Say WHAT?!? I was skimming through some book titles and came screeching to a halt at the taglin~*Check out all my reviews over on The Bent Bookworm!*~
Say WHAT?!? I was skimming through some book titles and came screeching to a halt at the tagline on this one. I'm a complete sucker for Beauty and the Beast retellings, but...alien abduction romance?? I've never been much of a sci-fi reader, but I did pick Garrus as the romantic interest when I played through Mass Effect years ago so I thought why not, I can give anything a try once. [image] ^Garrus was just so sweet and awkward, and he was awesome backup in a firefight.
“Act with honor, integrity, and respect, lest the Beast control you and destroy all that you are.”
Things I Liked
- The action never stopped - if they weren't in mortal danger and running from aliens of ever-varying and ever-weirder shapes and sizes, they were making the pages sizzle. I love books where you never have time to sit and twiddle your thumbs. A moving plot will cover many sins, and it did in this case. - I was very interested in the world the authors were creating, with so many different races of aliens and cultures. There just needed to be more of it! More detail, more time spent showing the world, not just the little patch of ground the characters happened to be standing on at the time. - I really liked Jrec. He's the typical alpha-male hero type, military, super sexy and fit and with a penchant for protecting those weaker than himself (which is pretty much everyone). He has a darker side to his past that is only hinted at, maybe that will show up more in future books. He really seems to get the short end of the stick as the Beast in this story, but he still tries to hold onto the better part of himself. - The sex scenes were actually pretty well done - at least as well done as I could imagine for sex with an alien, albeit a very human-like one.
Things I Didn't Like [image] - Okay, as I feared/thought when I read the description...the cheese is strong with this one. I got a very strong original-series-Star-Trek vibe, with all the grimacing and eye-rolling that usually comes with watching one of those old shows. I haven't seen much Star Trek, so I'm not entirely sure if part of this book was supposed to be a spoof on it or not. But yes...much cheese. - The whole reason Jrec and Amelia "fall in love" so quickly is because of some idea of "one true love" in the Krakarian culture. If you like that sort of thing, great, you'll be right on board with this. I despise the idea that we're fated to have one true "mate" and if we miss that one person we'll never experience true love...bullshit. I know it's just a story and sort of a plot device here but ARGH. On top of the insta-love...it was just super annoying. - Amelia has no back story! Her friend Lily has even less, and even Jrec's is barely hinted at. It's like they just dropped onto the highway at the beginning of the story, fully formed, but with no parents or family...because they definitely never spare THEM a second thought.
2.5/5 stars, rounded up to 3 stars. I might continue with the series. I like a little more substance to my books even if they are focused mainly on the romance, but I did enjoy aspects of the story.
2.5 stars...GoodReads, half stars would be great at ANY time!
I wanted to love this book. It sounded so cool,~*Full review here on The Bent Bookworm!*~
2.5 stars...GoodReads, half stars would be great at ANY time!
I wanted to love this book. It sounded so cool, and like a break from the ton of fantasy/fairy tale type books I’ve been reading. Achilles was a book that, try as hard as I might, I just could not really get into. However, if you’re big on science fiction you might love it! It did remind me of the first season of LOST…which, I, ahem, also discontinued a couple of episodes into Season 2 because I simply couldn’t stand all the craziness and constantly losing people. [image] Me, pretty much the entire book.
Characters:
I’m very character oriented when I read books. Characters are more important to me than world-building or excitement factor. In Achilles, the characters feel very flat and many of them feel the same. I got so confused because I could NOT keep many of the supporting cast separate. Not helped by the fact that many of them weren’t even given names (referred to as “the hacker,” etc.) until several chapters after they appeared. Jonah, our MC, I thought was going to be likable but he turns out to have a bad case of navel-gazing and I just…cannot. I feel bad for him but I spent most of my time being annoyed at the way he was written. Also, he’s supposed to be this hard-ass kid that’s suffered abuse and came out still standing, yet his reactions to a lot of the things that happen are not how abuse victims and soldiers (he’s been in a military training facility for some time by the time the book starts) react. It makes the whole thing kind of unbelievable – really jolted me out of my suspension of disbelief, which is necessary for any kind of fantastical fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, steampunk, fill-in-the-blank). I really didn’t feel anything for the rest of the characters either, and I was a little – ok, a lot – put off by how some of them did unexplained 180-degree flips without any real reason. Very suspicious and never explained, so the conclusion I am left with is that the author just…didn’t notice? Ugh.
