Jen.H

Slow

Revisado: 10-07-22

Like a previous reviewer said, there doesn’t seem to be any real consequence other than Charlotte saving her family’s reputation. The book starts slow, it’s wordy, and I feel like I’m being jolted around with the subplots. There is potential but this first book is lackluster, even boring at times.

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Ok

Revisado: 04-05-21

The story had a lot of potential however I couldn’t really get behind the characters. Allisa was portrayed as a strong, independent person but always seemed irritated or like a know it all. Her flaw was her pride but her character growth wasn’t that significant from beginning to end to be a solid development. I also felt that Max, the prince, could have done more—especially as the male lead—but he felt more like a trophy love interest. He just seemed to let things happen around him instead of taking the lead or fully supporting the female lead.

In conclusion, the story was ok but not extraordinary. The only interesting part of the story was the marriage between the queen and King. I like how it gave a realistic view of what happens after a supposed happily ever after/love match.

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Good but can get frustrating fast

Revisado: 07-06-18

The story is well thought out and met my expectations of what a third book in this series would be like. However, one major draw back was there being what I felt was an excess of characters narrating from their viewpoint and an overabundance of cliffhangers. Basically, when you get invested in one character’s situation, it ends in a cliffhanger (or bigger problem) and then you immediately switch to the next. When you get invested in their story, you get a cliffhanger and switch to the next and so on. In the previous books, doing that back-and-forth between TWO characters was totally ok and I had no problems with it. However this book undergoes at least three different arcs under three different characters in three totally different environments and for every chapter of each one’s story, it ALWAYS ends in a cliffhanger. Don’t get me wrong, cliffhangers aren’t bad but using them too much gets too frustrating and takes away from the story. By the fiftieth time, it just got ridiculous. There is not really any slow times in the book, it’s always action, action, drama, cliffhangers and more action. I still stuck thru to the end and I will read the next book but please, don’t add more characters to narrate their perspectives. As for the characters in this book, Helene’s journey was the most interesting and her character development the most rewarding. Elias was tolerable but not super exciting and Liah’s was just so pointless and disappointing(especially after reading the end). I liked Liah in the other books but in this book, I don’t like her as much since she seems to not have any substantial character development or depth. She was too much of a damsel in distress in this book as well. Please let her have a more meaningful role in the next book.

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5 Stars!!!

Revisado: 03-12-18

One of Heyer’s best! So many hilarious moments and I love the continuation of the Alastair Family.

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Potential but lacking...*some spoilers*

Revisado: 02-27-18

Ok so I am going to ramble a bit and give some spoilers tho not in detail.

I feel like this book had a lot of potential but failed to be amazing because many things were happening yet we, the readers, didn’t have enough attachment to the characters or world to care. With all of the plot twists, some of which were very predictable, and the continuous introductions and abrupt substitutions of new characters, this book felt like at least two books put into one. Or I felt like I dropped into the middle of everything and the author kept throwing new ideas, new people, new terms and technology into my face. It also doesn’t help that the main characters, Rhee and Aly, narrate their POV and yet never really come together. Yes, they probably meet for real in the next book but still, it doesn’t connect together completely and feels disappointing.

We get glimpses of the stories and the history of the world, like about the treaty or the cube things, yet it would’ve been better to expand on why the history was so important, specifically the treaty. Perhaps a first hand experience from a veteran or a more tangible experience of Rhee as a child experiencing the events leading up to the treaty would’ve helped us readers better understand HOW important it was. All we are told is that the treaty was important for peace and then get dragged into Rhee’s sole focus of spite and revenge. Not only that, if only the author committed more to the world building, we could’ve truly comprehend the fears and shock of what the villain was planning. Heck, the whole there-being-sentient-worlds-working-together-with-humans-in-the-vast-expanse-of-space thing was poorly explained and could’ve been developed better.

Now to the characters...Aly was fine, Kara was fine, even Aly’s robot friend was fine. Rhee, however, got irritating.
I didn’t like Rhee because she kept switching her mind on what she believed in. I know she is suppose to be naive but it got annoying how easy it was to make her doubt everything. Essentially, every new thing she learned made her doubt everything she believed in every single time. Then she didn’t show satisfying character development because she kept blaming her naivety on others, kept rushing into things tho she knew it was dangerous, saw how her empire’s soldiers abused others and never stood up for the abused yet she kept going on and on about how she needed to deliver justice for her family’s death, and so on. Rhee needed to be fleshed out better because her sole focus of hate and revenge and self-centered way of thinking got tedious. Again, if only the author showed us more of Rhee’s upbringing, of how changed she was from an innocent child to a hateful teenager, maybe we could’ve connected or understood better.

