Vane does it again with a great eye for weaving fiction with history with a light hand. While I prefer the characters of her other novels (Lyddie & Vesta--headstrong women), I enjoyed this story more because the plot and storyline were allowed to simmer rather than boil quickly. Thanks for the great recommendations of Vane's novels, Jill!
Loved the couple for their resolve to not give in to each other! Like her other novels, I wish Vane would write them a tad bit longer, so I could enjoy them more, but even in the short novel she gives her characters an unusual amount of depth that is tough to accomplish in such a short time.And that mother is a devilish schemer (but I completely loved her ruthlessness!).
I absolutely love, love, loved Vesta. In the beginning, she was a bit a of strain to read, but then I grew enamored of her sheer persistence and humor. The banter in this is so incredibly well-written!
3.5 StarsI didn't enjoy this one as much as the first novel (or the third), but what saved this a star or two was Andre and the depiction of a Triad. I tried to sympathize with Evan more as she had a very heavy past, but I wanted her to fight for the life/relationships she wanted instead of walking away. My favorite was suave and perpetually honest (as well as no-filter) Andre. He always said what he was thinking. There wasn't a moment when I was pulling my hair thinking, 'Why would you do that?' which I had plenty of with Evan and Jace. The author did a wonderful job of depicting a working Triad, and didn't pull the romance-lite version with as Andre so colorfully put, 'Dick no. 2.' Andre isn't a third wheel, he's an equal part of the relationship, and that felt very true to who the three of them wanted to be together.
My qualm: The resolution at the end. We don't get to see Evan work through anything. It's just two months later. I guess, since it is a romance novel, that yes, we readers are here for the romance aspect, not life aspect. It felt too neat, however. That ending scene--yowsa!!
3.5 Stars!I really enjoyed this read! It's a cleverly packaged romance with an interesting swap in time (the couple's history 'then,' and their 'now.' A caution though, it's for the more open-minded. If you enjoy BDSM-based novels, and the occasional romantic switch-up of menage, then this is for you.
Loved Charli and Grant! I highly enjoyed the interesting way Charli weasled her way into situations--such the typical nosy reporter (and I loved how Grant had no qualms calling her on it!).3.5 Stars
3.5 StarsWhat a cute, sexy read. Sometimes in romance novels, I dislike one, or both, of the leads, but I'll keep reading because the sex is well-written or the storyline is actively engaging. NOT the case here! It was short, but I appreciated that the angst was on the backburner, and not drawn out at all.
A sexy and quick scratch-your-itch read with great, surprisingly well-developed leads given the length of the novel.
I'll be back around Ms. Woods.
Do not read this if you have not read Boundless or any of the other Unearthly novels. I'm not posting any spoiler tags from here on out. You've been warned.Not entirely happy. I took away a star (and considered another because of my overall feelings), but in the end gave the book what it deserves regardless of the way I wanted it to turn out. This is a well-written (mostly--some gaffes, occasionally in the delivery), well-plotted book, and by far superior to many of its other YA cousins.
Boundless is a nice rounding to a wonderful series. Kudos to Cynthia Hand to a majestic concept, and tackling the dreaded Love Triangle with aplomb (perhaps, better handled in the first two books).
The characters are the novels main selling point. The story isn't revolutionary, but it has great pacing, and characters who carry the weight of the novel without breaking a sweat. Clara is hilarious. Her running commentary and off-beat comments are so delightful to read. I would often find myself smiling at her irreverent wit as it came.
What I thought it lacked overall was the tone that the previous two novels carried. It always felt a little melancholic, like your heart could break at any moment reading about Clara and Tucker, or Clara and Christian, or even Clara and Wendy/Angela. Boundless didn't have the emotional feeling of standing on the edge of cliff for me like the previous two novels. In fact, Clara seemed ready to throw herself over at any moment. That wasn't riveting, it was depressing.
My main gripe. The vacillating. Clara: constantly uncertain about the future. Clara: constantly uncertain about who she should date. Clara: uncertain about everything. Her unflagging devotion to uncertainty was so off-putting.
