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A review by koops333
Book of the Dead: AESLI-00 by V.E.S. Pullen
3.0
oh man...I want to give this 4 stars for the story, and feel like I have to give it 3 for the writing, but there were so many problematic things going on with the characters.
Okay lets back up first- In this story we have out h Azzie who has a rare blood disorder, and we meet and follow her along in her day to day life living on a military base. Things start out a little normal- we see her joking with her friend working at the lab- Mouse while her blood is being taken, and we see her going to school (filled with the typical teenage jerks).
And while Azzie may be a little checked out on life- having to spend most of her energy just trying to survive- she is also on one hand very sarcastic and outspoken, while on the other painfully shy.
But things aren't exactly as they seem- with the arrival of a bunch of new people (who happen to be a few pairs of twins, and a group of tripplets) in Azzie's life we start to see the break down of what exactly is going on in this base, who Azzie is, and what shady shit the powers at be are planning.
So that out of the way--SPOILERS!
Like I said I had some major character problems--Chiefly- is that the h is a 17 year old hsc student whose "love interests" are all (yes theres 7 potentials) older ranging from 21-24.
And yes, I read the second book- and I'm glad I did bc the story is really interesting and Azzie's character is a fucking champ. But the whole "she's more mature than her years" and explanations and justifications about how things have changed in this post-virus world to somehow make this age gap less morally creepy --didn't work for me.
I mean 4 years isn't exactly enough for me to forgive the apparent complete break down of thinking that grown men shouldn't be lusting after a teenage girl who, yes, has gone through a lot of shit- but still has no stable family base, friendship base, or any romantic or sexual experience to speak of- making her more vulnerable than her peers- and I would say maybe less adept at handing a relationship with 5 grown men.
Maybe because I was that 16-17 year old girl thinking it was totally normal to date a guy in his 20's- only to realize finally when I reached his same age that it was totally gross and predatory to even think about dating or being sexual with a teenager in hsc- and made me realize I was being taken advantage of. Yeah so sue me- this felt like grooming/ephebophilia shit to me. I mean they even call her Kid a few times...you know what- moving on.
Personal experience just made this a difficult read.
Not to mention all of the guys POV's left me thinking these are our romantic leads?
I mean calling her a skinny bitch, or saying that they've had way better looking "strange" on the outside and that she wasn't exactly anything special, or fucking around with other girls doesn't really endear me to them.
Actually, maybe this is just a realistically painful view of how some trash guys act- treat girls like shit, fuck around, demean them, and then expect everything to go smoothly. I get it, but it's not really making me into them- at least give me a love interest to at least like *crying*
Ugh- like I said the premise is really interesting so if your not bothered by teen h/adult men aspect then go for it- its on KU- and I did read the next book for Azzie and the plot if that says anything.
Okay lets back up first- In this story we have out h Azzie who has a rare blood disorder, and we meet and follow her along in her day to day life living on a military base. Things start out a little normal- we see her joking with her friend working at the lab- Mouse while her blood is being taken, and we see her going to school (filled with the typical teenage jerks).
And while Azzie may be a little checked out on life- having to spend most of her energy just trying to survive- she is also on one hand very sarcastic and outspoken, while on the other painfully shy.
But things aren't exactly as they seem- with the arrival of a bunch of new people (who happen to be a few pairs of twins, and a group of tripplets) in Azzie's life we start to see the break down of what exactly is going on in this base, who Azzie is, and what shady shit the powers at be are planning.
So that out of the way--SPOILERS!
Like I said I had some major character problems--Chiefly- is that the h is a 17 year old hsc student whose "love interests" are all (yes theres 7 potentials) older ranging from 21-24.
And yes, I read the second book- and I'm glad I did bc the story is really interesting and Azzie's character is a fucking champ. But the whole "she's more mature than her years" and explanations and justifications about how things have changed in this post-virus world to somehow make this age gap less morally creepy --didn't work for me.
I mean 4 years isn't exactly enough for me to forgive the apparent complete break down of thinking that grown men shouldn't be lusting after a teenage girl who, yes, has gone through a lot of shit- but still has no stable family base, friendship base, or any romantic or sexual experience to speak of- making her more vulnerable than her peers- and I would say maybe less adept at handing a relationship with 5 grown men.
Maybe because I was that 16-17 year old girl thinking it was totally normal to date a guy in his 20's- only to realize finally when I reached his same age that it was totally gross and predatory to even think about dating or being sexual with a teenager in hsc- and made me realize I was being taken advantage of. Yeah so sue me- this felt like grooming/ephebophilia shit to me. I mean they even call her Kid a few times...you know what- moving on.
Personal experience just made this a difficult read.
Not to mention all of the guys POV's left me thinking these are our romantic leads?
I mean calling her a skinny bitch, or saying that they've had way better looking "strange" on the outside and that she wasn't exactly anything special, or fucking around with other girls doesn't really endear me to them.
"...my brain trying to make sense of getting drawn in to some bullshit competition with Callis over a girl none of us would pay five seconds of attention to on the outside."
Actually, maybe this is just a realistically painful view of how some trash guys act- treat girls like shit, fuck around, demean them, and then expect everything to go smoothly. I get it, but it's not really making me into them- at least give me a love interest to at least like *crying*
Ugh- like I said the premise is really interesting so if your not bothered by teen h/adult men aspect then go for it- its on KU- and I did read the next book for Azzie and the plot if that says anything.