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thistlechaserGirl on a Wire (Cirque American) by Gwenda Bond
Traditional or self-published: Self-Published [With this book I learned Amazon has a "publishing house" that publishes physical copies of "self-published books with sales potential". This book was "published" through that.]
Rating: Okay (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
This was one of those "free book a month for Prime members" that Amazon gives away, which was how it ended up on my Kindle. It wasn't bad, I liked some of the characters (including the main one, a smart teenage girl), and I liked the setting (a circus!), but stories set in the modern day real world just don't really interest me all that much. I'm more a fantasy and sci fi reader.
The plot followed the main character and her family (father and daughter are a high wire act, mother is an act with horses) as they join a larger circus. The conflict involved some old blood feud between their family and another circus family. I enjoyed the circus scenes, but the plot's mystery and all the feud background didn't work for me. Stopped reading at 30%.
Prisoner (Werewolf Marines Book 2) by Lia Silver
Traditional or self-published: "Indie" -- Published, sort of. The proofreading services section has multiple grammatical errors in it, the cover example in cover creation services is horrible.
Rating: Okay (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
This was an odd book. I had no idea it was book two of a trilogy, but that didn't cause any issues in reading. This story was about a marine who was also a werewolf. He got caught by Evil US Government Group and blackmailed into becoming an assassin for them. He also fell in love with Other Assassin.
Good points: I enjoyed all the werewolf-y stuff and the worldbuilding around that. All except the fact that every werewolf gets some superpower for some reason. It could be good, like super strength, or it could be bad like setting yourself on fire. Interesting, but I have no idea why a werewolf would automatically get a superpower.
Bad: Kind of everything else. The Evil US Government Group was over the top and silly. Other Assassin/Love Interest didn't work for me (mega powerful woman).
I couldn't even figure out what kind of book this was -- romance? urban fantasy? And when I googled to find that out, I learned that this book ends in the middle of the story and you have to buy the next one to continue. That is no longer acceptable to me, and since I was thinking about abandoning it anyway, I stopped reading at that point (67%).
World War 97 by David J. Normoyle [No Amazon page, link goes to Goodreads.]
Traditional or self-published: Self-published
Rating: Disliked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
While I loved one book this author wrote, most of the rest of his books haven't worked for me. There was nothing wrong with this story, it just didn't hook me at all. I didn't like the characters, and the world setting didn't interest me much. I gave up early though (17% point), so maybe it would have gotten better if I had stuck with it longer. I just really hadn't liked the main character though, so I jumped ship.
Partial book credits:
Point reached in these book: 30% + 67% + 17% = 114%
Previous abandoned book total: 190%
New total: 304%
Traditional or self-published: Self-Published [With this book I learned Amazon has a "publishing house" that publishes physical copies of "self-published books with sales potential". This book was "published" through that.]
Rating: Okay (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
This was one of those "free book a month for Prime members" that Amazon gives away, which was how it ended up on my Kindle. It wasn't bad, I liked some of the characters (including the main one, a smart teenage girl), and I liked the setting (a circus!), but stories set in the modern day real world just don't really interest me all that much. I'm more a fantasy and sci fi reader.
The plot followed the main character and her family (father and daughter are a high wire act, mother is an act with horses) as they join a larger circus. The conflict involved some old blood feud between their family and another circus family. I enjoyed the circus scenes, but the plot's mystery and all the feud background didn't work for me. Stopped reading at 30%.
Prisoner (Werewolf Marines Book 2) by Lia Silver
Traditional or self-published: "Indie" -- Published, sort of. The proofreading services section has multiple grammatical errors in it, the cover example in cover creation services is horrible.
Rating: Okay (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
This was an odd book. I had no idea it was book two of a trilogy, but that didn't cause any issues in reading. This story was about a marine who was also a werewolf. He got caught by Evil US Government Group and blackmailed into becoming an assassin for them. He also fell in love with Other Assassin.
Good points: I enjoyed all the werewolf-y stuff and the worldbuilding around that. All except the fact that every werewolf gets some superpower for some reason. It could be good, like super strength, or it could be bad like setting yourself on fire. Interesting, but I have no idea why a werewolf would automatically get a superpower.
Bad: Kind of everything else. The Evil US Government Group was over the top and silly. Other Assassin/Love Interest didn't work for me (mega powerful woman).
