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A review by katyanaish
Alien Diplomacy by Gini Koch
3.0
Well. I liked this book least out of the series so far. To the point where ... honestly, even giving it 3 stars feels like a stretch to me.
My main problems.
1. Jeff. I honestly hate him now.
The jealousy and over-protective crap are just too much. There has been no progression in their relationship, and it's a problem. Furthermore, the plotline of him constantly trying to sideline Kitty "for her protection" is so stupid, at this point, that it makes him TSTL. Look. Kitty is ALWAYS the ONLY one to figure out what is going on. Keeping her in the dark about stuff has ALWAYS put her in more danger, because at best it means she has to swoop in to save everyone (putting her in serious danger because she's left handling a threat that has already taken down the entire rest of the team), while at worst it leaves her open to an attack she couldn't anticipate.
2. The job changes.
I have a couple problems with this. Firstly, I was alright with the transition as it was presented in the last book - that Kitty, Jeff and Christopher would be fighting the same fight, but attacking it from the political arena... which seems to be the source of most of their issues now anyway.
However, it just didn't work. Alpha team treated them as if they were now... I don't know, some of the tone of their encounters made it sound like "run along now children and let the adults handle things." Reader was even condescending, at more than one point.
At the end of the day, none of this makes sense. They've succeed because they ARE a team. The way this book played out, it was as if they'd taken their power pieces and demoted them, and now expected them to run around using only half their brains, because gods-forbid they deal with a problem they figured out before Alpha. It makes no sense for Jeff, Kitty and Christopher to have taken a step backwards in authority. Literally zero sense. This should have been an expansion of their roles, and a delegation of some things to Reader, Tim and Serene. Not a surrender of all leadership to them. Frankly, Alpha was such assholes in this book that I would be okay with the three of them offing the whole lot and taking both jobs over again.
It also makes no sense in terms of how the world has been set up. In previous books - where the Diplomatic Corps WAS the problem - Alpha team was powerless to stop them, because we were told that they were essentially a separate branch of A-C government, serving as checks and balances. So WHY does Alpha act as though they have primary authority? Jeff and Christopher didn't get to do that in earlier books. Why don't the three of them - Jeff, Christopher and Kitty - tell them to fuck straight off? And if they are going to get hassled about trying to use a team when they are in a critical situation - dude, at one point in this book, they are told by Gladys that she won't even give them a gate unless Reader approves it - then why doesn't the Diplomatic Corp have their own full team?
Why is it structured this way? This division of power and assets and resources seems like a mess designed to cause problems, rather than something set up to help them survive the dangerous atmosphere they are trying to work through.
There is a lot that I like about this series. But these things that were annoyances previously - Jeff's douchey behavior and the constant sidelining of Kitty - have become dominant plot threads. And now it isn't just Kitty being sidelined, it is also Christopher and Jeff. This makes no sense, and is utterly stupid.
My main problems.
1. Jeff. I honestly hate him now.
The jealousy and over-protective crap are just too much. There has been no progression in their relationship, and it's a problem. Furthermore, the plotline of him constantly trying to sideline Kitty "for her protection" is so stupid, at this point, that it makes him TSTL. Look. Kitty is ALWAYS the ONLY one to figure out what is going on. Keeping her in the dark about stuff has ALWAYS put her in more danger, because at best it means she has to swoop in to save everyone (putting her in serious danger because she's left handling a threat that has already taken down the entire rest of the team), while at worst it leaves her open to an attack she couldn't anticipate.
2. The job changes.
I have a couple problems with this. Firstly, I was alright with the transition as it was presented in the last book - that Kitty, Jeff and Christopher would be fighting the same fight, but attacking it from the political arena... which seems to be the source of most of their issues now anyway.
However, it just didn't work. Alpha team treated them as if they were now... I don't know, some of the tone of their encounters made it sound like "run along now children and let the adults handle things." Reader was even condescending, at more than one point.
At the end of the day, none of this makes sense. They've succeed because they ARE a team. The way this book played out, it was as if they'd taken their power pieces and demoted them, and now expected them to run around using only half their brains, because gods-forbid they deal with a problem they figured out before Alpha. It makes no sense for Jeff, Kitty and Christopher to have taken a step backwards in authority. Literally zero sense. This should have been an expansion of their roles, and a delegation of some things to Reader, Tim and Serene. Not a surrender of all leadership to them. Frankly, Alpha was such assholes in this book that I would be okay with the three of them offing the whole lot and taking both jobs over again.
It also makes no sense in terms of how the world has been set up. In previous books - where the Diplomatic Corps WAS the problem - Alpha team was powerless to stop them, because we were told that they were essentially a separate branch of A-C government, serving as checks and balances. So WHY does Alpha act as though they have primary authority? Jeff and Christopher didn't get to do that in earlier books. Why don't the three of them - Jeff, Christopher and Kitty - tell them to fuck straight off? And if they are going to get hassled about trying to use a team when they are in a critical situation - dude, at one point in this book, they are told by Gladys that she won't even give them a gate unless Reader approves it - then why doesn't the Diplomatic Corp have their own full team?
Why is it structured this way? This division of power and assets and resources seems like a mess designed to cause problems, rather than something set up to help them survive the dangerous atmosphere they are trying to work through.
There is a lot that I like about this series. But these things that were annoyances previously - Jeff's douchey behavior and the constant sidelining of Kitty - have become dominant plot threads. And now it isn't just Kitty being sidelined, it is also Christopher and Jeff. This makes no sense, and is utterly stupid.