Disappointing. I'd hoped some of the more persisting/annoying issues of book one would work itself out in book two. Sadly, it seemed to get worse ratheDisappointing. I'd hoped some of the more persisting/annoying issues of book one would work itself out in book two. Sadly, it seemed to get worse rather than better. If I had to sum it up in one word, it'd be confused. Practically no world building, what little there was to be had of anything resembling "lore" regarding their "abilities" and whatnot appeared more willy-nilly as opposed to actual lore.
The more I read of Charlie, the less I liked her. Constantly oscillating between claiming to be a pro, the "real deal", confidently, bordering on arrogant and recklessly charging into situations, brushing it off as no biggie versus rejecting/denying any and all of her powers etc and making rookie moves because of it.. or the way she goes on and on about how intuitive she is but then repeatedly dismisses it out of hand..
And don't even get me started on the whole "Tom Sharon" aka Charon, the Ferryman, aka Mr. Death... really?!
I got distinct Charmed meets Melinda Gordon/ Ghost Whisperer vibes, apart from Mr. Death that was straight out of Meet Joe Black.
Oh, and it could've done with a good editor. I lost count of the number of typos, missing words, incomplete sentences, misplaced commas, etc. Will most definitely not be picking up book 3....more
I quite liked it. Interesting story. Though I found it to be a bit at odds, for someone who is clearly struggling with/ rejecting her gift to be reckleI quite liked it. Interesting story. Though I found it to be a bit at odds, for someone who is clearly struggling with/ rejecting her gift to be recklessly running off... was verging a bit too close to TSTL for me. I also wasn't a fan of Daphne's antics.. then again I guess we all have one of those in our family somewhere......more
I'll admit I was a bit apprehensive of this one. Never been a fan of "blast from the past" stories. But I love Riley and Nick and their beautiful gangI'll admit I was a bit apprehensive of this one. Never been a fan of "blast from the past" stories. But I love Riley and Nick and their beautiful gang of misfits. "Bethame" turned out to be even worse than I expected her to be. And I don't have the words to describe just how beyond pissed off I am at the ending. That woman is a sociopathic manipulative criminal. A villain. Who should be behind bars in prison preferably in some long forgotten hole in the ground somewhere. plain and simple. Also I can't believe I'm saying this but I kinda hated the new and not-so-improved Nick in this book. I miss their fun, hot and steamy romance. The two of them got barely any "screen time" together this time around. In general I found there to be a lot less fun and laughter in this one compared to the previous two books, it was either too OTT like the Double-D-Bandit or a quite tiresome like Mrs Penny and Lily's never-ending antics. This "gang of misfits" was great fun in the first book, already a bit tiresome in the second book and now... now they simply went off the deep end and I skipped most of their parts. All very grade school.
All in all a major letdown. Whereas books 1 and 2 always but a smile on my face, cheer me up and usually have me laughing out loud a few minutes in, this one only ever manages to spoil my mood and leaves me feeling incredibly angry.
Still I'm glad we got the whole Beth thing done and dusted (hopefully, should she ever dare to make a reappearance I am sooo outta here...) so we can hopefully focus on more interesting and better mysteries in the future. Looking forward to having Psychic Riley back in the next ones... :D Oh and I really hope Nick finally gets his special security system and the moat set up
Merged review:
I'll admit I was a bit apprehensive of this one. Never been a fan of "blast from the past" stories. But I love Riley and Nick and their beautiful gang of misfits. "Bethame" turned out to be even worse than I expected her to be. And I don't have the words to describe just how beyond pissed off I am at the ending. That woman is a sociopathic manipulative criminal. A villain. Who should be behind bars in prison preferably in some long forgotten hole in the ground somewhere. plain and simple. Also I can't believe I'm saying this but I kinda hated the new and not-so-improved Nick in this book. I miss their fun, hot and steamy romance. The two of them got barely any "screen time" together this time around. In general I found there to be a lot less fun and laughter in this one compared to the previous two books, it was either too OTT like the Double-D-Bandit or a quite tiresome like Mrs Penny and Lily's never-ending antics. This "gang of misfits" was great fun in the first book, already a bit tiresome in the second book and now... now they simply went off the deep end and I skipped most of their parts. All very grade school.
All in all a major letdown. Whereas books 1 and 2 always but a smile on my face, cheer me up and usually have me laughing out loud a few minutes in, this one only ever manages to spoil my mood and leaves me feeling incredibly angry.
Still I'm glad we got the whole Beth thing done and dusted (hopefully, should she ever dare to make a reappearance I am sooo outta here...) so we can hopefully focus on more interesting and better mysteries in the future. Looking forward to having Psychic Riley back in the next ones... :D Oh and I really hope Nick finally gets his special security system and the moat set up...more
I was intrigued at first. The premise sounded promising. I especially liked the idea of the "support character" playing a leading role... SadlyDNF @54%
I was intrigued at first. The premise sounded promising. I especially liked the idea of the "support character" playing a leading role... Sadly the execution had some issues... Pacing.. first they spent what felt like ages on the road, traipsing through the woods, chasing after the wayward princess, etc. This must have been at least 35/40 % of the book then we finally (at about halfway through the book) get to somewhere else and suddenly it's jumping from one place to the next, both in terms of physical location as well as story/relationship development. I kept flipping back the page to see if I skipped a chapter or several by mistake... out of the blue we get sudden romantic declarations and other "surprises" that usually belong at the end of the book/epilogue... admittedly that's when I lost interest
spice/smut... in between we're suddenly dumped into quite a unexpected porno... don't get me wrong I enjoy a good smutty read as much as the next girl, but there is such a thing as a time and place (both in terms of location/setting as well as within the story) and what's more it felt wholly out of place/ out of sync with the rest of the book/ the story. not too mention that we'd had little more than half-hearted flirting attempts until then...
