REVIEW: Close Liaisons (The Krinar Chronicles) by Anna Zaires
D ReviewsAlien Hero / Sci-fi39 Comments
Dear Ms. Zaires:
I bought this book because a friend on Twitter was looking for a Sci-Fi book, and Katiebabs suggested this series. She characterized it as “cracktastic” which of course, was enough of a recommendation for me. Generally speaking, I’m probably not the intended audience for Sci-Fi romance. As with Steampunk, I tend to get bogged down in the technology and it distracts me from the story. While this was somewhat the case with this book, it was much more the hero that got my attention.
Mia Stalis is a grad student in New York. She’s a relatively non-descript, hard working kid who is generally overlooked, just because she works hard at not drawing attention to herself. One day while in Central Park, she draws the attention of a Krinar, an alien, named Korum. The Krinar are an alien species who now inhabit the Earth. It turns out that they are from a far away planet and were actually the creators of the human race, which they made in their image. Twenty years ago, they came to Earth, worried that humans were advancing too quickly, destroying Earth and its abundant resources. After K-Day, the day they invaded, and a short war where the human resistance was squashed, the K’s set up “Centers” where they lived and left humankind mostly to themselves. There are awful rumors about the K’s though. That they are vampires who feast on human blood and they’ve outlawed a number of things that mankind was doing (like eating meat) that could have harmed the life expectancy of mankind. But mostly, they are just the ruling class, scary and unknown, but generally leaving mankind alone.
Needless to say, Mia is both baffled and horrified that Korum would show even the vaguest interest in her. He flirts with her, but her responses are stilted. He’s the most beautiful man she’s ever seen, but she’s terrified of him and wants nothing more than to escape his notice and interest. No chance. Not only is Korum interested, but he’s captivated by her beauty and fiestiness that seems to rear its head any time she’s nervous. Given their obvious attraction to each other, Korum is interested in pursuing a sexual relationship with her. Mia is both terrified and elated at his interest. She can’t believe how attracted she is to him, but at the same time, she knows he’s a killer and she’s bound and determined to fight her overwhelming attraction. Korum decides to take it slow, as he knows Mia is a virgin. He explains that even though he really, really wants to, he’ll hold on having sex with her:
“But I’m not a rapist. And that’s what it would be right now – rape – because you’re so frightened of me, and of your own sexuality.”
What a guy. It’s so handy that she has him there to explain that it is in fact NOT her sheer terror that he might kill her that’s making her not want to sleep with him, but instead, it’s her discomfort with her own sexuality. Thank goodness we cleared that up.
Soon enough, they are involved and she agrees to have sex with him. Korum is apparently in possession of a…extraordinarily large appendage, and sex hurts Mia. She has no interest in having sex with him again after the first time and tells him as much. Korum tells her that she in fact will be having lots more sex with him because HE knows she’s attracted to him and wants him, even if she doesn’t. You see, he’s lived for a really long time (the result of all that healthy no meat eating stuff) and he knows that a “connection” like he and Mia have doesn’t come along very often. Despite Mia telling him over and over again that she has no interest in having sex or being in a relationship with him, in fact she tells him over and over that she hates him, he’s decided they will be in a relationship and there will be no more opinions or discussion from Mia on the topic.
And Mia basically acquiesces. On top of that, Mia scrapes her palms at some point during the story, and he heals her using nanotechnology, which puts a tracking device in her, so no matter where she goes, he knows where she is. Christian Grey wishes he had this guy’s stalking ability. He tracks her movements endlessly and shows up at one point to almost strangle to death a boy who shows interest in Mia. Because she’s his toy and no one else’s.
While they are starting their relationship, Mia’s roommate Jessie’s cousin and his friend come to see her. They are part of the Resistance. They are fighting against the K’s, along with the help of a small number of K’s who are sympathetic towards humans…or something. Anyway, the Resistance wants Mia to find out what Korum, who is a leader among his people (some sort of business tycoon), is up to. The friend, John, tells Mia that she’s Korum’s “charl”, his sex slave, and that she’s unlikely to her relationship with Korum, since he’s likely to kill her when he’s done using her for sex. John knows this because his sister disappeared a few years ago, and John knows she’s being kept in a Center, presumably as a sex slave. The Resistance knows if they can neutralize Korum, they have a chance of winning. At first, they just ask Mia for information, but soon they give her a ring that will pull all of the information he has in his palm computer (a literal computer in his palm) so that they have the blue prints to the K’s largest center – sort of like a capital. Even though she’s torn about it, Mia agrees, and seduces Korum, and gets the information from him. She supplies it to the Resistance, but stipulates (probably because she’s got a raging case of Stockholm Syndrome) that Korum is going to receive safe passage back to his home planet. The Resistance agrees (even though Mia hasn’t thought far enough ahead to figure out what will happen when Korum just jumps back on a space ship and comes back to Earth) and they opt to move on the center.
