I would have rated this book 4 stars if not for the ending.
(view spoiler)[I just find it so completely unfair that Emilia died.
I adore Lucrezia and I I would have rated this book 4 stars if not for the ending.
(view spoiler)[I just find it so completely unfair that Emilia died.
I adore Lucrezia and I would've been devastated if she had died, but Emilia dying in her place isn't a satisfying ending either. Emilia did so much for Lucrezia¡ªshe's her maidservant and best friend. She deliberately sought out the lonely manor that Lucrezia was trapped in, because she knew that her mistress would need a maidservant.
Does Lucrezia even care what happened to Emilia? It doesn't sound like it from the ending. Sofia would be horrified.
The ending seems very pro-status quo. Lucrezia was raised beside Emilia in the kitchens; they were milk sisters. But Lucrezia gets to be pampered due to her station, while Emilia becomes a servant. Lucrezia caused the accident that scarred Emilia's face when they were toddlers, and now Emilia has to unwillingly lay down her life for her too. Emilia's body is doomed to be sacrificed for her mistress.
Other than the ending, I enjoyed the book and the feminist themes it was trying to convey: forced marriage, abusive husbands, lack of female independence, etc. The writing is pretty, if overly ornate at times.
¡°I would be Medusa, if it came to it, I resolved. If the gods held me accountable one day for the sins of someone else, if they came for me
3.75 stars
¡°I would be Medusa, if it came to it, I resolved. If the gods held me accountable one day for the sins of someone else, if they came for me to punish a man¡¯s actions, I would not hide away like Pasiphae. I would wear that coronet of snakes, and the world would shrink from me instead.¡±
My main takeaway from Ariadne is that everything it does, Circe does better. Both books share similar themes: heroines who are underestimated and overlooked, the difficulties of being a woman in Ancient Greece, motherhood, vengeful and vain gods, and shallow and cruel heroes.
I found Ariadne too pro-motherhood. This could be because I'm biased: I don't have kids and don't plan on ever having any. However, I thought that Circe offered a complex portrayal of motherhood that validates postpartum depression and emphasizes that it's hard work to be a mom. Ariadne just seems to be like, motherhood is so joyous! (view spoiler)[Adriane the character is the perfect domestic angel who adores her children. Her sister Phaedra, who doesn't care much about her kids and perverts the maternal connection by falling in love with her stepson, is punished by suicide. The book frames Dionysus's worst crime¡ªthe thing that makes Ariadne the character turn away from him forever¡ªas the scene where he brainwashes one hundred mothers to bring their babies to slaughter. All of it is tied to motherhood, and it makes me uncomfortable because women have fought so hard throughout history not to be viewed as birthing vessels, yet this book seems to unabashedly celebrate it and punish those that reject motherhood.
The ending was not to my liking either. I would¡¯ve preferred the sisters reuniting to be guardians of Nakos together. They will safeguard the women who come to escape from the tyranny of men. (hide spoiler)]
It was a nice read overall. But if you had to choose between buying Circe or this book, I'd recommend the former....more
I gave Darkdawn 4 stars after I finished it purely for nostalgic value. I love(d?) this seriJay Kristoff: I don't believe in happy endings.
Me:
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I gave Darkdawn 4 stars after I finished it purely for nostalgic value. I love(d?) this series. I've read Nevernight and Godsgrave multiple times. I was so happy when I met Jay at the London signing in September.
But even the fangirl in me cannot deny Darkdawn is a lackluster finale.
The plot meanders, like Grandpa Simpson going on a spiel about the cost of prunes nowadays. There are so many plotlines happening simultaneously¨Cthe return of Mia's brother Jonnen, the Mia-Tric-Ash love triangle, rescuing Mercutio from the Church, Mia reuniting the shards of Anubis the Moon¨Cyet the book still manages to drag. Unnecessary sex scenes and fights bog down the pacing. (The pirates are weird, okay? Give me a full swashbuckling adventure instead of a Hamlet intervention) I believe Darkdawn would've benefited from being split into two books, so the novel's direction could be clearer. For instance, Mia had very clear goals in both Nevernight and Godsgrave¨Cmurder the people who killed her family. Mia in Darkdawn is stretched way too thin. As a result, we lurch from one plot point to another with barely enough transition glue for cohesiveness.
