Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
:(
I love LKH (or why else would I read 29 books consecutively by the same author) and I really wanted to like this one but :(
I think what sucked/sucks is that it has such weighty potential but still managed to fall kind of flat. So far I haven't liked any of these three quite as much as book 1. And none as much as Anita's books, I don't think.
There is a wealth of characters here but the plot seems to drag on and on and on and then on, it can be kind of frustrating. I want to see this through and I probably will, but it's been hard to admit that despite having all the elements that captivate me (r/ship norms turned on their heads, lovers not dominated largely by jealousy as proof of love or legitimacy and compelling supernatural characters) this isn't quite meeting my expectations.
I love LKH (or why else would I read 29 books consecutively by the same author) and I really wanted to like this one but :(
I think what sucked/sucks is that it has such weighty potential but still managed to fall kind of flat. So far I haven't liked any of these three quite as much as book 1. And none as much as Anita's books, I don't think.
There is a wealth of characters here but the plot seems to drag on and on and on and then on, it can be kind of frustrating. I want to see this through and I probably will, but it's been hard to admit that despite having all the elements that captivate me (r/ship norms turned on their heads, lovers not dominated largely by jealousy as proof of love or legitimacy and compelling supernatural characters) this isn't quite meeting my expectations.
Laurell K. Hamilton still lives up to her ability to make you feel as if you are truly in a different world... for better or for worse.
adventurous
dark
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Minor: Cultural appropriation
After the weak Caress of Twilight, LKH returns to form with Seduced by Moonlight, which gets the Merry Gentry series back on track as an intriguing, fun and erotic supernatural adventure.
Some of the problems that plagued the previous book remain, however. Most of these are in the writing itself - if you can't handle scenes that drag on forever because characters keep saying "I don't understand" to concepts that are perfectly clear to the audience, or unnecessarily drawn out aggression between the protagonist and literally every person in a position of power whom she meets, or a far too-detailed POV that is going to provide you a couple sentences of exposition for every time Merry makes eye contact or touches someone's shoulder, or extremely detailed summations of the wardrobe of every single character in a scene, even when there are more than a dozen of them - than you probably shouldn't be reading a LKH novel, not just this one, but any of them. Characters in these books talk, a lot, about extremely unnecessary things, or things that it would be better they settled "off-screen"; even as someone who likes talky books, it gets to be a bit much for me. Characters are given far more physical description than they are personality, and that, too, goes from being a good thing - I'm all for being able to picture a character in my head, especially if they are beautiful, which literally everyone in this story is - but you can lose the thread of a scene when there are entire pages in the middle devoted to the fashion review. But all these are the kinds of minor irritations I'm willing to shrug off for a good story, and Seduced by Moonlight surprised me by being a very good story.
Or, really, two good stories, because in a lot of ways, Seduced by Moonlight feels like two novellas crammed together into a single story, not always seamlessly. In the first, Merry, Maeve, and the bodyguards lounge around their LA estate in various states of undress, having sex, doing sex magic, doing violent politics, and getting hit with new powers. There is no mention of Merry's former career with the Grey Detective Agency, and as much as I liked that setting and her boss in the previous books, I have to admit the book is much better off for not trying to cram in an LA-based mystery plot, which was easily the weakest point of Caress of Twilight. Instead, this part of the book is devoted to relationship drama and the growing magical powers of Merry and her entourage. There is some really intriguing worldbuilding that goes on here, as the backstories of some of Merry's men are explored and hints of a much larger story involving the sidhe's long-decline as a people, and the possibility of their Goddess-given powers being restored, are introduced. And both Merry and her people - now sort-of including Maeve, Seelie Goddess-turned-Hollywood star - turned, maybe, Goddess again - get a lot of good character development. And, of course, a lot of sex, once again written with a mix of purple prose, vague mysticism (lots of people's skin glows, their power surges, several shapeshift in the middle of the act, etc.) and sudden, awkward introductions of the straight-forward bluntness that characterized so much Anita Blake sex in LKH's signature series. (Without going into graphic detail, the extended discourse on Merry's fondness for a certain part of the male anatomy, and what she'd like to do with it, and why she isn't allowed to, could have been skipped over.) The sex is still not great writing, but by Hamilton's standards it's basically brilliant, and it doesn't slow the story down at all. In fact, she seems to have mastered the rare trick of writing sex scenes that actually move the plot along.
