I never thought there would be a day that I'd rate a Ms. Saintcrow book as I hated it. I did. Maybe it is because she published it under the Harlequin line. I'm not sure. I've read other Harlequin and liked them. The concept of this story was good. The world that we are in is interesting too. What killed this for me were the characters.
Never underestimate the power of annoying characters. They can completely destroy the book for a reader. I loathed Julia. She's the spoiled little shit in this story. She's the one who's been allowed to grow unchecked. I kept hoping something would kill her so we'd stop having to read about her awkward behaviour. Zach, the main character had some kind of split personality. He was great sometimes and other times, I just wanted to slap him upside the head - hard. He character was all over the place. The one I really despised was the main character - Sophie. If I see another inner dialog with her freaking out over Unpleasant Things, I'll take a hit out on her myself. Sophie is a victim and she has this role down pat. She really is too stupid to live. Just kill her. I can't believe she's this amazing Shaman to be "triggered". I don't buy it. She is the kind of lead character I can't stand.
Ms. Saintcrow usually writes some amazing kick ass leading female characters. I guess she tried something different and used a more vulnerable one. I believe that was a mistake because it sucked. Instead of coming off as vulnerable and soft, it came across as stupid, whiny, wimpy and useless. Sophie's turn around at the end of the book was ridiculous. Totally out of character based on how she's been the first 9/10th of the book. The last 1/10th of the book was the only good part to the book too. Sadly, it wasn't enough to save this book for me. Basically, all I got from this book is that the shifters are judgmental cowards that talk a big talk and then proceed to get everyone killed. Apparently they don't have enough brain cells put together to come up with a decent plan to take out a violent threat. On top of this, it appears the entire cast of characters are all emotional dysfunctional with no communication skills what.so.ever. This is probably the most disappointing book I've read all year since I'm such a big fan of Ms. Saintcrow and was expecting much more.
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