Ash's personality has diminished to Mia's Girl. She used to be a sassy, multi-faceted character. Now her main role is loving Mia and fucking her. I don't like how Mia keeps thinking of Ash as "her girl"either; it robs her of individuality. Her sass becomes cruelty as she rubs it in Tric's face that Mia is hers now and displays no repentance for murdering him. Why? Why turn Ash into another Mia? It would've made more sense for Ash to apologize to Tric for killing him, but add she didn't regret it because she did it for her family. Otherwise she's wholly unsympathetic.
(Yes, I love Tric but that's beside the point. To be honest, the whole love triangle felt over the top and I gnash my teeth daily when I think about how much time the plot wasted on it.)
Darkdawn is just a lovefest for Mia. Ash and Tric love her. The gladiators love her. Even Scavea is incredibly impressed with her assassination attempt and asks her to join him. (view spoiler)[Jonnen loves Mia too for some indiscernible reason. She kidnapped him from the only family he knows and murdered his (fake) dad in front of him. He should hate Mia the way she hates Scavea. Jonnen's change of heart would've made more sense if we were told Eclipse told Jonnen stories about Mia that made him trust her, but it was never mentioned. (hide spoiler)]
The religious aspects are dialed up more as is the meta angle. We find out the Nevernight Chronicles exist in this universe and were hidden in the Red Church's library. We've always had that wink-wink-nudge-nudge relationship with the narrator, but this feels a bit too much.
The ending is atrocious. (view spoiler)[Mia saves the world and gets to spend eternity with Ash. Wwhat happened to no happy endings?? The issue I thought would appear¡ªAsh being undead¡ªisn¡¯t an issue because Mia is undead too. (hide spoiler)]
"History is filled with teenagers who lead the fight. Joan of Arc. Soji, the samurai. Alexander the Great. They were all teenagers when th
3.5 stars
"History is filled with teenagers who lead the fight. Joan of Arc. Soji, the samurai. Alexander the Great. They were all teenagers when they began leading their armies. I think we're back to those times again, kid."
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Does anyone remember what happened to Joan of Arc? She was accused of being a witch and burnt at stake. Soji died young. Alexander the Great died in middle of battle, after leaving a line of smoking cities behind him. I can't be the only one who sees a pattern here: all these examples burned bright and expired young.
Wish I could say the same for Penryn. The ending is so disgustingly sweet, I need to book an appointment with my dentist.
(view spoiler)[Raffe sacrifices his wings to save her and everyone lives happily ever after.
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Where are the sacrifices? The tears? The heart-wrenching kick in the heart when you need to let him go, followed by the soaring joy when he comes back? I knew they were going to end up together (duh), I just didn't know it was going to be so fucking easy.
Penryn sacrifices NOTHING to be with Raffe. Her sister's legs are magically healed and she no longer needs to eat human flesh to survive. She achieves a new understanding with her mentally ill mom and saves the day without prominent losses.
Raffe is the one who sacrifices everything. He lost his wings, his home, his chance to be accepted back into his angel brethren.
It's Ensnared all over again. I want my characters to suffer for their happy ending, not have it drop into their lap like a well-baked potato.
There are a lot of loose strings left hanging. Like why did the angels come to earth in the first place? We established Uriel killed Gabriel, but what was Gabe coming to tell humanity? Or was it just a casual stop-by to check on God's creations? If so, why bring an army?
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What about (view spoiler)[the Consumed left in the sea? Those bodies won't last long and once they die, the ocean will be filled with flesh-eating heads. Seriously, someone should get on that.
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By the way, how can the Angels suddenly leave? I thought the whole point of them terrorizing humans was that they couldn't leave because Gabriel was their portal or something. If they could leave anytime they wanted, why the hell didn't they fly home and ask for further orders? they seemed pretty damn orderly and complacent when it was election time.
Paige and Penryn's mom are this book's saving grace. They manage to be incredibly awesome even though End of Days stubbornly insists on focusing the spotlight on Penryn and Raffe. Her character hasn't developed since Angelfall, and Raffe seems to have misplaced his wit since running away from a spooning session at the beginning.
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Diehard fans of the series will enjoy End of Days. But for me, who tentatively hopped on the bandwagon after World After, it just fell flat.
"Your eyes were the color of freedom. Of my future. They were full of so much sorrow, so much determination. And strength... Waking in your bed was li
"Your eyes were the color of freedom. Of my future. They were full of so much sorrow, so much determination. And strength... Waking in your bed was like waking from a ten-year coma and seeing an angel...Because just looking at you, with or without wings, I was reborn."