I wanted resilience, but if felt like she was forever leaning on someone else for strength. That was why I liked her mom so much. Her mother was a much stronger, independent woman. I almost would have preferred her story to Clara's. In fact, with all the crying Clara did, I assert exactly that.
Just like Clara's very own father states in the book, I don't like my lead females who lack conviction. And the journey through this book felt like that. I felt constantly dragged down by her doubt, and always looking to Christian for help, and then making him feel like crap because he was the convenient, best friend, shoulder-to-cry-on. But not the boy she loved. Welp, to me that makes her not deserve him.
It's been awhile since I read the previous two. And I loved them. Loved them hard. I was introduced to Cynthia Hand's novels fairly quickly after I joined Goodreads (right after, in fact) and I was happy to have such quality work offered up. Tucker Avery--good god. I remember loving him. In fact, all the reviewers love him. He's a revelation to YA love interests. Every moment he's on stage, his dialogue is captivating. Even the sparse few moments he's in this last book, he does it all over again.
My dilemma: I've previously entertained the notion that I would like to see a novel where fate says, hey, here's your soulmate, and the heroine actively fights it--falls in love with another deserving man and voila, he wins! They win! And it turns out, that I'm apparently a bloody hypocrite.
To me, Tucker & Clara failed. Clara pushed him away, and just as Tucker admitted, he let her go. They didn't fight for each other. In the end, that's why I believe they didn't deserve to be together. That's why I was in Christian's corner. He was there every step of the way. Clara's virtual cornerstone. But that's how love is. Blind, apparently. Unfortunately, Tucker's a great guy (that much, I remember), but his selling points were lost on me in this novel. I think I'll have to go back and re-read the other two novels, and give this one another shot to convince me this felt right. That it was right.
Last Note: Even in the Epilogue nine years later, Clara was vacillating. She says it doesn't feel right without Christian there. Exasperating, Clara, that's what you are.
It took awhile to get going and for me to actually be invested in the characters. I admittedly skimmed some paragraphs in the 1/3 of the book, something I loathe doing, but I wanted to give this book a fair shot (and not give up on it). Eventually it did pick up and the 2/3rd I actually highly enjoyed even when it got overly technical on the Sci-Fi element, the aspects of which I didn't fully buy into. Too many made up words that weren't properly fleshed out when they were mentioned the first or second time. I enjoyed Sass, although I was a bit judgmental of her in the beginning. I was overly annoyed by her "Don't love me, but let's have sex" attitude because she was worried about her past being uncovered. I had to rationalize that a bit and then after some perspective-thinking from her side, I became more sympathetic, but it wasn't a natural progression. It was a forced 'walk-a-mile-in-her-shoes' moment. As a 'cybe, I thought I would enjoy Kel-Paten more. I have a preference for the stoics, and when reading the synopsis thought, "Perfect!" Plus there are so many sparkling reviews that I knew this would be a book up my alley. Unfortunately, for the supposed-to-be-emotionless Biocybe (except for legitimate anger), he was actually really emotional. Like all over the place emotional. He was up, and down, and sideways with his angst-ing, and his should-I-or-shouldn't-I questioning. And the letters. That was the part I had to skip. I like sweet, tender moments, but those letters Sass finds, felt like overly-saccharine overshares. I was almost embarrassed to read them because they didn't feel like heartfelt musings from an adult male (and there are some fantastic manuscripts from politicians and poets over the centuries that are incredibly moving). They felt like school boy confessions, unpolished and desperate. I know I shouldn't apologize. This is a review, after all, based on feelings. However, to those who enjoyed the letters, I'm sorry, but they just weren't my cup of tea. I came away cringing at that point.
