ramblings, exchanges and a few reviews
Woke up today to no water at the house I'm sitting out. It seems that the main pipes froze last night (we were SUPER cold last night). So, no shower for me *icks*. I had to go buy bottled water for the puppies and cats so that there's something for them to drink because, of course, the way I found out there was no water was that I went to fill the dogs' dishes.
Got my springtime_gen assignment and I couldn't have asked for a better challenge and assignment! YAYES!!!
Signed up for hpslashnotsmut where, btw, sign-ups are still open.
Thank God I got an extension for my hpvalensmut as I'm finally finishing the wrangling into place. corvidae9 is a brilliant mod and I worship her for the extension *worships*.
slashfest will be opening the mini round soon... gotta finish getting ready for that.
Work is crazy, am trying desperately to finish all my year end crap by January 31st. We're also migrating payroll systems from one company to another so that's a wee bit stressful as well.
Finally - a couple of book reviews (same disclaimers and spoilers abound):
Mistral's Kiss by Laurell K. Hamilton
Oh Laurell... Laurell, Laurell, Laurell. I loved you with the beginnings of the Anita Blake series. Really, it was gritty and plotty with just a bit of sex. Now? Your writing is just one big ole PWP. Really, I used to love you and now? Now, I keep expecting the quality that had me loving you but instead, you give me dreck.
This story was only a few days after the last book in the Merry Gentry series. I cannot tell you how many sex scenes there were in it as it really just blended from one to the next. LKH tries, really really hard, to write edgy sex scenes but they're all the same. They're not edgy in the least because she's done it in another book already. They're also not all that kinky, especially not after being in fandom *grins*. Her threesome was boring as it wasn't really all that much of a threesome.
By the end of the book, I was hoping for someone to die or Merry to discover she was pregnant so the plot could move the fuck on already. Hundreds of pages and it only moved a day. ONE FUCKING DAY. I will read the next book and the one after that but it's because I'm a schmuck that deserves to get kicked in the teeth. It isn't that I liked the book or like the series anymore. I just want to see if it gets better. I doubt it will.
3 out of 10
Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception
Thank God for plot. This one was entertaining and the darkest of the series so far. What is it about stories with young boys that get dark about the time they hit 14? I'm not complaining, far from it, but I'm curious.
That being said, I liked Butler and Artemis especially. I have decided that, once Artemis gets a bit more mature, this might just be the one cross-gen pairing I like. They have a very good dynamic between the two. I'm really sad about Julius though :(. I know it was needed to move the plot and inspire the plot but poor poor Julius and Holly.
I would've liked to see a bit more of the machinations down in Haven after Holly "shoots" Julius but that's about my only complaint with the book. There was loads of action and some introspection and I didn't find myself bored at any point. The characters are fairly well fleshed out here and I'm enjoying their development. I'm curious who will take over for Butler when he finally feels too old to take care of Artemis because that fall off the roof sure didn't help matters much what with the life-sucking-healing from the last book.
9.5 out of 10
Got my springtime_gen assignment and I couldn't have asked for a better challenge and assignment! YAYES!!!
Signed up for hpslashnotsmut where, btw, sign-ups are still open.
Thank God I got an extension for my hpvalensmut as I'm finally finishing the wrangling into place. corvidae9 is a brilliant mod and I worship her for the extension *worships*.
slashfest will be opening the mini round soon... gotta finish getting ready for that.
Work is crazy, am trying desperately to finish all my year end crap by January 31st. We're also migrating payroll systems from one company to another so that's a wee bit stressful as well.
Finally - a couple of book reviews (same disclaimers and spoilers abound):
Mistral's Kiss by Laurell K. Hamilton
Oh Laurell... Laurell, Laurell, Laurell. I loved you with the beginnings of the Anita Blake series. Really, it was gritty and plotty with just a bit of sex. Now? Your writing is just one big ole PWP. Really, I used to love you and now? Now, I keep expecting the quality that had me loving you but instead, you give me dreck.
This story was only a few days after the last book in the Merry Gentry series. I cannot tell you how many sex scenes there were in it as it really just blended from one to the next. LKH tries, really really hard, to write edgy sex scenes but they're all the same. They're not edgy in the least because she's done it in another book already. They're also not all that kinky, especially not after being in fandom *grins*. Her threesome was boring as it wasn't really all that much of a threesome.
By the end of the book, I was hoping for someone to die or Merry to discover she was pregnant so the plot could move the fuck on already. Hundreds of pages and it only moved a day. ONE FUCKING DAY. I will read the next book and the one after that but it's because I'm a schmuck that deserves to get kicked in the teeth. It isn't that I liked the book or like the series anymore. I just want to see if it gets better. I doubt it will.
3 out of 10
Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception
Thank God for plot. This one was entertaining and the darkest of the series so far. What is it about stories with young boys that get dark about the time they hit 14? I'm not complaining, far from it, but I'm curious.
That being said, I liked Butler and Artemis especially. I have decided that, once Artemis gets a bit more mature, this might just be the one cross-gen pairing I like. They have a very good dynamic between the two. I'm really sad about Julius though :(. I know it was needed to move the plot and inspire the plot but poor poor Julius and Holly.
I would've liked to see a bit more of the machinations down in Haven after Holly "shoots" Julius but that's about my only complaint with the book. There was loads of action and some introspection and I didn't find myself bored at any point. The characters are fairly well fleshed out here and I'm enjoying their development. I'm curious who will take over for Butler when he finally feels too old to take care of Artemis because that fall off the roof sure didn't help matters much what with the life-sucking-healing from the last book.
9.5 out of 10