Stopped at page: 123
Ember annoyed the living crap out of me. Not in the 'oh man just get over it already' way, but in the 'you're boring me' way. I kept expecting her to react in a somewhat more interesting manner, but it just didn't happen. I'll put aside my issues with her sister and their relationship (it was pointed out to me that its a bit too much like how my younger sister and I am), but that nagged at me too. I can understand needing to be mindful of Olivia since she has a tendency to bring things back from the dead, but it got to me annoying when she'd coddle the child instead of saying 'THIS IS DANGEROUS STOP IT'. Tough Love Ember, look it up.
Hayden, the obligatory love interest in all these paranormal books, did perk Ember up a bit, but by the time they're romance got underway full tilt I was kind of tired of how uninteresting she could be and moved onto a new book.
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Venom by Fiona Paul
Stopped at page: 120
THIS BOOK. Such a pretty cover. Such an interesting (if somewhat outside of my normal genre preference) idea. Such a disappointment.
I'll start with Cass, who annoyed the living crap out of me. Unlike Ember, who annoyed me by just being dull, Cass is just outright annoying. Oh poor me, my dead friend is still prettier then me. Oh poor me, my marriage was arranged and the guy isn't the bastard I thought he was. Oh poor frelling me I'm in
Let me just state, up front, that I'm not a historical fact nazi. If I was I wouldn't read the historical romances I enjoy. That said you can't have it both ways--either you are dealing in (mostly) historical accuracy (in terms of society, dress, behaviors, consequences, etc) or its all just wallpaper for a romanticized version of the past you want to have your book in. I'll read either happily, but trying to blend them together is just...awkward.
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Stopped at page: 17 (seriously)
All right folks let's start this train by stating I was misled in terms of what this was about. I thought I was reading about a so-so witch, her best friend and how they go about delivering vigilante style justice to sex offenders (plus hot sex with her two new neighbors). What I got instead was a couple pages of ass-kicking and then page after page of 'I need to get laid!' THEN 'my neighbor is hot do you think he'd bang me now?'
Seriously. She meets her new neighbor, has erotic thoughts about him the entire time they are conversing, tries to invite him in for 'coffee', feels disappointed when he says no and then suddenly sex. I got whiplash. I wanted my vigilante justice back! I stopped reading about then, skimming some of the book and becoming rather annoyed with how quickly she moves from one guy to the other.
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Stopped at page: 115
This one I was surprised at and I think has a lot more to do with the fact I was a bit burnt out on paranormals when I was reading it then anything wrong with the book itself. The book itself is fast-paced and the mystery is actually a mystery (which I give kudos for as that never seems to happen).
I think I might revisit this one in a few months, after my paranormal stupor has cleared away (or at least my YA paranormal stupor). In the meantime I do recommend this one for anyone looking for a YA paranormal book that is NOT focused on the romance, DOES have an active parent in attendance and has a well defined (or so it seems to me from what I read) mystery.