I couldn't even figure out what kind of book this was -- romance? urban fantasy? And when I googled to find that out, I learned that this book ends in the middle of the story and you have to buy the next one to continue. That is no longer acceptable to me, and since I was thinking about abandoning it anyway, I stopped reading at that point (67%).
World War 97 by David J. Normoyle [No Amazon page, link goes to Goodreads.]
Traditional or self-published: Self-published
Rating: Disliked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
While I loved one book this author wrote, most of the rest of his books haven't worked for me. There was nothing wrong with this story, it just didn't hook me at all. I didn't like the characters, and the world setting didn't interest me much. I gave up early though (17% point), so maybe it would have gotten better if I had stuck with it longer. I just really hadn't liked the main character though, so I jumped ship.
Partial book credits:
Point reached in these book: 30% + 67% + 17% = 114%
Previous abandoned book total: 190%
New total: 304%
no subject
Date: 2018-02-04 09:39 pm (UTC)I would say the genre is the thrillier side of paranormal romance? Which seems to be the side of paranormal romance that works best for me.
Echo doesn't particularly appeal to me, but I adore DJ, so I was happy enough reading just for his POV, and while I totally agree that the Evil Government Base is over-the-top and silly, I felt like it was lampshaded enough that this didn't bother me at all -- like, it fit the lighter tone of the book.
Oh, and re: ending in the middle of the story... kind of? There is absolutely a major loose end, but it also felt like a complete story, albeit one where I really wanted to know what happened next.
Re: it being a second book -- kind of? There is an earlier written book, "Laura's Wolf", which has DJ's buddy Roy as the protagonist/leading man. But I also read Prisoner first (and then the sequel to Prisoner), and only then Laura's Wolf, and it works just fine to read it in that order. I gather it's not uncommon for paranormal romance (and non-paranormal romance series, too?) to do this sort of thing -- have a loose group of people and each book deals with the romance of one of them, with the others as background characters. Since it's romance, it's not like there's much of a spoiler in the couple getting together, so you can pretty much read in any order.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 01:30 am (UTC)There is absolutely a major loose end, but it also felt like a complete story, albeit one where I really wanted to know what happened next.
Blah! Then the review I had read was misleading then. Books can have loose ends to keep people reading, but there's a difference between that and a cliffhanger or a single story cut in half between books...
Ahahah your icon! I recognize that quote. :D
Maybe once I finished the new book I started I'll go back to it. I really did like DJ and the way the story handled werewolves...
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 03:01 am (UTC)Well, no, it's probably just a subjective thing.
I opened up my copy and checked where book 1 really ends, and I think I would characterize this as:
- In terms of emotional arc, it feels like a complete story
- In terms of plot, there is a smaller arc that's wrapped up in this book (or at least I think it's wrapped up; there are implications that continue on to book 2), but a larger arc that's left wide open. But I think that's fairly OK for a series to do? Like, Harry still has to fight Voldemort after he wraps up whatever is going on immediately in the earlier HP books -- that sort of thing. But if you go in expecting him to defeat Voldemort, you would probably not end up very satisfied by OotP.
Anyway, I'm definitely not trying to talk you into reading more of the book, but it is a series I really enjoy, and book 2 has more of DJ's past (childhood and the army) and his family, although it is probably more heavily focused on Echo from an emotional perspective. And if you do want to read the sequel, it's loanable on Kindle, and I'd be happy to loan it to you.
Ahahah your icon! I recognize that quote. :D
Probably my favorite quote from the books :) (I kinda ship DJ/Roy... :P)
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 04:18 am (UTC)That's actually a little of my problem. I kind of was thinking they would be together? And then here comes Echo. But seriously, DJ/Echo's romance did make sense... even if I think DJ would be oh god SO SO SO much better with Roy. I mean, he reads out loud to him! So DJ can enjoy the books as well! And DJ's whole goal in life is to save Roy!
How is that not a couples thing? :P
I think you're right that that's probably an okay thing for a book to do, leaving it that way. A book can complete a story within it, yet still have more to wrap up through the series/trilogy.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-05 06:47 am (UTC)(If that helps decide you on continuing with the series, there's a bunch more Roy and DJ background in the sequel, and -- hopefully this doesn't count as a spoiler -- we do get to see them interact again real time.)
no subject
Date: 2018-02-06 03:24 am (UTC)