Review: Pretty Decent ********SPOILERS*******
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 27, 2012
Unlike a lot of reviewers, I don't agree that this is a bad novel or a waste of time. Some reviewers are arguing that this shouldn't be listed as a romance, I disagree with that as well, just because one half of the couple bites it (almost literally) doesn't disqualify the romantic aspect of the relationship, it's only love if both people make it? I think a lot of people are upset that there's no happily ever after in this book because that's what they've come to expect from a lot of UF novels, I much prefer the more realistic approach of this author, life and love most oft do not end the way we would like it to.I particularly like the authors writing style, he manages to convey emotion and emphasis sometimes with only few sentences composed of less than five words, stripped down to just the facts which functions much like a slap to the face, I find that this sometimes manages to convey more than the purple prose so many authors are fond of employing. Not to say that he doesn't at times get prosey, he does, however, when he chooses to do so it's appropriate and adds rather than detracts from the tale.  People complained about the violence and the drug use, but you know what, there are people out there that have lived and still live like that, kids like Molly who are snatched from their parents and forced into the sex trade, just because it makes people uncomfortable to know about it or read about it, doesn't negate it's existence.All of that is not t say that I didn't check out at some points in the novel, the excessive (and prosey) back story on Theroen bugged me and I did skip sections of it (only to come back and read it), but it does explain a good amount of the character's motivations and actions. The section where Molly was introduced was also a very difficult part for me, having volunteered with severely abused women and children most of whom had been trafficked from China, I'll admit to having a nightmare or two for a few days after reading and I had to set the book aside for a bit. The one thing that bothered me perhaps the most, was that Two decided to return to help Molly and the others only after she lost Theroen, her vampirism and needed to take Darren down for some quick cash. I almost stopped reading when she was rationalising away all the reasons why she shouldn't return for them. It would also have been good to understand why of everyone else, Theroen picked Two and what had been his criteria for doing so, had he been watching her? If so, for how long?Was this a good read? Yes. Would I recommend it to someone else? Definitely. I like the authors writing style, I appreciate that he wasn't afraid to take chances with a starting storyline I'm pretty sure he knew would rub a lot of people the wrong way, but he did it anyway and didn't sanitise it. I almost didn't pick this up because of some of the bad reviews, but I'm really happy that I ignored them and went ahead with it anyway.