On that note, Sass and Kel-Paten were the positives in this novel. On the contrary side, Eden and Serafino were the distraction for me. I didn't like them together at all. Every time I got to the parts where their ongoings were described, I wanted to skip ahead. (I did twice when they were captured later on and were Scooby-Do-deducing the bad guys' plot. Also, Serafino...ugh, Serafino was so damn obnoxious that I grew tired of reading about him, whereas his counterpart, Eden, actually captured my attention. I liked her. Career-driven, intelligent, and careful in most aspects, she was a worthy female. Although, how she didn't come up with a better plan than 'Only I know the codes, so I perform the surgery on Serafino' was so head/desk-worthy. Come on! That's asking for torture from the bad guys. You always lose on that end. Hardened war veterans lose on that end, and they are trained! To me, mild-mannered doctors do not make the cut on 'I love you so much, I'll withstand torture for you.' Ahem, no you won't. I expected a better plan from the doctor, honestly.
Normally, I don't like writing reviews that leave a sour taste in your mouth as a reader, but truthfully, I believe that if I cared enough about reading a novel to relate the negative aspects, and still give it a solid 3 Stars, it means that the positives outweighed the negatives. There are some flaws, as with any novel, but I'd recommend this to romance lovers who don't mind a tad bit of Sci-Fi informative writing, and with males who occasionally (sometimes more than that) get on your nerves.
Perry and Aria and Roar--my favorite romance--friendship trifecta Ever. Mostly because balancing a relationship and a friendship that are so incredibly deep and touching is a hard feat to accomplish. (Loved Harry, Ron and Hermione--just never quite bought into the latter as much.)
The First Solid five-star book I've read in a while. Unbelievably fun, romantic, funny, and emotionally stunning. This book delivers a solid sucker punch to the heartstrings with no apologies....Do NOT click this spoiler if you haven't read the book--this is a discussion point only for those who have finished the book.
(I'm still running the math down for the last "Two months later segment" and coming up wrong...How is Cam six weeks pregnant when it's two months later and Andrew wasn't recovering until three weeks after his hospital stint?
I'm no stranger to books that have dark, depressing circumstances--I read [b:Break Her|16049218|Break Her|B.G. Harlen|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349715284s/16049218.jpg|21830599] and was absolutely enthralled by it in its entirety--enthralled by the lead female's unbreakable spirit and unflinching drive to persevere out of horrific circumstances. She showed spirit, she fought, then she was cowed, and beaten, broken and knew when to keep her mouth shut. She also knew how to bide her time while constantly looking for opportunities.Olivia didn't accomplish that for me. I'd have liked to see Olivia fighting for herself. Rip pipes out of the walls from the sink or the shower (or try to), peel back the plaster with only her fingernails (or try to), take a spring from the mattress and use it as a garrotte or something! Something more than biting, kicking, screaming and crying. I wanted resourceful. I wanted machinations and scheming! Is that too much to ask? She took the first opportunity presented (which, maybe she wouldn't get another one!), but it was harebrained and ill-planned. She took a gun, a coat and ran. Cars? Cash? Capital to trade with? I can't remember, did she go through his wallet? I wish she would have!
I thought at some point, give some opinions from reviewers I follow, I would start sympathizing with Caleb. I never did. He has this dynamic, tragic past that lends him depth and credence behind his hatred. But the waffling! Lo, the waffling!! If you're going to be evil, be evil. Then while still being evil, have some regrets. Then after the regrets, QUIT BEING EVIL! He hurts her, he pleases her, beats her, bathes her, strips her. In between all this, she gets some notions about him, starting to find things she likes about him. I can understand this in a twisted sense, I can even get behind it (fantasy, eh?), and then she starts comparing her captivity between captors: Biker/Bartender Tiny and Captor Caleb. The company of one tries to rape her, whereas the other DOES accomplish this. Guess who she prefers the company of. Caleb...the rapist, but its okay because he always takes care of her afterward. Yes, she actually says this.
The vicious cycle carried no emotion for me simply because my suspension of belief was just not great enough this time (and I'm fairly easy to please! See how this still got 3 stars, eh?).
I may pick up the 2nd novel just to see if her vindictive, bestial half takes over just to lay it on Caleb a bit. I'd love to see that.
