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A review by daejmonet
Happy Hour in Hell by Tad Williams
2.0
I know I'm late to the party. I do not often leave reviews for books, especially not negative ones. I have a nagging suspicion that this is because I read a ridiculous amount of books and it would be exhausting to do this every time. Most times they are mediocre, or forgettable. Many I have a deep fondness for. And in neither case do I want people to read my thoughts on them.
In fact, the only reason why I'm even writing this one in the first place is because I am sorely disappointed. And not only in Williams. In Patrick Rothfuss. For blurb-ing this book and convincing me that it would be worth the time I spent on it. (I understand that he is entitled to his own opinion, but it is an opinion I value very highly, and in this case specifically it was a massive let-down.)
The first novel was good. (Not great. Good.) It had all of the description, character development, and delicious plot that this one was lacking. (I had beef with that one as well, but like I said I do not often write reviews and in that case I didn't feel the compulsion to). I will not bore you with my complaint that this book was WAY TOO LONG FOR ALL OF THE WRONG REASONS. Because you can basically scroll this page at random, select a review under 3 stars and see that this was a common upsetting factor.
The different levels were very interesting and I would've very happily invested an entire day reading only descriptions of Hell, but that was not what I came to this book for. The first book kept me invested with the mystery, the concept, the action. This book had all of the potential, but it fell short. And let me tell you the main reason behind WHY it fell short to me:
Bobby Dollar is a horny asshole.
He may have been deserving to go to Heaven, but how in the world did he become an angel?!? This entire painstaking voyage could have been avoided if he wasn't thinking only with his little friend!
Without ever speaking with Caz he was very nearly head-over-heels for her. She was mysterious and sexy (in a borderline inappropriately childlike way) and that's all grand and fine. But what caused this angel, who has no doubt met and bed countless women, to fall her HER?!? To fall for her so thoroughly that he takes a trip to HELL to rescue her. He knows as much as we know about her, which amounts to very little (besides the fact that her story from AGES ago evokes pity and she needs to get away from her demon boyfriend). Despite that fact and although he is an ANGEL he notices and meets many a folk on this voyage who were not deserving of spending an eternity damned and he accepts the idea that not one person can be helped/saved besides the WOMAN HE BARELY KNOWS WHO HE APPARENTLY WANTS TO SPEND THE REST OF HIS IMMORTAL LIFE WITH.
And the sex. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good erotic novel. But I have read more graphic, more erotic novels that have had more character and love development than this book. Every scene they were together consisted only of sex, and then small meaningless conversations between sex. There was absolutely nothing that made me like either of these characters more in these scenes and there was zero passion.
I'm going to circle back to the one thing that this entire book is about. Dollar has magic feather to use as collateral against a much more powerful demon. It really irks me that Dollar couldn't think of one thing other than saving the girl he kept referring to as his girlfriend (which makes no sense) with this feather, when I, a simple human girl, could think of quite literally a million other things he could've done with it. Including (but not limited to) finding an easier way to contact and blackmail said powerful, evil demon dude rather than going to HELL. For Gods sake, the guys owns a business in the city he lives in....! There were too many holes in this story. The end.
That is literally all I half to say, because that is all the book was about. I probably won't read book three and I think honestly I might be a happier person because of it.
In fact, the only reason why I'm even writing this one in the first place is because I am sorely disappointed. And not only in Williams. In Patrick Rothfuss. For blurb-ing this book and convincing me that it would be worth the time I spent on it. (I understand that he is entitled to his own opinion, but it is an opinion I value very highly, and in this case specifically it was a massive let-down.)
The first novel was good. (Not great. Good.) It had all of the description, character development, and delicious plot that this one was lacking. (I had beef with that one as well, but like I said I do not often write reviews and in that case I didn't feel the compulsion to). I will not bore you with my complaint that this book was WAY TOO LONG FOR ALL OF THE WRONG REASONS. Because you can basically scroll this page at random, select a review under 3 stars and see that this was a common upsetting factor.
The different levels were very interesting and I would've very happily invested an entire day reading only descriptions of Hell, but that was not what I came to this book for. The first book kept me invested with the mystery, the concept, the action. This book had all of the potential, but it fell short. And let me tell you the main reason behind WHY it fell short to me:
Bobby Dollar is a horny asshole.
He may have been deserving to go to Heaven, but how in the world did he become an angel?!? This entire painstaking voyage could have been avoided if he wasn't thinking only with his little friend!
Without ever speaking with Caz he was very nearly head-over-heels for her. She was mysterious and sexy (in a borderline inappropriately childlike way) and that's all grand and fine. But what caused this angel, who has no doubt met and bed countless women, to fall her HER?!? To fall for her so thoroughly that he takes a trip to HELL to rescue her. He knows as much as we know about her, which amounts to very little (besides the fact that her story from AGES ago evokes pity and she needs to get away from her demon boyfriend). Despite that fact and although he is an ANGEL he notices and meets many a folk on this voyage who were not deserving of spending an eternity damned and he accepts the idea that not one person can be helped/saved besides the WOMAN HE BARELY KNOWS WHO HE APPARENTLY WANTS TO SPEND THE REST OF HIS IMMORTAL LIFE WITH.
And the sex. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good erotic novel. But I have read more graphic, more erotic novels that have had more character and love development than this book. Every scene they were together consisted only of sex, and then small meaningless conversations between sex. There was absolutely nothing that made me like either of these characters more in these scenes and there was zero passion.
I'm going to circle back to the one thing that this entire book is about. Dollar has magic feather to use as collateral against a much more powerful demon. It really irks me that Dollar couldn't think of one thing other than saving the girl he kept referring to as his girlfriend (which makes no sense) with this feather, when I, a simple human girl, could think of quite literally a million other things he could've done with it. Including (but not limited to) finding an easier way to contact and blackmail said powerful, evil demon dude rather than going to HELL. For Gods sake, the guys owns a business in the city he lives in....! There were too many holes in this story. The end.
That is literally all I half to say, because that is all the book was about. I probably won't read book three and I think honestly I might be a happier person because of it.