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A review by acidraineburns
Dying Bites by D.D. Barant
2.0
When I first picked up this book, the whole concept seemed rather interesting and unique. Most of the time we're used to seeing urban fantasy books that present an alternate view of reality—a reality where supernaturals live alongside the human population. However, in this book, that isn't the case. Jace must be transported to a parallel universe in order to pull in the UF elements. Something about that was different and fresh. Nevertheless, once I started the book, the whole concept was just blasé. The world creation just fell short. Tracing the supernatural takeover back to WWII was neat; however, I still felt it was underdeveloped.
As a character, Jace was annoying and unsympathetic. She vacillated between different bouts of moodiness. Half of the time I couldn't decide if she needed to be medicated or just take time off for PMS. It was obvious that the author intended for Jace to be witty, funny, and snarky; however, she just came across as a bitch. There are several times when Jace jumps to conclusions and is extremely rude/unpleasant toward the people she works with. Many times she would attack Charlie for no apparent reason.
While some of the other character seemed like they could have had interesting back stories, they were one dimensional and embryonic. Further, all of the races seem to be the same: the lycanthropes are in a constant state of rut, the vampires feed to the cold and aloof stereotype, and so on.
There were a lot of weird things in the book that didn't sense to me. The humans, while stating that they were not supes, could have magical powers and shape change. That seemed rather weird. If humans were a helpless minority, why would they be able to control magic? It was obvious that the author did a lot of research; however, she has regular humans as selkies. Huh?
For me, the book rounds out to a big, resounding meh. It just didn't do it for me. It was a rather mindless read and never helped me move beyond my initial feelings. Moreover, the ending was extremely predictable. That being said,there are some sui generis themes that could easily be cultivated into something amazing. As it stands, this book is immature, badly paced, and not well thought out.
As a character, Jace was annoying and unsympathetic. She vacillated between different bouts of moodiness. Half of the time I couldn't decide if she needed to be medicated or just take time off for PMS. It was obvious that the author intended for Jace to be witty, funny, and snarky; however, she just came across as a bitch. There are several times when Jace jumps to conclusions and is extremely rude/unpleasant toward the people she works with. Many times she would attack Charlie for no apparent reason.
While some of the other character seemed like they could have had interesting back stories, they were one dimensional and embryonic. Further, all of the races seem to be the same: the lycanthropes are in a constant state of rut, the vampires feed to the cold and aloof stereotype, and so on.
There were a lot of weird things in the book that didn't sense to me. The humans, while stating that they were not supes, could have magical powers and shape change. That seemed rather weird. If humans were a helpless minority, why would they be able to control magic? It was obvious that the author did a lot of research; however, she has regular humans as selkies. Huh?
For me, the book rounds out to a big, resounding meh. It just didn't do it for me. It was a rather mindless read and never helped me move beyond my initial feelings. Moreover, the ending was extremely predictable. That being said,there are some sui generis themes that could easily be cultivated into something amazing. As it stands, this book is immature, badly paced, and not well thought out.