A review by kalira
Lucas by MJ James

emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No

2.75

(I received a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.)

Reading the description for this, I expected a very owchy, angsty story but was definitely intrigued - for a time when I was in a good headspace for such a thing, at least. (The description also gave no hints that Lucas is 40 or that he's divorced, which both could have been interesting things to know as a draw to the story . . . but were kind of a 'throw' without any such hints. And I did often find myself forgetting that he is supposedly 40 as I read.)
 
I did not expect . . . well, a lot of things about what I actually got in this novella. I did feel very badly for Lucas . . . in a lot of ways. I also felt incredibly angry - not just at Veronica, which I gather is really the intended feeling and wasn't surprised at (though at times she feels more like a spoiled bratty teenager than a very old, frustrated and selfish vampire), but at . . . most of the people who feature, really. And especially Jeffery. It felt very rushed when they suddenly hooked up, but not entirely off or uncomfortable . . . and then Jeffery's actions towards Lucas after that kept making things feel uncomfortable. Also, really . . . it felt like Lucas needed someone steady and time to adjust and actual information - not a lover, who told him very little that was helpful, opened with 'I want to use you for my own political agenda', and got openly frustrated with Lucas for . . . being dreadfully upset and making a few relatively incredibly minor 'missteps'. Some of which wouldn't have happened if literally anyone had given Lucas important information about his existence. Which absolutely no one even seems inclined to do - even Mika, who offered a little more from a distance, though not much of help even when Lucas came back and she could have.
 
. . .in fact, when someone does finally seem willing to explain things to Lucas . . . we get a fade-to-black that not only covers the sex scene, but the entirety of Jeffery explaining the town, the council, and everything else of relevance. Lucas asks a few questions post-skipped section, but it tells us very little. It evidently wasn't enough, see those mishaps he had, but the reader didn't even get that much.
 
The vampire 'horde' felt authoritarian and dystopian in very discomfortable ways. So new vampires need to be taught and also mature, understandable and sensible . . . not so much as listening to them, treating them like adult persons with minds of their own, but instead locking them into their rooms, etc. is . . . not a good way of handling that. In Lucas' place I would have taken that car and driven the hell out of dodge.
 
It took about a fifth to a quarter of the book to get to the beginning of the plot, which then noodled about for a while being frustrating (on Lucas' behalf, mostly), and then end of the book felt more like a midpoint, with major happenings right n the edge of happening. Aaand Lucas having just been smashcut rushed through oh actually vampires are so accepting and great, totally okay witth everything now, I feel at home for the first time! . . . down to his latest supposed mentor literally rushing him through the house introducing people (none of which we saw) and . . . that's it. Addressed exactly zero of the very real issues Lucas had with being here, being a vampire, or the way people have treated him. It was only the last in a fluctuating array of slightly off (slow or fast or simply wonky) pacing issues.
 
I did like Lucas and felt for him; I also liked Rocko, perhaps the only person I did like in Ember. I was also curious about Ember and how it works, who the other groups represented in the 10-member council are (or literally anything about any of them other than the alpha wolf and the head vampire, despite multiple council meetings), and a number of other things that were either only hinted at or not even that much.
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