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You want to know what Untamed is? I'll tell you what Untamed is.
It is a neverending clusterfuck of men telling their female partners they are lovely and special and made of unicorn hoof shavings.
Of course women should be made to feel special. Of course we should be worshiped. Like my girl Beyonce says, we run the damn world.
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But there's a point when feminism becomes misandry, and there's a point when worshipful devotion becomes cheesy tripe. It's the ridiculous the amount of praise these Splintered women get. The Boy in the Web is about Thomas (Al's dad) wanking on about Alison (Al's mom). The Moth in the Mirror, which was already released, is about Jeb wanking on about Al, with a bit of Morpheus thrown in. Six Impossible Things is about Morpheus wanking on about Al.
We get it, Al is Christ reborn. I was hit over the head with it from Ensnared. Howard mentioned Untamed is supposed to help readers better understand the events and ending of Ensnared. Since I was one of those sorely disappointed, I looked forward to viewing the story through a wider lens.
Instead it shrunk to Al-this and Al-that.
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The romance aspect is very vanilla, very old-fashioned. Jeb and Al got engaged, as we remember, at divorce-statistic age of sixteen and don't sleep together until they get married in their early twenties. This is probably a personal thing and each to her own, though Morpheus's restoration of Al's virginity when she officially becomes Wonderland's queen and is made young again made steam gush out of my ears.
"Against every impossibility, I'm innocent and untouched once more."
I hate that word innocent. I hate what it implies, that women who have had sex are somehow impure and dirty. I hate that Morpheus believes Al's virginity is important enough to restore for their relationship to begin.
The other thing that pissed me off is a spoiler. Read at your own peril.
Why would you do that? Why would you make Al more of a Bella Swan than she already is? She gets absolutely everything without sacrificing a single thing.
In the epilogue of Ensnared and here in Untamed, she constantly mentions how much she'll miss her family. Aside from the glaring fact she's immortal and has more time than is allocated to an average person¡ªwho by the way, must leave their families too¡ªit's an acceptable disappointment. I wouldn't go as far to say it's a sacrifice, but yeah, it rackles your hide. Al gets Morpheus, her throne, her youth, but she doesn't get to have a family except for her husband and subject.
But Al is crafted of rainbows and kitty paws and must have everything. I don't buy the reason Untamed offers me¡ªthat Jeb's sacrificed muse is fading after his death and the new prince will replace him as the source. It's bullshit and we all know it. Al is Al and must swallow the whole damn cake. (hide spoiler)]
Some novellas bring something new to the table. This one brought me nothing but rage, disappointment, and a renewed conviction that Splintered should have been a standalone.
¡°But who names a starship the Icarus? What kind of man possess that much hubris, that he dares it to fall?¡±
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I went into These Brok3.5 stars
¡°But who names a starship the Icarus? What kind of man possess that much hubris, that he dares it to fall?¡±
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I went into These Broken Stars expecting a Titanic retelling. We all remember what happens at the end; Kate is a dumbass and runs after Jack, then they both get stranded and Jack freezes to death. Also, he never wins an Oscar.
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But I digress. My point is, a Titanic retelling has to have at least two things: a sink sinks, and someone dies.
I was in awe of the writers' balls when they killed Lilac, then brought her back to life as a ghost-like figure. There are so many things you can play with. So many moral grey areas you can touch upon. What makes a person a person? Ghost Lilac remember everything the old Lilac did, is solid and has a heartbeat. But her clothes are conjured from nothing, the real Lilac's rags left behind long ago, and real Lilac's corpse is still rotting in the ground.
What complexity. What ingenuity. What guts.
But then she comes back to life through a blast of supernatural energy.
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You know what I call that? Deux ex-fucking-machina. The writers didn't have the balls to let her be dead.
The ending is tied up in a neat little bow. Lilac's daddy, who once sent a boy to the front lines of a battle for having the gall to date her, lets her have her way because of a little back-sass. Their social differences are swept aside and no one gives a damn the richest heiress in the galaxy is dating a guy from the back alleys. Whoopdee-freaking-do. (hide spoiler)] It's cowardly and ruined the entire book for me.
Everything else I loved. The writing's strong and descriptive without getting too purple. I would compare it to Marie Lu's style.
