Afbeelding auteur

Rachel A. Marks

Auteur van Darkness Brutal

7+ Werken 246 Leden 32 Besprekingen

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Werken van Rachel A. Marks

Darkness Brutal (2015) 131 exemplaren
Fire and Bone (2018) 44 exemplaren
Darkness Fair (2016) 26 exemplaren
Winter Rose (2011) 24 exemplaren
Darkness Savage (2016) 16 exemplaren

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Algemene kennis

Geslacht
female

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Actual Rating 2.5

I've had this book for a while now on my kindle, I honestly have no idea when I got it, how I got it, or if anyone gave it to me. I decided to read it though because that is the goal of #beatthebacklist. Reading this book took a lot out of me. Honestly, while I did like the main character everyone around him annoyed me. This is honestly because of the whole 'Everyone knows vital information but are going to lie and not share until the last minute but you still need to trust me' trope that most YA authors seem to be using. I know why authors use it because it's the easiest way to keep readers in the dark and have a huge twist at the end. I will admit I liked the twist, but I saw it coming a mile away which made the secrets even more annoying.

I don't mind love triangles if done right then it can really boost the story, but what happens if I like neither of the female love interests? One of them had serious mood swings, it was like riding a weird roller coaster that you can see the tracks of. Her backstory is pretty sad, and I would have sympathized with her had Marks not tried so hard to make her just the complete opposite of the other love interest, who was just so needy and bland that I honestly cannot remember her name (Jessica, Rebecca something that ended in A?).

The plot was pretty interesting despite all these flaws though. Marks did her research on Demon and Angel lore which made some parts really interesting. The beginning of the book was really interesting and if she had expanded upon Aidan's homelessness, his loneliness and his need to protect his sister without those group of paranormal investigators I may have liked the book more. This is a trilogy but I am extremely hesitant to continue. I'll have to think about it more.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
latteslipsticklit | 13 andere besprekingen | Nov 16, 2023 |
Yet another tortured and absurd YA love triangle overflowing with angst and ridiculous emotion-driven stupidity without a lick of sense in sight.
There are hundreds of these out there and this one is not worse than many of the much more successful ones.
But that doesn't make the content any better.

The writing is pretty good but the story couldn't be more mediocre and unoriginal.

There are two kinds of YA. The actually good kind and the kind that uses the YA label as an excuse for a huge number of writing sins. This one belongs to the latter category. From all the tired clichées to lots of plot-convenient stupidity and lack of common sense not only by the MC but throughout the entire cast of characters. The world-building makes very little sense and basically just consists of a bunch of arbitrary facts and rules the book throws at you without actually going through the effort of connecting any of it into a coherent picture.

The more of these books I read the more I am surprised by how well they are written in general.
It's the exact opposite of what you commonly find in adult urban fantasy where the writing is atrocious but the ideas are amazing.
I think what's happening here is that the audience dictates the importance of different aspects.
The vast majority of the YA audience has maybe read half a dozen books before if any at all.
So many of them don't recognize all these horrendous flaws because they simply lack the experience to compare them to higher-quality works. So the flow of the writing and purely emotional engagement is key. And that is what YA novels are very good at.
Adult urban fantasy readers on the other hand have typically read a lot more, so original ideas are a much more effective selling point and many readers put up with horrible pacing and bad and uninspired writing in exchange.

TLDR:
Don't bother, the beginning is pretty good but it leads nowhere interesting.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
omission | 8 andere besprekingen | Oct 19, 2023 |
Fails

The story itself seems promising, but the writing isn't up to it. As is common, drama takes precedence over plot about two thirds of the way into the book.
 
Gemarkeerd
acb13adm | 13 andere besprekingen | Sep 13, 2023 |
The first couple of pages definitely had my interest. It was a good start that didn't follow through, unfortunately. I spent a good deal of the book not liking Ava or Rebecca. Even though the writing was good and the characters were believable, I didn't really get into the story. They set it up for a sequel and I have zero desire to read it. I don't care what happens to Ava or the rest of them.
 
Gemarkeerd
jewelledfrog | 13 andere besprekingen | Jul 26, 2023 |

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Statistieken

Werken
7
Ook door
1
Leden
246
Populariteit
#92,613
Waardering
½ 3.6
Besprekingen
32
ISBNs
16

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