Oh, also – CAN WE PLEASE HAVE MALE AND FEMALE INTERACTIONS WHERE THE MALE IS NOT SUDDENLY OVERCOME WITH AN UNAVOIDABLE HARD-ON?? I swear, so many times, when a book is written from the male perspective, he’s so distracted by female characters physicality that he turns into an idiot and it gets really old. I refuse to believe that the male population of the world is run solely by hormones.
World-building:
I think this is where the author spent most of his time! The world of the moon Achilles is harsh and brutal and I actually felt grossed out by some of the descriptions of the creatures inhabiting it (hard to do…I’m an EMT and few things turn my stomach anymore). It seemed like something new was introduced in every chapter. Sometimes it was hard to keep up but it was definitely intriguing.
Feels:
I usually put this section first, but this time I am putting it last because…er. I really didn’t have any. This book failed at making me feel anything but relief it was over. I am not interested in finding out what happens next. It didn’t really end on a cliffhanger, though there are lots of things about Earth’s colonization of Thetis that are not explained and have very dark implications – the main points of the story were wrapped up and that’s all I cared about.
Thank you very much to Diversion Books for sending me the ARC (this in no way influenced my review)! I was delighted to read and review even if it turned out to not be my cup of tea.
Wolf is one of my favorite characters from The Lunar Chronicles, and Scarlet+Wolf is definitely my favorite couple. I loved seeing more of Wolf's backWolf is one of my favorite characters from The Lunar Chronicles, and Scarlet+Wolf is definitely my favorite couple. I loved seeing more of Wolf's background, of what his family was like before he became the soldier we know in Scarlet. The details about how exactly he and his pack were commissioned/trained were pretty cool, too.
My only complaint is that it seems rather rushed, to condense SO much time into such a short story. We needed more time to really feel Wolf's pain and growth. I think his story could very well be an entire book on its own! Also there's so much potential to grow the series up a little. I love the Lunar Chronicles, but I feel like they are kind of...tame. Wolf's back story is less so than most of the other characters' and would be a great spinoff. Of course I'd also love to see what he and Scarlet get up to in the future too!
Nice to get a little more background on Cinder's story, even if it's only a little. Nice to get a little more background on Cinder's story, even if it's only a little. ...more
Feels: [image] I went into this absolutely positive I would never fee~*Full review notes on The Bent Bookworm!*~
“Love is a conquest. Love is a war.”
Feels: [image] I went into this absolutely positive I would never feel anything remotely akin to sympathy for Levana. She’s such an unholy terror in the other books! And seemingly without reason. I felt like she just liked being evil and inflicting pain on others (which I guess is partially true but there’s so much more to it than that). However, about halfway through I changed my mind. Of course I already knew roughly how it would end, but it was just so tragic. I was so overwhelmingly sad. Levana as a young woman had so much potential, if she had just had someone to help her channel her emotions and teach her how to overcome.
Characters:
She tried to brush away the sting of rejection, the knowledge that she was still not good enough…she pressed the feelings down, down, letting them turn hard and cold inside, while her face was smiling and pleasant.
Obviously, this is Levana’s story. However, we see characters familiar to us sprinkled throughout (especially if you’ve already read Winter, like I had), which was fun. Some of the characters that have already passed on in the other books are here and alive, too. We get to see some of the events that are only speculated on by Cinder and her friends. There are a couple of other characters that are new to this story, that really wrung my little heart out as well.