In the the second half of the story, Merry and the bodyguards travel to the Unseelie Court, where they walk straight into an attempted power grab by some of Merry's, and Queen Andais', enemies. Here, the story trades sexual shenanigans and relationship talk for graphic violence, political intrigue and intricate explorations of sidhe culture. The transition, as I said, isn't exactly smooth; a major question in the first half is about a powerful magical artifact that Merry has picked up and needs to decide who to tell about, but in the second half there is so much going on that the characters, or perhaps the author, forget about that plotline altogether. A stronger editor might have suggested that Hamilton whittle down some of the first half and tie the two plotlines more closely together, but in a serial story like this one, those kinds of minor pacing issues don't really matter. Both parts of this book are fun to read, and that's the point.
They also dramatically advance the larger plotline of the story and introduce intriguing new directions for it to go, which I wasn't expecting to see so early in this kind of seemingly-unplanned series. Merry gains yet more power in this book, as well as an explanation for where all that power may be coming from. Andais' position is discovered to be far more precarious than previously realized, and the careful alliance between aunt and niece takes on intriguing new dimensions. Merry makes several plays for power in the court, and seems to be winning, and she picks up the aforementioned ancient artifact, which will clearly play a big role in the story going forward. Perhaps most importantly, the question of just how mortal Merry really is gets raised, and doesn't gain a satisfactory answer. So there is clearly a lot of room for this story to expand, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Hamilton does with it.
Some of the problems that plagued the previous book remain, however. Most of these are in the writing itself - if you can't handle scenes that drag on forever because characters keep saying "I don't understand" to concepts that are perfectly clear to the audience, or unnecessarily drawn out aggression between the protagonist and literally every person in a position of power whom she meets, or a far too-detailed POV that is going to provide you a couple sentences of exposition for every time Merry makes eye contact or touches someone's shoulder, or extremely detailed summations of the wardrobe of every single character in a scene, even when there are more than a dozen of them - than you probably shouldn't be reading a LKH novel, not just this one, but any of them. Characters in these books talk, a lot, about extremely unnecessary things, or things that it would be better they settled "off-screen"; even as someone who likes talky books, it gets to be a bit much for me. Characters are given far more physical description than they are personality, and that, too, goes from being a good thing - I'm all for being able to picture a character in my head, especially if they are beautiful, which literally everyone in this story is - but you can lose the thread of a scene when there are entire pages in the middle devoted to the fashion review. But all these are the kinds of minor irritations I'm willing to shrug off for a good story, and Seduced by Moonlight surprised me by being a very good story.
Or, really, two good stories, because in a lot of ways, Seduced by Moonlight feels like two novellas crammed together into a single story, not always seamlessly. In the first, Merry, Maeve, and the bodyguards lounge around their LA estate in various states of undress, having sex, doing sex magic, doing violent politics, and getting hit with new powers. There is no mention of Merry's former career with the Grey Detective Agency, and as much as I liked that setting and her boss in the previous books, I have to admit the book is much better off for not trying to cram in an LA-based mystery plot, which was easily the weakest point of Caress of Twilight. Instead, this part of the book is devoted to relationship drama and the growing magical powers of Merry and her entourage. There is some really intriguing worldbuilding that goes on here, as the backstories of some of Merry's men are explored and hints of a much larger story involving the sidhe's long-decline as a people, and the possibility of their Goddess-given powers being restored, are introduced. And both Merry and her people - now sort-of including Maeve, Seelie Goddess-turned-Hollywood star - turned, maybe, Goddess again - get a lot of good character development. And, of course, a lot of sex, once again written with a mix of purple prose, vague mysticism (lots of people's skin glows, their power surges, several shapeshift in the middle of the act, etc.) and sudden, awkward introductions of the straight-forward bluntness that characterized so much Anita Blake sex in LKH's signature series. (Without going into graphic detail, the extended discourse on Merry's fondness for a certain part of the male anatomy, and what she'd like to do with it, and why she isn't allowed to, could have been skipped over.) The sex is still not great writing, but by Hamilton's standards it's basically brilliant, and it doesn't slow the story down at all. In fact, she seems to have mastered the rare trick of writing sex scenes that actually move the plot along.
