Comments on: REVIEW: Hostage to Pleasure by Nalini Singh

By: Lexi Lawrence

Lexi Lawrence — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:37:39 +0000

LOVED IT!!!!
Definitely a good/sexy/ hot read. If you want to see the excerpt of Mercy’s book, it’s in nalinisingh.com

By: Jage

Jage — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 06:23:46 +0000

I think this time around, the book would’ve been a lot stronger if the romance had been a bit more secondary. Or if there had been a gradual build up of trust, this seemed to have reached the ‘we’re soulmates so no matter how scary the other person gets, it’s okay’ type deal to explain away things that are said/done.

Still loved it, and I like the way the humans are creeping in, wondered when they’d get their time to shine. I loved the ideas of the twins, although I wonder if she’ll give us a corrupt heroine. Mercy seems more feisty then dangerous, I would love a heroine who’s dangerous in that it would be easy for her to go rogue and it’s the male who has to temper her out. I’m thinking it would probably have to be a Psy/changeling female/human male type thing for that to work though since Nalini loves alpha males too much to tone it down for a pairing like that.

And I really liked the way she’s showing the repercussions of certain actions that the council has taken and I wonder how that’ll pan out in the future.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:36:38 +0000

Nalini Singh is one of my favorites and I like this series. The books all build off the one before and the world is fascinating. Also, I do not mind the strong alpha males. The female counterpart is usually more than capable of taking on the male and when necessary putting him in his place.

I am definitely looking forward to Mercy and Riley. Cats and dogs normally don’t mix, so this one should be very interesting.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:08:56 +0000

I finished this up last night. And I agree with the review. I loved how she showed more about the Psy and Silence and how none of the races are all good or all evil.

By: Lorelie

Lorelie — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:21:21 +0000

Next book is Changeling and Changeling! And it’s Mercy!

/fangirl squee

By: Ana

Ana — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:37:18 +0000

The future of the series isn’t propelled by sequel bait, but instead by the advancement of the Psy rebellion and the changing landscape of the Psy/Changeling/human interaction.

YES! This is one of the strongest points of this series. I am always intrigued by the Psy and always wanting to see the conflict that the rebellion brings to that supposedly, unified society.

But my favorite is still the amazing heroes she writes. I thought Hostage to Pleasure was one of the best books in the series and I love, love Dorian.

By: anu

anu — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 01:46:27 +0000

handyhunter,

The alpha-ness doesn’t stand up to re-reads, but the books in general do (cept the second one, which I felt lukewarm to anyway). Singh’s language for capturing the alpha-ness and ferocity of the romance is jarring and heavy-handed. Everything is so extreme. Lucas would “rip apart the world” for his mate, Clay felt cut off at the knees at the thought of Tally (or something). Tally teases him about something and Clay’s response is “You know you’re my heartbeat.” These quotes aren’t from big suspenseful points, but just run-of-the-mill thoughts. It’s all so dramatic, language that calls attention to itself, that it’s wearing and de-sensitizing. If there’s no build, no nuance, if you try to keep the emotion at a fever pitch all the time, you lose me. The romance needs down-time as much as the up. And let me as the reader infer emotions, enjoy subleties in relationships.

That’s my biggest knock on Singh, her writing style. It’s a bit too obvious and heavy-handed.

By: handyhunter

handyhunter — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:57:19 +0000

I just finished this last night and more or less feel the same way: world-building was intriguing, but the relationship wasn’t as…well-written? developed? as I was expecting. I also had some reservations about their relationship, but I don’t know if that’s from Twilight (wank) hangover or what (some of the same things were bothering me with Joanna Bourne’s My Lord and Spymaster too). I’m a little hesitant to re-read Singh’s other books, because I’m finding these types of “alpha” male characters especially grating – they’re not my favourite types to begin with – and I don’t want to discover they don’t hold up for me. Maybe I should just avoid these types of heroes altogether.

Eta:

“But the romance felt rushed and mechanical.”

Yeah, that’s a good way to put it.

By: azteclady

azteclady — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 23:05:41 +0000

In the last line (B+)

By: Lisa Hendrix

Lisa Hendrix — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:51:16 +0000

Umm…Where’s the grade?

By: anu

anu — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 22:34:49 +0000

B- for me. I read it last week, and I can barely remember it–the romance, that is. The rebellion storylines were the best parts. But the romance felt rushed and mechanical. Singh’s romances arc through fascination –> possession –> mating bond –> love. Dorian and Ashaya went through those stages fast. I appreciated Dorian’s struggle with this feelings, but so much of their relationship feel undeveloped. I was surprised when the book ended and was left feeling, huh, that’s it? The epilogue was also a letdown: an important part of Dorian’s character was dealt with in a few lines. This book had a real going-through-the-motions feel to it. I wonder if Singh just wasn’t especially interested in one or both of these h/h.

The build for Mercy’s book though was awesome. I cannot wait to get my hands on it.