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transientmeow 's review for:
Survive the Night
by Katie Ruggle
I feel like this book couldn't really decide what story to tell. Is it going to be the story of a sheltered, abused woman learning to trust and experiencing love? Is it a sweet, small-town romance? Or is it full of over-the-top villainy and action? Turns out when you combine those three books, you get a mishmash of a story that was only vaguely satisfying.
I picked up the book after reading the back cover and expecting something along the lines of Pamela Clare's Colorado High Country series - a bit of suspense woven into the plot, but more focus on characters and relationship building. Sadly, after finishing Survive the Night, I feel like I don't know much more about Otto or Sarah than I did before starting. Within days of meeting him, Sarah goes to stay with Otto, but there really aren't that many conversations between the two of them to make me believe that they are falling in love. And only a few days (maybe a week) of living together, the two are split up for most of the end of the book by enormous action pieces, so all we have are then two of them pining for one another - Sarah thinking how dependable and strong Otto is, and Otto thinking that ... he needs to protect her? There is so much more that we could have learned about these two as they grew into a relationship together, but shoehorning in some Hollywood-style action means that the character growth is pushed aside.
Actually, the first of those Hollywood action events, came on so quickly that I was positive it was a dream or hallucination sequence. One minute, it's a lovely morning and everything is fine, then, BOOM, Sarah is running for her life from the villains. Most of the book continues on like that (normal life, slow pace, then another bad dude suddenly appears) until we get to the end which is just explosions and death and one more thing after another. Seriously - talk about a change in tone!
I will say that even though this is the third in the series, I didn't have any problems figuring out what was going on, or the relationship between characters (though I probably couldn't tell you who goes with whom among the Theo-Jules-Grace-Hugh quartet, since they all have short names and it's hard to keep them straight!)
The last 20 pages or so of the book are actually previews for the next in the series. Despite being very confused about who some of the people are, the next H/h pairing seems interesting enough for me to see if my library has the book.
I picked up the book after reading the back cover and expecting something along the lines of Pamela Clare's Colorado High Country series - a bit of suspense woven into the plot, but more focus on characters and relationship building. Sadly, after finishing Survive the Night, I feel like I don't know much more about Otto or Sarah than I did before starting. Within days of meeting him, Sarah goes to stay with Otto, but there really aren't that many conversations between the two of them to make me believe that they are falling in love. And only a few days (maybe a week) of living together, the two are split up for most of the end of the book by enormous action pieces, so all we have are then two of them pining for one another - Sarah thinking how dependable and strong Otto is, and Otto thinking that ... he needs to protect her? There is so much more that we could have learned about these two as they grew into a relationship together, but shoehorning in some Hollywood-style action means that the character growth is pushed aside.
Actually, the first of those Hollywood action events,
Spoiler
when Sarah's evil brother and even more evil intended fiance, somehow track her down and break into the house where she's stayingSpoiler
every one of those villains who was previously captured and put in jail escapes ... because they'd planned to be arrested and then bust out while destroying half the town? Blowing up mountain passes, the store, the police station, and bringing in mercenaries to track two women down? And our heroes, who have been pretty mild-mannered until now, suddenly start snapping people's necks and blowing their heads off?I will say that even though this is the third in the series, I didn't have any problems figuring out what was going on, or the relationship between characters (though I probably couldn't tell you who goes with whom among the Theo-Jules-Grace-Hugh quartet, since they all have short names and it's hard to keep them straight!)
The last 20 pages or so of the book are actually previews for the next in the series. Despite being very confused about who some of the people are, the next H/h pairing seems interesting enough for me to see if my library has the book.