This book was shaky at best, borderline tragic at worst. Tragic meaning that the hype and plot-line was so promising to the point where2.5 Solid Stars
This book was shaky at best, borderline tragic at worst. Tragic meaning that the hype and plot-line was so promising to the point where once I read the story, I felt mislead. As soon as I felt like this could possibly be a good story, there went the downward spiral. The story was completely unlike what it was presented as, and not in a good way.
In the beginning, we're presented with an oddly refreshing "bad girl" character, Kate Harker. I'm not sure I would have been able to handle a "bad boy" monster, so I'm counting my blessings for that. But from what I could gather from the murky setting, the city is "overrun" with monsters.
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I beg to differ. There were maybe two "monstrous" encounters I can vividly remember, but I would hardly call the city "overrun", because for some odd reason the monsters steer clear of insured humans. Insured = paying Harker for his protection. How he manages to protect these people, let alone convince them to get their insurance from him, I could not tell you. The whole thing just seemed...silly. Harker was not this intimidating figure and he even had monsters that worked under Kate Harker is the daughter of Harker, her father, whom she refers to as such. (Weird). She has palpable daddy issues, and I felt for her on this. Instead of taking it in stride and trying to be the opposite of her tyrannical father, she instead aspires to be just. Like. Him.
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This really ends up being the hair in the soup because she had no reason to want to have a goal like this, perhaps other than the fact that he was her remaining relative. The dynamic between Kate and her father was so odd. One always tried to "one up" the other and it was exhausting, and just weird. And when this issue was addressed and resolved, it was so underwhelming and anticlimactic. I just don't like when stories jerk you around in a round about circle to get you to see something that is obvious from the beginning. It's like beating a dead horse.
August had the most redeeming qualities out of all. I appreciated his character and the inner demons he was battling. It was some powerful stuff. He was apart of something bigger than him and I was 100% behind him the whole time. But. Bottom line: I didn't want massive chaos but isn't that what should be expected in a city overrun with monsters? The story would have been 10x more interesting and memorable if the monsters were indeed "running rampant". This is another case of Hyperitis. I truly believe the hype killed this book....more
The only spoiler here is that you could easily read this book in it's entirety if you shave off about 85% of it.
I'm still trying to recover from how iThe only spoiler here is that you could easily read this book in it's entirety if you shave off about 85% of it.
I'm still trying to recover from how insufferably boring the vast majority of this book was.
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As an avid reader, there's no greater offense (in my opinion) than having my time wasted when there are many other pressing reads to attend to. And also being taken for a fool. Mare Barrow managed to do both of these things and I did not take this lightly. Allow me to explain!
I am all in when it comes to a strong main character and his/her journey and struggle fighting the powers that be. But! It is a very difficult mess when I can't connect with or even get behind the main character, the life force of the entire book. Mare proved to be one of the most impulsive and cowardly characters I've read about to date. I mean, how can you be both? Her naivety also reared its ugly head and got her and others into some deep shit. I just don't think that I do well with characters from the "wrong side of the tracks" or what have you, that are then thrust into a situation where they have to buck up and save the world. That's a huge responsibility, I think. And Mare was nowhere near suited for it. Her character lacked in all areas of...everything. She had little to no sound judgement or common sense and sometimes she just seemed...dumb? Clueless? What's the word? Mare's credibility took hit after hit due to the terrible decisions she made on a whim.
I've read many books and it's only natural to have a moment where you try and pinpoint exactly where you've "read this" before. Repetition in literature is a sad tale, but usually there is a unique twist that sets this story from that one. Red Queen was a revamped The Selection in almost every sense. The caste system and the prejudice against those lower than you and the hatred for the upper echelon, but the visceral want to be them. Hopefully I explained that well, because I'm still trying to figure it all out!
If you've read The Selection you've read this one. Truly. The political intrigue was nonexistent, but the premise was undeniably interesting. Truthfully, there was a little too much going on, however. A world divided by blood is somewhat interesting enough, but the addition of superheroes/ individuals with "powers" was not handled well and seemed very sloppy on top of everything else. There were just too many things being juggled at once and it was a severe turn-off for me. The author definitely did a disservice to the idea behind this story because this could have been a hit, I can even see why it was to so many. I just can't let poor storytelling slide anymore.
It was truly difficult to enjoy the little things in this story because of the issue of Mare being an idiot. Forgive me for speaking plain, but I have no sympathy towards cowering in the shadows in the midst of a civil and human rights rebellion/push for change. All in all, this book was terrible but the ending was somewhat enjoyable but mostly because it was the end. This book was entirely too long and drawn out to be humane.
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