To no one’s surprise, Korum knew EVERYTHING Mia was doing. Why? Probably because Mia is the most obvious spy ever, but also because besides being a well hung tiger in the sack, he’s way smarter than she’ll ever be. Anyway, the Resistance is defeated, Korum is victorious, and he decides that Mia is in so much danger, she can’t go to stay with her family in Florida, she must come to Costa Rica with him where she’ll be safe. Because at this point, Mia has realized that she was very wrong for ever doubting Korum’s motives or anything else, she agrees. The book ends with the two getting off his ship in Costa Rica.
There are two other Volumes in this series. None of which I’ll be reading. This book had issues galore for me. Not the least of which was the fact that the hero starts off an overbearing douchebag, and never ceases being one. The entire time, I kept wondering why Mia would decide to be with him. Except, I knew why, because she was terrified of him. Even at 80% through the book, she positive he is going to kill her. At no time does he express more than warm feelings towards her. He does care for her by buying her new clothes and insisting that she do what he tells her, and sexing her up in various and sundry positions, but generally speaking, he treats her like a housepet. These are two of the most unlikable characters I’ve read in a while.
The worldbuilding is quite good. While I couldn’t exactly picture some of the technology you described, for the most part, I understand the general principles of world’s mythology and was able to suspend disbelief enough to follow the story. I think that you have a gift for writing interesting sex scenes, although the entire cervix ramming and giant appendages part struck me was unnecessary, painful, and overkill. I also think that you have a very confident authorial voice. I thought the book was really well edited and I can understand why so many readers would call this series “cracktastic”. While it didn’t work for me, I get why the book might really work for other readers. For me, I’ll just have to live with never knowing what happens next to Korum and Mia. Final grade: D.
Kind regards,
Kati
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This read as 50 Shades fanfic to me, in a delightful blast of irony…
I read this series! I too, had a fellow reader on Twitter refer it to me also, saying it was cracktastic. Twitter is so awesome for recs, isn’t it? :)
I liked this more than you did. I ended up reading the whole series. I completely understand why you disliked the first book though. Everything you mentioned, I felt too. The hero was an asshole, the heroine TSTL. It bothered me too. By the end of the first book I had an uncomfortable feeling that these two weren’t going to last and I didn’t understand why she was with him, or he with her. But, I think I love sci fi rom more than you do, so I was completely sucked into the detailed world building and since I thought the set up was fascinating I wanted to continue. I’m happy I did.
The next two books in the series do a great job of showing the evolution of the couple’s relationship. The author very carefully goes back over every issue they had from the first book and has them work it out as a couple. Believe me, every single thing that bugged me that either she did, or he did, was addressed and worked out between them to my satisfaction. By the end of book three I was smiling, fully believing in their HEA. I came to realize that the author created a lengthy character arc for these characters and their development as a couple that spanned three books. Book one is the set up, the place where they wronged each other, where there were missteps. Book two and three are where the real work happens in the building of their relationship and in equaling the power dynamic between them. So I’m happy I continued, because without reading books two and three, book one stands alone and makes less sense. You need to see two and three to find out that the hero isn’t actually an asshole and to see the heroine grow as a person. In fact I was so happy by the end I tweeted the author to compliment her on how she was able to tie up all those loose ends that were left dangling from that first book! I would say that what I learned by reading the series as a whole is that in the future, if I rec’d this to someone I’d tell them they have to stick with the whole series. Reading only book one leaves you hanging and unsatisfied and missing out on the couple’s resolution.
PS- I also read Twist Me by this same author. It’s a good capture romance that didn’t piss me off. :) I got the rec from Mistress L over at S&M Obsessions. The sequel, Keep Me just released a few days ago? I’d preordered, it’s in my tbr, calling my name. Can you tell I really like this author? :) She has interesting stories.
