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My latest commute audiobook was A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson, a vampire novel that strides along at a brisk 5 hours run time. I have to admit upfront I did not have high hopes for this book. I somewhat warily added it to my TBR list, but I feared tired romantasy tropes that don't hit for me, and that the queerness which had landed it on my radar would turn out to be little more than additional titillation for a straight audience looking for a tale of decadence and indecency. I'm quite pleased to report neither of those concerns came to fruition!
As the title might suggest, there's a level of melodrama in this book you have to accept to enjoy the story. It reminded me in some ways of AMC's Interview with the Vampire in its shameless embrace of all those usual vampiric tropes and in the extravagances of its characters and its prose. Throughout the introduction, I was trying to decide if this was fun, or overwrought. I came down on the side of fun.
The cover bills it as a "vampire revenge story." The premise of The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl is thus:
16-year-old Holly Liddell, in 1987, allowed the undead Elton to turn her into a vampire because he promised her an eternity together. Thirty years later he dumped her at a Quick Stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma and peeled out. Because Holly was turned at 16, she'll always be 16. While she's busy wallowing in this post-Elton, she's approached by two other girls with a similar story: Elton seduced them with promises of forever love, turned them into vampires, then dumped them when he got bored. And worse: he has his sights on a fourth girl. Reluctantly, Holly agrees to help Rose and Ida kill Elton--but developing feelings for Elton's new target wasn't part of the plan.
Honestly, I did not expect this book to be good, and it wasn't. It was entertaining enough. It will keep you busy if you have nothing else going on. Prose is mediocre, hamfisted where it tries to be poetic, and overexplains things to the reader. The plot moves so fast you rarely have time to take in where the characters are at before they're off to the next thing, and the characters themselves are very flat. Rose and Ida are basically interchangeable and I kept getting them mixed up because they really have no personality outside "the nice one" and "the bitchy one." Elton is comically awful with no redeeming or "human" side to him whatsoever, as are most of the protagonist's victims.
The novel feels very grounded in its publication year, down to a jarring and somewhat incorrect use of the term "gaslighting" by a teenager from 1987. I also cringed at the scene where the three main characters all explain their sexualities to each other. It felt very much like the author desperately grabbing for more representation points by saying "Look! Rose is bi too! Ida is asexual!" even though these things literally never matter within the story except for this one awkward scene.
There are some enjoyable things about it. I still like the idea of the plot even if it was poorly executed. The relationships formed within it and the focus on letting go of your past mistakes and forgiving yourself so you can move forward are nice. I did enjoy the subplot about Holly learning to let go of her anger at her neglectful mother, and the one where she confronts Mr. Stockard--who in her day, was an enthusiastic young high school teacher, but has become a burned out middle-aged man by the present time who's given up on his students.
( Read more... )
Crossposted from my main
16-year-old Holly Liddell, in 1987, allowed the undead Elton to turn her into a vampire because he promised her an eternity together. Thirty years later he dumped her at a Quick Stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma and peeled out. Because Holly was turned at 16, she'll always be 16. While she's busy wallowing in this post-Elton, she's approached by two other girls with a similar story: Elton seduced them with promises of forever love, turned them into vampires, then dumped them when he got bored. And worse: he has his sights on a fourth girl. Reluctantly, Holly agrees to help Rose and Ida kill Elton--but developing feelings for Elton's new target wasn't part of the plan.
Honestly, I did not expect this book to be good, and it wasn't. It was entertaining enough. It will keep you busy if you have nothing else going on. Prose is mediocre, hamfisted where it tries to be poetic, and overexplains things to the reader. The plot moves so fast you rarely have time to take in where the characters are at before they're off to the next thing, and the characters themselves are very flat. Rose and Ida are basically interchangeable and I kept getting them mixed up because they really have no personality outside "the nice one" and "the bitchy one." Elton is comically awful with no redeeming or "human" side to him whatsoever, as are most of the protagonist's victims.
The novel feels very grounded in its publication year, down to a jarring and somewhat incorrect use of the term "gaslighting" by a teenager from 1987. I also cringed at the scene where the three main characters all explain their sexualities to each other. It felt very much like the author desperately grabbing for more representation points by saying "Look! Rose is bi too! Ida is asexual!" even though these things literally never matter within the story except for this one awkward scene.
