It was just
impossible to get into this one. Everything about the book is two dimensional
and cliché, and a badly formulated one for that matter. J.
R.
Ward also writes in clichés, but
manages to often marry them to a fresh, unexpected point of view. I wish I could say the same for Kresley Cole. The
characters are cliché, the story line is cliché, the sex is cliché (or
disturbing). The heroine (see: the-gorgeous-limp-wristed-maiden with the mysterious
lineage) is trapped in a hotel room by the brute, creepy hero who keeps pawing
her at every given chance, because he is certain she is his life mate. Never
mind what she wants or says, and she does say no loud and clear. Then, contrary
to her own words, she jerks him off in the shower, while he is a total stranger who
has just kidnapped her and she has never seen male genitalia in her life. Right
you are. A six foot something hairy growling menace kidnaps me, I’ll jerk him
off because I can’t resist his manly charms. Hello? Brain, are you there? Hellooo?
Someone has to tell those women writers that if the rape fantasy was a horse,
it has been flogged to death already, and they just keep flogging the carcass
of the damn thing like there is no tomorrow. There are so many other
possibilities they can explore. And as a general observation, after reading a
few of the paranormal romance genre novels, I strongly believe women writers
should stop using demeaning and stupid stereotypes, like the “no means yes”
stereotype, regardless of the hero having an irresistible Scottish accent or not. What kind
of message does this give? Press the lass enough and talk like you have a sock
in your mouth and sooner or later you’ll score? Hmmm? I am actually grateful
such books aren’t read by men, as they seem to verify and empower every negative stereotype on
female behaviour I have come across, including the “read my mind and you’ll
know what’s wrong with me, because I sure as hell won’t tell you. I’ll just sit
here and pout” drill. Ladies, you can and should write better than this.
Back to the
book. The characters… Another fantastic innovation. Oh, the distressed, mousy heroine,
she is so weak, poor thing, with her baby fangs and everything. How cute it is to
be a doormat and a spineless squeamish little porcelain beauty who is
perpetually bossed around by others. Of course, halfway through the book she
transforms into super woman, super heroine, super-you-name-it, because the
mystery of her lineage is revealed. Duh. Then there is the mad male protagonist who
has all the behavioural traits of a violent, overbearing spouse (regularly
destroys furniture and clothes, does not understand the meaning of the word no,
nearly strangles her, gives her baths against her will, uses her credit card without
permission to buy whatever he wants including a car, blah, blah). Later on he
becomes the perfect, loving, caring lover and of course, hold on tight, he is a
king rightfully restored to his power. A huh. Of course he is. From that
aspect, the book is a complete lunatic park with Valkyries who squeal and
behave like school girls and various other unrelated, random occurrences and shenanigans.
I do understand that the use of mythological beings is arbitrary to begin with,
but Valkyries who talk and behave like 12-year-olds and love nail polish and
pop-corn are something that made my hairs stand on end. If Wagner
knew, he would probably rise from his grave and bring down the entire Norse pantheon
armed to the teeth to deal with it.
The writing
style and the plot crafting of the book are letdowns too. The style is unclear,
confusing, halting, often falls short. I had to re-read whole paragraphs in
some cases. Characters appear and disappear before the reader has any idea who
they are or what they want. The story line is messy, often inexplicable, there
is no chemistry between the protagonists, and I could not find anything
believable about it. There is even the mother of all ‘plot twists’ we come
across in romance books (see: another cliché, preferably narrated with a deep,
ominous voice, hinting of impeding doom:) “I won’t tell you the truth about who
I am, so inevitably there will be a huge and potentially lethal
misunderstanding”. Whoa, now I can barely contain my excitement. I almost fell
off my chair by the sheer force of unpredictability. I wonder what’s next? Let
me guess, this will ONLY mean that the two protagonists will bond DEEPER when
that is finally settled through TRIALS and AGONY because TRUE LOVE, YEAH BABY? Wow,
just… wow. Never saw that coming. I swear.
I never
managed to finish it. I flipped through and finally tossed it aside and gave it
away via bookmooch.com. On a more positive note, I have been told that the third book of the series is much better. The brief excerpt from it does seem
better, but I am not going to take the risk after the disappointment of the
first.