The characters remind me of Day and June from Legend, too. Lilac LaRoux is the daughter of the most powerful man in the galaxy, the creator and owner of LaRoux Industries. She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and has never had to work a single day in her life.
"There are jokes about how the LaRoux princess never goes anywhere without her entourage of giggling companions--that half of them could kill a man at a hundred yards is not exactly public knowledge. The President's family doesn't have protection like mine."
Then there's Tarver. The war hero from humble beginnings.
"These folks love a good rags-to-riches tale, even if my riches are no more than the medals pinned to my chest."
After the Icarus is blasted out of hyperspace, they crash-land on a foreign planet with no way of communicating with the outside world. They're forced to work together to survive, though initially it's mostly Tarver that does the working. Lilac's journey looks something like this:
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I know I'm making her sound like Paris Hilton, but she's really not. She can hold her own. She's a kickass mechanic and learns to adapt after a rough start.
Tarver sounds like an actual teenage boy, which is rare in YA, so good job there. I'm struggling for what else to say about him, but keep coming up short. He's nice, he's competent, but I wouldn't put him on my Book Boyfriend List, let's leave it at that.
A good, solid book overall. I just wish the authors had more guts....more
Jodi Picoult has a pretty good thing going. Her books follow a certain formula and she racks in the dough.
A standard Picoult book contains:
-Moral dileJodi Picoult has a pretty good thing going. Her books follow a certain formula and she racks in the dough.
A standard Picoult book contains:
-Moral dilemma(s) -A court case/Law & Order stuff -Motherhood -White, suburban main characters -Heterosexual romance on the side -Character death(s)
Seriously, someone always dies in her books.
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I don't mind it. They're decently-written and make me go through a roller coaster of feels. Read three in a row and you start to lose faith in humanity altogether.
But ever since Gone Girl, writers have been jumping through hoops to ensure their work has a oh-my-god plot twist. Picoult's mistake was following the trend. Fresh off the heels of Vanishing Girls, I was not pleased to see an exact near replica of the 'twist'.
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Is it worth a read? Yes; I learned a lot about elephants. For those who have read their fair share of 'shocking' mysteries, steer clear. I hear House Rules packs its fair share of mystery and feels....more
It's a very old axiom, but do you believe the end can justify the means? When there's no choice left?
NO. No, I do not. Especially when th1.5 stars
It's a very old axiom, but do you believe the end can justify the means? When there's no choice left?
NO. No, I do not. Especially when the end, which in this case is the supposed resolution of 900+ pages' worth of suspense and mystery, ultimately ends up being bullshit. There is no explanation for anything and what little there is turns out to be the biggest fuckfest I have ever had the misfortune to read.
The Maze Runner trilogy started off with so much potential. Yes, there were parts in The Maze Runner that grated on me like a wayward blender, but I lapped it up and dove into the next installment, eager as a three-month-old puppy. The Scorch Trials disappointed me greatly, still I was like, "It's okay, it's cool! The third and final book will make up for it. Right, guys? Right? RIGHT?"
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A little background information before this review spirals out the football field of sanity: Thomas and the others have gotten out of the Scorch and back in Wicked's headquarters. They are then offered a chance to get their memories back in order to fully complete this experiment and extract a cure for the Flare.
Now from what I remember of Thomas from the first book, he was Alice in a dystopian Wonderland. Curious and always asking questions: "Where are we?", "Why are they doing this?", "Just answer my questions, dammit!" Armed with this knowledge, you'd think that Thomas would be real eager to get his real memories back and figure out why his past self justified and conducted these trials in the first place, his relationship with Teresa, and who his mother is.
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In what I can only fathom as a bullshit way to drag out intrigue and save time in creating a backstory, the author makes Thomas not want his memories back because Wicked is evil, wah, wah, wah, and we can't trust anything they say! In fact, we'll escape! yeah, that's what we'll do! Never mind that getting back your memories is the sole thing you've been hankering for since you woke up from the Box months ago. Never mind that by doing this, you could potentially help Wicked discover the cure and save millions of lives. Never mind that (view spoiler)[ your friend, Newt, has the Flare and if you could pull your head out of your selfish asshole for one second, you could save him. (hide spoiler)] Oh no, let's go on a road trip to save me and get all that nasty, manipulative Wicked tech out of my brain, which incidentally, has never fully been explained. Let's make it all about me, me, me. Minho? Who the fuck's that?