Hi Kati!
I mostly agree with you on this first part of the trilogy. I happened to allow the story to grow on me and did finish all three. What kept me reading was more the “world” built (technology and so on) than Mia and Korum’s relationship, which seemed odd because it is supposed to be a Romance.
My final grades: C, B- and B, respectively.
Oh Michelle, you said all the things I *wanted* to say! :-)
@Michele Mills: Thanks for the feedback, Michelle. I’m glad to hear that all of the issues I named are addressed. That makes me happy.
I’ve read this book and I pretty much agree with the entirety of your review. Each point you made was exactly how I felt at each turn (scarily accurate), right down to the end where, like you, I can see the appeal to some but I’d be happy not to find out anymore about these characters.
First I’m surprised this review actually has a reply section! the other you wrote about Slave series didn’t! though I’m not sure if any comments disagreeing with the review itself will be allowed on this site!
Anyway, I just wanted to say a few things. First I think someone who wants to write a review of a book MUST finish the book till the end and then decide to write a review otherwise it’s just wrong and useless. It doesn’t matter if it is a trilogy because it\s just like you read one third of a book and then start to publish your ideas about it.
Second what I expect from someone who is reading books for 30 years is to actually know what gernre or theme of a book she is starting to read when she first picks a book.
There are a lot of types of romance books and this one most certainly has a powerful touch of dark romance. The main reason why these books are called “DARK” is that your can’t just fathom out the reasons behind the actions of the heros of the book right away and they appear unreasonble and high handed especially at first This series and also the twist me series aren’t for everyone to read. Because they are not exactly an every day romance book. and the issues your mentioned all are related to this fact.
@maral: There is no “MUST” finish a book or series in order to write a valid or useful review. A DNF review can be as valid as any other review. Not always, but it’s possible, depending on what a reader’s individual hot buttons are.
In this case Kati did read the entire book. Her opinion of it is the subject of the review. You can disagree with it all you like (there are plenty of dissenting views on the site – DA is not a hive mind and there are differences of opinion even among the reviewers here) but she has a right to her opinion. Just as you have a right to yours. Each individual who reads the review will decide for herself whether it is useful or whether the things which bothered Kati are things they are likely to share or not.
A reader is free to decide that Kati’s review is less useful to her because Kati is not a big sci-fi reader, but Kati was quite open about her “bias” (which is all any of us can do). People just like Kati might find her review very valuable indeed.
You point out yourself that these books are not for everyone. Is not one purpose of a review to help other readers to decide if the book is for them?
@maral: Thanks for your feedback, maral.
First, I think I speak for all of the reviewers at DA when I say that we actually welcome dissenting opinions about the books we review. It enhances the conversation. Honestly, while I love it when people agree with things I recommend, it’s part of the wonder of this community that no two readers have the exact same taste. The good news is, there really are books out there for everyone. If there is no comment thread on the review for Slave, I’m sure that’s an error of some sort. Generally speaking we don’t close down threads.
Second what I expect from someone who is reading books for 30 years is to actually know what gernre or theme of a book she is starting to read when she first picks a book.
i’m going to be honest and say I take exception to the above. So what? I’m supposed to just not try any new genre because it might not be to my taste? I guess I’m supposed to just stick to reviewing contemporary and erotic romance. I keep trying both Sci-Fi and Steampunk because I know so many readers who are really passionate about the subgenre and I *want* to become a fan. Thus far, I haven’t found a book that works for me (Meljean’s Iron Seas come the closest), but I’ll keep trying, because how awesome will it be for me if I do find a series that works and I can glom them to my heart’s content?
I also love dark romances. I’m a huge fan of romangst. I don’t think the hero has to be a dictatorial asshole to make that romance dark. And in my opinion, that’s what I found here. I didn’t think he had an iota of genuine affection for the heroine. I understand from the comments above that he comes around in the subsequent two books in the series, but I didn’t feel the author built any investment on my part as a reader to continue with the series. Therefore, I won’t be reading the rest of the series.
That being said, I’m glad you found that the series worked for you. It was not to my taste, and that’s OK.
@kaetrin……..
If I am mistaken here somebody please enlighten me. As far as I know the real reason or at least the main one why a complete book is made in to a series is that to not make is very lenghty for the reader to read. So this means that the book is incomplete as that point! You are right there is no must . Of course there is no must in most of the things in this world! but some things are better done the right way. and the proof to what I say is actually right in front ot you in this page. Just go up and read what Michele Mills has said.
