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alexandraflorence's review
4.0
After beginning to read this book I was reluctant to continue, however I am glad that I persisted with Life in the Palace despite my concerns as I did enjoy this novel.
Catherine Green created a new religion in this book, however neglected to explain it until a considerable length into the novel. Once I overcame my utter confusion over what Tal and her friends were talking about, I was able to appreciate the book. Green creates an intense relationship between Chloe and Seth, including soul mates and true love. Chloe and best friend Spike joke about the similarities between the relationship and that of other fictional characters Bella and Edward. They could not be more correct. The only thing saving this couple in my eyes is that Seth's not a vampire.
I recommend this book. Once I established an understanding of The Palace I was able to follow the narrative and engage with the characters and their stories.
Catherine Green created a new religion in this book, however neglected to explain it until a considerable length into the novel. Once I overcame my utter confusion over what Tal and her friends were talking about, I was able to appreciate the book. Green creates an intense relationship between Chloe and Seth, including soul mates and true love. Chloe and best friend Spike joke about the similarities between the relationship and that of other fictional characters Bella and Edward. They could not be more correct. The only thing saving this couple in my eyes is that Seth's not a vampire.
I recommend this book. Once I established an understanding of The Palace I was able to follow the narrative and engage with the characters and their stories.
yonitdm's review
4.0
An interesting take on the paranormal romance genre. I loved the characters, they felt real, it was easy to keep up with the assortment of background characters because they were given some sort of backstory and description that many books gloss over. The theme of "the world is not as it seems" is handled in an entirely new way and it's fascinating to see it through the eyes of the new character. While other books in the genre have unrealistic buy in to the acceptance of someone from the outside entering a "new world" Life in the Palace handled it from both the main character looking in and the dwellers of the Palace looking out at this person trying to enter their world. I hated the end because I wanted to know more! I am so happy to hear that there are more books in the series so the readers aren't left hanging!
jsedge's review
3.0
This is a strange one...
I wasn't too sure about the heavily religious theme but the synopsis intrigued me, I enjoyed the 10% sample, and with the book being free I thought I'd give it a whirl.
The writing's pretty decent, the story's fresh and I love the puzzle-piece development. There were a number of very likeable SIDE characters and the random chit-chats were fun.
The whole Palace/People/Other concept felt really well developed.
However...
As expected, I wasn't at all endeared by the religious-ness- it was kinda cultish and freaky. I struggled to get my head around its complexities and... how come every character in Montreal seemed to be People except for Chloe please? The 'them and us' thing irked me.
I started off really liking Chloe but the further I got, the more she grated on me. Especially when more and more characters were introduced to befriend her seemingly for no further purpose than to show how popular and likeable she is.
Way too many popular culture refs were crammed in. Twilight, Matrix, Buffy, Star Trek, Discworld...just an unnecessary constant stream. It quite often felt the author was trying too hard to connect with the young adult readers.
I was not at all taken with Seth. The moment he was described as very R-Pat, I pretty much signed him off. Seth is too perfect. Call me a cynic, but anyone so consistently nice would have me suspicious. He's one of these 'unattainable hotties that NO ONE can resist'...I'm sorry like but folk do have much more varied tastes than that. Plus, the utter lack of drama in his and Chloe's relationship= DULL.
Wasn't a fan of the insta- love. Undying love straight off, seriously? Then they go all weird and awkward before declaring they love each other again and each following time it's still a groundbreaking revelation. Hmm.
I didn't especially get the logic of Chloe's actions at the end. Although I did very much get teary over it, I do think she could have easily avoided that consequence if she engaged her brain and asked the RIGHT questions.
Still, decent read and I'm kinda interested to see what happens next following the cliffhanger ending.
I wasn't too sure about the heavily religious theme but the synopsis intrigued me, I enjoyed the 10% sample, and with the book being free I thought I'd give it a whirl.
The writing's pretty decent, the story's fresh and I love the puzzle-piece development. There were a number of very likeable SIDE characters and the random chit-chats were fun.
The whole Palace/People/Other concept felt really well developed.
However...
As expected, I wasn't at all endeared by the religious-ness- it was kinda cultish and freaky. I struggled to get my head around its complexities and... how come every character in Montreal seemed to be People except for Chloe please? The 'them and us' thing irked me.
I started off really liking Chloe but the further I got, the more she grated on me. Especially when more and more characters were introduced to befriend her seemingly for no further purpose than to show how popular and likeable she is.
Way too many popular culture refs were crammed in. Twilight, Matrix, Buffy, Star Trek, Discworld...just an unnecessary constant stream. It quite often felt the author was trying too hard to connect with the young adult readers.
I was not at all taken with Seth. The moment he was described as very R-Pat, I pretty much signed him off. Seth is too perfect. Call me a cynic, but anyone so consistently nice would have me suspicious. He's one of these 'unattainable hotties that NO ONE can resist'...I'm sorry like but folk do have much more varied tastes than that. Plus, the utter lack of drama in his and Chloe's relationship= DULL.
Wasn't a fan of the insta- love. Undying love straight off, seriously? Then they go all weird and awkward before declaring they love each other again and each following time it's still a groundbreaking revelation. Hmm.
I didn't especially get the logic of Chloe's actions at the end. Although I did very much get teary over it, I do think she could have easily avoided that consequence if she engaged her brain and asked the RIGHT questions.
Still, decent read and I'm kinda interested to see what happens next following the cliffhanger ending.
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