Jan
12

Not Really a Review

Posted in mercy thompson, patricia briggs, review | 9 Comments
Part of the problem with writing books is that it sometimes takes all the pleasure out of reading them. And I don’t mean that in a snide way, just that when I do manage to snag a little extra time to read for fun, I find myself going over everything with a more critical eye. This is probably because I’ve been forced to reevaluate so much of my own writing, as well as doing crits for other writers or judging contest entries. It’s hard to turn off that jaded little voice that now inherently starts pointing out flaws (perceived or otherwise), wherever they may be. Too many -ly words. Strange metaphors. Using the same word too many times too close to each other. WTF heroes and TSTL heroines. All these little pet peeves start adding up and adding up until it’s hard to really just *enjoy* a story for what… Read more
Aug
5

No, no…nearly…but NO.

Posted in rant, review | Leave a comment
*chucks book against the wall* To protect the innocent, I’m not going to mention the title of the book I’m currently pissy about. Or the author. Both are popular and I’m not actually interested in bashing. (Or maybe I’m chickenshit. Probably both.) Point being, I’ve wasted several hours of my time reading something that everyone raves about. I want my money back. In fairness, the writing was fine. In fact, the whole thing was a fairly fast read to start. Did I buy the premise? Eh. Not so much, but I could overlook it in the effort to find an actual plot. And it was a typical romance set up. Big, bad-ass hero. Dresses in leather. He’s a bazillion years old. Never known love. Driven by self-loathing. Hangs out with a bunch of other big, bad-asses who are side-characters atm, but are bound to be the stars of their own… Read more
Apr
5

The Shadow Queen

Posted in anne bishop, review, the shadow queen | Leave a comment
I don’t think I’ll normally be doing reviews, but I kinda felt like one tonight. Procrastination maybe – writing seems to be rather difficult today, but I think that’s a combination of stress and exhaustion, so I’ll keep plugging away as I can. Anyway – review time. The Shadow Queen is Anne Bishop’s latest foray in the world of the Black Jewels, and as much as I really love that universe,I’m afraid this story fell a little short for me. I know there’s going to be a sequel to it, as well as another volume of short stories released in a bit, but I just felt like everything here was wrapped up too quickly and yet, it left me hanging. There will probably be spoilers here, btw, so bear with me. The main plot centers around Cassidy – a Rose jeweled Queen – I actually liked her. She was kind… Read more