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A review by kimmiesaurus
Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Callie makes a deal with a powerful fae called the Bargainer to cover up an incident that can ruin her life. As she tries to move on, she finds herself consistently calling him back and making deals to spend time with him so she is not lonely. One day he just stops visiting and Callie must create a life without him. 7 years later he finally shows up to collect on the payment she owes him.
This book just was not for me. The characters were all problematic and I just could not force myself to care about any of them. Even if you can get past the glaring issue of grooming, as the Bargainer is a goodness-knows-how-old fae who becomes engrossed in a 15 year olds life, the book itself was just not interesting. The author even feels the need to lower the age of adulthood to 16 for the sake of the story despite it not really providing much to the story other than making it that much creepier.
The story primarily follows the developing relationship of Callie and the Bargainer and there is no much plot to the book. Then at the very end, it feels like the author realized they set up a story and tried to rush and resolve it in the last 30 pages. There was no real suspense and although it is a series, I feel like the book could have ended with this one and the resolution would have been fine.
The characters themselves were all very unlikable.
Temper is a terribly stereotyped 'cool friend' and none of her dialogue feels natural. Most of her conversation is just swearing for the sake of it. It is reminiscent of a 12 year old trying to look cool by swearing a lot even if it makes no sense.
Eli is meant to be this protective alpha but he is just a predator. He basically assaults Callie and then tries (successfully) to make her feel bad about it because she used her abilities to stop him. Then when he flies off the handle, he comes crawling back with - sorry I was just angry-. And through Callie's eyes it is like we're supposed to feel sorry for him and how hard it is for him because of his emotions.
Callie is supposed to be some strong woman who has learned to control her power and does not take flack from anyone. But whenever anything even remotely challenging comes up she folds like a lawn chair and becomes some weeping worthless woman and it drove me crazy. She constantly makes excuses for the men in her life as the manipulate and control her.
The Bargainer has almost no depth to him. They say he has all this power and everyone is afraid of him, but he also just feels like some guy trying to hard to be cool. His lines that are meant to be intimidating or threatening just feel like a guy who takes himself too seriously and comes off as clumsy and out of place. He is extremely controlling and sees it as love.
I ultimately found myself wishing Callie would stand up for herself and see it through at least once. Instead she just ends up going along with what everyone else wants for her and does not seem like a main character at all.
As a few others have mentioned, there are also a number of grammatical issues that pull you out of the story. I doubt I will continue with the series.
This book just was not for me. The characters were all problematic and I just could not force myself to care about any of them. Even if you can get past the glaring issue of grooming, as the Bargainer is a goodness-knows-how-old fae who becomes engrossed in a 15 year olds life, the book itself was just not interesting. The author even feels the need to lower the age of adulthood to 16 for the sake of the story despite it not really providing much to the story other than making it that much creepier.
The story primarily follows the developing relationship of Callie and the Bargainer and there is no much plot to the book. Then at the very end, it feels like the author realized they set up a story and tried to rush and resolve it in the last 30 pages. There was no real suspense and although it is a series, I feel like the book could have ended with this one and the resolution would have been fine.
The characters themselves were all very unlikable.
Temper is a terribly stereotyped 'cool friend' and none of her dialogue feels natural. Most of her conversation is just swearing for the sake of it. It is reminiscent of a 12 year old trying to look cool by swearing a lot even if it makes no sense.
Eli is meant to be this protective alpha but he is just a predator. He basically assaults Callie and then tries (successfully) to make her feel bad about it because she used her abilities to stop him. Then when he flies off the handle, he comes crawling back with - sorry I was just angry-. And through Callie's eyes it is like we're supposed to feel sorry for him and how hard it is for him because of his emotions.
Callie is supposed to be some strong woman who has learned to control her power and does not take flack from anyone. But whenever anything even remotely challenging comes up she folds like a lawn chair and becomes some weeping worthless woman and it drove me crazy. She constantly makes excuses for the men in her life as the manipulate and control her.
The Bargainer has almost no depth to him. They say he has all this power and everyone is afraid of him, but he also just feels like some guy trying to hard to be cool. His lines that are meant to be intimidating or threatening just feel like a guy who takes himself too seriously and comes off as clumsy and out of place. He is extremely controlling and sees it as love.
I ultimately found myself wishing Callie would stand up for herself and see it through at least once. Instead she just ends up going along with what everyone else wants for her and does not seem like a main character at all.
As a few others have mentioned, there are also a number of grammatical issues that pull you out of the story. I doubt I will continue with the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Rape