this is a big step down in terms of excitement. Also as other reviews said, nothing in the story feels specific to the 1970s, you could tell me it was set in 2020s and I wouldn't know the difference. I like that they are introducing readers to Chinese New Year but it did seem like things were too perfectly token Chinese... we're lost in Chinatown but grandpa just happens to be playing mahjong right there and will now lead us to the fortune cookie factory!...more
I really liked the atmosphere of this book - had that gothic feel especially at the beginning with the shadowy corridors and freezing winds and shapesI really liked the atmosphere of this book - had that gothic feel especially at the beginning with the shadowy corridors and freezing winds and shapes in the night. That was the best part to me, the atmosphere, including the somewhat cozy feeling within the larger unknown.
One of the main problems of this book to me was that it didn't have much of a climax. Things build up decently well... and then fall flat, it just kind of ends suddenly. A lot of the most exciting stuff happens off the page. For instance, (view spoiler)[Hero goes off to rescue people off a wrecked ship, perhaps right out of the clutches of the enemies... (hide spoiler)] but we follow heroine who is sitting at home and hero doesn't even really talk about what happened.
And at the end, it was very sudden and unexplained and a let down with (view spoiler)[the murder of the duke. (hide spoiler)] I thought we were building up to this big confrontation or fight scene with him. That was the big climax I was waiting for! I thought he was going to outsmart them one more, big time, and they would have to figure out what to do and win! But nope, the momentum just splatted, and the main characters got a quick and easy out.
That being said, I was really glad the book didn't end "too happy" with everything coming out sunshine and rainbows for everyone.
It also seemed like this book needed some editing help. There are things that I think the book thought were explained, but I was just left confused. By the end, I still didn't understand all about who had done what and what their motivations were, though the main characters were saying they understood. There were also times in the book where someone seemed surprised to learn information, yet they had already learned it earlier in the book (or could have inferred it easily from what they knew). And the two main characters had some odd unfinished conversations and lapses in their communication, considering that they seemed to be portrayed as good communicators. Plus a few grammar/spelling things needed editing.
I did like how Christian faith was portrayed in this book, I thought it was interesting and realistic, without being preachy. I also thought the book did a good job making the villains seem realistic and scary or bad enough to propel the story. And I liked the two main characters pretty well (though I would have liked to "know" them better/more).
I think overall I just wanted "more" from this book. Some of the characters and plot threads felt like they just didn't go anywhere or pay off. I thought this book must be just be leaving things hanging on purpose to try to set up a sequel, but it seems the next book focuses on a different character. I don't know, there was some good stuff here, but I just wanted more - more excitement, more depth in the relationship and characters, more making sense, more payoff....more
I dunno, the beginning was interesting but then it just got boring. It was predictable, main girl was making dumb decisions and/or not using her brainI dunno, the beginning was interesting but then it just got boring. It was predictable, main girl was making dumb decisions and/or not using her brain to try to think of smart ways out of her situation (she was pretty helpless and just let herself be pushed around for most of the story), and main guy didn't have much personality. I did a lot of skimming in the second half of this and everything went how I expected.
My favorite one of this Shattered Tales series has definitely been the Sleeping Beauty one which has a more unique/unusual setup....more
**spoiler alert** Illusions of Love - It was sweet. I liked the world / magic building that was in the short story. Liked the characters. And I always**spoiler alert** Illusions of Love - It was sweet. I liked the world / magic building that was in the short story. Liked the characters. And I always like the magician's assistant type of setup. I wish the last chapter was in story form rather than letter form (I don't particularly like it when stories randomly make their last chapter a letter... I wonder how that got started? some book must have done it first)
Isle of Rose - Too far fetched. I gave up. He's a mind reader who can only read women's minds and at one point he says it never occurred to him that a woman might be the one trying to assassinate him so he never bothered reading women's minds to find out... what?!?! even if it is a man, likely a woman or two will have some info! For it never to occur to him? So dumb! Also he didn't immediately hear the mom's thoughts of hoping he didn't recognize it's the wrong daughter marrying him? (she'd be thinking that of course) Later he decides the family may be trying to kill him, so why doesn't he just read the mom's thoughts to see if it's a trap? And who in their right mind, after seeing an unknown wrong bride arrive on their wedding day, decides to marry this random person anyway "to keep enemies closer" People were just not behaving logically or with brains.
