Liv's Reads

I don't often read historical fiction and when I find a gem like this I wonder why I don't read it more often. I've always held a fascination for Scotland and right away I was drawn to the historical aspect of the story.

Carrie is an author who finds herself drawn to Slains Castle. Soon she finds herself living the events of Sophia, a woman who existed in 1708 and the heroine of her new novel. The romance aspect was very subtle and gradual. Graham enters Carrie's life the same way John enters Sophia's life. Quietly and with strong magnetism. Towards the end of this book I found myself so emotionally invested that I was bawling.

My only complaint is that sometimes I felt the story got bogged down by the history. But again, I don't normally read historical fiction or non-fiction so my appreciation of real life events only goes so far.

Looking forward to reading more of Susanna Kearsley's work.

Another enjoyable Jane Yellowrock adventure! As usual, there is a little something that keeps this series from being a 5 star rating for me. I'm starting to think it's just a accumulation of a bunch of tiny things. Let's start with my dislike of Evan Trueblood. From the first time we met Big Evan, he has had a stick up his ass regarding Jane. I get it, she leads a dangerous life the probability of it spilling over and harming his family is high - but still. I hate how everything has always been Jane's fault. Cut her some slack! I will say, he finally did give her some leeway. Just a tad.

My other problem is with Angie Baby. First of, must we always call her "Angie Baby"? Is that necessary? Up to now, I always thought she was a very young girl, maybe 4 or 5 but It seems she is almost 7? Maybe I got that all wrong but the baby talk and baby personality got tiresome instead of cute and adorable. Maybe I'm just an ogre who hates kids and I'm going to hell. *shrugs*

Lastly, been saying this for the past 3 books... tired of the Bruiser/Rick situation. What happened with Rick did break my heart a bit. I feel for Jane, but in my opinion, none of these two are good mate choices for Jane. Of course Beast disagrees with me, but still. I also don't like where this Leo connection is going AT ALL!! He is who he is but and I respect that, but how can she possibly trust him? He has done some fucked up shit and will do it again. The Bruiser storyline seems to going somewhere interesting... crossing my fingers that things change for the best and she moves on from Rick. Please move on from Rick!

I do like Beast, I love that book by book we have gotten a deeper sense of the connection Jane and Beast have and what their relationship is really like. I'm happy that Jane has a family and a home. She has softened up and I'm liking this. I foresee more problems with the witches and especially with Angie. That girl is going to be trouble. Of course, Evan will probably blame it all on Jane. *sigh*

I like Jane. She's a no nonsense badass motherfucker. I respect that. What I don't like about her is that she's constantly blaming herself for everything! I also don't like how people wrong her in so many different ways and they expect her to forgive them, yet she makes a bad judgment call and it becomes an unforgiveable sin. Tired of Rick. Haven't liked him for many books now, I'm also getting tired of Bruiser. Too bad Eli is now out of the running. Was hoping their relationship would become something more. Oh well.

“She’s four hundred years old!” I blurted out.
Jamie did a bit of a double take. “Really?”
“Yes. That doesn’t make her a cougar, that makes her a saber-toothed tiger.”
Jamie grinned. “That’s kind of hot.”

And so ends this series (I think). Have thoroughly enjoyed the mixture of comedy, vamps who are badass but still clumsy and the mystery of "whodunit?" Also the audio version is amazing! Amanda Ronconi is a superb narrator.

Is it possible to happy and sad that this series is over? Love Cat and Bones. They will always be one of my favorite couples but this installment dragged. Even at certain moments when I was startled by a revelation, I knew that it wouldn't stay bad for long.

Maybe I'm being a wet blanket. As usual most of my GR friends disagree with me. Regardless, this entire series is one of my favorite.

Super short snippet of Gabriel moving in with Jane. As usual nothing is easy with this crew!

Fun with some laugh out loud moments. Unlike some other books that center on humor, I didn't think this was over the top. The relationships are the focal point with the plot being an afterthought. Somehow it all works!

