Feminista
Hi everyone! I used to be a former Goodreads lover. Who has decided to move to BookLikes due to the recent changes to the GR site: that is, the decision of the management to delete reviews that talk about bad author behaviour.
It is important that we know of bad author behaviour and actions. We buy their books. I want to know whether Author A has decided to harass Reviewer A or encouraged fans to stalk Reviewer B.
I want to know this, the same way I wanted to know that a well known sporting good company had been using child labour in the production of some of its products. The same way the WHOLE WORLD wanted to know.
It is irrelevant that the author writes well, or that the said sporting good company produces good quality sporting goods. Our ethics and morals MATTER!
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Now to discuss my reading habits:
I am very picky when it comes to books. I am a feminist and I think that shows in my reading list.
There are many things that bug me to death. But I'll always make an exception if the boy-girl standard is reversed. Dear world, that is MY double standard. I respect and champion authors who have the guts to do something different.
Firstly, I hate infidelity in novels.
Secondly, I hate it when the heroine is a virgin and the guy is an expert and skilled lover. I hate it when the heroine, for fated reasons, saves herself for someone who has been sowing his oats. It's not only overdone, old-fashioned and pathetic, but it also grosses me out like he is violating something so sacrosanct.
Thirdly, I might enjoy the occasional alpha-hero tendencies, but my true love lies with beta-heroes. Guys who are loving and sweet. Who don't feel the need to push around their women to make themselves feel more manly.
Feminista's bookshelf: read
Tempt the Stars
Rating: 3 out of 5.
To say that I am disappointed would be an understatement. I finished reading this book last night and I decided to give myself a couple of hours to calm down. It didn't help. I am as upset and disappointed as I was last night.
I remember reading a review for this book, where the reviewer said that this book felt pretty much like a filler to her. I can see where she is coming from. This is especially frustrating when the author releases a book from this series, one every two years.
Because a lot happens in this book, but I felt like nothing really happened. Sure there were lots of action scenes and the plot was so twisted, a couple of hours later, I couldn't even tell you what really happened. But I felt like with the ending, we came back to a full circle with this novel. Like the Novel started at Point 0 and came back at Point 0. Sure under different circumstances, but it was still Point 0.
The descriptive writing and plot is sometimes fun to read. It may sometimes make the reading a richer experience. But when the description is about something inane, that doesn't really matter, then it ended up taking away from my enjoyment of this book.
There were so many times when conversations consisted of paragraphs of saying: "What?" And the other party replying with "Oh, I shouldn't be the one telling you this. You should wait for X to explain it to you." And Cassie replying with a "Tell me now!". But this basically goes on for pages! It was so damn frustrating! Who cares! Well I certainly don't. Not if this inane chatter and description comes at the expense of the real story, the real issues THAT WERE NOT SOLVED.
Like Mircea for example. <spoiler> He didn't show up in this novel. Like physically show up in real time. Yes there was this one shower fantasy part but he didn't physically manifest. And Cassie and him weren't talking when he showed up, they were busy doing other things, if you know what I mean.
I mean, this man is barely there in ANY of the novels. He lies to her, he doesn't give her any information (which she realises in this novel, is because knowledge is power and he doesn't want her to have any).
So why is Cassie still with him? She keeps on referring to him as boyfriend, lover, etc, whenever she thinks about him. Even in the end! And am I the only one who finds it disturbing that Mircea not only knew her as a baby/toddler/child/teenager, but he also interacted with her a lot. I mean come on,this man praises little Cassie for her childish drawings! And now a couple of years later, they are in a romantic relationship? He was like a pseudo father/uncle to her, well not really, but Tony sure as hell wasn't a father figure to her. And if there was a man who she felt safe with and wanted to spend time with, it was Mircea.</spoiler>
Cassie never really resolves the issue of how and why Mircea keeps things from her. It made me crazy and feel like there was not an issue. But there is, isn't there? I mean is it okay, even in an Urban Fantasy setting, if your boyfriend lies and keeps you in the dark intentionally?
And there is Pritkin. <spoiler>I was really excited when Pritkin appeared at the beginning of the novel. But a) He wasn't the real time Pritkin and b) Nothing really happened.
And when she meets the real-time Pritkin, they are too busy trying to save themselves to have any real conversation. Until they do, at the end of the novel. Except Pritkin is too busy trying to tell her, that he had a lot of time on his hand, while he was down under, so he thought about "it" a lot. But he never gets to the point, because the whole world isn't going to wait while he decides to describe, in detail, inane things before he gets to the point. </spoiler>
And so what happens between the obvious love triangle (or not so obvious to Cassie) between Cassie, Mircea and Pritkin?
Answer: NOTHING...
Cassie does not even think about it! This was another area where I thought I was going nuts. Is there or isn't there a love triangle here? If there is, why isn't it being addressed?
While reading this book, I had one of the: I-am-so-frustrated-I-want-to-chuck-this-book-out-of-the-window moments, and realising that I-can't-because-it's-not-a-book-it's-a-kindle!
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