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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
I wanted to like this. I really did.
The characters and setting felt familiar but also has a different spin to them, but all the while reading it, it all felt very juvenile. Almost like words were written just for the sake of increasing the final count. No idea if that’s how the author normally writes, but I don’t have much of an interest in reading anything else.
Definitely happy that I didn’t pay for this and got it from the library.
The characters and setting felt familiar but also has a different spin to them, but all the while reading it, it all felt very juvenile. Almost like words were written just for the sake of increasing the final count. No idea if that’s how the author normally writes, but I don’t have much of an interest in reading anything else.
Definitely happy that I didn’t pay for this and got it from the library.
I really enjoyed this parallel world Charlaine Harris has created (how the US changed based on 1 act committed in the 1930s) and navigating this world through the protagonist eyes. If you enjoy westerns, fantasy, gunslingers, magic, etc this is a good book to try.
3.5 A gun-slinging rootin' tootin' female mercenary with some wizardly Russian blood. I'm interested enough to consider reading more in the series, but not so interested it will be the next thing I read.
I've enjoyed other series by Charlaine Harris, but this is one I doubt I will follow. I just don't like the central character enough to want to read beyond book one.
I won't dive into the full world-building story of this series, beyond saying it starts from the assassination of newly elected President Franklin Roosevelt, followed by an influenza epidemic that collapsed the U.S. government. The country splintered into territories, and the west coast ended up as the Russian Empire in exile following the Revolution that overthrew the Tzars.
Lizbeth "Gunnie" Rose is a mercenary, and an unusual one. Just nineteen and female, she is also the half-breed daughter of a grigori--a Russian wizard, and disciple of Grigori Rasputin. Lizbeth nonetheless takes on a mission involving two grigori searching for two other grigori in the what was southern Texas, now Mexican territory and full of bandits and desperados.
Their journey is violent, dusty and complicated by magical enemies--the ailing Tzar Alexi needs blood donors, and one of the missing grigori could be a likely donor. But another faction wants Alexi to die so a new Tzar can take over, one who isn't plagued by hemophilia.
I think I lost interest in the series when Lizbeth and one of her wizard clients suddenly opt for hot and heavy sex. This made no sense to me, given Lizbeth's own hatred for the grigori who raped her mother. Repeating the same mistake of trusting a wizard? Hmmm.
All credit to Ms. Harris for her skillful world-building, but I think I'll pass.
I won't dive into the full world-building story of this series, beyond saying it starts from the assassination of newly elected President Franklin Roosevelt, followed by an influenza epidemic that collapsed the U.S. government. The country splintered into territories, and the west coast ended up as the Russian Empire in exile following the Revolution that overthrew the Tzars.
Lizbeth "Gunnie" Rose is a mercenary, and an unusual one. Just nineteen and female, she is also the half-breed daughter of a grigori--a Russian wizard, and disciple of Grigori Rasputin. Lizbeth nonetheless takes on a mission involving two grigori searching for two other grigori in the what was southern Texas, now Mexican territory and full of bandits and desperados.
Their journey is violent, dusty and complicated by magical enemies--the ailing Tzar Alexi needs blood donors, and one of the missing grigori could be a likely donor. But another faction wants Alexi to die so a new Tzar can take over, one who isn't plagued by hemophilia.
I think I lost interest in the series when Lizbeth and one of her wizard clients suddenly opt for hot and heavy sex. This made no sense to me, given Lizbeth's own hatred for the grigori who raped her mother. Repeating the same mistake of trusting a wizard? Hmmm.
All credit to Ms. Harris for her skillful world-building, but I think I'll pass.
The ending of Sookie Stackhaus had me thinking I would never read anything by Charlaine Harris again, luckily I decided to get the first book in this series from the library and I must admit that I already have a particular admiration for Lizbeth "Gunnie" Rose. Now I have the second one in the queue and let's see if the positive wave continues.
Il finale di Sookie Stackhaus mi aveva fatto pensare che non avrei mai piú letto qualcosa di Charlaine Harris, per fortuna ho deciso di prendere in biblioteca il primo libro di questa serie e devo ammettere che ho giá un'ammirazione particolare per Lizbeth "Gunnie" Rose. Ora ho in coda il secondo e vediamo se l'ondata positiva prosegue.
Il finale di Sookie Stackhaus mi aveva fatto pensare che non avrei mai piú letto qualcosa di Charlaine Harris, per fortuna ho deciso di prendere in biblioteca il primo libro di questa serie e devo ammettere che ho giá un'ammirazione particolare per Lizbeth "Gunnie" Rose. Ora ho in coda il secondo e vediamo se l'ondata positiva prosegue.
Well, I’m disappointed.
First, the good. We got a dystopia but it’s not your typical not-so-distant future dystopia its a 1920/30s dystopia in an alternate timeline. This I loved, a lot. It’s not as nicely fleshed out like a typical Harris setting but I’ll take it.
The bad: we all know the typical Charlene Harris heroine: kinda naive, makes illogical and stupid decisions on the regular, spends much of the book injured, and duller than a box of unsalted saltines. No surprise here that Gunnie Rose is typical in that respect.
Where Harris always shines is the setting and the wonderful, quirky and fully three-dimensional side characters. We don’t get those side characters here. The only side characters with understandable motivations are... well, I was going to say the guys that want to rape Gunnie wherever she goes, but not even that makes much sense. There’s nobody to feel emotionally attached to to root for here.
So we’ve got your typical Harris heroine, a bunch of bland people around her with motivations that we, the readers, don’t get to know about until the very end, boring action sequences and a boring road trip.
First, the good. We got a dystopia but it’s not your typical not-so-distant future dystopia its a 1920/30s dystopia in an alternate timeline. This I loved, a lot. It’s not as nicely fleshed out like a typical Harris setting but I’ll take it.
The bad: we all know the typical Charlene Harris heroine: kinda naive, makes illogical and stupid decisions on the regular, spends much of the book injured, and duller than a box of unsalted saltines. No surprise here that Gunnie Rose is typical in that respect.
Where Harris always shines is the setting and the wonderful, quirky and fully three-dimensional side characters. We don’t get those side characters here. The only side characters with understandable motivations are... well, I was going to say the guys that want to rape Gunnie wherever she goes, but not even that makes much sense. There’s nobody to feel emotionally attached to to root for here.
So we’ve got your typical Harris heroine, a bunch of bland people around her with motivations that we, the readers, don’t get to know about until the very end, boring action sequences and a boring road trip.
Still love this and am bumping it to a 5 star read.
4.5 stats
I really did enjoy this novel. The half star docked was just because it took so long for me to get into it. As an impulsive reader, a lot of time, a book has to grab me right away. It was CH's history that I stayed with it until the Grigorieva showed.
4.5 stats
I really did enjoy this novel. The half star docked was just because it took so long for me to get into it. As an impulsive reader, a lot of time, a book has to grab me right away. It was CH's history that I stayed with it until the Grigorieva showed.
Wow. This is the first time in quite a while that I was unable to finish a book. This is nowhere near as good as her other series. I'm very disappointed.