Again you are right everyone has the right to express her opinion and so that’s why I’m saying mine! although there is still the difference that I am just saying mine on a simple comment not a whole review on a seemingly professional website! and I’m not grading anything based on my opinion which CAN be wrong.
Anyway if I wanted to write a review on a book I would have made certain to finish all the book. Don’t forget that this is not a stand alone . Again you are right there is no MUST but that’ just called being fair to the author. Giving her the chance to show everything she has got and then start criticizing her. Again you can choose to be NOT fair! that’s just your choice. A story is a process which means it takes time and prepration to tell a story and to take your audience to somewhere you want them to be. so you have to be patient.
you are right the reader is free but for a reader who has no idea about the book this type of review is most definitely misleading!
I don’t remember saying anything about sci-fi . what I talked about was about a theme called “dark romance” .
just imagine buying and reading a gay romance book and then writing a review and complaining about the same sex scenes! The problem we have with this review is just that! what I noticed is that this is not the first book she has graded D because of it not being what she likes to read! a gay romance , a classic romance , a historical romance a horror, an adventure book or a Bdsm book each has to be reviewed by it’s own expert. because otherwise the review as I said will end up useless . There are many people out there who actually love these types of books and for it being an honest review she could have at least considered that.
Another thing is that grading a book has to be fair. Now assuming that you have been reading this types of books for 30 years and you have read plus 1000 of the same subject and you are an expert then you just can start to write a review while you consider ALOT of things! which means EVEN if the book is weak in for exmple the plot you have to consider the author’s writing and if that too gets a D there are still other things to actually consider in a review! a good review has to mention both the positive and negative sides of a book. and as I said before this is not her first review I came across which is like this.
as for your last question there is no need for this review. if you want to know if a book is for you or not just read the summary and these types of books in addition to summary usually come with a warning in any website where you want to but them. This review is just a repeat of what amazon tells you.
@Kati:
Dear…
you are entitled to start reading any theme your heart desires! that’s not what I said. But reading and reviewing are two different subjects. You can even review a book in a theme that you don’t normally read but I just don’t think that such a review will end up a good one.
another thing…… can I ask you to name one dark romance book in which the hero doesn’t come across as a dictatorial asshole at least at first?!! Actually between the one you reviewed and the real absolutely dark ones that I know are out there, this book is considered mild dark! it just seems like a walk in the park! If you think this hero is dictatorial I strongly recommend you not to read the consequences series by aleatha romig or the C J robert’s series ! believe me the heros in that books come across to you downright very cruel and abusive or maybe even physco! compared to this books maybe this books isn’t even named a dark one. Oh and please don’t read twist me by the same author since you will be shocked.
I just don’t know what your definition of a dark romance is but I suggest you to search in goodreads . that website has a list exclusive for dark books and at the top of that list there are books which are much much more dictatorial !
@maral: Because of the huge amount of spam we receive, all posts that are older than 60 days (or so I can’t remember the exact rule) have closed comments. It has nothing do with “not allowing replies” and everything to do with keeping our hosting costs down.
Second, the issue regarding the DNF review is really up for debate. We’ve had vigorous discussions over this but at this blog, we believe it is a legitimate review grade and even have a category for it. https://dearauthor.com/category/book-reviews/dnf-reviews/ You are welcome to disagree but the consensus of the reviewers here and most (but not all) readers is that DNF is a legit review.
Third, if we limited ourselves to books we knew we were comfortable with, how would be experience new things as readers? There are definitely lines that I think I wouldn’t have crossed five years ago in books that I feel completely okay with now. We actually discussed this briefly recently on the topic of Kristen Ashley’s Knight. At the time, I felt scandalized by reading a pimp hero and now I’m pretty blasé about it. Surely you aren’t suggesting we can’t expose ourselves to things that make us uncomfortable? Isn’t that the point of reading Dark romance in the first place?
Fourth, I didn’t realize that Dark Romances = Dictatorial Asshole Heroes. That’s a prerequisite? I’ve read my share of dark romances and while there are a lot of them the Dictatorial Asshole isn’t what makes a romance dark. The DAH is available in every romance and every trope. It was probably invented by EM Hull’s Sheik and then popularized in Harlequin Presents.
