adds
I don't think The Scarecrow's Queen was supposed to make me think of The Wizard of Oz at all, but my brain kept going there anyway. Really, how many popular scarecrows are there to picture? My brain just couldn't help it. I struggled to find Hollowstock sexy because in the back of my head there was always this other goofy scarecrow from my childhood. Unfortunately sometimes I had the ick reading this which is really unfortunate because the general premise is pretty darn good. I'm chalking this up to it's-me-not-you.
Reviews are DIVIDED so I was wary going into this one. A lot of people seem to hate how long A Soul to Keep is, but I didn't feel like any part dragged or didn't fit. Some reviews made it seem like Orpheus was nonstop obsessed with one of his previous “captives”, which was really not the case. They definitely came up as a big foil in the plot but it absolutely made sense to explain this Duskwalker's personality and humanity journey.
Now, the only thing that didn't work for me was Reia's dialogue. There's specific world building indicating technology basically froze in what feels like very early if not pre-Scientific Revolution, yet Reia is overly casual and extremely modern in her speech. Almost every time she talked I mentally rewrote her in my head to make it work. I'm hoping other characters in the series are written differently, and I liked this enough to keep going.
DNF 9%. I was looking forward to historical fiction set in ancient Egypt as it's so rarely done. Unfortunately the writing style is not for me. I found myself skimming and speed reading just to get to the meat of the story until I realized I didn't actually care for any of the characters. The best thing I read in this book was the dedication.
The beautiful cover has claimed another victim. So much promise, so much left to be desired.
Pestilence is a solidly average book. It was good enough for me to finish, but I feel no great desire to pick up the next one in the series.
The four horsemen of the apocalypse is usually biblical and steeped in religion. Thankfully, there's no proselytizing. So, there's that to be grateful for as an atheist/agnostic.
I think the writing style wasn't for me, and I needed more from Sara, the main character. Literally plague made flesh is wiping humanity from the land, yet there's Sara, almost not even bothered by it all because Pestilence is a McHottie with abs. Where's the soul crushing anguish? The guilt? The grief?
As for the writing style...
He knows exactly what she's forgiving him for, and he's covering up the fact that he-is-shook.
I'm not sure if it's the cover, or what, but I fully expected a poorly written story just to get readers from one interspecies erotica scene to another. Wow, that's not what the Wraith Kings series is at all. I'm so here for the world building.
Also, the second book might even be better than the first one, and Radiance is pretty darn good.
Hoo boy, do I hate Galloway. I wanted him to just die on that island pretty much all the time. What a sexist man-child.Who the hell names their child Coconut???And omg EAT A TURTLE YOU'RE STARVING ARE YOU STUPID?! I skimmed this just to find out what happened.When I finished I realized I've read [b:Tears of Tess 18134894 Tears of Tess (Monsters in the Dark, #1) Pepper Winters https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1372821993l/18134894.SY75.jpg 25474810] from Pepper Winters. That got 3 stars from me. Clearly I just don't care for this author or her chauvinistic male characters.
DNF at 15%. Disgustingly insulting stereotypes abound. Rape, almost rape, just rape everywhere all the time. A main character you can't stand. She goes from desperately wanting to escape to literally saying back to back "I'm your virgin!" and "Hurt me! Hurt me as I want to be hurt!" in the span of a few pages. Him ejaculating is what causes her orgasm. Sex doesn't work like that.
I physically tossed my kindle aside while saying out loud, “Ewww get away from me.”
