Review: Too much "Daddy Daddy"
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 6, 2012
Okay, here's the thing... this review is picky and might seem negative, but the truth is - I was obsessed with this book until I finished reading it. So despite some things that made me absolutely nuts, I was compelled to read the whole thing.Before I bought Angel and the Assassin I had the sample sent to my Kindle.The sample was stellar. I fell for Kael immediately, from his name to his attitude toward his boss to his brilliance as a stone-cold killer.When Angel was first introduced in the story, he seemed okay. He was defying his step-father and planning to run away. A bit naive, but like-able enough.The first two sexual experiences between virgin Angel and Kael are hard to buy into. I mean, fantasy is fantasy, but there's almost no build-up or preparation for sexual practices so extreme that most people never go there. OTHER THAN THAT - Kael in his dungeon is... wow, so hot. Worth every penny, actually.But. By 40% of the book, I wished Kael would just kill Angel and find someone less annoying to hook up with. Even at 50%, I was reading mostly out of aggravation and to get it over with. This is what I call a "train wreck" read - like with 50 Shades of Grey - I know I'll hate myself later, but I just can't stop. It's like Kindle crack.In fact, at 40%, I pretty much decided to return the book and get my money back, because with every page I turned, Angel seemed to regress more and more in age until he sounded like a 5 year old. And don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with the Daddy/boy fetish itself, but does Angel have to say "Daddy" three times in every sentence he utters?And then Kael started making really stupid mistakes, and I thought, "good god, the sample was not at all indicative of the quality of the book."Angel would be a lot less annoying if the author deleted about 80% of the use of the word "Daddy." It's the OVERUSE of the word that makes the character seemed incredibly young and whiny - much too young to be having sex, that's for sure. And the jumping on the bed, jumping onto Kael's lap, and scampering around reinforce the feeling that Angel is about 7 years old, rather than 18.At the same time, we're asked to believe that Angel is exceptionally bright and observant, has more heightened senses than the average person. In fact, so bright and observant that  Kael might train him as an assassin. I could not reconcile such skills with a person who calls his boyfriend "Daddy" 45 times a minute.I get that Kael's not going to fall in love with your average guy. But Angel really got on my nerves, and I don't think the author gave him enough positive qualities, aside from being adorable, for me to believe Kael has fallen in love. I actually liked Angel best when he was angry with Kael and stopped calling him "Daddy" for a few chapters.But here I am, writing a review rather than returning the book. What happened?Kael's boss, Stephen Conrad shows up looking for Angel, and winds up in Kael's dungeon. I can't even describe how phenomenal this scene is. This scene redeems everything that came before it. The whole relationship between Kael and Conrad is the reason I could not, in good conscious, return the book. They are so dead honest with each other - as if they are forced to maintain a relationship with one another because of history and familiarity - and yet neither of them will put on a social mask in order to make the other more comfortable.I liked Kael's journal entries, as well.And there was almost a side-note, right at the very end, that Angel hadn't gone to high school. Whoa, stop the presses - this information would have helped me buy into Angel's young-acting character if it had been presented much, much earlier in the story. Presenting it at the end explained a lot, and was easy to believe, considering Angel's mother, but I was really frustrated that I hadn't been clued in to that detail earlier.Okay - so ultimately - I liked this book more than I didn't like it, and I would recommend it to people who like to read hot dungeon scenes, who like the older male/younger male relationship dynamic, and who can overlook the overuse of the word "Daddy."***just to give you an idea, I used the word "daddy" 8 times (now 9) in this review