This felt like the last book in series. Curious to see what book 4 and the actual last book will be about.

Not sure what it is with this series - or is it the author? - I just can't get into it. Sure there is some creepy stuff which everyone seems to just dismiss even though they're scared. The sexual tension between Dex and Perry is thick. I just don't care for either of the characters. They're both set up to be these awkward loveable people who I could care less about. Yes, there is some witty dialogue but I don't buy Dex's sex appeal or Perry's loveable insecure nature.

Let's not even talk about Perry's parents. WTF? And Ada? Not buying her character either. Not sure I'll continue.

I picked this up because it’s the favorite book of a close friend. I’m not a fan of Science Fiction. It’s usually too heady and symbolic, filled with names I can’t pronounce and languages that I can’t understand. I was happy that this lacked the latter but it was very heavy on the former. In a nutshell, this is a trilogy that explores humanity and what it means to be human. What do we loose of ourselves when we have no choice but to integrate into a society in order to survive?

I found myself very frustrated 80% of the time. Not at the writing but at the subject matter. Earth has been destroyed due to a war and the alien race of oankali takes a couple of humans and tries to rehabilitate them in order for them to survive. However, humans can’t survive alone as just being “humans”. Starting with Lilith, humans integrate themselves, literally, with the oankali. It made me mad that the humans wouldn’t fight and that Lilith just rationalized everything and went along. I was very angry, but at the same time I understood why Lilith did what she did. The oankali were in my view jailers and oppressors who forced the change upon humans all in the name of trying to help them. They never saw their actions as wrong, though at times they did realize that the way they went about it could be fixed. As an immigrant, I related. You come into a new country and must learn a new language, customs and social norms. You must learn to behave and dress the part in order to integrate into this new society which results in you losing a bit of who you were. But I suppose that is true of all people.

All in all, this was interesting but again, very heady and weird at times. The oankali are beings with sensory glads and arms all over. Frankly, it freaked me out. Very vivid imagery and symbolism that gave me weird dreams. I don’t think I will be picking up a sci-fi book again anytime soon.

Yet another series that I'm late to discovering. I've read Jennifer Estep's YA series and while enjoyable, wasn't wowed by it. It's hard to believe that the same author wrote both series. I like the touch of "Frost" and the snowflake symbol that ties both series.

Gin was cool. She was a no-nonsense assassin that is out to do the job right. Can't say I was a big fan of Donovan Kane or the love situation happening between him and Gin. It felt forced to me and I don't really see the deep attraction, other than physical.

The only reason this isn't a 5 star book is Estep's propensity to over describe situations or things. I get it, Gin's a badass killer and will kill you 4-ways dead in different manners without you even noticing. On with the story!! Looking forward to getting to know Gin more.

Really enjoyed this. A lot more than I expected. The beginning was slow. Very slow and I wasn't sure I could do it but then it took off and I couldn't put it down. There is a lot of things I'm a bit unclear about but I liked the twist on the demonic/human world. Arcadia was ok. I can see the potential for her to develop into a very strong kickass character.

The love story with Lon was awesome. Drama free and without angst (so far). Very refreshing. Jupe was so damn cute. I loved that kid. Excited to continue this series.

Need book 2!
Review to come

Edited to add that it hasn't been a month since I read this and I had a hard time remembering what it was about. Perhaps a sign that I shouldn't continue the series? Me thinks so.

******

Once again, this is one of those reads where I enjoyed the concept, but the actual execution left me wanting. TOO much angst and lack of communication. It was irritating and unnecessary. So much of this book felt like a riddle. There were parts that actually made my head hurt just trying to figure out what the hell was going on. And despite of it, it still sucked me back in. The last chapter was probably the sanest and best part.