I get that you must love this book. But Kati did not. She’s free to review this in any way she likes. She is free to express her opinion in any way she likes, particularly given that this is the blog that she belongs to. Even if you were a DAH, I’d have to tell you that you can disagree with her opinion but you don’t get to Dictatorially Demand what she writes, how she writes on her own blog.
Fifth, this is not a DNF review. Refusing to read the other books in the series does not negate a reader’s “right” (as if there are rights and regulations) to review the first one. That the author didn’t deliver enough for Kati in this book is telling. While others, like yourself, are fully invested, Kati was clearly not. She is under no obligation to spend more time, more money, and more effort on a series she has no future interest in. That would be like saying to film critics that they can’t review Harry Potter 1 until all seven movies are out and they can review them as a compendium.
As for books with cliffhangers, a lot of people don’t like to read those. I suggest you read Goodreads for examples of readers complaining about this.
Finally, the splitting of books into two or three purchases is often seen as a money grab. After all, there are plenty of books that are 500 pages long. Read any George RR Martin? Brandon Sanderson? Etc. Those books are in excess of 500+ pages. So length doesn’t necessarily dictate what a book is.
@maral: There’s nothing wrong with Kati’s review. She doesn’t have to read the whole series or mention the book’s positive aspects–though she did note the worldbuilding and interesting sex scenes.
After dictating your personal reviewing standards to her, you go on to say that reviews are unnecessary because readers can just read a summary on Amazon. ??? This site is based on the opposite belief–that reviews, even negative ones, can help match up readers with books they might enjoy. If you don’t think reviews are worthwhile, you should probably avoid reading them.
@Jane:
To answer the first…okay what you say seems very reasonable to me. But may I humbly request that the website put a sign at the place where the reply button used to be which allow commenting to become active if some poor soul wanted to express her opinion after say 1 or 2 year? that way the reader can request and if the website decided it can reactive that section? afterall that review is about a book which isn’t that old. the reason why I thought only certain comments are allowed is because of the comments I saw on some reviews. They all seem to agree 100% with what the reviwer has said in her review and they don’t even challenge it a bit. there is no different idea than the one expressed above which has been expressed once . Wonder why the reason?!!
as for your second point yes I disagree. the reason I have already mentioned . You are free to even read one chapter of a book a start reviewing it but that’s not fair to the authors. And to address what you said about Harry Potter I have to say do you really think there are similarities between the two? Harry potter series is almost a stand alone series. Each sequel works seperately but in this case if you don’t read the first you can’t understand the second. I am talking about the Karinar chronicles. Maybe you can understand the second book without reading the first but I just can’t.
Third.. I have already said my opinion on that to the reviewer herself. when I first started reading bdsm books I didn’t just go on a website and started writing a review about it . I waited and even now that I have read almost every one book on that subject I do it very cautiusly. You know it would be good sometimes to stop and remember the fact that whoever has written the book good or bad has put a lot of time energy passion and…. in to that book. My question for you is that if you want to just start to write a review a book based on the first book you have read of that subject how do you want to even compare it with the other books? on what basis are you putting your comparison on ?!! So just like being a good author needs a lot of experince and knowledge and reading wiritng a good review also requires extensive knowledge.
Fourth……. Dark Romances = Dictatorial Asshole Heroes well that was your translation of what I said. but it’s not that. I just addressed what Kati has said in her review. Dictatorial asshole isn’t my term. so a lot of the heros are abusive in this books does it mean it is a prerequisite? No. a theme doesn’t have a prerequisite. It’s just that a theme. it’s the feeling that you get from that book. but it’s either dictatorial or over the top jealous at the best occasions and in the other occasion it’s abuse , kidnapping or non consensual relations which I think would be more shocking to our reviwer. Anyway to make this short please just name one of those dark romance books which has a hero who starts by getting heart and flowers and poems for his lover ?!! you want my opinion of dark romance? what I just wanted to say is that a dark romance isn’t for light hearts. If being a little dictatorial bother you so much you NEED to stop reading dark romance because there are very disturbing books out there. and no not everyone will become immune to that by just continuing to read and as you said experince new books!
