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chaotic_reddragon 's review for:
The House at Watch Hill
by Karen Marie Moning
Where to start? There are so many negative things to say about this book! I really can't understand the hype. I am damn glad I didn't splurge on a cute hardcover special edition... If I had I'd be so mad!
My main pet peeve is the writing style. It is pompous, full of dichotomies and phrases that try to sound wise and philosophical and instead fall flat and sound petulant. Besides that, since the book is narrated in the first person by the main character, Zo, who is a cleaner and waitress, it makes no sense whatsoever to have her sound like poet laureate PhD in her head. She spouted nonsense that had me grabbing for a dictionary for Christ's sake! She is neither an avid reader nor literate enough for some of the words she chooses for rambling moments of pseudo wisdom.
Regarding the plot as a whole, this book could have been edited to be half its length and be a good first 50% of a novel. As it stands, it drags on and on, and when it comes to an end it feels like the story barely advanced. I wouldn't be surprised if this was milked by the author into a 5+ book saga, considering the cliffhanger and all the heavy hint dropping throughout this first installment.
There are other things that really bothered me like how Zo has been seeing ghosts, pushing into people's thoughts and reading people's intentions, but she is so logical and normal she doesn't believe in magic whatsoever. Really? You think other people do those things? Talk about delusional.
Don't even get me started on her relationship with her mother, the dragon in her tummy, her inability to ask a question and get answers, or how she chooses to dodge things that clearly require investigating or digging into because she just doesn't feel like burdening her mind with more stuff.
I absolutely hated her weak character, particularly when the author is trying to sell her like a badass men eater that is just so resilient and strong. Don't tell me that stuff, show it to me with her actions! And please make the character make sense, don't have her spout strong nonsense/cookie wisdom phrases and then act like an ostrich burying her head in the sand at the slightest issue.
As far as I have seen this is the author's style so she is going straight into my do-not-bother box, and I strongly advice you not to lose any time yourself reading this novel.
My main pet peeve is the writing style. It is pompous, full of dichotomies and phrases that try to sound wise and philosophical and instead fall flat and sound petulant. Besides that, since the book is narrated in the first person by the main character, Zo, who is a cleaner and waitress, it makes no sense whatsoever to have her sound like poet laureate PhD in her head. She spouted nonsense that had me grabbing for a dictionary for Christ's sake! She is neither an avid reader nor literate enough for some of the words she chooses for rambling moments of pseudo wisdom.
Regarding the plot as a whole, this book could have been edited to be half its length and be a good first 50% of a novel. As it stands, it drags on and on, and when it comes to an end it feels like the story barely advanced. I wouldn't be surprised if this was milked by the author into a 5+ book saga, considering the cliffhanger and all the heavy hint dropping throughout this first installment.
There are other things that really bothered me like how Zo has been seeing ghosts, pushing into people's thoughts and reading people's intentions, but she is so logical and normal she doesn't believe in magic whatsoever. Really? You think other people do those things? Talk about delusional.
Don't even get me started on her relationship with her mother, the dragon in her tummy, her inability to ask a question and get answers, or how she chooses to dodge things that clearly require investigating or digging into because she just doesn't feel like burdening her mind with more stuff.
I absolutely hated her weak character, particularly when the author is trying to sell her like a badass men eater that is just so resilient and strong. Don't tell me that stuff, show it to me with her actions! And please make the character make sense, don't have her spout strong nonsense/cookie wisdom phrases and then act like an ostrich burying her head in the sand at the slightest issue.
As far as I have seen this is the author's style so she is going straight into my do-not-bother box, and I strongly advice you not to lose any time yourself reading this novel.