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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Good. I can see where this is a pretty good series, but the first book was enough for me for awhile.
I like her earlier books better before the scale tips from “plot with sex scenes that advance the plot” to “sex scenes with a little plot thrown in.”
I’ll start with a little bit of background of my experience with Ms. Hamilton’s writing. About 10 years ago I started reading the Anita Blake series. At first, I liked it a lot but as the series progressed the crimes got gorier, the sex got more meaning-less (she just started having sex with everyone), in some ways it became repetitive. It was very formulaic. She would find one impossible crime that was very gory, she will be the only person who could fix it and then she will have sex with more, and more people. I made it through the first 10 books. But I got fatigued and did not want to read any more of them as they were, like I said, repetitive and, in some ways, just trying to outdo each other in the gory and sex department. Anita Blake went from being a person that did not have sex with just anyone to be the complete opposite; a person that had sex with just about everyone. It started being very confusing as to what relationship she was in (or who she was doing). And why she was doing some of the things that she was doing. Basically, everyone was game for sex. Which was the opposite of how this character started.
After 10 years of not reading anything by Ms. Hamilton I decided to pick up her Merry Gentry series. I had not read it in all these years because I felt that I would not like it as much as I did the original Anita (first few books). Also, because the subject was not as interesting to me. I am not the biggest fan of Fae court stories. But while I waited for another book that I am very interested in to come out I decided to pick up A Kiss of Shadows just to keep myself entertained.
A lot of reviewers said that it was just bad porn. Others said that it was a great story, even better than Anita Blake. As far as I can tell yes, it’s very porn-like. But that did not bother me as much at the beginning since she made it part of the story. Mary is not human she is Fae, she has different views and how she approaches sex in general is much different than humans. Her having sex with different characters is interpreted from the beginning as her just being different and the author just trying to drive that point home.
Where the story started lacking for me was when the actual plot started being developed. I thought that she would be a P.I. in LA and we would get to see that. But that was not the case, that was only the very beginning of the book. When the book starts she has no powers, has no connections in the court, and she is running from her aunt, the queen. But as the book progresses characters are introduced, made to seem important, then promptly become irrelevant to the story right after they almost have sex in one way or another. Which made it seem unnecessary and a waste of the reader’s time.
After she gets to the court I thought that things would pick up, but it just becomes assassination attempt after assassination attempt in a way that was not really intriguing or interesting. A lot of the events seem to be glossed over and the story is just not interesting enough to make the reader care about the characters. It becomes all about sex; connections, alliances, anything and everything, the currency is blood or sex. Then she gets forced to have to make a child with one of 27 men, so sex became kind of a chore. This made it repetitive and not interesting.
Honestly, I wanted to get into the series. I wanted to like it as much as I once liked Anita Blake back at the very beginning. But from the very beginning it is all just sex and gore. While some of the story is interesting it was not captivating enough for me to want to read the next book. Frankly it was just a little bit too much. The sex was interesting and sexy sometimes, but other times it was just there. As far as the story you are introduced to a main character whose situation changes tremendously from the beginning of the book to the end of the book. The problem I had with this was that it did not reflect growth on the character. It just felt abrupt and forced at times. She went from being a powerless no-one running for her life, to being a very powerful heir to the throne. This is told in the summary at the beginning. I just figured that it would happen more naturally versus wham-bam go from point A to point B in no time.
As far as the other characters around her, this is a reverse harem so there are a lot of male characters surrounding her. Some of them are very interesting from the get go like Darkness, and Frost. But they do not really get developed. They just have a sexual encounter with her, and that’s it. I assume that they will be developed further on in the series. The evil characters are interesting enough, the queen is portrayed as crazy and merciless yet protective of her son. Her son, like a spoiled brat that has gone crazy with power. Both of which are cruel sadists. The family history is given very quickly and there is a lot of information which is not easy to process. I found it very confusing and had to reread a couple of times to try and figure out who was who and from which court. It gets confusing as the story is told. I kept thinking that I had it figured out just to realize that I was thinking of it completely wrong. I am sure that everything will be further developed later. I just really would have wished that the background story of the family would have been given enough development from the get go. And that it had not been so confusing.
I will not continue reading this series.