Dear Jane it doesn’t matter whether I like this book or not. It doesn’t matter at all. what I’m talking about is not my own likes and dislikes. When you start to write a review based on your likes that’s where you are no longer a proffesional. I’m talking about a good review which is beneficial for people not about my likes!! Oh and I didn’t dictatorialy demand anything I just expressed my ideas! If this is her blog then she wrote her review and she had open comment space which means she wants to hear about other peopl\s thoughts so I wrote mine and she answered me. However I get the feeling that it’s better not to disagree with anything on this website from now on. As I see it’s just not constructive and everyone beside the reviewer hersself just attack you !!
fifth? that is just the same as second. yes that is surely a waste of money. the books you mentioned are very different from the books I’m talking about. those are completely different story.
Finally…. what is very important is that what I expect from a good review is not like or dislikes of the person I want to read the professional idea of someone talking about the style of writing grammer storytelling character making and other aspects of a professoional review. I didn’t get those from this review and the other things are just not that important. a good review must address these issues.
Take it from me: If you think this blog has its head up its ass, start your own damn blog.
@maral: “There are many people out there who actually love these types of books and for it being an honest review she could have at least considered that. ”
I think the part where Kati praised the authorial voice and went on to say “I can understand why so many readers would call this series “cracktastic” makes it very clear that she *did* consider that. She just didn’t happen to agree. It’s not her job as a reviewer to express other people’s opinions.
@maral: You and I disagree fundamentally on what makes a good review. You see, I believe every person has bias. The bias comes from the way they were brought up, their life experiences, their own interpersonal relationships. No reviewer is objective because no person has been brought up in a vacuum (and even that would create its own bias).
The reviews that help me the most are ones where the reviewer freely admits what works and what doesn’t work for her. That way I can see whether the reviewer’s taste aligns with my own.
It’s nice that you have your own set of guidelines and standards. That you’ve read every BDSM book available is quite the accomplishment. In fact, one of the dark romances I’ve read that I simply adore is Natural Law. I presume you’ve read that and how it actually challenges some of the assumptions you are stating here about BDSM and dark romances. (Neither of which are mutually exclusive aka Del Dryden’s books)
No, absolutely we should not stop and think about the creator. Reviews are not about the creator. They are for other readers. By the time the review comes out there is no chance for the author to change things. The book is done. Thinking about the feelings of the creator infantalizes them. We respect authors. We respect the books that they write and therefore we treat each book the same, regardless of the creator, regardless of the effort, regardless of the time. If we did not treat all books the same, but instead presumed that their creator was a halpless, helpless thing, it would be far more insulting than anything we could do.
As for writing a good review requiring extensive knowledge and wanting to know more about the reviewer, you are welcome to peruse the many reviews of KatiD here. https://dearauthor.com/author/kati/
As you will see, she’s reviewed BDSM books more than once and often favorably.
@maral: “I’m talking about a good review which is beneficial for people not about my likes!! ”
Kati’s review makes it easy for readers to get a sense of whether or not they might enjoy this book. That’s a good review which is beneficial for people.
You are mistaken. A series is made up of individual books. Unless they are sold bound together or in a box set, they cannot be considered to be partial, incomplete books.
Also, a reader who has purchased a book doesn’t owe the author anything. If the story doesn’t capture my attention within the first 10 – 15 pages, I don’t buy it. If it doesn’t keep my attention, I don’t finish it. There are lots and lots of other things competing for my time and attention.
You’re very insistent that the reader must be fair to the author, but the author must also be fair to the reader, aka customer. If the book I’ve just bought is only part 1 of the “real” book, with no indication that it’s useless without the rest of the series, then I’ve been ripped off.
@Maral:
Are you thinking of a serial? A series can have up to 20+ books (a la Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunters). Could you imagine not reviewing those books just because the series isn’t complete?
A serial has many parts for the same book. Think Meljean Brook’s The Kraken King. Eight parts to make the omnibus edition. So is not completing a serial a DNF to you? Because as mentioned above, DNF reviews have their place too.
I am concerned about the idea that a review cannot be a discussion of likes and dislikes. If this is true then we are all getting it wrong. Why on earth would I want to read a review that not only doesn’t tell me about the reviewers likes and dislikes of the story but the reasons behind that? Discussing the mechanics of the writing is all well and I do appreciate knowing if it’s engaging, smooth, and error free but that still doesn’t tell me about the story the author was trying to tell and if the reader was responsive to it. More often then not, a negative well written review appeals to me more then a 5 star “OMG this is awesomesauce” review any day of the week.
