Review: There are no fluffy bunnies or rainbows in this installment
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 1, 2014
There's a string of expletives that I want to write here. I'm not sure if I can do that on Amazon. I'm pretty sure I can't, so I'll refrain.I dislike sequels. I really dislike book sequels. So when Brenna announced on her facebook that there was another book coming, I had my doubts. I wanted to beg her to leave it be. I wanted to beg her not to write another. To keep the quasi-happy ending the way it was. Don't mess with it. Another book is sure to destroy the little bubble I had built around my relationship with At Any Price. When I heard it was going to be a three part series my heart went even further into my stomach (if that is even possible). Three Part Romance Novels go the way of FSOG ... and that's to mean the way of the toilet.But I heard it was going to be an Adam POV book and it got me just a tiny bit excited. A glimmer of hope in my otherwise dark world that was inevitably going to be At Any Turn. So when Brenna officially announced it was live I went ahead and downloaded it. I didn't bother to read the ARC reviews. (ARC reviews are just way to inflate ratings. I rarely read a Non-Glowing ARC review, so I always think they are horse-manure.)I spent my first night with At Any Turn re-reading At Any Price. It had been months and I wanted to relive the story. I didn't read it cover to cover but more a 2 hour skim through over the important parts. I reminded myself of all the monumental moments and all the love-lust-angst that is At Any Price.I started At Any Turn with high hopes. I was determined to give this a shot and to put my all into it. I wouldn't go in expecting it to fail just because it was a continuation. I was BARELY able to finish it.And now, after spending some time calming the anger that has threatened to spill over, I'm ready to tell you all why I absolutely, positively HATED this novel.This was 280+ pages of absolute garbage. Mia and Adam spent the ENTIRE time acting like children who were unable to communicate a coherent thought with each other. Everything was all, "Let's Talk"... "Lets not"And it got old, really freaking fast.Adam is a controlling freak. I can deal with controlling freaks. I find them endearing, actually. So I should have loved him. Instead I ended up hating Adam with every fiber of my being. The dude's got the brain of a 12 year old when it comes to dealing with women. And Mia... god, I hate her even more. In this book she became a spineless, whiney little brat. She almost whined as much as Adam did. And maybe if they could just get a NORMAL sentence going between the two of them, possibly hint at even the tip of the iceberg that is the monumental amount of screw up they both made, they wouldn't have ended up where they were, at the end of this book.The end of this book. This wasn't a book. This was what should have been a novella, but it was drawn out by Adam incessant internal monologue. "I need to control her." "I need to let her go." "I need things my way." "I need to let her decide."Goodness, I wanted to take that paintball gun and bean Adam a few more times. This book was long drawn out paragraphs about his raging hormones. His inner conflict over how to get Mia to stay. His conflicted emotions about what was really going on with Mia.And me, I spent the entire time after the "big revelation" going why? Why? WHY? None of it made any sense. Not to mention we had absolutely NO insight into Mia's inner workings. I spent an entire 280 pages in the twisted mind of Adam Drake and it left me with a really foul taste in my mouth. Like battery acid that's rising up from my stomach, but worse.I've never physically and emotionally hated book characters. But Adam and Mia... I hate them both. For their obstinance, their childeshness. For their obvious inability to communicate anything to each other outside of 'let's dance in circles around this quasi relationship'.There was no love in this book. There is only anger and hate that falls from these pages. And even though I'm aware the ending is supposed to make me feel bad for Mia. Bad for Adam, too. It did nothing but fuel my anger more. My anger at this book. My anger at no longer loving Adam and Mia. My anger at not being able to get back those 280+ pages of my life.This book lead me down a very, very dark path. And the problem was, it left me there.And there is where I am going to stay, because I have absolutely zero interest in book three.So good bye Adam. Good bye Mia. If it was possibly to erase this installment from my memory I would, because I loved you guys so much in At Any Price. But this, this has ruined it for me. This has ruined you both. And not sure anything will bring you back.It's quite possible I'm the only one who will hate this installment. There should've been a disclaimer on the first page. There are no fluffy bunnies in this book. There is no rainbow at the end of the long torrential downpour that is Adam and Mia. But this is no way to end a book. This isn't a cliffhanger. This makes me want to smash my kindle, because there was not one resolved conflict in this book. And isn't that the whole point of a book. There has to be some sort of resolution, even if it's only a small one.I read to get immersed in New worlds. To live the lives, for a short while, of others. To learn new things. Have new feelings. But anger, sadness, desperation, these are things I don't want to live. Not without a small light at the end of the tunnel. And this book leaves you in the dark. It leaves you confused. These aren't the people you met in At Any Price.It's obvious brenna put her heart into this book. She put her fears there too. I get it. But this isn't what I want from a book romance. This isn't what I want to escape reality for. This was.... I'm not sure what this was, but it was something dark that I dislike.Editing and grammar were nearly flawless, but the entire book was one slow, drawn out romance horror novel of epic proportions. If you want to have your heart run over with a Mack truck then this book is for you.