Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.31 AVERAGE
4.31 AVERAGE
There was no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't love Cottonwood.[b:The Last Hour of Gann|18589656|The Last Hour of Gann|R. Lee Smith|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1380286253s/18589656.jpg|26331984] is on my favorites list and I have never read a bad R Lee Smith book. She did not disappoint. I loved this book, and it will never be a forgettable story. I could go on about how Smith writes a horrible but realistic view of humanity, or how she managed to make me accept very very weird bug sex as a beautiful wonderful thing, but I won't. There are many other better reviews out there for that (See Steelwhispers review).
It comes down to this. This book won't work for everyone, it has a high squick factor (a non humanoid MC), but this is a damn good book, very thoughtful, well written, captivating, and a wonderful read for someone who loves the creation of romance. I still liked Gann more, but Cottonwod is also superb.
It comes down to this. This book won't work for everyone, it has a high squick factor (a non humanoid MC), but this is a damn good book, very thoughtful, well written, captivating, and a wonderful read for someone who loves the creation of romance. I still liked Gann more, but Cottonwod is also superb.
please just know that this book devastated me. as cruel and gut-wrenching as it was, i just couldn’t bring myself to stop reading. i fell for the protagonists & hated the villains with every fiber of my being.
in short though, it was really, really good. and as most reviews have already said, this story is truly not for the faint of heart. but if you can brave it the way sarah did, you’ll know a story worth remembering.
and for the people expecting erotica (because this is somehow shelved amongst erotica), there is none. it’s romantic, is what it is. there is sex, yes, but not the kind you’d expect from most smutty stories.
just—please. read it, or not. but, word of caution, there’s so much horror in it that it’s heartbreaking but oh so wonderful when you get to the good bits.
kudos to the author. truly
in short though, it was really, really good. and as most reviews have already said, this story is truly not for the faint of heart. but if you can brave it the way sarah did, you’ll know a story worth remembering.
and for the people expecting erotica (because this is somehow shelved amongst erotica), there is none. it’s romantic, is what it is. there is sex, yes, but not the kind you’d expect from most smutty stories.
just—please. read it, or not. but, word of caution, there’s so much horror in it that it’s heartbreaking but oh so wonderful when you get to the good bits.
kudos to the author. truly
I loved this book, but also hated parts of it. The author is fantastic at letting you think there won't be major conflict and then dumping it on you.
I was really impressed to hear that she wrote it before District 9, because I did think it was fan fiction. I guess everything we think of has been thought of by someone else, it is just unlucky that it came out first. I would actually prefer this book made as a movie than District 9.
Sadly we all know that this is pretty much what would happen if alien's appeared. I doubt there is much chance we could ever integrate, since we can't even do it with other human races. Let's hope they are smart enough to stay far away.
I was really impressed to hear that she wrote it before District 9, because I did think it was fan fiction. I guess everything we think of has been thought of by someone else, it is just unlucky that it came out first. I would actually prefer this book made as a movie than District 9.
Sadly we all know that this is pretty much what would happen if alien's appeared. I doubt there is much chance we could ever integrate, since we can't even do it with other human races. Let's hope they are smart enough to stay far away.
I was not expecting a book about “bugs” to make me feel all the feels. I honestly got upset too many times reading this book. I just found there to be too my parallels with issues of today’s world with the wars going on and the violence perpetrated against women and people of marginal identities. Overall I really enjoyed this book and stayed up way way past my bedtime trying to finish it.
Buddy read with the MacHalo's.
I enjoyed reading Cottonwood. R. Lee Smith has a good writing voice, and a very creative mind. The alien relationship was a bit weird for me. If you like alien smut I highly recommend this book to you.
Excellent writing on the characters and giving distinctive vocabularies and personalities. Sam is by far my favorite. I'm up on the fence with Sarah. Some of her decisions were really dimwitted. I understand the need to write her character as such, but gaaah! All in all she was a very likable character.
500+ pages seemed to be a bit extreme for this genre, but then I remembered one of the reasons I chose Cottonwood was because it's one of her shorter novels.
Before I go, I should mention the author's Afterword. For some reason it gave me more of a positive and likable view of the author. She seem "real" to her audience. I thank her for sharing that personal part of her and the dilemma she faced writing this story. I get it and I salute you!
3.5ish, I don’t know if I 100% believe that she came up with this idea before district 9 came out just because it’s SO similar (I guess it depends on whether van meyer was originally dutch or south african) but in any case this was just alright, definitely got better in the last 20%
also idk why we need both a human character whose entire personality is wanting to rape women + an alien character whose entire personality is making jokes about raping women (but apparently it’s ok because Samaritan is only like that because of his traumatic past)? like at some point it’s just gratuitous
I do prefer this to last hour of gann because the pacing here was much better
also idk why we need both a human character whose entire personality is wanting to rape women + an alien character whose entire personality is making jokes about raping women (but apparently it’s ok because Samaritan is only like that because of his traumatic past)? like at some point it’s just gratuitous
I do prefer this to last hour of gann because the pacing here was much better
dark
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
better than I expected and an interesting concept/plot, but not especially well-written and thought the romance aspect was very obvious and unnecessary
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Hard times can bring people closer together, and that's what happens here. Sarah goes through some truly difficult challenges. They bring her a new family. But if she wants to keep it, she has to fight using everything she is and has.
Brilliantly written, there's not much to dislike about this book. The good guys aren't handed happiness on a platter. The bad guys bring depth to the story that most romance novels lack.
Brilliantly written, there's not much to dislike about this book. The good guys aren't handed happiness on a platter. The bad guys bring depth to the story that most romance novels lack.
“If she had gone as I wished, in a year’s time, her contract elapsed, I would have let her go.... She has told me lie after lie. I see this now. She has lied to me with every breath.” He allowed himself a pang of honest admiration for the audacity of this truth before crushing it. “You, she merely offer to fuck.”
That said, it has quite the book hangover. There's a lot of brain food to chew on in this book. A lot of the reality of human nature to gut punch you. I'm not sure when I'll read it again.
If you liked Heart's Prisoner by Olivia Riley (one of my favorites), you'll love this!