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A review by tsukikomew
Fever by Maya Banks
2.0
This review was posted at Tsuki’s Book Blog on Sunday April 7, 2013
I've been wrestling with my review for this since Friday so I took some time to think about it. There are some very good moments in the book but at the same time there is so much ridiculousness I'm not sure where to put it in my rating system. When I say ridiculousness I mean complete and utter Crazytown and not in a good way.
Jace is Mia's brother from the first book. He's thirty-eight and loves his threesomes with Ash. The thing about their threesomes is they aren't interested in each other at all. This is not a triad relationship but rather two men falling on the same woman for a few nights. On one night (Mia and Gabe's engagement party) Jace has an instant connection with a random server he never talked to. Ash sees it and decides, "Hmmm....threesome". They have one because she's desperate and then Jace can't imagine ever putting his penis anywhere but in Bethany (crude but true). He hunts her down, states he's a dominant, and deals with her foster brother. In the meantime he puts his foot in his mouth on occasion and then grovels. There is a suicide attempt, some homelessness, drug abuse, and some sort of pseudo-verbal abuse making up this story.
For the glass half-full crowd, I'll start with the positives.
The friendship between the three men is amazing to see and a joy to read. Most books utilize friendships as though they are the easiest thing in the world and it is just expected each person will have two really close friends. I'm not anti-social but I have one good friend. Even then I barely see her due to distance. Most books give the hero or heroine a few friends and the reader is under the impression that is completely normal and effortless.
There are a lot of people out there with no friends or at least no one near the level in books. Not every man or woman grows up in a place with immediately three close friends who would do anything for them. In this book Jace, Ash, and Gabe are perfection. They met in college and came together when Jace and Mia's parents died. Ash and Gabe rallied around their friend and watched out for a significantly younger Mia all while building their business.
The reader gets a full-view of their relationship and it is not all roses and glitter. This book features Ash and Jace's rocky friendship and subsequent repair. Ash and Jace have always had threesomes with women. They've been with a woman for a few nights and then they move on. Suddenly Jace becomes obsessed with one woman to the point of overlooking everything else. Ash calls him on his shit and is suddenly viewed as meddling. Throughout the entire book the two have to keep working on their relationship all while Jace keeps upsetting Bethany. The reader actually gets to watch as men work out their issues to build a good relationship. At the same time we gets teases over Ash's horrible family and Gabe and Jace's support of Ash. It's just amazing to read!
At the same time I really enjoyed following Mia and Gabe a little bit. I love that aspect of storytelling with the Nora Roberts trilogies and quartets and I would imagine in this series Burn will include Mia and Gabe's wedding. I love series that give the reader a little more about the characters they loved in previous books without doing too much. This book gives up glimpses into Gabe and Mia's lives. Gabe wants to get married right away while Mia is planning her dream wedding. Mia accepts Bethany no questions asked but she isn't shoving her attention down everyone's throat. It was the perfect tease for the reader. We get just enough to be satisfied with their happily ever after.
Now onto the glass half-empty crew:
I really want to discuss this odd decision in Maya Banks' books surrounding the homeless heroine. I encountered it in Colters' Lady and I let it go. This time I just kept looking up from the book and asking the air around me how this could possibly be a good idea. Bethany is homeless and not in the 'I've been on the streets for a week' kind of way. Bethany has lived on the streets for four years but she has pretty hair, relatively clean clothes, excellent grooming, clean work clothes, etc. Um....what?!
I understand it wouldn't be attractive to have her ragged, unclean, and completely unhealthy but it seems unrealistic she could fit in at a rich people crowd with little effort. I tried to suspend my disbelief over her healthy body, other than being a little thin, but it became harder and harder as the book went on. She wasn't just a homeless woman. She was also a recovering addict, previous whore, and a complete doormat. She had done it all at she was still innocent, naive, healthy, AND well-adjusted?! Sorry that is where I lost it.
Secondly Jace and Bethany have a pseudo-abusive relationship. I understand the dominant lifestyle and the choices to use crops, whips, paddles, etc. That is not the aspect of the relationship I have issues with. Bethany was a consenting adult although the whole getting put out on the street if she doesn't comply (not in the book but a general logical thought) could have taken away consent to a point.
My issue with the pseudo-abusive relationship was the verbal/emotional abuse. Jace overreacts every single step of the way. Bethany smiles at Ash? He yells at her and accuses her of cheating on him. Bethany goes to see Jack (her foster brother)? Jace freaks out and accuses her of leaving/lying to him. Every time he freaked out I sort of wanted Bethany to leave. She was always at a disadvantage because she had no life to fall back on. She didn't have a home or a job. She knew Jace held the power in their relationship because he could put her out on the streets at any time.
I understand the reader was supposed to look at Jace as having trust issues but it came off really badly. The whole crops, whips, pain angle also seemed to come out of nowhere and it made me more uncomfortable than usual when combined with the pseudo-emotional abuse. It bothered me because sometimes they had one of the yelling, fighting scenes and then they would have rough sex. It seemed a bit...trying for me as a reader.
I finished the book because I love Maya Banks' series. I'm really excited to read Burn which is Ash's story but I had a lot of trouble with this one. I enjoyed the concept of it but the application left a bit to be desired. I couldn't get on board with Bethany's normalcy and Jace's issues. They seemed a bit volatile to me. Bethany wanted to get a college degree and that made me wish this book took place after she started to be her own person and have something to fall back on. That way if they fought Bethany could stand-up for herself and wouldn't have to worry about being homeless as much as she did when Jace got upset.
