Kit Colbana - half breed, assassin, thief, jack of all trades - has a new job: track down the missing ward of one of the local alpha shapeshifters. It should be a piece of cake.
So why is she so nervous? It probably has something to do with the insanity that happens when you deal with shifters - especially sexy ones who come bearing promises of easy jobs and easier money.
Or maybe it’s all the other missing kids that Kit discovers while working the case, or the way her gut keeps screaming she’s gotten in over her head. Or maybe it’s because if she fails - she’s dead.
If she can stay just one step ahead, she should be okay. Maybe she’ll even live long enough to collect her fee...
Review:
Oh dear.
Where do I begin? I was not impressed by this at all. I'm actually quite annoyed by it, because I feel like it took every Urban Fantasy trope and cliché and exaggerated them until it was a complete mockery of itself, more a spoof of my favourite genre than anything else.
Completely unauthentic and unoriginal. Yes, there's the blatantly obvious Kate Daniels rip-offs as others have mentioned, but that's not the only familiar thing I noticed by a long shot. I also saw some 'borrowed' elements from Kelly Armstrong in there, as well as various other things that were overly familiar. Not one single part of this book was anything new or creative or original. And the comparisons to Kate Daniels? Wow. This book isn't fit to lick Kate Daniels' boots. It would be a disservice to that series to say this is like Kate Daniels, when in actuality, it's just that Kate Daniels is where 90% of the ideas for this book were stolen from.
And, you know, to be honest I wouldn't have even cared that much about the similarities if it was a good copy. I read a book earlier in the year that was almost a carbon copy of Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series, and I marked it down a star for the obvious rip-off, but at least that was well-written and of equal quality to the original!
This piece of Writing by Numbers was just a mockery of a sham of a farce of a.....folly! Yes, I said folly!
I hated the writing style. Especially coming off the back of reading a really beautiful book with lush prose and magic on every page. This was flat, plain, mechanical, simplistic, repetitive... I know I'm not supposed to quote directly from an ARC, and if this section has been edited since I saw it, I doubly apologise, but just look at this as an example of what I'm getting so worked up about:
I mean....what a lot of words to say absolutely nothing at all. Twice.
The paragraphing and punctuation was also bizarre and only served to make the narrative seem jerky and choppy. The dialogue made me want to hang my head in shame on the author's behalf. And the pet names at the end of everything the hero said? Gah! 'Little fool,' 'baby girl' (excuse me, I just vomited), 'little girl,' 'kitten,' 'little warrior.' Every one was more gag-inducing than the one before. And so patronising! But what else did I expect from this cardboard cut-out, bad boy wannabe "hero" and the author's attempt to portray a hate-to-love relationship?
Fail. Big, mahoosive, epic FAIL!
The attempt at writing bickering and banter between the two leads—something prevalent in a lot of UF series—was laughable, yet also cringe-worthy at the same time. Quite a feat, really.
As well as the hero being a patronising, abusive a-hole for most of the book, the heroine was completely unlikeable. She was meant to come across as brave, or maybe 'too stubborn for her own good', in several of the scenes. But to me, just came off looking like an arrogant, boastful idiot. She was all talk, no balls. She was also extremely selfish and even her "tortured past" did nothing to endear her to me.
I say leave her in the damn pit. Best place for her.
It's been a while since I've encountered a main character I couldn't find one single thing to admire about. I don't write many reviews such as these, full of such unadulterated negativity, so you can see just how much it's ticked me off. UF is my thing, and when someone comes along and puts no effort in and thinks this is acceptable and all that's required to get by, I get a bit cross.
To sum up, it was terrible. An insult to Urban Fantasy, and I would rather cut out my own tongue than say it is even in the same league as Kate Daniels.
1 Star ★
ARC provided for an honest review.
Original Title Blade Song by J.C. Daniels
ISBN 1617507776 (ISBN13: 9781617507779)
Edition Language English
Series Colbana Files #1
Where do I begin? I was not impressed by this at all. I'm actually quite annoyed by it, because I feel like it took every Urban Fantasy trope and cliché and exaggerated them until it was a complete mockery of itself, more a spoof of my favourite genre than anything else.
Completely unauthentic and unoriginal. Yes, there's the blatantly obvious Kate Daniels rip-offs as others have mentioned, but that's not the only familiar thing I noticed by a long shot. I also saw some 'borrowed' elements from Kelly Armstrong in there, as well as various other things that were overly familiar. Not one single part of this book was anything new or creative or original. And the comparisons to Kate Daniels? Wow. This book isn't fit to lick Kate Daniels' boots. It would be a disservice to that series to say this is like Kate Daniels, when in actuality, it's just that Kate Daniels is where 90% of the ideas for this book were stolen from.
And, you know, to be honest I wouldn't have even cared that much about the similarities if it was a good copy. I read a book earlier in the year that was almost a carbon copy of Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series, and I marked it down a star for the obvious rip-off, but at least that was well-written and of equal quality to the original!
This piece of Writing by Numbers was just a mockery of a sham of a farce of a.....folly! Yes, I said folly!
I hated the writing style. Especially coming off the back of reading a really beautiful book with lush prose and magic on every page. This was flat, plain, mechanical, simplistic, repetitive... I know I'm not supposed to quote directly from an ARC, and if this section has been edited since I saw it, I doubly apologise, but just look at this as an example of what I'm getting so worked up about:
"There was enough silver in the blade, enough magic in it that it would hurt him. He knew it...and he knew I was fully aware of that as well. But he didn't look worried. Of course, hurt was a far cry from kill. I was pretty sure I couldn't kill him. I was equally sure he knew that. I was equally sure he could kill me, and he was probably aware of that same fact. Damn it."
I mean....what a lot of words to say absolutely nothing at all. Twice.
The paragraphing and punctuation was also bizarre and only served to make the narrative seem jerky and choppy. The dialogue made me want to hang my head in shame on the author's behalf. And the pet names at the end of everything the hero said? Gah! 'Little fool,' 'baby girl' (excuse me, I just vomited), 'little girl,' 'kitten,' 'little warrior.' Every one was more gag-inducing than the one before. And so patronising! But what else did I expect from this cardboard cut-out, bad boy wannabe "hero" and the author's attempt to portray a hate-to-love relationship?
Fail. Big, mahoosive, epic FAIL!
The attempt at writing bickering and banter between the two leads—something prevalent in a lot of UF series—was laughable, yet also cringe-worthy at the same time. Quite a feat, really.
As well as the hero being a patronising, abusive a-hole for most of the book, the heroine was completely unlikeable. She was meant to come across as brave, or maybe 'too stubborn for her own good', in several of the scenes. But to me, just came off looking like an arrogant, boastful idiot. She was all talk, no balls. She was also extremely selfish and even her "tortured past" did nothing to endear her to me.
I say leave her in the damn pit. Best place for her.
It's been a while since I've encountered a main character I couldn't find one single thing to admire about. I don't write many reviews such as these, full of such unadulterated negativity, so you can see just how much it's ticked me off. UF is my thing, and when someone comes along and puts no effort in and thinks this is acceptable and all that's required to get by, I get a bit cross.
To sum up, it was terrible. An insult to Urban Fantasy, and I would rather cut out my own tongue than say it is even in the same league as Kate Daniels.
1 Star ★
ARC provided for an honest review.
Original Title Blade Song by J.C. Daniels
ISBN 1617507776 (ISBN13: 9781617507779)
Edition Language English
Series Colbana Files #1
0 Comentarios