So, um, I tried to read this. I really did. I don’t know if it’s “paranormal romance overload” or the fact that I’d just finished reading material from two incredibly good writers (Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear), but I had no patience for the fluff. Overall, I gave the book a 2/10.
i did get through “The Exterminator’s Daughter” Meg Cabot. I don’t intend to read anything else by her. Yes, it was better than oral surgery, but I wish I’d spent the time cleaning the sink or something. To her credit, I did have a “laugh out loud” moment early on, when she used the phrase “tramp stamp.” I hadn’t heard that before, and I love it (although “arse antlers” is probably still my favorite).
Lauren Myracle warns readers that “The Corsage” is based on “The Monkey’s Paw.” That story scared the bejeezus out of me when I was 6, and I should have known that it was still firmly imprinted in my mind. I couldn’t get far enough in Myracle’s homage to learn the consequences of the first wish. I remember, right around then, how much I really, really hate the original story. Yes, it’s well-written, and Myracle isn’t bad. Unfortunately, I couldn’t summon up any interest in her characters to keep me reading, and without that, I certainly wasn’t going to read for the spook factor.
“Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper” by Kim Harrison was dull, dull, dull, and did I mention dull? Spoiled brat whining. There ya go. I don’t know where the “plot,” if there was one, was going. I didn’t care. If she got murdered by the guy she danced with after being nasty to her prom date, yawn.
And that, dear reader, is where I stopped. If Michelle Jaffe’s “Kiss and Tell” or “Hell on Earth” by Stephenie Meyer are great works of literature, I missed out. If I had absolutely nothing else with which to amuse myself, I might read them. Happily, that isn’t the case at the moment!
Dear Publishers: Stop now. Really. The world does not need Preschool Graduation From Hell, First Babies From Hell, or Mid-life Crisis From Hell. Thank you.
I laughed out loud at that last sentence 🙂
I think I would have stopped right at “From the author who brought you “The Exterminator’s Daughter” comes…”
🙂