Need by Carrie Jones | Book Review

Need by Carrie Jones

Need #1
First Published: 2008
Paperback
Young Adult, Fantasy
Rating:

Zara collects phobias the way other girls collect Facebook friends. Little wonder, since life's been pretty rough so far. Her father left, her stepfather just died, and her mother's pretty much checked out. Now Zara's living with her grandmother in sleepy, cold Maine so that she stays safe. Zara doesn't think she's in danger; she thinks her mother can't deal. Wrong. Turns out that guy she sees everywhere, the one leaving trails of gold glitter, isn't a figment of her imagination. He's a pixie--and not the cute, lovable kind with wings. He's the kind who has dreadful, uncontrollable needs. And he's trailing Zara. With suspense, romance, and paranormal themes, this exciting breakout novel has readers rapidly turning the pages.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE JUICY RANT (PART TWO)

Need was the first ever "bad" review and rating I posted (originally on Goodreads). It got that questionable honor by being one of the most disappointing books I've read to date, which is a big deal, considering I knew nothing about the book coming into it and therefore had no expectations.

And it still managed to completely crush me - because it started out so good, with the quirky chapter titles, laugh worthy moments and the cool seeming heroine. Unfortunately, it all went downhill fairly quickly. Honestly, if anything, this book makes me feel cheated.

Zara is our main character, and despite what I said above - I didn't really like her. I hated how she behaved towards her mother. I hated how illogical and self centered and downright stupid she was.

Then we have Nick, the resident hot guy love interest and a semi-main character. He had his sweet moments, sure, but they were mostly overshadowed by his major dick ones...

To be honest, the characters I did like were Issie and Devyn, and they were sadly negated to barely-there side characters.

And stillI had two MAJOR problems with the whole lot of them, the first being the sad unfortunate truth that they were all extremity, insanely... stupid. They never ask the right question... or any questions at all, for that matter. They just accept everything at face value and wait for something to happen next. I mean, c'mon!

Don't believe me? Well, what if I told you they find a note that tells the peculiar story of a sacrifice and running away, alongside a small side-note about pixies. Do they ask questions--what's it about, who wrote it, etc? Even just to each other? Err, no. They do not.

The second, which is the superior sin between the two, was the fact I did not find them believable... at all. Their behavior, actions and reactions all rang false and scripted. They never jumped out of the pages, never felt alive.

And yet, for such dead characters, you'd be amazed at how exasperated I got by the romance (or whatever the hell that was). But, well, this is insta love after all. The kind that make you pull your hairs out, because they know absolutely nothing about each other, and yet they reach the kind of relationship where somehow, the other's presence is a magical balm to all ills in the world. Even though, you know, cuddling will probably not stop the crazy creatures after you from stealing your humanity. But, whateves, kissing's way more important.

Then came the ending. I don't think I've ever read of a silliest one, and that's saying something 'cause I read this back in 2012 and it's still accurate. It was just ridiculous. The logistics made no sense, lady luck played much too big a part and the pixies' previously established traits just vanished at the convenience of our heroes.

And let's not forget... how considerate of the bad guys to listen to what the good tell them! Jolly nice of you, mate!

Come back tomorrow for a breakdown of the (many) stupid things in this book - no hold backs, no spoiler tag, no mercy. 

Blogger Confessions: I don't Believe Reviewers Who Never Post Bad Ratings

Hold your horses and lower those pitchforks, will you? No need to get so heated.

Here's the thing: some reviewers out there (plenty of them very popular) choose not to post any negative reviews on their blogs. Every book they review is between four starts to six (yes, some of them use the extra star method). And for some reason, I find it very hard to believe those reviews.

No, not for some reason. For a few very specific reasons.

It's impossible that you've loved every book you ever read. 

I would love for that to be possible, but it simply isn't. Saying you "know what you like" and pick only those books is ridiculous, because I've been burned by favorite authors and books that all my friends recommended and books that seemed like a shoe-in for me many, many times. Stands to reason that even if you're a very good picker, once in a blue moon you'll get a bad apple. Possibly even more often.

Not posting about those, makes the ratings seem inflated. I've just seen you post ten glowing five star reviews in two weeks. Could all those truly be five stars?

I get wanting to be positive, and I respect your decision to do so, but for me it's a matter of how can we know what your "great" means if we have no idea what your worse is? 

What a person hates tells as much about what he loves as what he actually loves does. It gives us, as readers, the necessary tools to compare, both their tastes with yours and how great your so called reads really are.

It's like, if there was no bad in the world there would be no good, either. Same goes with reviews for me.

You don't even have to write a full review. You can write mini reviews, or reviews in points just throwing out there what you didn't like.

This way, for example, I can tell you don't love insta-love, so I'd know to trust the romances you do love don't have that. You have no idea how many times I've been duped by reviews hailing romances only to discover the two meet one rainy night, and are immediately besotted with each other and can't think of anyone else, and in four chapters profess their love, if only in their heads.

This is not the kind of book I want to read. Not knowing whether you're okay with insta-love or not makes me wary that the romance you call swoon worthy I would call unbearable.

Am I making any sense? I hope I am.

It's not that I don't read these reviewers - I wouldn't notice their existence if I didn't follow them - I simply don't fully trust their ratings.

