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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
I should've loved this book. I WANTED to love this book but, sadly, I just didn't. This book is basically in the same vein as the movie, Men In Black, in terms of how over the top it is. And that's fine because that's what the author is going for. The heroine even makes several MIB jokes so it's clear that the book doesn't take itself seriously. Which is yet another reason why I should've loved this book. I loved the first MIB movie so this book was supposed to be a slam dunk for me and yet...I had issues, a few in fact.
- The heroine, Katherine 'Kitty' Katt (yes, her name is Kitty Katt) is a total Mary Sue. Apparently there are these beings from a much more evolved culture that have been addressing the problems posed by some big bad aliens for decades but Kitty comes along and, in two days flat, she's solving things that no one else has ever been able to.
- Jeff Martini, the love interest who never quits. Jeff meets Kitty early on and at first his flirty comments and sexual innuendos were fun and charming. By chapter three I was wondering if he had an off switch. He didn't.
- No one had an off switch. Every single character in this book had the exact same, snarky attitude and it. Never. Stopped. In a shorter book maybe this wouldn't have mattered so much but since I felt that this book meandered about a 100 pages too long, it mattered.
- No more girlfriends, please. There is a former male-model-turned-secret-agent who happens to be gay. I don't think he had one line in the whole book that didn't incorporate the word "girlfriend" into it.
- Romance, schmomance. I love a nice, slow burn with my fictional couples. Jeff and Kitty? They're not familiar with the concept. They know each other for a whopping two days before they're angsting over their relationship and are declaring love just a couple of days later (the whole book spans a week). It's not terrible, I just didn't buy into it and nor did I care. Oh, and they start calling each other "baby", which is just a personal pet peeve of mine.
I'd give this about two and a half stars overall. I was primed to love it and am sad that I didn't. At this point, I have no plans to read further into the series.
- The heroine, Katherine 'Kitty' Katt (yes, her name is Kitty Katt) is a total Mary Sue. Apparently there are these beings from a much more evolved culture that have been addressing the problems posed by some big bad aliens for decades but Kitty comes along and, in two days flat, she's solving things that no one else has ever been able to.
- Jeff Martini, the love interest who never quits. Jeff meets Kitty early on and at first his flirty comments and sexual innuendos were fun and charming. By chapter three I was wondering if he had an off switch. He didn't.
- No one had an off switch. Every single character in this book had the exact same, snarky attitude and it. Never. Stopped. In a shorter book maybe this wouldn't have mattered so much but since I felt that this book meandered about a 100 pages too long, it mattered.
- No more girlfriends, please. There is a former male-model-turned-secret-agent who happens to be gay. I don't think he had one line in the whole book that didn't incorporate the word "girlfriend" into it.
- Romance, schmomance. I love a nice, slow burn with my fictional couples. Jeff and Kitty? They're not familiar with the concept. They know each other for a whopping two days before they're angsting over their relationship and are declaring love just a couple of days later (the whole book spans a week). It's not terrible, I just didn't buy into it and nor did I care. Oh, and they start calling each other "baby", which is just a personal pet peeve of mine.
I'd give this about two and a half stars overall. I was primed to love it and am sad that I didn't. At this point, I have no plans to read further into the series.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Not great, but solidly good. Despite some info dumping and pacing issues, it was very fun. I'll definitely check out the next one in this series.
I did not enjoy Kitty’s super special power, the way Martini glued himself to her, and the writing. It was dense and didn’t make enough sense for it to be placed on Earth. The explanations were drawn out and confusing.
Awww. Perfect. I love this book a LOT. It took my a while to find a good on on a strong no-nonsence female that was funny and witty, and didn't take herself took seriously. I loved this book more because of who her partner was, an alpha male willing to sit back and be bossed around yet be able to pick up the baton when needed. The supporting characters were great, and the story brilliantly old, flowed seamlessly that i was enthralled from the beginning to end and was never disappointed along the way. Though i have to say towards the end there was a lot to action seems crammed back to back, i could see people easily annoyed by that fact, but i didn't mid it at all. I just loved this book.
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This review was originally published at Vampire Book Club.
If you need a book to break you out of a reading rut, pick up Gini Koch’s Touched by an Alien. The paranormal fantasy is cheeky, action-packed and sexy. (I suppose that also makes it a perfect summer read, too.)
Kitty, the heroine of Touched by an Alien, endears herself quickly. She’s a bright, skeptical woman with a penchant for rock ‘n’ roll and comfy clothes. She finds herself outdoors when a man transforms into a monster — a legit, scary-trying-to-kill-everyone monster — right in front of her. Instead of turning the other way, she digs in her purse, snags a pen and takes down the damn thing. Men in Black types show up immediately, quarantine the scene and whisk Kitty off in a limo.
As much as the men may want to control the situation, Kitty is too smart for their double-speak. In addition to the standard “this doesn’t seem like the FBI” clues, all the agents are hot. Like male model hot. And as soon as Kitty is pointing out all the holes in the guys’ story, agent Jeff Martini declares he’s going to marry her. Turns out these handsome men want to recruit Kitty to be their newest field agent in a war against alien parasites.
Of course, the agency is made up of humanoid aliens. (The women are just as attractive, but tend to do work as scientists.) Kitty comes in and turns things upside. In addition to stealing the charming Jeff Martini’s heart, she’s fearless and able to tackle problems in ways the agents hadn’t even considered. (Hairspray as a weapon? Of course!)
