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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
4.30 stars Okay but… MAC IS A BADASS. Like seriously, I LOOOOOOVE HER. She’s such a relatable FMC — funny, bossy, with a zero bullshit attitude and the kind of inner monologue that had me nodding like “yep, that would be me.” I swear, she’s everything I want in a main character: smart, stubborn, and not afraid to stand her ground even when the world’s literally falling apart
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
What can I say, I just love Monings books. Definitely one of my favorite authors <3
This was second time I read this book, so I already know what's going to happen, but still the book keeps it's excitement and continues to you the tingles.
In this first book as she says herself: Mac is naive, living in her pink Barbie world without any worries. Until the rude wake up call. But then there's Barrons (picking the pieces? XD) The whole series wouldn't be nothing without those two bantering, fighting, "loving" etc. And when it comes to V'Lane?! Oh dear, seriously, just read the damned book already!!!! :D
"Okay, Barrons, it's time."
"I am not helping you shave your legs."
This was second time I read this book, so I already know what's going to happen, but still the book keeps it's excitement and continues to you the tingles.
In this first book as she says herself: Mac is naive, living in her pink Barbie world without any worries. Until the rude wake up call. But then there's Barrons (picking the pieces? XD) The whole series wouldn't be nothing without those two bantering, fighting, "loving" etc. And when it comes to V'Lane?! Oh dear, seriously, just read the damned book already!!!! :D
"Okay, Barrons, it's time."
"I am not helping you shave your legs."
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I don’t think I’ll be continuing this series.
This series was very strongly recommended to me by a friend with good taste and nothing but my sincere affection for her could have convinced me to read past the first few chapters. The heroine is initially kind of obnoxious (I'm quite sick of Magic Metabolism Girls, who get to eat whatever they want and never gain weight. They seem over represented in urban fantasy and romance. Also the interminable, painstaking descriptions of what exactly she was wearing drove me nuts) but I know that characters develop over a long series: there's no point in trying to judge them by the first book. No, what put me off is the absolutely awful portrayal of Ireland.
I have a history of being hard on foreign authors trying to write about my own country but they so frequently get it wrong, it's infuriating. Within pages of the heroine's arrival in Dublin, there'd been a horrific attempt at a phonetic accent which sounded nothing like an actual Dublin accent, painful misuse of slang ('havering away' is not an Irish expression. I don't know why people think it is) and worst of all, Patty. Listen, the only time an Irish person would say 'Patty' would be if was preceded by 'Krabby.' The diminutive form of Patrick is Pat, the diminutive form of Pádraig (the Irish equivalent of Patrick) is Paddy. I get where the confusion comes from but if the author had asked a single Irish person for a read through, clangers like this could have been avoided. Even when not subjecting the readers to phonetic inaccuracies, Moning indulges in awkward stereotypical dialogue for the Irish characters, loaded with 'be + gerund' constructions bound to set any native's teeth on edge.
The whole thing reads like KMM visited Dublin once and supplemented her vague, touristy impression of the city with out of date guidebooks: the result is a jumbled account that somehow manages to be both rose tinted and unfair. She paints Dublin as being far more attractive than it actually is and its people as being far ruder than they actually are. In particular, I was really put off by
And yet, I'm going to continue with this series because, despite the hatchet job done on the setting, I am genuinely invested in Mac, in her grief for her sister, in her potential for growth as a 'sidhe-seer,' and in her chemistry with the male lead, Barrons - I'm also very interested to see some of his secrets come out. So I'll keep plugging along for a few books and hope things improve.
I have a history of being hard on foreign authors trying to write about my own country but they so frequently get it wrong, it's infuriating. Within pages of the heroine's arrival in Dublin, there'd been a horrific attempt at a phonetic accent which sounded nothing like an actual Dublin accent, painful misuse of slang ('havering away' is not an Irish expression. I don't know why people think it is) and worst of all, Patty. Listen, the only time an Irish person would say 'Patty' would be if was preceded by 'Krabby.' The diminutive form of Patrick is Pat, the diminutive form of Pádraig (the Irish equivalent of Patrick) is Paddy. I get where the confusion comes from but if the author had asked a single Irish person for a read through, clangers like this could have been avoided. Even when not subjecting the readers to phonetic inaccuracies, Moning indulges in awkward stereotypical dialogue for the Irish characters, loaded with 'be + gerund' constructions bound to set any native's teeth on edge.
The whole thing reads like KMM visited Dublin once and supplemented her vague, touristy impression of the city with out of date guidebooks: the result is a jumbled account that somehow manages to be both rose tinted and unfair. She paints Dublin as being far more attractive than it actually is and its people as being far ruder than they actually are. In particular, I was really put off by
Spoiler
the scene where Mac, having been forced to strip in the middle of a museum because of a Fae spell, comes out of it to discover a crowd of onlookers gawking at her, delighted by the show and showing no inclination to help her out. I won't deny that we have a tendency to nosiness in Ireland, but no way would people in a museum treat a woman apparently having a fit and stripping in that way, nor would they take such a prurient pleasure in the impromptu sex show. At the very least someone would have called a security guard. I suppose I'm being biased - no one wants to believe their own people to be capable of that kind of behaviour, but it still felt like a really unfair depiction of us, especially when Mac promptly compares their treatment of her unfavourably to the customs of her home in the American South. I'm aware that the opinions of the narrator don't necessarily reflect those of the author, but the narrator didn't chose to have the bystanders act that way. That's all on Moning.And yet, I'm going to continue with this series because, despite the hatchet job done on the setting, I am genuinely invested in Mac, in her grief for her sister, in her potential for growth as a 'sidhe-seer,' and in her chemistry with the male lead, Barrons - I'm also very interested to see some of his secrets come out. So I'll keep plugging along for a few books and hope things improve.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The world had a lot of potential but the storyline of book 1 fell flat for me. Unsure if I’ll ever pick up the second book. The sex-aspect was weird and uncomfortable.