Actually, you were harsher in your final rating than I was, but that is absolutely okay. In fact, I only gave Marr an extra star because I liked some of the creativity with the underground world of the dead.
However, yes, there are so many things wrong with this book. Did you notice that not only did she use a bunch of POVs, but she switched POV within chapters once or twice? Now *that* is some sloppy writing and if anyone anywhere even had a look at the manuscript before it went to the press, they should have caught it.
On a personal note, I wanted to slap Rebekkah. Hard. She annoyed the bejeezus out of me with her angsty "I can't be with you but hold me anyway" attitude. I cannot STAND that crap. And the fact that Bryan never remotely gets angry at her enough to say, "You know what? I love you, I've done this, this, and this for you, and I always will, but goddamn you have issues and you need to get that sh*t sorted out."
And I agree about the whole genre shifting teen/adult design. It wasn't hard to see that if you just shifted the ages of the characters, you could easily have a teen book because nothing else in here was excplicitly adult. Heck, I've read teen books (and I'm sure you have too) that were more intense than this.
Oh, and am I the only one who thought that the contract between the town and Mr. Not-the-Devil was garbage? It offered absolutely nothing! Maylene's entire freaking family pretty much died, so what does that contract protect? Sounds like all it does is guard against sickness, which is great a few hundred years ago, but once you get penicillin into the picture, it's about time to tell Charley or whatever his name was to bugger off.
I actually thought they'd find a loophole in the contract and break out of it, but that never happened either, so it's like "Welcome to a life you have no control over. Ain't it great?"
"Oh, and am I the only one who thought that the contract between the town and Mr. Not-the-Devil was garbage?"
I am with you on this one. I spent the whole book ranting about how nonsensical it was for the villagers to have ever made that contract. I guess she sort of explained its origin later, but I thought the explanation was pretty weak.
I think the contract could've been legit, but we really don't get enough details to really understand it, and Byron and Rebekkah sure as hell don't question things enough. Granted, maybe the contract plays a bigger role in the overall story, but for now, it's pretty flimsy.
If I recall correctly, the gist of the explanation was that Charles tricked the villagers into it for his own purposes. It never really said how he tricked them, though. So yeah, I agree that it could have been legit, but it was kind of left up to the readers to imagine how making that contract could ever seem like a good idea.
Did you notice that not only did she use a bunch of POVs, but she switched POV within chapters once or twice?
Yeah, come to think of it, I did notice that. :)
And sadly, I think this would've been a more compelling book if it HAD been YA. The new responsibilities for Byron and Rebekkah would've been more overwhelming, you know?
I'll add your review to this one, and check it out later! For now, I've got lots of comments to respond to. :)
I actually thought they'd find a loophole in the contract and break out of it
I kind of assumed at the beginning that this would be the main conflict of the book--you know, the new generation tries to break the contract, the dead start to rise, mayhem ensues. I think I would have liked that set-up better, actually. (Seriously, why isn't that what the book is about?)
Because the author wanted to focus on the love story?
Erm...
In all seriousness, I suspect the author or editor may have worried that your set up (if it was thought of) would've felt too run-of-the-mill zombie, you know?
I don't know. I think the dead can be frightening without actually eating anyone.
And you can probably tell more about me from that comment than anything else. For the first ten-odd chapters, I was sitting there thinking, "Ok, can we stop the relationship stuff and get to the dead people, please?"
I do have at least one romantic bone in my body. I'm just not sure exactly where it is. ;P
However, yes, there are so many things wrong with this book. Did you notice that not only did she use a bunch of POVs, but she switched POV within chapters once or twice? Now *that* is some sloppy writing and if anyone anywhere even had a look at the manuscript before it went to the press, they should have caught it.
On a personal note, I wanted to slap Rebekkah. Hard. She annoyed the bejeezus out of me with her angsty "I can't be with you but hold me anyway" attitude. I cannot STAND that crap. And the fact that Bryan never remotely gets angry at her enough to say, "You know what? I love you, I've done this, this, and this for you, and I always will, but goddamn you have issues and you need to get that sh*t sorted out."
And I agree about the whole genre shifting teen/adult design. It wasn't hard to see that if you just shifted the ages of the characters, you could easily have a teen book because nothing else in here was excplicitly adult. Heck, I've read teen books (and I'm sure you have too) that were more intense than this.
Oh, and am I the only one who thought that the contract between the town and Mr. Not-the-Devil was garbage? It offered absolutely nothing! Maylene's entire freaking family pretty much died, so what does that contract protect? Sounds like all it does is guard against sickness, which is great a few hundred years ago, but once you get penicillin into the picture, it's about time to tell Charley or whatever his name was to bugger off.
I actually thought they'd find a loophole in the contract and break out of it, but that never happened either, so it's like "Welcome to a life you have no control over. Ain't it great?"
Anywho, here's my official review:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Melissa_Marr_Graveminder_epi/content_567211822724
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I am with you on this one. I spent the whole book ranting about how nonsensical it was for the villagers to have ever made that contract. I guess she sort of explained its origin later, but I thought the explanation was pretty weak.
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Yeah, come to think of it, I did notice that. :)
And sadly, I think this would've been a more compelling book if it HAD been YA. The new responsibilities for Byron and Rebekkah would've been more overwhelming, you know?
I'll add your review to this one, and check it out later! For now, I've got lots of comments to respond to. :)
Reply
I kind of assumed at the beginning that this would be the main conflict of the book--you know, the new generation tries to break the contract, the dead start to rise, mayhem ensues. I think I would have liked that set-up better, actually. (Seriously, why isn't that what the book is about?)
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Erm...
In all seriousness, I suspect the author or editor may have worried that your set up (if it was thought of) would've felt too run-of-the-mill zombie, you know?
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And you can probably tell more about me from that comment than anything else. For the first ten-odd chapters, I was sitting there thinking, "Ok, can we stop the relationship stuff and get to the dead people, please?"
I do have at least one romantic bone in my body. I'm just not sure exactly where it is. ;P
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