@Ridley: Perhaps the distinction needs to be made between book reviewers and book fans? There are a number of book blogs that fall into the second category. Maybe a better recommendation for Maral would be to start her own fan blog.
@Jane:
Dear Jane
I’m sorry but unfortunately you didn’t get what I said at all! yes every person has a bias! I don’t say that the world has to be black and white! it just has to be better and get better. So it’s better if we do things in the more proper manner as far as we can.
You are free to express your likes and dislikes in your review but that’s not what the entire idea od a review is for. I suggest you to read the reviews on goodreads. Most of them actually point the storytelling grammer editting charchter making and other things of a story. I can’t give you an example now but there are lots of good examples there.
excuse me what did I stated about bdsm other than the fact that I have read books on that matter? I just talked a little about dark and that was all. and dark romance and bdsm as you know are two entirely seperate matters. if you want to have a discussion about that matters that needs another place and time.
again you got my message wrong. I didn’t mean for you to make a charity for the author ! what I meant by taking in to consideration of authors hard work was just not writting a review in a hurry . A review that just states one fact about a story and says it is negative and it’s done! I’m just talking about a poor review a better review a good review and an excellent review. As I said just take a look at goodreads . there are some very excellent reviews there. I learned a lot about writting a review from there.
I just don’t get why people are so determined to prove something when there are better things out there we can learn from. These are not things I have come up with on my own! usually a review is like that.
Don’t you think it wasn’t easier for me to just ignore what I read here and not say anything? it was a lot easier but I have always been like this in my life . I am open to learning and getting better.
@Jill Sorenson:
I didn’t say reviews in general aren’t useful. I said these types of reviews aren’t useful ! Not every type of review has to be useful.
@Ridley:
up to this point I have been very respectful to everyone I have talked to. this place if for learning something or am I mistaken? it’s not a place for being disrespectful and using disrespectful words.
@Wahoo Suze:
Go ahead and rip the books! that’s your book not mine. but when you start to write a review for others aside from being fair to the author you have to try to be fair to the readers. if a readers wants to read a book and gets misled by your poor review that’s also your fault. You have to be careful to state both the positive and the negative points fairly so that the reader can choose whether or not to read it for herself. It seems that fortunately this review has worked for everyone here except me. I have to say if I had come across this review before reading the book I might have not decided to buy it.
@Willaful:
how is this review beneficial ? what critical point does it point? the author’s writting style ? the author’s editing? what point of view is the story? how has the author developed each of the charcters? How is the ending? and a million other things which a review has to point for it to be a review! I don’t see any of them in this review.
@Mzcue:
I am not a fan of this book.
I find this type of review EXCEPTIONALLY useful. I also think it does a decent job of analyzing the plot and commenting on the worldbuilding and character building. The analysis of the plot in and of itself was also an analysis of character building. In addition, sometimes there’s no need to comment on grammar or the reviewer just doesn’t want to. The seeming requirement to include a judgment about the degree of proofreading, IMO, is kind of a…self-publishing phenomenon.
Nobody is questioning anyone’s opinion of the book, squee or otherwise. There are various opinions of the book in this very comment thread, and those opinions conflict. However, the issue that has cropped up is whether or not this is a legit review and legit reviewing style.
Here’s the answer: It is legit.
It would also be legit if it had been, as a rule, positive about the book and excited about reading the rest of the series. It would also have been legit if it had been shorter. Or longer. Or a DNF. Or had included comments about grammar. Or had contained zero references to the author’s stylistic quirks and positive qualities. Or had had 80 footnotes to academic references and psychology texts explaining characterization, I dunno.
Reviews rightfully contain opinions and preferences. Many good reviewers include information that explain their preferences in addition to stating facts, opinions and items of interest, such as plot details. Some reviewers have a more academic style than others. As do some commenters. For example, normally I cuss a lot and work cats into all conversations, but I haven’t done that here, except I just worked cats into the conversation, dammit. Well, hell.
@maral:
1. what critical point does it point? I’m not sure what critical point does it point mean so I’m leaving that off.
2. the author’s writting style ? The worldbuilding is quite good. While I couldn’t exactly picture some of the technology you described, for the most part, I understand the general principles of world’s mythology and was able to suspend disbelief enough to follow the story. I think that you have a gift for writing interesting sex scenes, although the entire cervix ramming and giant appendages part struck me was unnecessary, painful, and overkill. I also think that you have a very confident authorial voice.