Storytelling/ writing the world building was practically nonexistent.. not even the gradual/ organic kind where you discover/ learn as you go a long in the story... ... also an odd dichotomy of barely explaining anything and explaining too much. the characters had the annoying habit of explaining their every statement whenever they were in a conversation with one / any of the others......more
DNF @ 67 % though really I've been struggling along for the past 20/25% of the book. After dragging it out for another 2 days I finally just couldn't DNF @ 67 % though really I've been struggling along for the past 20/25% of the book. After dragging it out for another 2 days I finally just couldn't be bothered anymore......more
Well, this was a bit of a disaster. The only + point I can think of is that it was a quick and fun read. The Amazon page stated that this edition underWell, this was a bit of a disaster. The only + point I can think of is that it was a quick and fun read. The Amazon page stated that this edition underwent editing.. if it did, it was a pitiful job. And frankly, I don't feel up to listing all the issues with this book... From major editiorial errors to the clumsy writing, the inconsistencies, plot holes, and continuity issues. Not to mention all the rest of the stuff that just made no sense whatsoever, plain and simple... it would take pages to list them all... Only to end in the ultimate no-go... cliffhanger. A major one at that. Literally chopped off mid-scene. Up until then, I'd have been happy to give it 3 *, mainly for the entertainment... But cliffhangers mean an automatic additional point deduction and me dropping the series... them's the rules...more
2.5 stars, rounding up the premise of the book sounded promising. Sadly, it did not live up to that promise. I liked Vera at first, but quickly became q2.5 stars, rounding up the premise of the book sounded promising. Sadly, it did not live up to that promise. I liked Vera at first, but quickly became quite disenchanted with her as she turned out to be rather whiny, immature, can't- think-for-herself with a good dose of TSTL. The rest of the characters, world, magic was a bit all over the place and conveniently blaming everything that didn't fit, didn't make sense or contradicted each other/ previous statements on the Labyrinth. ugh
All in all this series turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag for me... some good, same ok and some not so much... ce la vie ...more
What a surprise this turned out to be. Never been much of a fan of Beauty and the Beast / Phantom of the Opera tropes / themes, and I really only pickeWhat a surprise this turned out to be. Never been much of a fan of Beauty and the Beast / Phantom of the Opera tropes / themes, and I really only picked it up as part of this "Sacrificed Hearts" series. But I gotta say, I quite liked this one...more
Well, this turned out to be a bit disappointing. I liked the initial premise of the book/story... sadly, it did not live up to its promise all in all, iWell, this turned out to be a bit disappointing. I liked the initial premise of the book/story... sadly, it did not live up to its promise all in all, it was very YA, lots of drama, swooning, swashbuckling pirates, and love triangles galore. Despite all that, the story felt rushed, the characters flat. I think I was mostly disappointed with Reva as she talked a big game, but when it came down to it, she didn't actually have a whole lot of game to back it up. For all her repeated protestations to the contrary, most of the time, she was just a helpless little damsel in distress rather than the elusive feral queen she claimed to be. Frequently with a hefty case of TSTL... ugh Ah well at least it was a quick read... then again, maybe with a bit more storytime, it would've fleshed the whole thing out a bit more.....more
A promising premise utterly spoiled by an insolent, petulant, petty, whiny, foot-stomping child of a "heroine". Sad to say I was as disappointed as AlA promising premise utterly spoiled by an insolent, petulant, petty, whiny, foot-stomping child of a "heroine". Sad to say I was as disappointed as Alred after meeting Nienna. And as a someone who spent her childhood devoted to the local public library I'd been really looking forward to this one. I made it a bit more than half way through, but after yet another tantrum throwing, whining, shouting, stomping of her feet I packed it in. ...more
Cute story, though the end was rather sudden with waay too many unanswered questions even if it's part of a series... it felt more chopped off than anCute story, though the end was rather sudden with waay too many unanswered questions even if it's part of a series... it felt more chopped off than anything else. ugh...more
DNF @ 36% Honestly, I think I'm prolly about 2+ decades too old for the target audience of this book. couldn't stand either of the main characters. It DNF @ 36% Honestly, I think I'm prolly about 2+ decades too old for the target audience of this book. couldn't stand either of the main characters. It also didn't help matters that they were as confusing and confused as their names. Not to mention the plot/story as a whole. Like whatshisname and his whole cockamamy scheme. Bloody ridiculous. Even worse were his rather pathetic attempts at flirting or his over-familiar / overuse of terms of endearment, especially right off the bat... completely out of place. Princesshidemyface wasn't any better. couldn't keep track of her constant character switch offs...ugh. I could go on ranting, but I think I'd rather save myself the headache. Really, the only true surprise was that I lasted as long as I did...more
DNF.. started out interesting enough. sadly, at some point I simply lost interest. tried it again a couple of days later, but nope. the moment was gonDNF.. started out interesting enough. sadly, at some point I simply lost interest. tried it again a couple of days later, but nope. the moment was gone.....more
Well, it was an entertaining read if fairly silly at times. Though that might be down to personal taste/preference. For while I do enjoy the occasionalWell, it was an entertaining read if fairly silly at times. Though that might be down to personal taste/preference. For while I do enjoy the occasional steampunk story, I've never been a fan of the whole Austen/ Regency type of story. What did bother me were the plot holes, inconsistencies and overly convient solutions /resolutions. Really, I had to laugh when the Queen called her an "able investigator" towards the end... what investigation?!? Still, as I said it was entertaining and good for a few laughs so I'm fairly sure i'll pick up the next book at same point....more
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