I liked the dark, weird world that is created. The world is ash and people are struggling to survive. There are zombies and women have disappeared. It had a cool Mad Max feel to it. I like that these Arcana beings have come alive, embodied by teens and are fighting a war where only one can survive. It took me a while to realize that it really is the tarot symbols. I can be slow like that. Evie has the power of plants, poison and life. She did some pretty cool things with this power and very curious to see these powers grow. Enjoyed the intro to the other Arcana members as well.

At the same time, what I didn’t like was Evie. Damn she was so annoying at times! HATED the back and forth irritating, angst filled way she communicated with Jackson. Not sure what Cole’s purpose in that is. I found it distracting and extremely annoying. Just wish we’d gotten more than her useless rich girl attitude. I enjoyed Jackson. Wish he’d get over that chip on his shoulder though and not take everything as an attack. There is definitely more to him than has been revealed.

Because I did enjoy the concept, I will continue on to book 2. I hope we get an index soon of all the Arcana and the people representing them and also hoping the writing flows a lot smoother.

This is more of a 2.5 stars. More interesting than the 2nd book but still lacking a certain oomph. Unnecessary love triangle that ended badly as love triangles often do.

This was a bit boring. In a gallant effort to save Andrea from a forced Mate Bond, he offers to be her mate. This fact was glossed over. Maybe it happened at the end of the last book, I don't remember, but it would have been nice to recap. From the beginning it is obvious that these two are attracted to each other and there wont be long until they give in and are bonded.

The premise of this series is really intriguing, I'm just not a fan of the writing or the actual execution of the story. Sean was an intriguing character from book one. As the guardian, it is obvious he has dark secrets and emotions he doesn't share. Andrea is despised for being half Fey and half Lupine. Unfortunately she was a bit stupid. I applaud her desire to be independent but she kept diving head first into dangerous situations. Not smart.

Overall, not a very exciting read and doubt I'll continue the series.

Torn about my feelings towards this series and this book. I loved Vance and Jules. They might be my favorite couple so far. Jules wasn’t over the top or full of self-pity as some of the other female characters have been. Their chemistry was hot from the start and I’ll admit to chocking up with emotion on more than one occasion. Plus I loved Boo!! I was surprised at how annoyed I found the rest of the Rock Chick crew. Though I found them entertaining in the past, I actually skimmed most of those scenes since I found them irritating in this installment. A problem since this is the “Rock Chick” series. For this I would give the book 4 stars.

The problem with this series occurred at exactly 50% into the story. Jules is upset and Vance insists that he just wants to fuck her and she just needs to be fucked. She admits to being uncomfortable by his aggression and a little afraid but being the uber all-knowing macho that his is, he ignores this, insisting that she just needs a good fuck. This made me very uncomfortable. So much that I almost closed my kindle and moved on to another story. This is also not the first time that this type of story line has been present in this series. I understand that to some readers this may seem as Vance is being ultra-sexy and controlling. Especially since Jules has been afraid and unsure of their budding relationship. To me, it walked an uncomfortable path into rape. This is a formula that I’ve noticed Kristen Ashley use in her books time and again and… yeah… it makes me uncomfortable to know that it’s ok for a woman to say “Stop, I’m uncomfortable with this” and for the man to ignore that request because he knows best. He knows that all she needs is a good fuck to relax her and make her stop thinking those silly female thoughts. While I agree, that sex is an awesome way to relax and more people should be having it as often as possible, it should be consensual and not full of unease. Maybe I’m reading too much into this (pun intended) – not sure. For this… 1 star.

So now that my rant is over… what to do? I do enjoy the humor and romance of the stories but the machismo and the sexual bullying don’t appeal to me and make uncomfortable. Not sure if I will continue with this series.

Overall rating – 3 stars.

***UPDATE***
I have not been able to stop thinking about this series and about how uncomfortable it made me. Also, the fact that so many other women find it so sexy and hot. Everyone is entitled to what they want to read and like to read. But I've decided no more Kristen Ashley for me. Lowering my rating to 2 stars.