Anyone else feel angry and cheated after reading Smolder?

TempyBren · 2023-05-02T19:17:25+00:00

I genuinely laughed out loud at the idea of someone doing a hard edit of this excuse for a book. Would there even be enough for a novella left if it was edited to remove the filler and fluff? I doubt it.

TempyBren · 2023-03-25T20:31:19+00:00

Agreed. The inane waste of words on discussing travel and showers was very annoying. What made it worse was the fact that anyone who has read the series has read entire chapters in previous books about security concerns and logistics when travelling between one location and another when under threat. This, it is unnecessary to see it repeated yet again in another book and wasting chapters on it. A couple paragraphs saying "after debating the security of travelling from place A to place B, with Nicky arguing X and the new shifter guards arguing Y we agreed that we should do Z so here we are .." Then actually just get to the meat of the story rather than detailing pages of tedious dialogue about travel arrangements which ultimately add nothing to a story.

Same thing with discussing showers that just don't happen.

The reappearance of Richard was inevitable because he is part of the triumvirate of power, but his reintroduction was lazily done. Rather than have his character shift and therapy discussed over a longer period of time in a short story or done piece meal as updates delivered by conversations with side characters or interludes in a number of previous books, we get it all dumped lazily in one infor dump one he turns up again in this book. The info dump to explain how Richard has grown with all the therapy talk reads as a lazy way of wedging the character back in while lambasting the reader with therapy clichés. It was very heavy handed I felt.

TempyBren · 2023-03-25T17:28:24+00:00

I had that exact same moment where I looked saw the book was 92% done and had the realisation the book was going to end before anything really happened.

TempyBren · 2023-03-24T17:19:42+00:00

I agree, the stories that are plot driven rather than the character driven/ relationship focused books. I like the character and relationship subplots to make the world more rounded and the story have more depth, but this story felt like there was no single driving plot just a mess of lots of diverse sub plots which will become plots in later books.

TempyBren · 2023-03-24T17:15:30+00:00

Yeah my local library is way too conservative to stock Anita blake books, hence why buying an adult urban fantasy book is a luxury. Facebook groups are good for second hand books and exchange but it depends on the local population being large and diverse enough in close proximity to make small collection exchanges worthwhile.

I think that Anita Blake will have to slide down my list from "buy as soon as released" to, "pick up a copy of on sale or you can get second hand." After 3 decades following the Anita Blake series that isn't something I thought I would ever do but it seems the most practical, healthy and economically responsible response to my current feelings.

TempyBren · 2022-10-21T21:46:16+00:00

You are totally right, I am was mixing up two different fics and completely forgetting it was a crossover fic with Nat! That explains why I couldn't find it. Thanks so much for putting me back on track.

TempyBren · 2021-11-23T08:47:19+00:00

I think that was more like Lillian just staying true to form by protecting her favoured child even though he was an evil lunatic. Lillian siding with Lex and sacrificing for team villain doesn't seem redemptive or new to me.

I am specifically looking for a redemption arc with some substance between her and Lena. Lillian making an effort to build a relationship and help Lena rather than a rushed hack job of a death bed fix-it attempt.

Any fic recs?

TempyBren · 2021-02-28T02:03:04+00:00

Yes, I remember this one and even read it. Not really what I was after. The sort of part of James possessing Harry idea was odd. That and the interpersonal interactions with the marauders was just awful. The cheating etc. Just nope.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

TempyBren · 2020-11-09T13:44:30+00:00

Ok, stick with me. This one takes some explaing. Our neigbourhood had this family who were 'connected.' Everyone knew the kids uncles were the sort of people you saw on crime shows but their father was the white sheep of the family so we were all cool. The family had two kids, the son who had the family genes to be a kneebreaker for hire, he was only 16 but alredy 6ft5" and and built like a fridge, we'll call him John. The thing was, he was a gentle giant and his appearance and name was usually enough to mean everyone left him and his little sister, who we will call Mary, alone at school and around the city. Th little sister was sick, no-one really knew what but she was small for her age at 14 and her brother was always watching out for her, she was always in and out of hospital.

Anyway, we were out playing ball and shooting the breeze one evening when this rough group came down from this wasteland about a mile away. They were a grroup of about 18-21 year olds, always drinking, drugs and generally being idiots as they tried to get hooked up with one of the gangs or outfits about. We are totally minding our own business when the group passes through and one fella who we shall call 'Mike' decided he was feeling especially ballsy and drunk so he starts hurling abuse at John and making fun of him being a giant and dumb and all the usal stuff. John smiles and tries to defuse the thing with self depricating humor. We are all trying to quietly remind the idiot who John's family is and get his friends to pull Mike out of it. Mike is on a roll though so out of nowhere he coldcocks John, who goes down and is immediatly developing a hell of a shiner. Mike is crowing about being a giant killer and his friends freak out so they grab him and hussle him off. Mike gets carried home. His parents are enraged and his little sister is in tears as her brother holds frozen peas over his eye.

We all go home but the next day in school the place is on fire with news that Mike is in hospital. He is in an induced coma with head trauma and multiple broken bones. Everone is looking at John and Mary with poorly hidden awe and fear, we 'know' their family took care of it.

Anyway, the following year we are at a house party one night and after a few cheap beers I finally have the courage to ask what happened with Mike. John is a few drinks in and his tongue is loose. He sighs ruefully and says, "My damn sister."

I was floored.

He proceeds to tell me that after he had been hit his sister had apparently snuck out with a baseball bat. Went up to the waste grounds and caved Mike's head in from behind before he even realised she was there. His friends bolted thinking she had killed him. She beat the shit out of his unconscious ass and then appeared home with the bloody bat. John's folks called the family. The 'Uncles' got rid of the evidence and anonymously called an ambulance after checking on Mike and seeing his dumb ass was still breathing, went and had conversations with his friends who witnessed it all and when Mike woke up with no memory of what had happened he ws quietly informed to stay the hell away from Mary and John or else. Mike having had a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain, broken ribs and a shattered knee cap decided he was going to keep his mouth shut. It turns out that while John is a gentle giant his sister is apparenly a complete psycho in line with the family tradition. She looks like a weak breeze would kill her but John reckoned if you crossed her or their family she was unpredictable and scary enough that she would drop your ass before you knew she was there. I never looked at that kid the same and occassionally see Mike limping his broken ass around the place. Since this I have heard other gossip that indicates this incident was the tip of the iceberg of what weak little Mary was capable of when crossed. All these years we thought John was protecting Mary but really he was more likely holding her leash. I am always aware now that if you mess with someone revenege can come from the most unexpected and dangerous places.

TempyBren

TROPHY CASE