The Rest Falls Away
I finished this book last weekend, just before the bulk of the sinus infection hit. I'm only just now feeling up to writing about it.
One of the agent blogs that I read recommended this book (written by Colleen Gleason), so I put it on my wishlist at Amazon. The lovely sirenandnymph bought it for me for my birthday. It sounded like such a fun book -- a vampire slayer in Regency England, hiding stakes in intricate hairdos and under ballgowns, balancing waltzes and trips to the theater with vampire slayage... Sadly, while the idea had tons of potential, the result was... not that great.
Grade: C-
It was the writing that kept this book from living up to it's potential. It had all the required elements -- interesting characters, lavish settings, intrigue, romance... Sadly, the writing was not up to snuff. I know that I'm picky about writing and writing style, being a writer myself (albeit unpublished), but this one was just bad. The point of view was not handled well -- about 80% in the POV of the main character and the rest in various other characters. Awkwardly done, and not really helpful to the plot.
And there were some plot holes that just didn't work for me.
Also the story just didn't have that thing. You know the thing... the thing that takes words written on a page and transforms them into a unique and wonderful world in the reader's head. This story was still in the 2D of words on a page. Never broke free of that.
And... this one is going to be a series. The next book is due out sometime this year. I won't be buying any more. :-( Makes me wonder how she got an agent in the first place. Must have been the strength of the idea... it really was a good idea. Just didn't live up to its potential.
One of the agent blogs that I read recommended this book (written by Colleen Gleason), so I put it on my wishlist at Amazon. The lovely sirenandnymph bought it for me for my birthday. It sounded like such a fun book -- a vampire slayer in Regency England, hiding stakes in intricate hairdos and under ballgowns, balancing waltzes and trips to the theater with vampire slayage... Sadly, while the idea had tons of potential, the result was... not that great.
Grade: C-
It was the writing that kept this book from living up to it's potential. It had all the required elements -- interesting characters, lavish settings, intrigue, romance... Sadly, the writing was not up to snuff. I know that I'm picky about writing and writing style, being a writer myself (albeit unpublished), but this one was just bad. The point of view was not handled well -- about 80% in the POV of the main character and the rest in various other characters. Awkwardly done, and not really helpful to the plot.
And there were some plot holes that just didn't work for me.
Also the story just didn't have that thing. You know the thing... the thing that takes words written on a page and transforms them into a unique and wonderful world in the reader's head. This story was still in the 2D of words on a page. Never broke free of that.
And... this one is going to be a series. The next book is due out sometime this year. I won't be buying any more. :-( Makes me wonder how she got an agent in the first place. Must have been the strength of the idea... it really was a good idea. Just didn't live up to its potential.