After 10 years of not reading anything by Ms. Hamilton I decided to pick up her Merry Gentry series. I had not read it in all these years because I felt that I would not like it as much as I did the original Anita (first few books). Also, because the subject was not as interesting to me. I am not the biggest fan of Fae court stories. But while I waited for another book that I am very interested in to come out I decided to pick up A Kiss of Shadows just to keep myself entertained.
A lot of reviewers said that it was just bad porn. Others said that it was a great story, even better than Anita Blake. As far as I can tell yes, it’s very porn-like. But that did not bother me as much at the beginning since she made it part of the story. Mary is not human she is Fae, she has different views and how she approaches sex in general is much different than humans. Her having sex with different characters is interpreted from the beginning as her just being different and the author just trying to drive that point home.
Where the story started lacking for me was when the actual plot started being developed. I thought that she would be a P.I. in LA and we would get to see that. But that was not the case, that was only the very beginning of the book. When the book starts she has no powers, has no connections in the court, and she is running from her aunt, the queen. But as the book progresses characters are introduced, made to seem important, then promptly become irrelevant to the story right after they almost have sex in one way or another. Which made it seem unnecessary and a waste of the reader’s time.
After she gets to the court I thought that things would pick up, but it just becomes assassination attempt after assassination attempt in a way that was not really intriguing or interesting. A lot of the events seem to be glossed over and the story is just not interesting enough to make the reader care about the characters. It becomes all about sex; connections, alliances, anything and everything, the currency is blood or sex. Then she gets forced to have to make a child with one of 27 men, so sex became kind of a chore. This made it repetitive and not interesting.
Honestly, I wanted to get into the series. I wanted to like it as much as I once liked Anita Blake back at the very beginning. But from the very beginning it is all just sex and gore. While some of the story is interesting it was not captivating enough for me to want to read the next book. Frankly it was just a little bit too much. The sex was interesting and sexy sometimes, but other times it was just there. As far as the story you are introduced to a main character whose situation changes tremendously from the beginning of the book to the end of the book. The problem I had with this was that it did not reflect growth on the character. It just felt abrupt and forced at times. She went from being a powerless no-one running for her life, to being a very powerful heir to the throne. This is told in the summary at the beginning. I just figured that it would happen more naturally versus wham-bam go from point A to point B in no time.
As far as the other characters around her, this is a reverse harem so there are a lot of male characters surrounding her. Some of them are very interesting from the get go like Darkness, and Frost. But they do not really get developed. They just have a sexual encounter with her, and that’s it. I assume that they will be developed further on in the series. The evil characters are interesting enough, the queen is portrayed as crazy and merciless yet protective of her son. Her son, like a spoiled brat that has gone crazy with power. Both of which are cruel sadists. The family history is given very quickly and there is a lot of information which is not easy to process. I found it very confusing and had to reread a couple of times to try and figure out who was who and from which court. It gets confusing as the story is told. I kept thinking that I had it figured out just to realize that I was thinking of it completely wrong. I am sure that everything will be further developed later. I just really would have wished that the background story of the family would have been given enough development from the get go. And that it had not been so confusing.
I will not continue reading this series.
dark
medium-paced
As a huge Anita Blake fan, I didn't really know alot about Merry. But after reading book 1 in the series, I can say that I will definitely be reading the rest! There's the pre-requisite holsters, weapons and men. Merry is very different to Anita though and I look forward to getting to know her.
I read this book in 2004 originally. And I decided to re-read it (and hopefully the rest of the series) now...to hold me over until the release of A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Mass.
But...I'm not sure how I enjoyed this book as a teen. The writing was almost terrible at times, and the pacing was frustrating. Also, don't get me started on the awkwardness of the dialogue.
I barely made it to the end of this book...and I had to skin the last 20 pages to make it through.
I'll admit I'm curious as to how the story goes...but I don't think I can handle another book like this!
But...I'm not sure how I enjoyed this book as a teen. The writing was almost terrible at times, and the pacing was frustrating. Also, don't get me started on the awkwardness of the dialogue.
I barely made it to the end of this book...and I had to skin the last 20 pages to make it through.
I'll admit I'm curious as to how the story goes...but I don't think I can handle another book like this!
Real score 3.88. A precursor to SJM surely. I’m going to have to sit on further review at this stage. I’ll be back.