M. Acton

Shallow, barely interesting storytelling.

Revisado: 09-21-20

The interviews at the end of each episode reinforces what the story reveals. This story is predictable, shallow (honestly borderline ableist despite what the producers/writers intended) and pretty poorly acted. Acting is over the top, writing uses dialogue for info dumps/exposition, and the supernatural element is barely explained and mostly crammed into the last episode.

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Good Story, Average performance, Below-par prose

Revisado: 11-16-19

The good:

* Very little unnecessary angst
* Fun main characters
* Good sex scenes that actually include the characters, not just generic movements and pleasure

The bad:

* Cliché phrases
* Completely unnecessarily detailed movements that is really hard to follow
* Spoonfeeding of the reader with lots of showing THEN telling

I understand these last two seem contradictory, but that's the problem. The author tells us what we don't need to know, and so it's hard to retain what we do need to know to enjoy the story.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Disappointing from this author

Revisado: 06-09-19

List of major issues with this book: Overwrought, full of character overreactions, cliché phrases, words and tropes., way too many internal monologues and asides..sex scenes that distance the reader instead of draw them in. Jae is usually very, very good. She usually writes with life and infuses that life into her characters. These characters had potential, but the above issues just don't allow them to shine. Angela Dawe is usually a great narrator, but, probably in large measure because of the material, her voice drags the story down even more. I even heard a mistake, using an incorrect name near the end of the book. This just felt like a first draft that never got more than a proofread for grammar and spelling, rushed to publication and audible. Jae can and has done much better.

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Beautiful

Revisado: 06-03-19

Yes, there are some tough themes here. Incest, child rape and abuse...even though these themes are explicit they are handled realistically if not entirely appropriately. it's obviously not for everyone. But...if you can handle these things are always there in the background and sometimes in the foreground, this is a beautiful story with a rich (flawed) characters. The plot is "the formula" romance with the depth that all romance novels should have, even if they don't have the difficult themes. What I mean by the formula having depth is that all the reasons for the angst in this novel are understandable. The groundwork is laid for the reader. We can believe that these characters would feel and act the way that they do under the circumstances. Too many formulaic romances do not have the depth or foundation for a story that makes the reader feel for the characters. They only make the reader angry at the author. The author should not be on the mind of the reader as they're reading. Anyway...I'm glad this was self-published. While there was "fat" that could have been trimmed by a publisher's editor, what was left in because the author had the freedom to leave it was well worth it.

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Quite good

Revisado: 05-25-19

There were few "filler" chapters that could have been removed from this novel, but otherwise these were great characters in a good story. I don't like contrived, unnecessarily drawn out angst. The angst in this is very organic and lasts a reasonable amount of time with the characters reacting as I would imagine real people might under similar circumstances. Otherwise it was heartwarming and well-written. The romance lasted long enough to feel lived in, with very little artificial suspense, and that's a huge compliment.

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Solid 4

Revisado: 04-27-19

This genre is hit and miss, and, with an author as prolific as Harper Bliss, there are bound to be ups and downs. This is one of the good ones in this genre: likeable characters, a plot that makes sense, and a writing style that Is not perfect but good enough. The reader for most of this series is pretty good. Sometimes, though, she does grate on my nerves when she emphasizes insignificant words and the excessive dialogue tags (see the imperfect writing style). One more note about the narrator: As others have pointed out, these characters do not seem Australian because the narrator is not Australian and makes no attempt at the accent.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Talented writer who needs a good editor

Revisado: 04-26-19

The first two books and the last book were great. The first two books masterfully bring the reader into the main character's mind, her feelings, insecurities, and confusion. The third and fourth, especially the third, with it's unnecessary hetero kissing and sex scenes, drag on unnecessarily. This didn't serve to make the reader angry at the characters or devastated, it serves to make us angry at the writer. The writer should never be visible unless she's a character in the story as the author. Those parts could have been condensed way down, and the whole series should have been three books.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Not your average mystery or romance

Revisado: 04-18-19

I would call this a literary novel with mystery and romance. That's not to say it's perfect. It could have used some editing, but it's well worth reading at least once.

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Better than I would have expected.

Revisado: 04-15-19

This "novel" (more like oral storytelling) kept me engaged but probably not in the way the author really intended. The writing style was a real mix, though. The narrative was conversational in some places but clinical in many others. For some reason, I stayed engaged, but this was unique. It generally works, but I suspect it was the excellent narration that really made this a workable story to listen to--in spite of the slave/owner and BDSM themes, a kink I don't have.

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Utterly mediocre

Revisado: 04-13-19

I've tried two Georgia Beers books, both with moderately interesting premises, and I like the genre. I expected predictable. I expected formulaic plotting. I even expected cliché prose. Actually, that's not the problem with Beers's writing. The problem I have, with both books I've read including this one, is the distance I feel from the plot and its characters. There's way too little care to immersing the reader in the story or make them care. Lots of telling with little to no interesting showing. In the end, this writing style renders the stories utterly unmemorable, which is worse than bad because at least, with a bad story, characters, or writing, the reader feels something.

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