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A review by fredicia
Deceptions by Kelley Armstrong
3.0
I liked the other two better. Not that this was a bad book, because I don't think Kelley Armstrong is capable of writing bad books, and if this was standalone novel then yeah, four or maybe five stars. But I liked the other two better and Deceptions has fallen short of the benchmark I have set for this series.
A lot of it is frustration. At some point, I realized that this has become as much of a romance novel as a mystery novel, and as with most paranormal romance novels, the characters fall into the dumbass trap of making dumbass mistakes because of lack of communication. Considering two of the trio (Olivia, Gabriel and Ricky just to clarify) are terribly sensible and cynical this shouldn't be happening. No one likes a love triangle. They are tedious and way to dramatic to read about and now that we have this fated love doom scenario that plays out over and over, but not really and it's just like... what? This, and maybe it is just me, is not what I signed up for. I signed up for badass ass kicking by Olivia and Gabriel, and I was fine with Ricky joining in, but I did not sign up for romantic, "emotionally illiterate" angst. And yeah, I know, a love triangle was pretty much unavoidable and strongly hinted at in the last book, but I was hoping that it would be resolved quickly and efficiently.
I think it's become pretty bad if Ricky, the descendant of some vigilante who rides horses in the dead of the night and drags people to the underworld, is making better decisions that everyone else. His entire personality trope is supposed to be hot temper and passionate ill advised choices at its worst.
Is there character development? Gabriel has issues. That has been established over and over again. He has... a few less issues this time around, so yeah, there's a bit of character development.
What do we learn plot wise in this story? Well, we learn if the Larsens are innocent or guilty. We learn about the fated love triangle of doom. We learn about why everyone is suddenly interested in Olivia.
So, not the best that it could have been.
_____________________________________________________________
A list of things I want:
==> Gabriel and Olivia being badass and taking names. I want them to continue being partners.
==> James to disappear. Preferably forever.
==>Why are there faeries spewing out of the woodwork suddenly like dust bunnies?
==> THIS BOOK TO COME OUT TOMORROW.
Needless to say, some things are more likely to happen than others.
On a side note, I wonder what type of fae blood Olivia has. My (probably incorrect) theory is that she is both Tylwyth Teg and a descendent of the Wild Hunt. Cainsville offspring have addiction issues and a gift for deception, but that doesn't apply to Olivia. She is, however, an adrenaline junkie, which is a reasonable consequence of being a grandchild of somebody that rides around dragging people to the underworld. There's also mentioning of problematic mixed blood in Visions, which could mean fae and human, but it seems more than that.
And she does have all those powers.
A lot of it is frustration. At some point, I realized that this has become as much of a romance novel as a mystery novel, and as with most paranormal romance novels, the characters fall into the dumbass trap of making dumbass mistakes because of lack of communication. Considering two of the trio (Olivia, Gabriel and Ricky just to clarify) are terribly sensible and cynical this shouldn't be happening. No one likes a love triangle. They are tedious and way to dramatic to read about and now that we have this fated love doom scenario that plays out over and over, but not really and it's just like... what? This, and maybe it is just me, is not what I signed up for. I signed up for badass ass kicking by Olivia and Gabriel, and I was fine with Ricky joining in, but I did not sign up for romantic, "emotionally illiterate" angst. And yeah, I know, a love triangle was pretty much unavoidable and strongly hinted at in the last book, but I was hoping that it would be resolved quickly and efficiently.
I think it's become pretty bad if Ricky, the descendant of some vigilante who rides horses in the dead of the night and drags people to the underworld, is making better decisions that everyone else. His entire personality trope is supposed to be hot temper and passionate ill advised choices at its worst.
Is there character development? Gabriel has issues. That has been established over and over again. He has... a few less issues this time around, so yeah, there's a bit of character development.
What do we learn plot wise in this story? Well, we learn if the Larsens are innocent or guilty. We learn about the fated love triangle of doom. We learn about why everyone is suddenly interested in Olivia.
So, not the best that it could have been.
_____________________________________________________________
A list of things I want:
==> Gabriel and Olivia being badass and taking names. I want them to continue being partners.
==> James to disappear. Preferably forever.
==>Why are there faeries spewing out of the woodwork suddenly like dust bunnies?
==> THIS BOOK TO COME OUT TOMORROW.
Needless to say, some things are more likely to happen than others.
On a side note, I wonder what type of fae blood Olivia has. My (probably incorrect) theory is that she is both Tylwyth Teg and a descendent of the Wild Hunt. Cainsville offspring have addiction issues and a gift for deception, but that doesn't apply to Olivia. She is, however, an adrenaline junkie, which is a reasonable consequence of being a grandchild of somebody that rides around dragging people to the underworld. There's also mentioning of problematic mixed blood in Visions, which could mean fae and human, but it seems more than that.
And she does have all those powers.