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A review by ghostlydreamer
Dangerous Creatures by Kami Garcia
2.0
This could have been great. It WOULD have been great. And then you treated Ridley like dirt. I don't mean that in the "you made her go through bad things and I hate you for that!" kind of way. I mean that in the "what the fuck happened to this character? She's not even the same person!" kind of way.
Ridley? She's a shitty person. Her motives are all wrong, even though I almost can't help but feel sorry for her given the cards she was dealt. But you know what? In the original 4 books, Ridley was amusing as hell. She wasn't always the good guy, but she was entertaining to read about. She just oozed sex, sarcasm, and haughty confidence like no one else could. And yeah, she was riddled with cliches. But she was Ridley. And at least she was INTERESTING. Her dialogue choices always had me cracking up. These are the things that made me love her, even though we shouldn't.
So when I discovered there was a spin-off book featuring Ridley as our main focus, I was all for it. I was done with my Caster Chronicles phase by this time and had worked myself well out of the YA trash hole I previously dug myself in. I was already learning to recognize that I much preferred adult fiction to YA fiction. But nostalgia beckoned, and I came running. Because Beautiful Creatures still has a lot of meaning to me, and I like I said, Ridley drew me in. But then I read the book. And all I can ask is...what the HELL happened to you, Ridley?
This isn't the same Ridley as the one we read about in the original books. Not even close. Sure, she has the same name, the same looks. But she's a shadow of her former self. And no, I don't think this has anything to do with Ridley maturing since the events of Beautiful Redemption either. I also don't believe this is just a more vulnerable version of herself that we weren't privy to in the former books because it wasn't coming from her perspective. If that were the case, we'd see both sides of her. The more vulnerable and insecure side that's struggling, merged with that haughty, irresistible siren charm that we're already familiar with from the first books. There was none of that. She's watered down and one-dimensional. And that, my friends, was a let down.
Now, I can't remember the plot. I have a few hazy silhouettes of memories forming at the back of my mind, but I can't call them to fruition and I'm not sure I want to. So I'm assuming the plot wasn't anything spectacular and was largely forgettable.
And what about Link? Well, he was never my favorite character either. So I didn't really care for him. And while his infatuation for Ridley made total sense, hers for him made none to me. It felt...forced. Like it's more than just they're incompatible. Yet I feel like that's part of the reason why Ridley is so watered down. Because of the relationship with Link that already made no sense to me.
I still had fun with the book. That justifies the 2 stars. And I loved how the chapter titles were named after classic heavy metal and rock songs. That felt fitting, between the two of them (Link and Ridley). But that's about all I can recall that I enjoyed. I went on to read the sequel, but liked that even less. One day I'll finish rereading the Caster Chronicles. But this will not be a part of that. But I have to say, it looks nice when they're all lined up in a row together, including this one.
Ridley? She's a shitty person. Her motives are all wrong, even though I almost can't help but feel sorry for her given the cards she was dealt. But you know what? In the original 4 books, Ridley was amusing as hell. She wasn't always the good guy, but she was entertaining to read about. She just oozed sex, sarcasm, and haughty confidence like no one else could. And yeah, she was riddled with cliches. But she was Ridley. And at least she was INTERESTING. Her dialogue choices always had me cracking up. These are the things that made me love her, even though we shouldn't.
So when I discovered there was a spin-off book featuring Ridley as our main focus, I was all for it. I was done with my Caster Chronicles phase by this time and had worked myself well out of the YA trash hole I previously dug myself in. I was already learning to recognize that I much preferred adult fiction to YA fiction. But nostalgia beckoned, and I came running. Because Beautiful Creatures still has a lot of meaning to me, and I like I said, Ridley drew me in. But then I read the book. And all I can ask is...what the HELL happened to you, Ridley?
This isn't the same Ridley as the one we read about in the original books. Not even close. Sure, she has the same name, the same looks. But she's a shadow of her former self. And no, I don't think this has anything to do with Ridley maturing since the events of Beautiful Redemption either. I also don't believe this is just a more vulnerable version of herself that we weren't privy to in the former books because it wasn't coming from her perspective. If that were the case, we'd see both sides of her. The more vulnerable and insecure side that's struggling, merged with that haughty, irresistible siren charm that we're already familiar with from the first books. There was none of that. She's watered down and one-dimensional. And that, my friends, was a let down.
Now, I can't remember the plot. I have a few hazy silhouettes of memories forming at the back of my mind, but I can't call them to fruition and I'm not sure I want to. So I'm assuming the plot wasn't anything spectacular and was largely forgettable.
And what about Link? Well, he was never my favorite character either. So I didn't really care for him. And while his infatuation for Ridley made total sense, hers for him made none to me. It felt...forced. Like it's more than just they're incompatible. Yet I feel like that's part of the reason why Ridley is so watered down. Because of the relationship with Link that already made no sense to me.
I still had fun with the book. That justifies the 2 stars. And I loved how the chapter titles were named after classic heavy metal and rock songs. That felt fitting, between the two of them (Link and Ridley). But that's about all I can recall that I enjoyed. I went on to read the sequel, but liked that even less. One day I'll finish rereading the Caster Chronicles. But this will not be a part of that. But I have to say, it looks nice when they're all lined up in a row together, including this one.