Review: Cheesy as Hell
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 03 14, 2012
SPOILER ALERT...there will be spoilers in this review!I don't even know where to start! Initially I was somewhat excited to read it, as I didn't know it had come out, and even though I think the series is ultimately kind of stupid (it's sci-fi lite and I have too many problems with the books to really call them good), I still enjoy my doses of Evangeline-erotica. No one does dirty talk better, I swear.But the story...damn it was a huge cheese-fest. The whole thing played out like a bad Disney movie. And the characterization was markedly poor in this one. The antagonists were straight up evil, with no shades of grey, no explanation for why they did what they did. I found Nadiah's parents in particular, to be especially hard to believe.  Their apathy at their daughters abuse at the hands of her equally awful fiancé just didn't ring true for me. And Rast's mother's explanation of his adoption and why they didn't care about him much was nearly as bad. It wasn't written in a way that I could buy into it.  People don't pick out a baby like a dog and then give it to their daughter to play with.  That's absolutely absurd. Also, why couldn't the very psychic Nadiah fight her fiance back by pulling the bond between them, like he was doing to her?  I don't think that was ever explained.  I suppose Anderson thought she would have had too much power and wouldn't be "damsel in distress" enough, since she'd be able to help herself out sometimes.  We can't have that now, can we?The heat between Rast and Nadiah was there, but their romance played out so predictably and it was so traditional, that I felt like I was reading a child's fairytale with some sexy stuff thrown in. Nadiah even has to remain a virgin until she's permanently bonded, or she'll become a social pariah on Tranq, because when Tranq women lose their virginity, their eyes change color a shade or two, so everyone knows. While this culture is portrayed as being primitive and insensitive to women, it doesn't seem that much worse than the drafting of brides from various planets, including Earth.  The women don't have much of a choice there, either.And Rast being a Kindred was absolutely no surprise. In the final act, Rast has to retake the empty throne on First World, and save Nadiah from a sickness cast on her by a conniving priestess. This part of the story especially, was so silly and over-the-top to me, that I became quite annoyed. The evil priestess, him growing wings and flying to some magical garden high in the sky and saving Nadiah, oh and the unforgivable sin of healing Sophia so she can have kids with Sylvan...ugh. I keep hoping Sophia will be killed off, she and her twin are my least favorite characters by far, and I can't help but hope that they'll suffer in some way when the new evil really starts laying out his plans. I know, I'm sick and sadistic, but those characters are weak and pathetic, and frankly, their Kindred mates deserve much better.We are introduced to a new couple in this book, Merrick and Elise. Merrick is a hybrid of Blood and Beast Kindred, and he has the sex traits of both as well (more mating fist? NO THANKS.) He's described as being even more huge than a normal Kindred warrior, and as having one blue and one amber eye, and scars on his face. He's friends with Sylvan but other than that, he has no one and is portrayed as somewhat of a loner anti-hero type. Elise is a human woman (or is she? hmmm) from Earth who was kidnapped by the All Father but escaped in a life pod, only to be discovered floating through space in stasis, by Merrick who brings her to the mother ship. Elise needs medical care because she was tortured and beaten, and Merrick finds himself feeling the all too familiar (to us, anyway) feelings of protectiveness and possessiveness with her, right off the bat. Elise too admits she feels something for him and wants to stay with him, but then Olivia tells her she has a call...from her fiancé and the book ends there. Cliffhanger! It's pretty obvious that the next book will be about them and I will probably read it, and probably kind of hate it. I already can't believe that Elise is a hard-ass attorney, when she whimpers and cries in her sleep and wants to be held like a baby all of the time by Merrick.  Hopefully we don't have another "Sophia" on our hands.  Yuck.Thinking about it, I've realized that what bothers me most about these books, is the way that Anderson portrays men and women and the ways that they relate to one another. Her men are supposed to be alphas, but they are really only alpha in size and strength; not so much with women or with each other even. With the exception of Rast in his introduction into the series, they are written without real attitude or interesting personality traits of any kind. They never do anything too crazy, they don't argue with their mates or pull any dick moves, and therefore don't seem very real to me. They only live to supplicate their women, and their women are usually always helpless, insensitive, and/or bitchy damsels that don't deserve it and that I could never imagine would really be paired with such men in reality. And maybe we're far from reality but I'm unwilling to suspend my disbelief in this case. What's more, these men essentially believe that anything with a vagina needs to be protected and cared for, and they are willing to give their lives to do so. I don't agree with this philosophy one bit, and I say that as a woman and as a human being. It bothers me that in a time of equal rights for all (or almost all) that we are still recycling such outdated concepts. If women and men are truly equals, then why are the lives of the men so easily expendable?  That's called Gender Discrimination, pure and simple. I hate the way the women in these books never do a thing to help their men, other than sex them.  They never fight along side them or try to protect them.  There's also the fact that all in all, sex = marriage/bonding/together foreverness, which is suspiciously puritanical in my opinion.I don't have high hopes for the next book, but maybe that way I won't be disappointed. I really do think Anderson has talent, but I really wish she'd work on giving all of her characters more depth and personality.  I also wish she'd add a little more darkness to the story, to make it more worthy of the HEA.  I guess I should just try and write my own story.  Maybe I will ;)