Review: Okay, but not fabulous
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 31, 2013
The author did some interesting things with the plot, but I felt a few things were too heavy-handed, which pulled me out of my suspension of disbelief.  Other reviewers have mentioned that they didn't like this book as much as the first in the series -- I didn't read that one, so some of the things that bothered me in this installment might not have if I had been introduced to them earlier, but the characterization of the main nun seemed a bit too odd ... I felt a little more comfortable with it when some elements from the first book were introduced right at the end, but it still felt problematic.The writing is mostly fine -- few major typos -- but there are a number of phrases that are expressed in a non-typical matter, or are awkwardly expressed idioms.  This is likely because English is not the author's first language, so I don't want to be unduly harsh as that is clearly a hurdle for her, but I still found them jarring enough to pull me from the story.Perhaps the part that bugged me the most was how quickly all the characters immediately embraced paradigm-shifting ideas without hesitation, especially Natalie.  I don't want to leave a spoiler this early so I won't go into more detail, but I just felt that she seemed far too nave and perhaps gullible at several points -- I would have found it more believable if she had put more thought into contemplating these new ideas, rather than drinking them in like a wide-eyed child.For those who don't appreciate explicit sex scenes -- be fore-warned ... I actually skipped most of both encounters, because I found it jarring and largely out of place; this is just my preference, as a lot of readers enjoy steamy insertions, but unless a book is meant to be a romance, I find it often detracts and distracts from the flow and emphases of the plot.  The first one could perhaps be justified as setting up important understanding of a relationship, but the second really didn't fit.  Again, I tend to think a more subtle approach is generally more effective, especially when the purpose is to emphasize love, rather than physical attraction.In general, I felt there was a bit of unevenness in the flow of action that bothered me, and I saw the "twist" at the end coming from a long way off.  I knew exactly who the bad guy was about a quarter of the way through, and only questioned my supposition briefly at one point, so the thriller aspect didn't really pull through for me.  The same thing goes for most of the other elements that I think were supposed to be surprises ... I guess it just all wraps up too neatly and people change their minds a little too easily for me. This makes them seem less like real people.  By the end, I rushed through just to get to the ending and be done, because I didn't really care enough for any of the characters to immerse myself.  This author clearly has fans, which is great, but I don't see myself becoming one of them -- I have no real desire to try another book.Spoiler alert!!!!!I really don't like it when madness is the reason given for violence, as it just feels like a cop-out; to make it worse, once the perpetrator is shot, he all of a sudden becomes totally rational and repentant.  This is one of the parts that I think is too neatly wrapped up.