Comments on: REVIEW: Into the Shadow by Christina Dodd

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:01:57 +0000

Just finished this during an insomniac night. I was massively underwhelmed. I didn’t get any romantic chemistry and found my suspension of disbelief a little too suspended. Didn’t care much for Karen’s dad’s revelations and personality reversal either.

This whole series seems like it’s too fluffy for the actual premise of the books. Adrick wasn’t that evil (since the people he tended to kill – I think only 3 were “shown” or mentioned – deserved it). I know, killing = bad in general, but in genre fiction I buy the vigilante badness as good.

Working in elearning, I know building real 3D simulations is a massive undertaking, and by no means could it be accomplished in 2 years (with 1 year being in the mining pit!).

By: Susan/DC

Susan/DC — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:15:57 +0000

Of course, you’re correct: it was “Ice Storm”, not “Black Ice” (which i haven’t read). As if I needed any more evidence of my deteriorating mental functions . . . .

I want to add that I like the cover of the Dodd book. This guy truly looks like the character, at least as I imagine him. Dangerous, attractive, and altogether dangerously attractive. I think it’s the hair the and eyes.

By: Janine

Janine — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:33:55 +0000

Your review makes this sound a little like Anne Stuart's â€œBlack Iceâ€, which I read over the weekend: a hero who lives up to his billing as extremely alpha paired with a heroine who is described as tough and intelligent and alpha herself but who is not but is instead consistently overpowered and outsmarted by the hero.

I've read Black Ice five or six times and I don't remember any intimation that Chloe was alpha. Are you sure you aren't thinking of Ice Storm?

By: Ciara

Ciara — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:39:58 +0000

YES! You hit the nail on the head. I really enjoyed the first two books, but this:

But we never got to see, bear witness to, the transformative process.

The transformative process is what a story is all about! It was completely off stage. This was a modern Bodice Ripper. PTSD, Stockholm Syndrome… sigh. I’ll spare you my rant about the romanticization of rape. Suffice to say, violent obsession does not equal love.

By: DS

DS — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:17:46 +0000

I assume the tying up thing is there to appeal to a bondage fantasy. But even without menaces, I find nonconsenual tying to the bed to be at best creepy.

By: Monique

Monique — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:00:07 +0000

I couldn’t agree more in regards to your assessment of the emotional impact of this book. I am partial to protagonists who are tortured emotionally because I can connect to them emotionally. Adrik was set up to be exactly my kind of guy and then… he fizzled. All the emotional growth was summed up in a short piece and that was it. No sense of emotional journey at all. No emotional tie to him, no nothing. This book had so much potential that I was doubly disappointed when I read it and I went out the day it was released to get it. As for tying Karen to the bed, it didn’t turn me off because at no time is there ever any intent to hurt her, ever. Adrik is exceedingly protective of Karen.

By: Susan/DC

Susan/DC — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:46:48 +0000

Your review makes this sound a little like Anne Stuart’s “Black Ice”, which I read over the weekend: a hero who lives up to his billing as extremely alpha paired with a heroine who is described as tough and intelligent and alpha herself but who is not but is instead consistently overpowered and outsmarted by the hero. Your comment about Dodd’s writing skill also makes the books sound similar, in that both authors write extemely well. Unfortunately, the mismatch between the H/H significantly lowered my enjoyment of BI, and I’m afraid the same would happen here.

By: Ember Case » Blog Archive » The day after

Ember Case » Blog Archive » The day after — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:46:24 +0000

[...] at Dear Author has what must be my favorite euphemism ever in the middle of a review today – â€œmagical groin [...]

By: Sarai

Sarai — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:30:35 +0000

Stretch not strength good lord where’s the spell check? or better yet diet coke?

By: Sarai

Sarai — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:29:58 +0000

LOL I have read the whole series up to this one and Ms. Dodd is my all time favorite author (she’s the one that got me hooked on romance when she wrote historicals) however, with this series I’ve had to strength the imagination a little. I look at them as fluffy read and hope she picks up the historicals again. Oh how I miss them.
Thanks for the review.

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:13:51 +0000

Seriously, it was magical. It made Karen lose all reason. Look at the comment left by Krista. The guy sneaks into her tent in an isolated location and has sex with her on a regular basis even though she never knows who he is. Then he captures her, chains her/ties her to a bed, and after she is released and she supposedly is scared of him, she sticks around to help him.

So, it has to have magical properties, no?

By: Jill D.

Jill D. — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:10:31 +0000

LOL, Jane!

His magical groin wand

Did you really just call it that?!

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:02:35 +0000

I was also a little taken aback that Karen would have sex with a complete stranger over and over again. Call me crazy but if a strange man climbed into my tent one night, I doubt sex would be the first thing on my mind.

That bothered me but I just overlooked it for the paranormal aspect but it was strange and not a little weird.

By: Jane

Jane — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:01:11 +0000

Nope, the tie to the bed is literal – with handcuffs, of sorts.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:50:14 +0000

Even with a C review, I was ready to read this book until I saw this bit:

…she tries to flee him, but he captures her, subdues her, ties her to the bed for weeks and has his wicked way until a fight amongst mercenaries forces Adrik to let her flee.

No thanks. I’m glad you warned me. I’m taking this literally or did you mean the “tie to the bed” thing figuratively?

By: Krista

Krista — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:23:56 +0000

Jane,

I agree with nearly everything you said in your review. The video game in a year thing pulled me out of the story a bit, I think I read in one of the reviews on here about a book with football details that were highly unlikely to occur and how it could be annoying for someone who knows the game. That’s how I felt in regards to how the video game was mentioned.

I was also a little taken aback that Karen would have sex with a complete stranger over and over again. Call me crazy but if a strange man climbed into my tent one night, I doubt sex would be the first thing on my mind.

In regards to Adrik and whether he was the silent type or the emotional type, I got the feeling he was more emotional but saw it as a weakness so he covered it up with his silence.