Review: Expectations not met.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 01 28, 2014
Grade: DAfter reading a wonderful steampunk novella I needed another imaginative science fiction fix. “Far From Broken” seemed to have all the right ingredients for a good book - a spy hero, evil villains, life-altering events, and emotional conflict. I even checked out this novella’s ratings. (They were high.) Unfortunately, this novella did not live up to my expectations.The story begins with Colonel Jasper Carlisle traveling to retrieve his wife Callie from the clinic that saved her from near death. Jasper is plagued with guilt. Callie became a target because of his job in British Secret Intelligence. Even worse is that he kept her in the dark about his cloak and dagger work. It was four months ago he went on a disastrous mission to France. Barely escaping with his life he returned home learning his wife had been kidnapped. Jasper found her tortured body and took her to people who had the best chance of saving her life. Now, he hopes to earn Callie’s forgiveness and hope they find their way to happiness again.“Far From Broken” did not lack emotion. There were feelings of betrayal, rage, loss, guilt, and love. Despite this abundance of feelings I was not able to connect with the characters. Their emotions seemed automatic to their situations. Callie wakes up and she realizes she will never dance again. She is angry. She hears her husband walking down the hall. She feels anticipation. She doesn’t talk to him. Callie loves him. I felt like a skipping stone along their emotional surface. I had little tastes here and there. I couldn’t get into Jasper or Callie’s heads. What was the driving force behind Callie’s final decision beside that it was all she knew? For losing just about everything she sure moved quickly from anger to self-disgust to acceptance. Where was her mourning period. Perhaps, it was during the four months Jasper was away.The shining moment in this book is when Jasper returns home from his mission. His actions and emotions are vivid as he searches for his beloved wife. He’s desperate. He’s destroyed when he finds her drenched in blood. Now, I didn’t want more torture. I wanted to be engaged and connected with the characters as I did at Jasper’s desperate moment.Will I read J.K. Coi again? Yes. Iron Seduction looks interesting. It’s Chinese erotic steampunk, so I’m open to giving this author’s writing a second chance. If my reading experience is gratifying then I’ll try the next book in the Seasons of Inventions series another try.