2 Star
Review: and FALLING, fly by Skyler White
Title: and FALLING, fly
Author: Skyler White
Release: March 2nd, 2010
Purchase this book: Amazon | Book Depository | Kindle Version
Goodreads Entry: here
Rating: 2 Stars
Olivia, vampire and fallen angel of desire, is hopeless…and damned. Since the fall from Eden, she has hungered for love, but fed only on desire. Dominic O’Shaughnessy is a neuroscientist plagued by impossible visions. When his research and her despair collide at L’OtelMathillide- a subterranean hell of beauty, demons, and dreams-rationalist and angel unite in a clash of desire and damnation that threatens to destroy them both.
I wanted to love this book. I really really did. I love the cover (tho there is no sword that I can remember in the story) and I love the idea behind it, unfortunately I found the plot to be a hot mess of confusion.
Olivia is a vampire and in the world of and FALLING, fly vampires are also fallen angels. They feed on blood, but only when a person fears or desires them. I am at a loss at how to truly describe her because I never felt like I knew who her character was, but maybe she didn’t either. She has spent her whole life searching for love, hoping for a loophole that will release her from her fate.
Dominic is a doctor, or rather a researcher. He suffers from memories of his past lives, tho he attributes them to a mental disorder and has worked continuously to find a solution. He goes to Ireland on a paid research trip, looking for a cure. He has spent this life alone, avoiding love and the painful memories it brings up within him. Somehow Olivia makes him question all that he has believed and all that is a part of him.
Let’s start with the good stuff, shall we? Skyler White writes beautiful prose. Her sentences flow on the tongue and make you feel like you are reading something truly beautiful. Additionally, the ideas behind the book are good ones! Are these supernatural abilities real or are they caused by some biophysical problem? Is it love that set’s us free?
Unfortunately the beautifully written words were not enough to keep me interested in this story. I wanted to set this book down and give up several times over, even as far as 100 pages away from the end. The paragraphs may be beautiful, but they were also wordy and often lacking in clarity. Many times I felt like I was shoved into a scene, given only an vague outline and expected to make up what actually happened on my own. Far too often I read a paragraph or section two to three times only to still have no idea what just happened. The lack of clarity and wordiness provided me with no imagery and kept the characters and their story from becoming something I could connect to.
I had hope that the plot line would be able to pull me in if the characters could not….and at around 100 pages thought maybe I had finally found something to grab ahold of. Yet I was thrown off the bus with seemingly unnecessary sexual activity between the vampire “sisters” and memories involving stone dildos. I am certainly no prude, but the scenes didn’t make sense to the story and only caused to push me further away. I was further disappointed by the ending, but will leave the details of why and how out as to not spoil anyone… just to say that I predicted it around page 75 but hoped I was wrong.
and FALLING, fly was a difficult and disappointing read. I am a big fan of dark fantasy, but this just didn’t connect with me, tho many other book bloggers have really enjoyed it. You can always try downloading a free sample from Amazon.com and decide for yourself!
Other Reviews:
FTC Disclaimer: Book was given to me for review by author.
Review: Divine Misdemeanors by Laurell Hamilton
Good morning to all my fellow book loving friends! Today you are getting a double dose of my opinion, lucky you 
Below you can find my review for the newest book in the Meredith Gentry series and over at SmexyBooks you can catch my review of my very first historical romance read!
Title: Divine Misdemeanors (Merry Gentry, Book 
Author: Laurell K. Hamilton
Release: December 9th, 2009
Buy Kindle version: here
Goodreads Entry: here
Rating: 2 Stars
While I may have rejected the monarchy, I cannot abandon my people. Someone is killing the fey, which has left the LAPD baffled and my guardsmen and me deeply disturbed. My kind are not easily captured or killed. At least not by mortals. I must get to the bottom of these horrendous murders, even if that means going up against Gilda, the Fairy Godmother, my rival for fey loyalties in Los Angeles.
But even stranger things are happening. Mortals I once healed with magic are suddenly performing miracles, a shocking phenomenon wreaking havoc on human/faerie relations. Though I am innocent, dark suspicions of banned magical activities swirl around me.
I thought I’d left the blood and politics behind in my own turbulent realm. I had dreamed of an idyllic life in sunny L.A. with my beloved ones beside me. But it becomes time to wake up and realize that evil knows no borders, and that nobody lives forever—even if they’re magical.
I would like to say that I read this installment in the Merry Gentry series in 2 days because I enjoyed it, but the truth is… I read it because I am can’t stand to not finish a book or series I have started. Many times I was tempted to just toss it aside and give it a “Did Not Finish” tag. At first I wondered if I was set to not like this because I had followed along with Hamilton’s tweets and blog posts…. so I knew how fast this book was thrown together and how much she appear to dislike writing it. However much I wish this was the case, I don’t think it is.
Merry is a sidhe princess who has gathered a harem of men over the years, many of which I could do without. Doyle keeps me reading this series, he is oh so dark and yummy. Divine Misdemeanors picks up not long after book 7 leaves off. Merry is pregnant with twins, fathered by 6 of the men in her harem. She is now living in Los Angeles with a gathering of fey who have left the fairy mounds in St. Louis. She is back to working with the detective agency and we follow her as she is called in by the LAPD to help solve the case of a serial killer who is targeting fey.
I am not even sure where to start when discussing how bad this story is. The writing is awkward, the sex scenes drag on and are unexciting. Its almost like there is a script for Merry’s sex scenes that goes something like this:
~*~*~ Warning – below is my own writing, not a direct quote ~*~*~
He rose above me as his magically colored and surprisingly untangle-able hair swirled around us. His body was lean and tight, the part of him that is oh so male was large (note to self, each new man should be even bigger than the last). He pushed into me.
He found that spot and pumped while I watched him glide in and out. He brought me. I screamed my release and painted my orgasm on his skin
Seriously, “painted my orgasm on his skin” was used at least twice and it is a cheezy line to begin with. Secondly, no one orgasms as fast as Merry and surely not just from the sheer size of a man’s junk. Add that together with the this absolutely horrid line from one of Merry’s new men, “Not as tight as she was before I had my turn,” and I was rolling my eyes instead of needing a cold shower.
The serial killer plot of the book was weak. It felt like an afterthought, yet there was no real plot that took the forefront. There were only minor developments in the story of Merry and her men and most of the book felt like boring filler. Too often I found myself wondering why certain paragraphs or phrases were thrown in. There wasn’t even a scene with Merry and Doyle or Frost getting it on! How could there a Merry book without Doyle loving…..? Blasphemy.
Divine Misdemeanors was hugely disappointing. I am not even sure if my love of Doyle will have me picking up the next version. I am ashamed to say that I kind of wish Hamilton had ended the series with book 7, Swallowing Darkness. It was obvious that the series had to end or go in a new direction after Swallowing Darkness, but Divine Misdemeanors does nothing to encourage the reader that it is worth continuing on with.
Disclaimer: This book was purchased by me.
A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) by George R.R. Martin
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