Lady of Shadows- Ehh the way the warrior hero dude appeared in the forest to save her just in time was tropey, I stopped at that point. ...more
I've read a few books by this author now with reallllly similar plots: (generic spoilers ahead)
Girl lives in a society with family and friends. Her soI've read a few books by this author now with reallllly similar plots: (generic spoilers ahead)
Girl lives in a society with family and friends. Her society is at odds with another major society which is depicted as scary, evil, and murderous.
Girl follows family/friends into an encounter with said evil society, with the intent of defeating enemies and saving loved ones.
Girl slowly realizes that this new society seems much kinder and more civilized than she thought, but she is still very suspicious
Girl begins falling for an optimistic, charming, somewhat happy-go-lucky man who is a representative or leader of this new society. This man also has the magical ability to turn into an animal form, and is therefore called by the girl as "[Animal] Boy" (Fish Boy, Bird Boy, Wolf Boy)
The two get to know and like each other with flirting disguised as insults. The animal form and man's connection to his society make the girl suspicious but she is forced to work together with him to achieve her goal of dismantling his society.
Just when she might be changing her mind and ready to love him/his society, the girl faces a betrayal by said man and learns an upsetting secret or two about him. She goes running back to people from her original society.
But all is not well there, and she discovers the evil/negative aspects in her original society (possibly in an even bigger betrayal). In the end it's the man and her relationship with him that saves her. Now she knows she will stay with him and be a part of his society.
It's not that it's a bad storyline but it's soooo weird how the last 3 books I've read by this author have it so similar (the books are Scarlett and the Dark Woods, Assassin of Fire and Sacrifice, and Hunting Sirens). It's getting old, it feels recycled! This book was the weakest of the 3 to me and I had a bit of trouble finishing it, as I was getting bored. ...more
**spoiler alert** Liked the first half better than the second half. Like when they were at the desert island, figuring out how to survive and getting **spoiler alert** Liked the first half better than the second half. Like when they were at the desert island, figuring out how to survive and getting to know each other and throwing coconuts, that was really nice. The beginning, with getting to know the main characters, and that part were my favorite.
I didn't like how toward the end she was willing to most likely get many humans killed by arming the mermaids, just so she could get her boyfriend (I was glad it backfired on her since it was a bad plan). It went against what Bayne said he liked about her (that she put her people first). I thought she was going to go after the kraken since that was the other option they gave her. I'm not sure what stopped Bayne from being honest with her before he got captured. He said he was going to stop lying and tell her something and then just didn't, even though it seemed like a good time.
To me the second half was kind of repetitive. Like we have a lot of pages of Teva going in circles about her feelings. I don't mind some of that but it just kept going. Teva and Bayne kept having similar conversations over again too.
Also to me, in some ways she forgave Bayne too easily. I wanted to know when he was lying vs being his true self. Because like I said, the deserted island was a favorite part, but was he "acting" almost the whole time? Also why did he never tell the truth once he loved her... he must have known it would come out since all the sirens can communicate with her and some other humans? I wanted to see Bayne work harder to win her back or do something that really proved to Teva that he wasn't still lying... rather than Teva just basically finding herself attracted no matter how much he betrayed her.
Also I understand why Captain Hook's ship is in the story because of the previous book, but all of them pirates etc felt extraneous to me and I would have preferred the story without them. All they really did was distract from the main storyline and perform a couple just-in-time rescues where I would have rather seen the main characters find a way out themselves.
Oh and another favorite part of the book was seeing Teva's role as a Deaf person in her community and how that played out and how it affected her. It was something unique in this book that I thought was really cool. ...more
Loading...