Also, expanding on the “introduction and abrupt substitution of new characters” bit I mentioned before... this is the first book of the series. But we got introduced to Rhee, to Aly, to Rhee’s childhood friend and his dad, to the court people, to Rhee’s dead Family, to Nero, to the guy who rescued Rhee, to Vin, to Aly’s robot friend, to Kara, to the soldiers, to the concept of there being other worlds of sentient beings, to a United planets organization, to scientists, to Kara’s Mom...to soooo many people. So many I can’t even remember most of their names. Let me remind you, this is the FIRST BOOK! I’m not even attached to Rhee or fully immersed into the world and yet there are so many new characters and *major spoiler* so many of them DYING that I feel like so many things were rushed and not well planned. And when the characters die, their deaths don’t mean anything really because I never got attached to them! Even when we learn who the true villain is, I didn’t care because there was no reason to fully hate them for their betrayal since we didn’t even get to know them like Rhee did in the first place. So many missed opportunities for the author!

There was a lot of potential in this book but it was poorly executed. Not terribly bad, not epically great, just disappointingly lackluster.

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Yuck

Revisado: 02-26-18

Figured I should listen to this because it’s a classic. I hate pretty much every character, every scene, every act of violence, the way each character treat each other, the way they treat death, the whole plot, just everything in general! I hate it all! The mood is always somber and miserable and you can’t root for anyone because they all suck. Even the narrating characters! Skip this and read Jane Eyre by the other Brontë. Wuthering Heights, no matter it being a classic, is the definition of terrible.

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Seriously? Sigh... *spoilers*

Revisado: 02-11-18

You know, I really liked the beginning. I liked India’s character, and I found Mr. Glass somewhat intriguing. I really like how Emma Powell narrated the book, especially her rendition of Mr. Glass’ voice. I understand that a large chunk of the book was needed to develop the relationships between lead heroine and hero, and a lesser chunk for the actual mystery/fantasy plot. That’s fine, it’s what I expected from this kind of book. However, once the ball began rolling...I just found myself frustrated. The conclusion also left many things unanswered but mostly likely it’s because this book is the first of a series. Disappointing but oh well, can’t do much about it.






*****spoilers below*****







Ok, so first off, we’re given to believe that it’s possible Mr. Glass is the outlaw Dark Rider. His family on his mother’s side are known criminals and his American friends are portrayed to be his accomplices. As India gets swept into their troubles, many things Mr. Glass does and says increases her suspicions. Everything makes sense so far, everything is still good. The problem starts when she CONVINCES herself that Mr. Glass is 100% the Dark Rider and so wants to reveal him to the authorities. All it takes for her to seriously want to do this is is by having one of the villains—the villains, I say—play off of her suspicions and say it was oddly coincidental of Mr. Glass arriving to town the same time as the Dark Rider did. The villain guy drives it home by saying it’s in India’s best interest to cut ties and rat out Mr. Glass to the police.
That’s it.
No seriously, THAT’S IT!
Brief gossip, some cursory mentions of news articles about the Dark Rider, and Mr. Glass’ coincidental arrival to town the same time as the American criminal is what cinches the deal for India to finally want to go to the police. Not the incident where she finds a wanted poster of one of Mr. Glass’ American crew hidden away in the kitchen or any other time India develops a suspicion of him. Not even when she believed she needed a knife to protect herself from him!
Now I can’t recall this particular villain’s name—because I really don’t care to go back to find it—but he was the guild master/president/rich important guy for the watchmakers. When last mentioned, villain guy tried to get India convicted of stealing and unjustly imprisoned. Because we know he staged that incident, it’s obvious he can and does lie. The book never develops or relates any previous relationship of her and villain guy so she really had nothing to base her trust on him when he accused Mr. Glass. Why did India let herself be so easily persuaded by villain guy when he obviously did not have her best interests at heart? That’s not all. Later on, we find that Mr. Glass stopped villain guy from claiming that India was a thief because Mr. Glass said he had connections to some important fellows in Scotland Yard, meaning he would be more believable than villain guy. Ok.... sooooo....What was the point? Why did villain guy encourage India to go tattle-telling to Scotland Yard that Mr. Glass was possibly the Dark Rider? Villain guy obviously kind of believed Mr. Glass because villain guy never officially submitted his claim to the authorities that India stole from him. Plus, if Mr. Glass had that kind of authority to persuade Scotland Yard of India’s innocence, he would’ve been equally able to persuade the authorities that he wasn’t the Dark Rider whether it was true or not.
So again.....WHAT. WAS. THE. POINT?!
Of course nothing is explained. Villain guy is pushed into the background, there’s absolutely no further mention of him in the book, and we never learn why he did this. Perhaps all he really wanted was for India to have more unnecessary romantic complications because, you know, for the wonderful 10/10 heartbreaking drama in this book. Oh, the torture of your boyfriend being an infamous criminal and the inner conflict waging inside of you to give him to justice or not! Oh, the tough choices! Oh, the humanity!