3. the author’s editing? what point of view is the story? I thought the book was really well edited and I can understand why so many readers would call this series “cracktastic”.
4. how has the author developed each of the charcters? And Mia basically acquiesces. On top of that, Mia scrapes her palms at some point during the story, and he heals her using nanotechnology, which puts a tracking device in her, so no matter where she goes, he knows where she is. Christian Grey wishes he had this guy’s stalking ability. He tracks her movements endlessly and shows up at one point to almost strangle to death a boy who shows interest in Mia. Because she’s his toy and no one else’s.
Because at this point, Mia has realized that she was very wrong for ever doubting Korum’s motives or anything else, she agrees. The book ends with the two getting off his ship in Costa Rica.
This book had issues galore for me. Not the least of which was the fact that the hero starts off an overbearing douchebag, and never ceases being one. The entire time, I kept wondering why Mia would decide to be with him. Except, I knew why, because she was terrified of him. Even at 80% through the book, she positive he is going to kill her. At no time does he express more than warm feelings towards her. He does care for her by buying her new clothes and insisting that she do what he tells her, and sexing her up in various and sundry positions, but generally speaking, he treats her like a housepet. These are two of the most unlikable characters I’ve read in a while.
5. How is the ending? There are two other Volumes in this series. None of which I’ll be reading.
@Tori:
Okay…let’s talk about likes and dislikes ….. we can put that somewhere in a review beside other things. why not as you say?
and you mentioned a brilliant fact. THE REASON behind a dislike?
let’s talk about this. I don’t like this DARK romance book because the hero is a dictatorial asshole! is it a reasonable answer for you ?
and now listen to my reason . I don’t like Tony charchter in the consequences series BEACUSE he was abusive even at the end of the book and that contraindictes with it being a romance at the end.
So now tell me which do you prefer?
@Laura Hunsaker:
This book is just three . not 20 ! there is a difference .
@Willaful:
how can I base my buying or not buying a book on whether one person has enjoyed it or not?! I need solid reasons.
What I look for in reviews is,
This is what the book is about:
This is what I liked about the book:
This is what I didn’t like about the book:
This was what was funny/outrageous/unacceptable/delicious about the book:
This reviewer is familiar to me and I trust it when she says… :
I got that in this review and I clicked the link to buy the book and it’s free right now at Amazon.
If I like it I’ll buy the other 2 parts. Trusting this site and the reviewers that I’m familiar with encourages me to try/buy new authors regardless of if the review is good or bad because I know what I like.
@maral: ‘Because they are not exactly an every day romance book. and the issues your mentioned all are related to this fact.’
Not sure there is any particular book that we can hold up as ‘an every day romance book’. That smacks of misunderstanding the genre a lot more than Kati’s review ever did. I’ve loved reading about many a Dictatorial Arsehole Hero, but I generally prefer them to NOT edge into creepy territory.
As for reviewing a series, would you be so critical if Kati LOVED this book and encouraged everyone to buy it, even though she hadn’t read the subsequent books? I’m guessing no. And by that logic alone, I have absolutely no problem with her giving her opinion on book 1 and saying that’s enough for her.
Finally, if you think that a review like this will put off DA readers from buying the book, I don’t think you fully appreciate all the many ways DA readers appreciate cracktastic books.
@Maral- Why should someone read an entire series before reviewing? Each book should stand on its own. If the author hasn’t grabbed your attention with book 1, why suffer through 2 more books just for the sake of finishing the trilogy?
Sometimes, people might give the 2nd book a chance if the world was interesting enough, and that’s great if it works, but I’m not going to read all 3 books if I didn’t like the first.
If the book can’t stand on its own, if the reader has to finish the trilogy, then that’s either poor writing, or it’s a serial.
Jeez, I bought this book based on Kati’s review, but now I’m kinda wishing I hadn’t. Too much drama!
Perhaps a post discussing the definition of “dark romance” is in order?
On Amazon these days “dark romance” now seems to mean “creepy Stockholm syndrome.” It didn’t always.
We should discuss this.
I respect Kati’s review and her right to her honest opinion, as I’m certain Kati also respects mine. DA is built upon literate debate of the genre we all love. That’s the strength of this site. I wouldn’t ask them change a thing.:)