Jacqueline Lepore

I suddenly got to thinking about how many books I have in my tbr pile, how it's more than I'll probably ever read in my lifetime, and then I thought, why am I reading this book that I'm struggling through? Sure it has some elements that I like, but overall it was not an enjoyable experience, effort that I could have been putting elsewhere.

My main complaint about this novel is the terribly stilted dialogue, my goodness. Just because it's a historical novel doesn't mean the dialogue has to be stiff!… (meer)

This second volume in the series was much better than the first. My chief complaint about the first novel, Descent into Dust, was that the heroine, Emma Andrews, was frequently inactive, frozen by free, and complaining about her inability to act. In Immortal with a Kiss, for at least half of the book she has no choice but to act because she doesn't have the other members of her vampire-hunting group as back-up. She handles herself fairly well as she investigates strange goings-on at a girls school, the same school her mother had attended as a girl. While battling a new vampire villain, Emma hopes to find out more about the mother she never knew and whose legacy flows through her veins. Inevitably, her little band of heroes in reunited for the ultimate face-off. Emma and Valerian Fox also reach a new level in their relationship.

My chief complaint about this novel is that Emma seems a little slow on the uptake. I had already figured out who the villain was and how he was able to influence Emma's powers long before it dawned on her.… (meer)

Emma Andrews discovers all manner of horrors when she goes to visit relatives at sprawling estate in 1860s England. Haunted by her mother's madness and her own fears of suffering a similar fate, she must learn to trust her instincts when begins seeing things that no one else can. She and Valerian Fox must join forces to battle an ancient evil in order to save Emma's cousin, Henrietta, from a horrible fate. Along the way, she discovers the truth about her mother's madness, and therefore the truth about what she really is.

As a heroine, Emma leaves a bit to be desired. I stopped counting how many times she said, "I froze," or "I was helpless," etc., etc. She spends most of the book frozen and helpless. She has some flashes of kick-ass heroism and manages to keep Valerian, herself, and Henrietta from getting killed, but she could have done more. I understand that she is hampered by her lack of knowledge about her own past and her own powers, but a little less "woe is me, I don't know what to do" and a little more action would have been great.… (meer)