By Sherrilyn Kenyon
For Fun
Pages 480
Recommended by Me
First sentence "I'm a socially awkward mandork."
Synopsis
I don't even know! It was THAT all over the place.
General thoughts
Look at the cover! Look at the hot kid! Read this much better synopsis! Sounds and looks great huh? I bought it way back in 2010 when it first came out and, knowing my expectations were way too high, I just kept putting it off. Well, I finally picked it up and for some reason assumed it was about an older kid. More like 16 17. Alas, he was only 14 and though this is classified as YA it reads way more like a middle grade. Still, I just readjusted my perceptions and tried, really tried, to enjoy it! It was just all over the place! There were way too many characters, all with crazy weird names and the writing, while sometimes witty, was just not that impressive. I seriously all most gave up on it but at that point I was on page 350 and I didn't want to be beat by a stupid book! So, yeah, it had potential but it just wasn't written well enough for me. I like my stories a little better crafted.
Characters
Nick was a wisecrack and some of the things he said were funny but I just could never get a hold on his personality. The rest? Well, I think a quote from the book would be best.
"Must be some mutant form of maternal bipolar disorder."
Would I recommend it?
I might have for a really young boy because there's so much ridiculous action but it's too long and needlessly complicated.
It's interesting that romance writers have been bitten by the YA bug. M.J. Putney (author of Dark Mirror and Dark Passage, both YA books) writes romances as Mary Jo Putney. Now Kenyon has tried her hand at it.
ReplyDeleteOh dang... another disappointment! Interesting comment by Megan... I do agree that many authors want to try YA, and perhaps some of them just shouldn't! :)
ReplyDeleteI loved nick, but your right about the confusing writing, things were more complicated than they needed to be, I liked this one much better than the second one though so I don't suggest it lol.
ReplyDeleteMegan, yeah, I'm a little shocked this is a best seller. Looks like a name really does sell books.
ReplyDeleteSuey,they probably shouldn't. Oh well, what do I know?
Tristan, I did like Nick but he just wasn't enough to make up for the rest of the story. I won't be reading the others.
It's a gorgeous cover and I wouldn't have picked the MC to be younger than 17 either. I don't mind too many characters but I worry about all the random writing. The synopsis on goodreads makes it sound really cool though. Maybe if we were younger too?
ReplyDeleteI find this with a lot of fiction, which is why I write my own stuff now! Great blogsite by the way - love the name too!
ReplyDeleteIt always drives me crazy when characters aren't what you expect. It makes it a lot harder to get into the book. I really think some synopsis' need to be better written to give you a better idea of what you are getting into when you pick up a book.
ReplyDeleteThis is one I have thought about picking up a couple of times. Now I'm glad I didn't. I really thought that Nick was older.
ReplyDeleteLan, Isn't it a nice cover? I kept thinking if I was younger maybe I would like it but at my age it just wasn't that great.
ReplyDeleteFreya, Thanks for stopping by. Writing your own stuff definitely seems like a solution. ;)
Ang, Yeah, synopses always throw me off, maybe I should stop reading them.
Rebecca, I don't know if it's the cover or what but I thought he was older too. :(
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteI've read one of Kenyon's Paranormal Romances and it struck me as "all over the place" in terms of world building as well. Fun, yes, but more manic than I'd like.
Although I haven't read this one, your description reminds me of my thoughts on the first two Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel books by Michael Scott, which I have read lately. Lots of wit and obvious creativity and imagination . . . but no real substance holding everything together. I should have a review-ish post up next week.
I actually thought it would be about a guy around 16/17 :S the cover is very misleading. now I know what I should be expecting when I pick this one up, so thank you :) Great review!
ReplyDeleteThere's a secret to enjoying this (or any other) Kenyon story...you need to listen to the audiobook version, specifically one of the ones narrated by Holter Graham.
ReplyDeleteThat man could read the grocery list or phone book and turn it into something beautiful and breathtaking. I swear!
(It took me awhile to figure why I loved a couple Kenyon stories and loathed the ones I tried to read in ebook format...then I clued in. It's all about Graham.)
All of which is to say...Nick's story is like a prequel to the adult series, as I understand it, and Kenyon has a habit of including EVERY character in her world in EVERY book in the series...there's over twenty books now, I think. Manic is a wonderful way to describe it. Not a dealbreaker if you're a series junkie, I'd think, but frustrating otherwise.
I hate it when I'm really not enjoying a book but I feel as though I'm too far in to give up on it! Sorry this one was a disappointment for you.
ReplyDeleteWow, I think this author was expecting a bit much from his target audience with a 500 page book! If it's going to be that long, it better be on that you can't put down.
ReplyDeleteEnbrethiliel, Oh, don't tell me that! I have the Scott books on my TBR list. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteiLuvReadingTooMuch, Glad I could warn you.
BJ, Oh, that might help. Maybe I'll try the second on audio.
Chrissie, Yeah, when you're that far into it, it's hard not to just finish the dang thing.
TheBookGirl, That's what I kept thinking.