Ace Turnberry ♠'s Reviews > Steel

Carrie Vaughn: A swashbuckling tale of magic, romance, and pirates.
Me: A dull time-travel story of magic that wasn't even the focal part of the story, tasteless romance (not the lovey-dovey kind), and unappealing pirates.

This had so much potential. I mean come on, a story about sword-fighting and grimy pirates?

But Steel proved to be just one of those books with nothing but an eye-catching cover to offer.

I literally did not feel anything for any of the characters. Cooper's past was sad, but temporary sympathy was about as far I could feel for this woman.

Her voice had turned soft, and her look numb. No feeling entered her telling of the tale.

Yawn.

I didn't hate any of the characters, not even the supposed villain, but I didn't love them either. Hard to do when they all seem so two-dimensional. But if I had to choose, my least favorite character would be Jill. She's been stuck in the past for 2 weeks and not once does she tell us that she misses her family. Yeah, so maybe she mentions her siblings in a line or two, but does this girl even care about them? It's like she has no tear ducts!

Also:

She thrust, stabbing him under the ribs, twisting her sword, then lunging back out of the way. It was easier than she thought it would be--barely took any effort at all. Flesh was fragile. The blood came far too easily.

WTF? This girl's only known how to fence for medals and trophies her whole life, and now she's slashing pirates (albeit ones that wants to kill her) like she's one of them and shrugs it off by saying how easy it was? That's so messed, man. So messed up. You ever heard of a guilty conscience?

The only reason this didn't become a DNF was because I held onto this tiny slither of hope that Steel would get better. That it'd compensate for its tame "action" scenes and whatnot. But what I get instead is wasted hours that I will never get back. And to think that I was holding off Heir of Fire for this.