When we first meet Levana here she’s a relatively normal 15 year old girl! She’s been abused at the hands of her egotistical, cruel older sister, neglected by cold, distracted parents, and pushed and pulled into the image of a perfect princess (since, as the second born daughter, she’s only fit to be married off). Levana is gifted – or cursed – with a quick mind, intelligent and resourceful – the mind of a queen. She’s also terribly scarred, as much mentally and emotionally as physically. This combination has resulted in her being an entirely self-centered, self-absorbed person who quite literally never thinks of other people or their feelings except as they pertain to HER feelings or desires.
I think that in the end, selfishness was Levana’s true issue. She is one of the most selfish characters I’ve met in a long time. She becomes egotistical, but she didn’t start out that way. She reacts to pain by assuming that the world owes her something (not a hard conclusion to come to, when you’re a spoiled princess anyway). She comes to believe that she is entitled to whatever she wants, no matter what it takes to get it. No matter how much she might hurt other people, even the one person she actually cares about. She has no concept of true love for anyone. She hurts, but beyond that she knows almost no emotion.
Plot: [image] This is a novella, so the plot is pretty straightforward. I.e., how Levana became queen and all the people she hurt in the process.
Worldbuilding/Setting:
If you’re familiar with any of the other Lunar Chronicles books, you’re already familiar with Luna and her people. If you’re not, I strongly recommend starting with Cinder! This story is basically the backstory that we never see fully in the main 4 books. You could start with Fairest, as chronologically it is actually first, but I don’t think it’s very interesting without that prior knowledge. The setting is there, but it’s not explained as well.
Rating:
3.5 stars. I’m struggling to give this one 4 because it really feels like a flashback that should have been somewhere in Cinder, also aside from Levana’s becoming a psycho it’s all focused on luuuuuuuv. And I just…I’m so tired of twu wuv being THE motivator of teen girls. I mean I know we were all there once. But come on! I’m stepping off my soapbox now…
I've already said these are light and fluffy, feel-good books. Ditto for this one.
The writing got better. This one moved quickly, and was much better I've already said these are light and fluffy, feel-good books. Ditto for this one.
The writing got better. This one moved quickly, and was much better than Cress (which I was mildly disappointed in...but I suppose there's only so much an author can do with that storyline). Winter as a heroine was kind of meh, but the book wasn't only about her, it was wrapping up all the other characters we've come to know and love (and despise) through this series. Loved it. Flew through it. Stayed up waaaaaay too late reading it. Felt like a teenager again, because I don't usually allow myself to get that invested in book characters anymore (is that sad or what?). ...more
So....didn't like this one as much. The story progressed well, but the new relationship (Cress and *edit*) felt silly and forced. I understand followiSo....didn't like this one as much. The story progressed well, but the new relationship (Cress and *edit*) felt silly and forced. I understand following the fairy tale, but honestly that part felt like a written version of the Tangled movie. That said - Cinder and Kai - awwww. I'm really interested to see how the last book will tie up all the trailing threads of the different stories. Hoping it is all it promises it could be! ...more
So glad I kept reading this series! I am now totally invested in the story. I love the new characters introduced in this one, and it just felt like thSo glad I kept reading this series! I am now totally invested in the story. I love the new characters introduced in this one, and it just felt like the world was a lot more fleshed out. Scarlet and Wolf are of course awesome. The other characters grow and develop as well. Totally enjoying my brain candy read. :)...more
3 and a half stars. I'm a sucker for fairy tales, and after hearing about this series for a couple years now I finally bit the bullet. I was prepared 3 and a half stars. I'm a sucker for fairy tales, and after hearing about this series for a couple years now I finally bit the bullet. I was prepared to be underwhelmed but was pleasantly surprised.
I love the futuristic element. The story is admittedly easy to predict in a lot of ways, not only because of the familiarity of the Cinderella fairy tale but the VERY broad hints laid out. I actually took a note when I guessed the "big twist" of the story - page 39. That said, the writing is good, the world intriguing, and for anyone that likes fairy tales and the retellings, definitely worth reading. I had to keep reminding myself it's a YA book...therefore not to expect the depth I like in "adult" fiction. It was a fun, fluffy, mind-candy read, and I enjoyed it enough to keep reading the series. ...more
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