Review: Better than the last installment...
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 25, 2012
I didn't have high hopes for this one after the saccharine sweetness of the last book.  However, I was somewhat surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  The "throw my kindle at the wall" moments were few and far between.  I like Elise and Merrick both as individuals and as a couple.  Even through all of their angst and hardships, they were very open about their feelings towards one another with very little denial.  Elise is dangerously close to being my favorite heroine of the series (not like that's saying much considering how awful some of them are) simply because she was willing to go out on a limb for Merrick, and she had a few other brave moments too (usually following her stupid ones...the girl makes some stupid ass mistakes but I could kind of empathize with her, at least).  It's nice to see a little equality in the Kindred/Human relationships, rather than the Kindred male constantly putting his life on the line and being a supplicating wimp to his chosen bride.  I felt like Elise earned her man in this, and that was nice to see.  Merrick wasn't so different from the past heroes that Anderson has written, but his "tortured soul" won me over pretty easily.  I liked that he was a bit rougher around the edges and didn't come across as overly sex-obsessed (unlike the boring BAIRD who I tired of after ten pages or so.).  I also liked that he wasn't extremely overbearing, which I have a low tolerance for in characters.There were still problematic bits. While the storyline is escalating it's also almost a carbon copy of the prior one with the All-Father, and as well, it could be seen as a combination of Hunted with Planet X.  It's as if she's ripping off her own stuff. Maybe ripping off is too strong of a word, but she's definitely written similar storylines to this before, in other books.  I've enjoyed the story and world building Anderson has done so far but I don't think it would hurt to be a little more creative/out of the box with what she's actually doing with it.  Will all of these books play out the same, with angst between the Kindred and his bride, fate forcing them together, and then kidnap/save/repeat with Draven this time, instead of the All-Father?  If so, I'd think maybe she should re-think that strategy.  It works for a while but eventually many readers tire of reading the same stock character types hooking up and repeating the same storyline over and over.I also am tired of the boring girl talk/hang out stuff that keeps getting forced on me.  I usually just skim it.  I understand the purpose of it but I don't see why every female has to end up living on the mother ship as "one of the girls" or whatever.  It's not realistic.  I don't think Elise would even be friends with any of the others, her personality didn't come across as very extroverted or chatty.  I would love to get a book without Olivia and Sophia in it at all, to be honest.All in all, 3.5 from me.