Review: Swearing, Sex and Religion in Same Story was Different
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 26, 2013
2.75 stars. Story and idea showed promise. I liked the sassy characters but dialogue and interactions should've shown more and had less written explanations. I am also a big fan of Josh Whedon and Buffy, so I would read the next book or at least listen to it, to see what happens to the gang.Likes:* Interesting premise of teenage boy with desirable blood* Vampires with religious viewpoint was unusual* No love triangle was a plus* Pureblood vampires with wings were great to imagine, Sophinia was the best developed character IMO* Jerry's final battle was exciting and had cool weapons* Mysterious healing and other mysteries were intriguingDislikes:* Slow in the middle, almost like rambling to fill pages with nothing much going on (6 pages about him faking being cheerful, 15 pages about his wanting to first strike and 6 pages about his emotional state of mind...)* Slang and swearing didn't add much to story, doesn't set the scene or define the characters, so it would've been better omitted* Most characters seemed like shallow caricatures of actual people* Strange to have religious discussions, sex, and swearing in same story* Instead of evoking emotions, the story tended to tell us what emotions were being conveyed...like "'COME AND GET ME!' he taunted as he went." "'Where is he Claire?' Selena asked, almost looking excited."* Horny teenage male comments got old* Dozens of pop culture references that might be too obscure for some or will be dated in a few years. Like overusing cliches, a few would've been cute, but there were too many.* Jerry was stupidly impulsive. I like my heroes to be courageous but not rash* Ending was a to-be-continued with a few couple of outstanding questionsWith-reservations:violence, torture, death, suicidal actions, swearing, underage sex, underage drinking, suggestive innuendos, rude insults, one character is a stripper and another is a druggie drug dealerFor-review:Received a free review copy for [We ♥ YA Books!] group ARR # 49.