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The ending is the most selfish, stupid decision I have encountered. Allegiant was better than what happened if you can believe it. (view spoiler)[
He hoped that whatever they were, they'd be isolated and safe while the rest of the world figured out how to deal with the Flare, cure and no cure. He knew the process would be long and hard and ugly, and he was one hundred per cent that he wanted no part of it.
So as long as his Majesty Thomas is alright, the whole world can go fuck itself, am I right?
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I wouldn't be so furious with Thomas's decision if it wasn't so at odds with his personality. This is the same guy who risked his life by going out into the Maze at night to save two people he barely knew. Sure, he went through some shit because of Wicked, but this is thousands, millions of innocent lives we're talking about. Harry Potter wouldn't have stood by idly if he knew sacrificing himself would help. Actually, that's exactly what he did in the Deathly Hallows. Percy Jackson wouldn't have allowed this to happen either. He'd grumble and grouse and add a smart-alecky remark, but he'd do something about it. He would waste valuable time reserved for mounting a barricade against gods in order to move unconscious passersby out the street and harm's way. That's what heroes do. And Thomas is most assuredly not one of them. I am ashamed to have compared him to those two in my review of The Maze Runner.
And how the fuck is preserving two hundred Immunes supposed to rebuild humankind? Say that by some miracle no one stumbles across them in this popped-outta-nowhere greenland. But Paige basically set humanity back by hundreds of years. I recently watched a documentary that says thanks to specialization, humans are extremely codependent. It takes a team of at least a hundred people to create a computer mouse. You need someone to pipe the oil up, to turn the oil into workable plastic, to slice it into pieces, to create metal springs or whatever it is that makes the button click... Not one person on earth can make a computer completely from scratch. And as smart as Thomas and the others are, I doubt they know how to make one either. So all that knowledge is essentially lost. Way to think ahead. (hide spoiler)]
And like I said, there is no proper explanation for the stuff that has been plaguing readers since day one. All that build-up with flashbacks of Thomas' mom and tantalizing hints of Thomas and Teresa's relationship and we end up with diddly-squat. Nothing is resolved, not even the love triangle.(view spoiler)[Teresa's dying is cheap. Thomas doesn't have to decide and stays the aw-shucks good guy. (hide spoiler)]
To this day, I still don't understand know how shoving Variable after Variable before Thomas and Co. is supposed to find the cure. Wicked mentioned it's to study their brain patterns, as per to how they react in different situations. However, as I understand it, immunity is coded in DNA and our genetic makeup. Studying behavioral reactions is in the field of psychology or neuroscience, and has nothing to do with why you have blond hair. Wicked should have been extracting bone marrow or blood instead conducting the Hunger Games 2.0. The way I see it, the author only did the Lord of the Flies thing to generate action and excitement. Entertainment factor over proper research/common sense; not your best decision.
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Newt was the only thing tolerable about this book. He had a proper character arc, unlike poor Minho, who was shoved to the side and had nary an important scene. If only he'd had some impact on the ending. It sounds callous, but you took him out of the picture, the plot would still run exactly the same. (view spoiler)[Why give Thomas' close, personal friend the Flare, if not to make Thomas see what it does to people and he has to help find the cure? (hide spoiler)]He was only there to generate a few tears (none were shed) and make Thomas into the hero again (and not a single fuck was given about our resident special snowflake).
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On a slightly irrelevant and happier note, this is the first series in which I have written a review for every single installment.
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I haven't felt this proud since I got my first troll. I'm a professional reviewer, Ma!
"Please look at me. I missed you. I was so worried about you."
"Really? Which one of us are you talking to?"
If you recall, I'd caved and read the e
"Please look at me. I missed you. I was so worried about you."
"Really? Which one of us are you talking to?"
If you recall, I'd caved and read the epilogue for Ensnared first, which led to me punching the wall in anger and spent the rest of the afternoon ranting my poor sister's ear off.
Well, I'm here to tell you I read the rest of it. Aaaand I'm still infuriated.
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I just have more leverage.
Ensnared puts forth the conundrum of Al being torn between her human and Netherling sides, more specifically, two hot, perfect guys.
Let's take a look-see at our contestants, shall we?
First up, Jeb
"I'll decide how much she needs to know and when to tell her."
