Sunday, June 23, 2013

Mini Reviews # 9

This week's Mini Reviews post is about the first book in three different series that I probably won't be finishing at all or in the near future, THE MEPHISTO COVENANT by Trinity Faegen, IMMORTAL BELOVED by Cate Tiernan and THE GIRL IN THE STEEL CORSET by Kady Cross.



Sasha is Anabo, a daughter of Eve's and one of the purest souls on earth. So it doesn't take long for Eryx, an evil immortal who wants to take over hell, and his devotees to start hunting her. To her rescue come dark and mysterious Jax and his brothers, devotees to another master, Mephistopholes. Together they try to fight against evil and prevent any more good souls in Sasha's surroundings to get lost.
Strong emotions about a book are almost always a safe sign for said book's and the author's story-writing qualities. Just what if anger and frustration aren't caused by antagonists but directed at main characters? It simply doesn't feel right.
Here's what THE MEPHISTO COVENANT was like. A fight between heaven and hell is realised by cultish formations robbing high school kids of their free will, turning them into aggressive and brainless minions. Between mostly passable kissing scenes, of course Sasha and Jax can't keep their hands or mouths to themselves, there's talking about religious beliefs. Stalking and brain washing are involved, too. Feelings of hatred are strewn into a high number of scenes, scenes without any real relevance to the story.
The first and second book were published by Egmont. Then the publisher decided to say no to more books in this series. Fans will be happy to hear that Trinity Faegen is thinking about self-pulishing them.


1,5/5 */* THE MEPHISTO COVENANT – Unbalanced characters, a screwy system of beliefs and a stale love story!

As you can see THE MEPHISTO COVENANT had very little to offer to me and my patience was tested more than once. I often felt like quitting but somehow made it to the end. This will definitely be the end of my acquaintance with the THE MEPHISTO COVENANT series, as sad as I am to give up on any book series.


Publisher: Egmont USA
Publishing Date: September 27th 2011
Length: 438 pages
Keywords: YA fiction, romance, religion, cult, hell, heaven
Source: Netgalley
Author's Homepage





Nastasya is an immortal and has lived a long life in excess and ignorance. In the past hundreds of years she hasn't been the best version of herself. When one of her so-called dark friends harms a human, Nastasya decides to leave her gang of dangerous immortals and with them all destructiveness and misery behind her.
IMMORTAL BELOVED discusses what it means to have a never-ending life ahead of you and what it is you should do with it. On her quest for change Nastasya meets an immortal who offers shelter to all the lost immortal souls looking for a new start. So she finds a home in River's mansion. It has a kind of boarding school feel about it because of all the avid students buzzing around. Immortals can take lessons and have to do chores. With the help of others Nastasya is now learning to master a normal life. And with that things start to fall into a monotone pattern without prospect of any serious action.
Between complaining about chores and slowly discovering her heritage Nastasya develops a crush on fellow immortal Reyn. Theirs isn't a love story of the exciting but more of the repellent kind. So this romance didn't exactly fit my idea of sexy.


3,5/5 ***/* IMMORTAL BELOVED – A reform school presenting us with a new somber spin on immortality.

IMMORTAL BELOVED was appealing in a way because of all the possibilities immortality had to offer. When I pick up a novel with immortals in it I'm mostly interested in hearing more about their pasts and Nastasya's visions of the past are one important part of her story now. Visit River's remote reform school for immortals with a dark atmospheric feel about it but don't expect all too much fun in the end.


Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Publishing Date: September 1 st 2011
Length: 400 pages
Keywords: YA, fiction, romance, immortals
Source: Publisher
Author's Homepage

 


Finley Jayne's on the run from her past. She just took care of a lord who molested her. Or more precisely, her bad side did. There are two sides battling for attention in Finley, one good and one evil. She's lucky young duke Griffin and his friends take her in and show her a new world, one filled with magic and solidarity.
What starts with a kick-ass heroine in action gradually reverses into a series of trivial dialogues and unexciting scenes. Since we are given access to so many characters' perspectives, Finley, Griffin, Sam and some others, there is little chance for anticipation and wondering left. My attention was amiss more than once during the story.
Finley's and Griffin's love story is of the average kind, too few intense feelings and actual kissing scenes. A love triangle was purely unnecessary, so Jack Dandy, the man who Finley's dark side favours, was a character I just couldn't get acquainted with. Finley's biopolar personality is the most interesting aspect about THE GIRL IN THE STEEL CORSET because it made her such an unpredictable character
3/5 *** THE GIRL IN THE STEEL CORSET – A diverting 19th century stroll with rather weak performance on part of the clockwork automatons.

Victorian London is one of my favourite places for a story to be set. We will even be graced with Queen Victoria's presence. Evil master minds as enemies and clockwork automatons always promise to bring some excitement to the story, not so much in this case. THE GIRL IN THE STEEL CORSET is a historical fiction with fantastical elements I only enjoyed to a certain extend.


Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publishing Date: May 24th 2011
Length: 473 pages
Keywords: YA fiction, magic, romance,Victorian London, steampunk
Source: Netgalley
Author's Homepage

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2 comments:

  1. Tanja - TanychyJune 25, 2013 at 3:02 AM

    Well I for sure know how to pick. I haven't heard of any of these before but the cover of The Mephisto Covenant really had my attention. Well another one bites the dust then. Thanks for great honest reviews! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Leanna ElleJune 26, 2013 at 6:05 PM

    I liked Immortal Beloved, thought it was a little slow for my tastes at times - still need to finish that series!

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