I won’t give away the plot, but expect double agents, big scary monsters, family drama, unrequited love and the kind of steamy scenes that only happen when one character is an empath.
It’s hard not to enjoy characters that leap off the page. And, admittedly, I always love it when the heroine comes in and shows all the boys how it’s done. Kitty just plain kicks ass in Touched by an Alien — and she gets the guy, too.
Sexual content: Sex including a particularly memorable scene in an elevator.
If you need a book to break you out of a reading rut, pick up Gini Koch’s Touched by an Alien. The paranormal fantasy is cheeky, action-packed and sexy. (I suppose that also makes it a perfect summer read, too.)
Kitty, the heroine of Touched by an Alien, endears herself quickly. She’s a bright, skeptical woman with a penchant for rock ‘n’ roll and comfy clothes. She finds herself outdoors when a man transforms into a monster — a legit, scary-trying-to-kill-everyone monster — right in front of her. Instead of turning the other way, she digs in her purse, snags a pen and takes down the damn thing. Men in Black types show up immediately, quarantine the scene and whisk Kitty off in a limo.
As much as the men may want to control the situation, Kitty is too smart for their double-speak. In addition to the standard “this doesn’t seem like the FBI” clues, all the agents are hot. Like male model hot. And as soon as Kitty is pointing out all the holes in the guys’ story, agent Jeff Martini declares he’s going to marry her. Turns out these handsome men want to recruit Kitty to be their newest field agent in a war against alien parasites.
Of course, the agency is made up of humanoid aliens. (The women are just as attractive, but tend to do work as scientists.) Kitty comes in and turns things upside. In addition to stealing the charming Jeff Martini’s heart, she’s fearless and able to tackle problems in ways the agents hadn’t even considered. (Hairspray as a weapon? Of course!)
I won’t give away the plot, but expect double agents, big scary monsters, family drama, unrequited love and the kind of steamy scenes that only happen when one character is an empath.
It’s hard not to enjoy characters that leap off the page. And, admittedly, I always love it when the heroine comes in and shows all the boys how it’s done. Kitty just plain kicks ass in Touched by an Alien — and she gets the guy, too.
Sexual content: Sex including a particularly memorable scene in an elevator.
I am still in shock over how much I adored this book. I started reading and I was hooked, no doubt about it. I love Kitty's personality, snarkiness, and family. They are all so amazingly written. Ok, now I will try to articulate the awesomeness.
The characters in this story know exactly what they are about. They know what they want, where they are going, and who their enemy is. I admire that in a character. They all are also so snarky and sarcastic, including Kitty's parents and I love snarky sarcastic people too. Not to mention everyone is smart and sexy. The emotions the characters felt also felt real for me as a reader. The anger and sadness Kitty felt over Cox, I felt too, even though I didn't know him either. The bad guys, oh, the bad guys, are vile...my opinion on the aliens as a whole was that the author made their evilness portrayed on the outside, they were ugly because they were evil and all the gorgeous aliens were great people on the inside so they were beautiful on the outside.
The plot moves fast...there was not waiting around for anything. It was like "oh look, a bad guy", "oh look, a bad guy" and then it rinsed and repeated. I loved everything, there was so much action and so many smart moves in order to get rid of the bad guys. I adored this book so much, now I want to cry while I wait for the next because it doesn't come out until December.
I also think I should say I dislike science fiction. I don't aliens and spaceships and all that stuff, I just don't like reading it, BUT, this book blew me away. Simply amazing!
The characters in this story know exactly what they are about. They know what they want, where they are going, and who their enemy is. I admire that in a character. They all are also so snarky and sarcastic, including Kitty's parents and I love snarky sarcastic people too. Not to mention everyone is smart and sexy. The emotions the characters felt also felt real for me as a reader. The anger and sadness Kitty felt over Cox, I felt too, even though I didn't know him either. The bad guys, oh, the bad guys, are vile...my opinion on the aliens as a whole was that the author made their evilness portrayed on the outside, they were ugly because they were evil and all the gorgeous aliens were great people on the inside so they were beautiful on the outside.
The plot moves fast...there was not waiting around for anything. It was like "oh look, a bad guy", "oh look, a bad guy" and then it rinsed and repeated. I loved everything, there was so much action and so many smart moves in order to get rid of the bad guys. I adored this book so much, now I want to cry while I wait for the next because it doesn't come out until December.
I also think I should say I dislike science fiction. I don't aliens and spaceships and all that stuff, I just don't like reading it, BUT, this book blew me away. Simply amazing!
Fantastic, quick-paced, super quippy, witty and engaging story from page 1. There's no break, it's 3 days of battles, sex, strategems, brainstorming, and crazy solutions when faced with aliens, Men in Black style. Enjoy!
Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch is one of those rare books that keeps the action, suspense, and humor going from start to finish. Kitty is smart, level-headed, and wields a mean can of hairspray. There were times when she seemed to catch on a little too quickly and her plans worked a little too well, but that’s often par for the course in fiction. After all, if the hero/heroine’s plans never worked, there wouldn’t be much of a book, would there?
Full review available here: http://www.bittenbybooks.com/38129/touched-by-an-alien-by-gini-koch/#more-38129
Full review available here: http://www.bittenbybooks.com/38129/touched-by-an-alien-by-gini-koch/#more-38129