Review: Misleading title and cover art
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 04 29, 2014
I hate to give this only two stars, but I was so disappointed by it. I loved Kristen Middleton's Zombie Games series, so was excited by what I thought was her foray into adult literature. It is not. It's young adult, and I actually think the cover is a little too racy for that age group, but I'm probably getting old and crotchety. So, it was probably my mistake for not noticing it was YA. However, this is not an anthology. This is a collection of three beginnings to three different books that, of course, end at a critical point, then coyly invite you to buy "Book 2." Book 2 implies there was an actual BOOK 1. I'm so disappointed by you, Kristen.  I'm not buying Book 2 on general principles. And I was a bit disturbed by the last story by Kristen. SPOILER AHEAD  A vampire uses mind control to make the teenage heroine make out with him (and was only stopped from physically raping her, as he had already raped her mind by people interrupting him), but later he tells her he only used the mind control thing once, and it was her attraction to him that made her lust after him. Okay, first off, she clearly says she felt controlled every time this happens (yes, it happens more than once), so this sounds like the rapist blaming the victim. And then, she believes him and decides, yes, I really do want him kinda. Why would you believe a guy who mind-raped you, and even if he only did it once, why is that not a deal-breaker?!?Now I have to address Kristie Shafer's contribution to this marketing ploy. There were numerous small mistakes throughout her story. Not horrible, but noticeable.  However, she refers to chiggers in Minnesota in the swimming hole. Maybe there is something in Minnesota that lives in the water and bites children badly enough to cause the swimming hole to be shut down, but around here, chiggers are tiny, tiny bugs who lurk in the grass. And while they are itchy,  they certainly don't cause damage enough to cause the shutdown of a public place. In fact, if you did, there would be no parks open from April to October.