I felt like this story gave a much better picture of the womens personalities, as I found that to be somewhat lacking in the book. Otherwise, this wasI felt like this story gave a much better picture of the womens personalities, as I found that to be somewhat lacking in the book. Otherwise, this was another study in humanity, but made in a very sexy way, as most of this short played out in bed....more
Sound movies like this sound like an amazing idea, until you realize that they'll throw in sounds effects and details that you don't get to see. It's Sound movies like this sound like an amazing idea, until you realize that they'll throw in sounds effects and details that you don't get to see. It's very frustrating for people with Aphantasia, not to mention with sound dysphoria. I have both, which made this exhausting to listen to. On top of that, the way the story was told was very messy, jumping back and forth without any clear split in POV. The story was also rather predictable on some points, and unfortunately lost a lot of its mystery and the reason I was interested in it after the ruins. There was the setup for some great growth there, but they walked right past it.
I want to make one note on the ''disabled rep'' shelving. There is a character that uses a cane in this book, but he throws it away toward the end. It was a little frustrating, but on the other side, he's still disabled, even if he don't need the help all the time, and that's something I have to remind myself about. And I am disabled myself, so I can't imagine how that scene looks to abled people! Or, I can, which is why I need to state it: YOU CAN BE DISABLED AND NOT NEED HELP ALL THE TIME!
The only reason I finished this was because I didn't have a lot of time to listen to the book I actually wanted to listen to, so I needed something with shorter chapters. ...more
I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked how it tied things up and actually finished of the whole series - it's strangely a relief to know it's I have mixed feelings about this book. I liked how it tied things up and actually finished of the whole series - it's strangely a relief to know it's over... - but I have to admit that I felt like a lot of it was random. I couldn't remember Soledad, or another heir, and that may be because I listened to the last book when it came out and I've been in a bad head space since then, but it left me feeling like the author threw together some story line, just to push out another book. (I know it wasn't on her, but that she had a contract to fulfill)
But, yeah, I like how it wrapped things up with a neat little bow, but I felt like most of the book was redundant. ...more
I was starting to really crave some witchy books, and this has been hanging out in my library for a while, so I gave it a go.
The first thing I need tI was starting to really crave some witchy books, and this has been hanging out in my library for a while, so I gave it a go.
The first thing I need to say is that this book doesn't really have a story-ARC as one would expect from most UF/P books. It's more a collection of personal tales and evolution, like one may expect in a contemporary.
We get three stories.
The first is Pheobe: Markus's fiance who is becoming a vampire, and how she acclimate to her new life. It's interesting from a ''sciency'' POV, about how the vampires of this world works and how they differ from humans and such. It also had a small underlying ARC of Pheobe becoming a fully fledged person in her own right, but that wasn't made clear before rather late in the book.
Then there is Diana/Matthew. The main duo from the original trilogy are living Happily Ever After, with a set of twins and all the extended family that comes with vampire clans. This story focuses mostly on the kids, although told from Diana's POV. We learn how one of the kids is more vampire than witch - the whole science of that doesn't make sense to me, tbh - and how the other is more witch than vampire - which does make sense. There's also the trouble of raising children like this, the trouble of stigma from vampires on multiple accounts, and Diana deals with some of her own childhood trauma. I liked these glimpses into their lives and was steadily looking forward to them, although Mathew was an ass-hat most of the time.
The last story is Markus. We get to live through his life both as a human and as a vampire. We get a very good look into who he is and what ideals kept him going, and some explanation of things that were mentioned in the original trilogy.
All these things are connected, but in a very loose way, and as I said, there's not really much of a story more than following these characters through their lives. The writing was good and the characters were OK, although some of the side characters were somewhat flat, and there were A LOT of side characters, which made it hard to keep up at times. ...more
Not much more to say than I had with the original review. Maybe I thought the book a little slower this time around, but part of that mightREREAD 2021
Not much more to say than I had with the original review. Maybe I thought the book a little slower this time around, but part of that might just have been because of my health issues, so I'm changing the rating.
---------------- I've been avoiding this story for a while now. I don't know why, but I was afraid it would ruin Jane for me. I've followed the Yellowrock-series for years, and I tried to read the Walker-series a little while back, but the first book just didn't work for me. Now, after reading this short, I'm considering giving the Walker-series another chance. Maybe just skip book 1, as I've already read that.
Easy Pickings is described as a fan-fiction written by the actual authors, and I think that fits. Although, unlike what one would expect from fan-fiction, this book had the actual characters and doesn't throw in some random surprise power/evolution.
I liked how it mixed the two worlds, and how the two characters worked together. I actually wouldn't mind another story with the two of them together. Well written and entertaining!...more
I laughed out loud at times, and heard the whole thing in one sitting. It doesn't really bring the storREREAD 2023 ------------------------- REREAD 2021
I laughed out loud at times, and heard the whole thing in one sitting. It doesn't really bring the story forward in any way, but it's an entertaining short, showing life as an Innkeeper.
I'm keeping the original rating. ---------------------- IT WAS TOO SHORT! I NEED MORE DINA!
Not much I can say this late in a series without spoiling. I do really enjoy the writing and characters of this world, not to mention the world in general. It was good to visit with Gertrude again, even if I now really want to re-read the first 3 books. My biggest problem? I'm not a fan of the narrator reading those 3 books, so I have to actually read them, and that's not a possibility right now. Oh well......more
I now know the team apart, but I still felt like there were too many players in this book. That said, I loved the dynamic of Nell and her sREREAD 2021
I now know the team apart, but I still felt like there were too many players in this book. That said, I loved the dynamic of Nell and her sisters, and I desperately want to know how things are going with her family!
Keeping the original rating. --------------------------- The only bad thing I can really say about this book is that it has too many characters. I had trouble keeping the team apart before, and now there were so many characters involved, it was hard keeping up on who was/did what. Other than that, though, I flew through this book and really enjoyed it!
Looking forward to see what more may happen in Nell's life in future books!...more
This isn't a bad Jane book by any means. I enjoy that we get to see the somewhat more human side of her with the wedding, although I think the weddingThis isn't a bad Jane book by any means. I enjoy that we get to see the somewhat more human side of her with the wedding, although I think the wedding might have made it better as an individual short story than as part of one of the main novels. Because of it, the first half of the book was a little wobbly, if interesting, but I wasn't sure where the book was going.
The last half was very action heavy, with a lot of fights and some vampire politics. I'm glad there wasn't too much politics, but I felt everything was kinda rushed through. I don't know. Something didn't feel quite right with this book. A little like with the last one, that surrounds Jane's inner life a lot. It's not bad, and I like that we get to see her human side, but there can be a bit too much of it, as well as a lot of back and forth.
It generally felt like the author wasn't quite sure how to write this into a full length novel. A small part of me thinks we could have skipped the first half of this book and then jumped right to what will happen in book 15, but then there'd have been a feeling of 'this came out of the blue' and general lack of foreshadowing, so I understand why this book had to be here. That said, I felt like the whole grandmother story was VERY out of the blue.
So, yeah. Not a bad Jane book, but not the best either. ...more
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