In the the second half of the story, Merry and the bodyguards travel to the Unseelie Court, where they walk straight into an attempted power grab by some of Merry's, and Queen Andais', enemies. Here, the story trades sexual shenanigans and relationship talk for graphic violence, political intrigue and intricate explorations of sidhe culture. The transition, as I said, isn't exactly smooth; a major question in the first half is about a powerful magical artifact that Merry has picked up and needs to decide who to tell about, but in the second half there is so much going on that the characters, or perhaps the author, forget about that plotline altogether. A stronger editor might have suggested that Hamilton whittle down some of the first half and tie the two plotlines more closely together, but in a serial story like this one, those kinds of minor pacing issues don't really matter. Both parts of this book are fun to read, and that's the point.
They also dramatically advance the larger plotline of the story and introduce intriguing new directions for it to go, which I wasn't expecting to see so early in this kind of seemingly-unplanned series. Merry gains yet more power in this book, as well as an explanation for where all that power may be coming from. Andais' position is discovered to be far more precarious than previously realized, and the careful alliance between aunt and niece takes on intriguing new dimensions. Merry makes several plays for power in the court, and seems to be winning, and she picks up the aforementioned ancient artifact, which will clearly play a big role in the story going forward. Perhaps most importantly, the question of just how mortal Merry really is gets raised, and doesn't gain a satisfactory answer. So there is clearly a lot of room for this story to expand, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Hamilton does with it.
Still in the zone. Lots to engage a reader. I enjoyed this one too. Anxious to read the next.
Reread 2018 - Another one that kept me in my seat all day. This was almost the best of the three so far. Again, short review because positive review. I liked it.
Reread 2018 - Another one that kept me in my seat all day. This was almost the best of the three so far. Again, short review because positive review. I liked it.
I just finished this book. 1 hour and 43 minutes before I'm getting married. That's how good this is!:)
Homophobic undertones. Garbage plot.
Came for the fantasy fairy sex, but there wasn’t more than a 3-person makeout sesh in the first chapter!!! It’s just a bunch of poorly written politics where the characters repeat themselves over and over and over while still making no sense. How does the “bodyguard”/sex slave system even work again? So it doesn’t matter whose baby she has, as long as she has a baby before her cousin? @_@ author seemed obsessed with people watching people have sex (voyeurism) which was weird.
I was listening to the audio book and they went with a woman reader who sounded like she’s in her 50s to read for the 20-something Mary Sue (who happens to be in line for a throne) main character, which made it all very yucky and cringeworthy, especially the goblin parts (“SHINNNE!!” *shivers*). I made it through like 4 cds. Also the cds have almost 100 tracks per disc, which I find dreadful.
Came for the fantasy fairy sex, but there wasn’t more than a 3-person makeout sesh in the first chapter!!! It’s just a bunch of poorly written politics where the characters repeat themselves over and over and over while still making no sense. How does the “bodyguard”/sex slave system even work again? So it doesn’t matter whose baby she has, as long as she has a baby before her cousin? @_@ author seemed obsessed with people watching people have sex (voyeurism) which was weird.
I was listening to the audio book and they went with a woman reader who sounded like she’s in her 50s to read for the 20-something Mary Sue (who happens to be in line for a throne) main character, which made it all very yucky and cringeworthy, especially the goblin parts (“SHINNNE!!” *shivers*). I made it through like 4 cds. Also the cds have almost 100 tracks per disc, which I find dreadful.
More yummy goodness! And yes I am referring to the multitude of hot fey warriors that are still working on impregnating Merry Gentry in this 3rd installment. More steamy scenes, more intrigue and a significant upping of magical powers!!!!
The amount of plotline is diametrically opposed to the amount of sex. Almost no plot. Start with book 1 of the series, A Kiss of Shadows. I don't think this would make any sense otherwise, it needs to be read in order.
I am a big fan of Laurell K. Hamilton. I do prefer her Anita Blake series but her Merry Gentry series is quite good too. As usual, for her, it is a very well developed world with lots of violence. It can be a bit tricky to keep all the guys straight but in general I find the books to have far more positives than negatives.