Yes, this dreamy human hunk likes to speak caveman and treat our fretting heroine like a glass figurine. He's such a supporter of women's rights, he decides to win Al's heart by asking her father, instead of her personally, for her hand.
"He was planning to ask you to marry him. Did you know that? He asked me for your hand."
Because he recognizes the ancient law of male ownership over women, he doesn't ask for Daddy's blessing, but his permission.
He is also a master of emotional manipulation. Sensing Al's guilt in kissing Hot Guy #2 and accidentally sending him to Wonderland last book, he strong-arms Al into making a life-magic vow that gives him first dibs on everything. Marriage, virginity, children, oral sex... you name it. If she breaks it, she'll lose her magic and possibly doom Wonderland for all eternity.
Hear that, girls? He wants to be your first or no deal. Don't everybody rush him at once.
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In the other corner, we have Morpheus.
"The way he shoves me into the face of danger, forces me to look beyond my fears and reach for my full potential."
This winged Netherling is manipulative, strategic (though Jeb could give him a run for his money!) and smells like tobacco, probably encouraging impressible young tweens everywhere to smoke in hopes it'll land them their dream girl/boy.
No matter what, he'll always put Wonderland first. Unless it comes to his queen, Al, who also happens to be the only one able to save Wonderland! What a coincidink!
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Who can forget the lady of the hour, Al!
"In the darkness, beneath the covers, I hug myself tight, surrounded by Jeb's scent and Morpheus's homespun lingerie."
Descendent of the Red Queen, Al is half-human, half-Netherling and gifted with tremendous magic. In her quest to save Wonderland, she will openly toy with both boys' affections, scold herself for being selfish, then keep on doing it anyway!
They are literally two halves of her heart and for some inexplicable reason, she needs men to realize her potential. Jeb championing her human side, Morpheus the Netherling. Because sixteen years of being a human is not enough to sustain the former.
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Here are your contestants and here are your Possible endings:
Ending A: Al ends up with Morpheus, Jeb having died in a hole somewhere. Morpheus educates her in the ways of madness, and Al uses her sixteen years of humanity to retain herself.
Ending B: Morpheus dies, and his magic fuses with Jeb, like in Elsewhere (Morpheus couldn't use magic there and channeled it into Jeb, like a vessel). Al helps him control his darker side or he puts on his big-boy pants and does it himself, relying on sixteen years of experience. They smooch and rule side by side in Wonderland.
Ending C: Al punts both boys on their ass and rules Wonderland on her own. (Personally, I'm rooting for this one)
Ending D: Al sacrifices herself for Wonderland. Jeb and Morpheus finally give in to their latent homosexual desire for each other and become the first same-sex reigning couple in Wonderland.
"'How does [Morpheus] know your measurements, huh?'
I frown and drop my arm. 'I could ask the same thing about your boxers. You can't even sew a button onto a shirt.'"
"So, after everyone dies, you'll go to Wonderland and be perpetually sixteen?"
After they defeat Red, both boys accept they have to be constants in Al's life. She lives out her human life with Jeb, prepping with Morpheus by night, and after he kicks the bucket, she rejoins Hot Guy #2 in Wonderland. Youth magically restored, Al is crowned queen and lives happily ever after with Morpheus. How's that for a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too situation?
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Al gets fucking everything¡ªyouth, power, both men¡ªand doesn't have to lift a damn finger. Jeb and Morpheus are the ones who had to make hard choices, to compromise, to give up shit.
The book attempts to fool us into thinking Al has to abandon her family and it's all so sad and self-sacrificing. Fuck that. She's a freaking magic queen! She can glamor a disguise and see them whenever she wants. If she's feeling particularly selfish, which isn't hard, she can spirit them to Wonderland and everyone can have Sunday dinner together like one, big happy family.
I awarded it an extra star for the writing world-building, which is glorious.
"One creature is a pale, cone-headed humanoid whose cranium pops open sporadically so she can argue with a smaller version of herself. Next, the smaller version's cranium opens to reveal an even littler likeness. The tiniest one is a male with a large nose. He bonks his female counterparts with a rolling pin before hiding away again."
"Hang out with Brooklyn, I mean. I don't think she's seen you with us yet. You can find out why she's such a bitch now."
"You want me to sp
3.5 stars
"Hang out with Brooklyn, I mean. I don't think she's seen you with us yet. You can find out why she's such a bitch now."
"You want me to spy on her?" I ask.