There are some enjoyable things about it. I still like the idea of the plot even if it was poorly executed. The relationships formed within it and the focus on letting go of your past mistakes and forgiving yourself so you can move forward are nice. I did enjoy the subplot about Holly learning to let go of her anger at her neglectful mother, and the one where she confronts Mr. Stockard--who in her day, was an enthusiastic young high school teacher, but has become a burned out middle-aged man by the present time who's given up on his students.
( Read more... )
Crossposted from my main
(Mostly copypasta from https://archangelbeth.dreamwidth.org/1085355.html -- but hopefully a review here would be more useful to the universe! O:> )
( A steampunk victorian supernatural romance with adventure. )
( A steampunk victorian supernatural romance with adventure. )
My sister works as a narrator for ACX.com. She just finished her first audiobook, The Poppet and the Lune, by Madeline Claire Franklin, and ACX gave her 25 free download credits to give to book reviewers. She doesn't really know any reviewers and didn't know where to start, so I wanted to ask here and see if there are any bloggers who might be interested in a free copy of the audiobook for review? Or any recommendations of bloggers who might be interested?
( Behind the cut, audiobook trailer, book description and Goodreads link for anyone who wants to know more )
( Behind the cut, audiobook trailer, book description and Goodreads link for anyone who wants to know more )
If any of you are fans of Meg Cabot's books, she posted a huge announcement today: both The Princess Diaries series and The Mediator series (both YA) are getting adult spin-off series, with the first installments of each being published next year. The Princess Diaries is also getting a middle-grade spin-off: From the Notebooks of a Middle-School Princess.
The Mediator spin-off follows protagonist Suze Simon starting her first job after graduating college, and solving an ancient murder with her now-fiancé Dr. Jesse de Silva. (*fangirl shrieks*) Oh, and Paul Slater is going to be in it, too. (*fangirl boos and hisses*)
Both Princess Diaries spin-offs tie into each other: the adult book, Royal Wedding, follows Princess Mia Thermopolis as she plans her wedding to Michael Moscovitz and discovers she has a long-lost half-sister. The middle-grade series is told from this sister's perspective. It's also worth nothing that Mia's half-sister is biracial! It will be interesting to see how that's explored.
Any fans of these series? What do you think about these series getting spin-offs? I knew a seventh Mediator book was on the way because she mentioned it at a book signing I attended a couple of years ago, but I definitely wasn't expecting an adult series*! The Princess Diaries was also a huge shock. She definitely kept those updates under her hat!
*I am infinitely pleased about this—when the books first came out, I was the "same age" as Suze. It's exciting to see that Suze and Jesse have essentially grown up with me XD
Anyway, if anyone's interested, I'll be posting updates about the new Mediator book(s)—cover, publication dates, etc.—as well as the upcoming TV series over at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
mediatorfans :-)
The Mediator spin-off follows protagonist Suze Simon starting her first job after graduating college, and solving an ancient murder with her now-fiancé Dr. Jesse de Silva. (*fangirl shrieks*) Oh, and Paul Slater is going to be in it, too. (*fangirl boos and hisses*)
Both Princess Diaries spin-offs tie into each other: the adult book, Royal Wedding, follows Princess Mia Thermopolis as she plans her wedding to Michael Moscovitz and discovers she has a long-lost half-sister. The middle-grade series is told from this sister's perspective. It's also worth nothing that Mia's half-sister is biracial! It will be interesting to see how that's explored.
Any fans of these series? What do you think about these series getting spin-offs? I knew a seventh Mediator book was on the way because she mentioned it at a book signing I attended a couple of years ago, but I definitely wasn't expecting an adult series*! The Princess Diaries was also a huge shock. She definitely kept those updates under her hat!
*I am infinitely pleased about this—when the books first came out, I was the "same age" as Suze. It's exciting to see that Suze and Jesse have essentially grown up with me XD
Anyway, if anyone's interested, I'll be posting updates about the new Mediator book(s)—cover, publication dates, etc.—as well as the upcoming TV series over at
mediatorfans :-)- Mood:
excited