Of course, this is me speaking. That's just how I am. I know, I'm all sorts of suspicious. Must have seen too many episodes of Castle, but what can you do - you are who you are.

What about you? Do you share my feelings, or do you think positive reviewers are great? I would love to hear your opinion even if you disagree! 

**The idea for Blogger Confessions is based on Nick & Neryda's project!**

DNF Review: Keep Me Safe by Maya Banks

Keep Me Safe by Maya Banks

Slow Burn #1

First Published: 2014

Kindle Edition

Adult, Contemporary Fantasy

Rating:

A sizzling story of a woman who risks her life and her heart to find a wealthy man’s missing sister — the first novel in a sexy new romantic suspense series from #1 New York Timesbestselling author Maya Banks
When Caleb Devereaux's younger sister is kidnapped, this scion of a powerful and wealthy family turns to an unlikely source for help: a beautiful and sensitive woman with a gift for finding answers others cannot.
While Ramie can connect to victims and locate them by feeling their pain, her ability comes with a price. Every time she uses it, it costs her a piece of herself. Helping the infuriatingly attractive and impatient Caleb successfully find his sister nearly destroys her. Even though his sexual intensity draws her like a magnet, she needs to get as far away from him as she can.
Deeply remorseful for the pain he’s caused, Caleb is determined to make things right. But just when he thinks Ramie's vanished forever, she reappears. She’s in trouble and she needs his help. Now, Caleb will risk everything to protect her — including his heart....

DNF at 25% 

By this point, I ought to learn my lesson and just stick to Maya Banks's historicals, because whereas her historicals are some of my top favorite, her contemporaries leave a lot to be desired. It's almost like she has a split writer personality disorder. 

I wonder if it's because contemporary romance nowadays seems to be (ridiculously) conditioned toward fast, quick, instantaneous relationships while in historicals it's acceptable to take your time--with the physical and emotional build up--because of the times, when you couldn't just hop into someone's bed without consequences (such as marriage). 

Regardless of the reason, I am just so damned disappointed. 

Keep Me Safe takes it's title quite seriously from what I could gather from the 25% (roughly 81 pages) I forced myself through, as this entire novel seems to center around Caleb keeping Ramie safe from a stalker and from her abilities.

Yes, stalker and abilities. Ramie can psychically link herself to kidnap victims in order to find them, but by doing so she experiences what they are going through (such as rape). But she's so goodhearted that despite this horrific ramifications, she would endure it to save others. Until a psychopath sets his eyes on her, and instead of reporting it she decides to disappear. And then he finds her, and she phones the one man she thinks can help her. Caleb. 

The premise of Keep Me Safe is somewhat unique, albeit uncomfortable, I'll admit. But it's executed very, very poorly.

Firstly, it feels like this novel haven't been edited. At all. Characters contradict themselves constantly - one minute Character A says one thing, then in another scene Character B says the same but Character A argues against it and then says she hasn't thought of it before. Or Character A would repeatedly mention something, then in another scene would "just figure out" exactly what she's been saying all along as if it never occurred to her before. And more weird things like this. 

And then, there's is the repetition. This book could be bearable, maybe even good, if the excessive repetition was taken out of it. Sure, it would be half the length it is now, but filling the pages with the same information hardly counts as plot. It just makes me want to scream WE GET IT. 

But actually, maybe it wouldn't be good even then. It might take more than just technical cleaning to make this something I could enjoy, because the plot was a complete mess as well. 

Because Ramie's abilities were just all over the place. Aside to the whole psychic link, she can sense "the worst" in people. But never any of the good (which we are told over and over and over and over and over and over again). Okay. But then... she feels nothing of Caleb because (even though he entertains violent thoughts), he is essentially good? 

So... you don't sense "the worst in people", as you've said, do you? You sense their inclination. A person who is bad inside can't hide it from you, but an absence of feeling means good, doesn't it? The book basically wants you to believe Ramie can do all that & have never encountered good people before to balance it out.

But okay, I guess I could stomach that improbability and inconsistency? after all, her abilities are really not important in the grand scheme of things. They are just a plot device to get the two together.... as is the rape. Yes, I just said it. The rape in this book feels like something broached for impact and nothing else. A far cry from the tasteful, careful handle of the same subject in Highlander Most Wanted, a book of hers I highly recommend. 

While Keep Me Safe takes it's title seriously, it laughs at the chosen series name as this is the farthest thing away from "slow burn". This is so insta love it hurts. 

P.80
"There's something between us, something beyond a passing acquaintance" 

This gem is told by Caleb to Ramie on their second meeting. The first time they never even properly talked and the second has been focusing on the imminent danger to Ramie. So, insta-love. Or insta something-beyond-a-passing-acquaintance. 

Luckily, I never really got past this ridiculous sentence to actually endure the insta-love. Who knows, maybe it would've surprised me. 

And finally... the writing. Maya Banks is a considerable writer, but you couldn't tell based on her contemporaries, where the writing seems to become more choppy, wooden and scripted with every new one that pops. Seriously what is going on?

P.1
"He and his brothers, Beau and Quinn, had always been extremely overprotective of their baby sister. With good reason. Caleb was the head of a veritable empire. Security was always top priority"

Am I the only one who thinks this barely flows?? 

Buy Now 

N/A as that would be slightly hypocritical lol