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Ladies and gentlemen, may I present Mean Girls! Now with an extra dash of exorcism!
"We exorcise you, impure one, you satanic power." Her clear voice fills the cold corners of the basement.
Next to Dorothy Must Die, The Merciless was one of my most anticipated reads for 2014. I'd added it long before it had a cover because the blurb promised me a teenage version of Carrie's mom. How can anyone not be into that?
Unfortunately, as I was reading, it became evidently clear that the author had bitten off more than she could chew. She had a fantastic concept of a bunch of religious psychos torturing a girl, whom they believe is a demon, but decided to screw it and go in the far easier (and cheaper) direction of supernatural horror.
There's nothing wrong with supernatural horror, of course. The Shining features a haunted house after all. But it is the corrosion of Jack's humanity, his turning onto his wife, his beloved son and hunting them down with a rouque mallet (off with their heads!) that truly turns the cheap Halloween prop into a afriad-to-go-to-the-bathroom-at-night frightfest. People are the true monsters, and Vega tossed that away for a cheap "Boo!" She does incorporate bits and pieces of humanity's dark side by having the religious girls confess their sins, but it feels like an afterthought and turns into a freaking catfight midway.
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I am dead serious. That gif above is one of the sins they confess. The first half of the book equals the first half of Mean Girls. Sofia is the new girl in school and meets Janis Brooklyn and Damien Charlie. The Plastics, Riley, Alexis, and Grace adopt her into their group, but instead of wearing pink, they pray. Riley, aka Regina, was even friends with Brooklyn in middle school.
"We all used to be friends, you know," Riley says. "Brooklyn too."
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Riley asks Sofia to hang out with Brooklyn, and one thing led to another, and the next thing you know, Brooklyn is trussed up in a basement and getting her nail sliced off.
That part I did enjoy. Some people said that it catered to the gore factor instead of horror and while I agree (psychological horror trumps clowns), it didn't bug me. I've had very low expectations for YA horror since Anna Dressed in Blood, which should be labelled YA Paranormal instead of Horror. Reading about people tearing their own hair out and stabbing themselves in the leg with a pen effectively made me cringe and put me right off the barbequed pork I was eating that night. Not bad for YA horror.
Character development is lacking though. With such a simple premise, you really need to rely on the characters to tide the readers through. While Sofia and the girls weren't cardboard cutoffs, they felt underdeveloped alongside plot points that could've upped the scare factor. Stephen King suffers from overwriting and Vega suffers from underwriting. So many things could have been built on more, like Sofia's grandma's religious tendencies, Alexis's codependent friendship with Riley, or Sofia's mom being an atheist.
Despite all those irks, I was going to give The Merciless 4 stars. Until the cheesy horror-movie ending.(view spoiler)[Brooklyn turns out a witch/demon and Riley, the religious nut, was right all along. What was the point of painting Riley as a manipulative hypocrite if not to show her as the ultimate bad guy? And how on earth is Sofia one of them?
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It makes no sense. Has Sofia always been a demon? Or did she turn into one because she killed her friend? If so, shouldn't Riley be spared because I'm certain she killed Alexis. You can argue that Riley tormented Brooklyn and she killed her for revenge, but what about Alexis, Riley's pawn? Alexis put her own sister in a coma, so by the logic of this universe, Alexis is a demon, like one of them. Or do the victims have to die to count? But wait, how does attempted murder factor into this? See, now I'm getting muddled up.
Final verdict: if you like a side of Gossip Girl with your blood, guts, and gore, give this a try. if you want true YA Horror, go to my man Christopher Pike. That guy does not screw around.
That ending was just crap. Tsuna still hasn't confessed to Kyoko, and is still torn between her and HaruWarning: this will be a rant.
Seriously?
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That ending was just crap. Tsuna still hasn't confessed to Kyoko, and is still torn between her and Haru. He still doesn't want to become Vongola's 10th boss so now Reborn's training him to be some neo-Primo boss. It's like we're back to Square 1. What the hell was 400+ chapters's worth of character development for?
If you going to end it like that, then at least put in an epilogue, that's all I'm saying.
It was 4 stars until the climax¡ªor should I say anti-climax. The ending dragged on way too much and was too open-ended for my taste. I mean, 3.5 stars
It was 4 stars until the climax¡ªor should I say anti-climax. The ending dragged on way too much and was too open-ended for my taste. I mean, at least give me an epilogue.
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