2 Stars
Published by Berkley Trade
April 2, 2013
417 Pages
Provided by--The Library
Spoiler
I'm a huge fan of Maya Banks and I read pretty much anything she puts out. After loving Rush I immediately put my name on the hold list for the second book and it came in on Thursday. Weirdly enough I had a bit of a gap in my reading schedule because I thought Nora Roberts' Whiskey Beach came out on the second but no...the 16th. So I was able to start this one right away.I've been wrestling with my review for this since Friday so I took some time to think about it. There are some very good moments in the book but at the same time there is so much ridiculousness I'm not sure where to put it in my rating system. When I say ridiculousness I mean complete and utter Crazytown and not in a good way.
Jace is Mia's brother from the first book. He's thirty-eight and loves his threesomes with Ash. The thing about their threesomes is they aren't interested in each other at all. This is not a triad relationship but rather two men falling on the same woman for a few nights. On one night (Mia and Gabe's engagement party) Jace has an instant connection with a random server he never talked to. Ash sees it and decides, "Hmmm....threesome". They have one because she's desperate and then Jace can't imagine ever putting his penis anywhere but in Bethany (crude but true). He hunts her down, states he's a dominant, and deals with her foster brother. In the meantime he puts his foot in his mouth on occasion and then grovels. There is a suicide attempt, some homelessness, drug abuse, and some sort of pseudo-verbal abuse making up this story.
For the glass half-full crowd, I'll start with the positives.
The friendship between the three men is amazing to see and a joy to read. Most books utilize friendships as though they are the easiest thing in the world and it is just expected each person will have two really close friends. I'm not anti-social but I have one good friend. Even then I barely see her due to distance. Most books give the hero or heroine a few friends and the reader is under the impression that is completely normal and effortless.
There are a lot of people out there with no friends or at least no one near the level in books. Not every man or woman grows up in a place with immediately three close friends who would do anything for them. In this book Jace, Ash, and Gabe are perfection. They met in college and came together when Jace and Mia's parents died. Ash and Gabe rallied around their friend and watched out for a significantly younger Mia all while building their business.
The reader gets a full-view of their relationship and it is not all roses and glitter. This book features Ash and Jace's rocky friendship and subsequent repair. Ash and Jace have always had threesomes with women. They've been with a woman for a few nights and then they move on. Suddenly Jace becomes obsessed with one woman to the point of overlooking everything else. Ash calls him on his shit and is suddenly viewed as meddling. Throughout the entire book the two have to keep working on their relationship all while Jace keeps upsetting Bethany. The reader actually gets to watch as men work out their issues to build a good relationship. At the same time we gets teases over Ash's horrible family and Gabe and Jace's support of Ash. It's just amazing to read!
At the same time I really enjoyed following Mia and Gabe a little bit. I love that aspect of storytelling with the Nora Roberts trilogies and quartets and I would imagine in this series Burn will include Mia and Gabe's wedding. I love series that give the reader a little more about the characters they loved in previous books without doing too much. This book gives up glimpses into Gabe and Mia's lives. Gabe wants to get married right away while Mia is planning her dream wedding. Mia accepts Bethany no questions asked but she isn't shoving her attention down everyone's throat. It was the perfect tease for the reader. We get just enough to be satisfied with their happily ever after.
Now onto the glass half-empty crew:
I really want to discuss this odd decision in Maya Banks' books surrounding the homeless heroine. I encountered it in Colters' Lady and I let it go. This time I just kept looking up from the book and asking the air around me how this could possibly be a good idea. Bethany is homeless and not in the 'I've been on the streets for a week' kind of way. Bethany has lived on the streets for four years but she has pretty hair, relatively clean clothes, excellent grooming, clean work clothes, etc. Um....what?!
I understand it wouldn't be attractive to have her ragged, unclean, and completely unhealthy but it seems unrealistic she could fit in at a rich people crowd with little effort. I tried to suspend my disbelief over her healthy body, other than being a little thin, but it became harder and harder as the book went on. She wasn't just a homeless woman. She was also a recovering addict, previous whore, and a complete doormat. She had done it all at she was still innocent, naive, healthy, AND well-adjusted?! Sorry that is where I lost it.
Secondly Jace and Bethany have a pseudo-abusive relationship. I understand the dominant lifestyle and the choices to use crops, whips, paddles, etc. That is not the aspect of the relationship I have issues with. Bethany was a consenting adult although the whole getting put out on the street if she doesn't comply (not in the book but a general logical thought) could have taken away consent to a point.
My issue with the pseudo-abusive relationship was the verbal/emotional abuse. Jace overreacts every single step of the way. Bethany smiles at Ash? He yells at her and accuses her of cheating on him. Bethany goes to see Jack (her foster brother)? Jace freaks out and accuses her of leaving/lying to him. Every time he freaked out I sort of wanted Bethany to leave. She was always at a disadvantage because she had no life to fall back on. She didn't have a home or a job. She knew Jace held the power in their relationship because he could put her out on the streets at any time.
I understand the reader was supposed to look at Jace as having trust issues but it came off really badly. The whole crops, whips, pain angle also seemed to come out of nowhere and it made me more uncomfortable than usual when combined with the pseudo-emotional abuse. It bothered me because sometimes they had one of the yelling, fighting scenes and then they would have rough sex. It seemed a bit...trying for me as a reader.
I finished the book because I love Maya Banks' series. I'm really excited to read Burn which is Ash's story but I had a lot of trouble with this one. I enjoyed the concept of it but the application left a bit to be desired. I couldn't get on board with Bethany's normalcy and Jace's issues. They seemed a bit volatile to me. Bethany wanted to get a college degree and that made me wish this book took place after she started to be her own person and have something to fall back on. That way if they fought Bethany could stand-up for herself and wouldn't have to worry about being homeless as much as she did when Jace got upset.
2 Stars
Published by Berkley Trade
April 2, 2013
417 Pages
Provided by--The Library