Well, don’t worry. There’s plenty more flaws coming your way.

When the Dark Rider is finally revealed, India’s epiphany of who it is is ridiculous. Borderline stupid. A certain word “Ruckus” and a way of speaking convinces our heroine of the Dark Rider’s identity. It’s practically the same baseless level of conviction of the guild master villain guy from before! I’d like to point out that even though this book has a set number of characters to play roles throughout (like all books have), London isn’t filled with just those ten to twenty characters. It’s possible there were several other tall, dark, American men who traveled into London the same time Mr. Glass and the Dark Rider did. It’s possible India’s epiphany of who the true Dark Rider was, you know, unfounded because that character just liked using that particular American word. For goodness sake, it was just ONE American word he used in like the three times she met him! How does that convict you as an American criminal?! Yea, you might garner suspicion perhaps but India goes so far as to try to persuade the Scotland Yard investigator to charge that guy of being the Dark Rider instead of Mr. Glass. All because of that one word and false accent. Like, cmon!

Lastly, I was confused at several times of the narrative because of lack of clarity. I guess it’s due to me only listening to the book but there were many incidents of India switching from talking verbally to thinking internally to talking again in rapid succession. There was no clear indicator of her switching so several times, I thought she revealed her suspicions to Mr. Glass but she...didn’t? Or...she did and he just ignored her like always? And why didn’t he DO anything if India did in fact confront him? What does ignoring all of India’s suspicions of him do but give her more? When his real profession is revealed, having had India sooo suspicious of him was simply idiotic because she could’ve blown his cover several times.

Perhaps these plot holes will be resolved in the next book but I won’t be continuing with this series. Overall the book wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. Read at your own risk.

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Just ok, a superficial and idealistic teen flick

Revisado: 01-28-18

What did you like best about The Ugly Stepsister ? What did you like least?

This is your typical whimsical and inspirational girly flick. I liked how the author tried to make the world and to establish Kat as a “strong, independent, modernized woman.” However, it’s too fantastical and just unrealistic. Yea, I know it’s fiction and Kat gets sucked inside a fairytale book but the author tries real hard to make the world, at best, historically accurate. There’s the typical doing visiting calls, going to shops, embroidery every day shtick woman of olden days went through. That stuff I could believe, the serious stuff they get into later, I just rolled my eyes.

*spoilers ahead*














The whole child labor and fixing the law to avoid children dying or getting injured was definitely ideal, not just in Kat’s world but in real history. However, Kat’s world did not draw out the negative consequences. Supposedly kids work to get money and they do 16 hours a day or so. Kat essentially makes a new law saying kids should work 8 hours. It doesn’t pass the first time through parliament but that’s expected. Yet, it gets majority vote the next time. Ok, perhaps with good momentum and campaigning, that could happen. BUT I expected some backlash from the business owners. Not some flippant or weak backlash but pure anger and even hatred. The evil mob mentality thing. If I was a business owner at the time, supporting child labor and not caring if children die in my service, I would fight the amendment. Harsh business owners would rally other harsh business owners and cause trouble for those who made the new amendment. THIS drama, in my opinion, is the good stuff that really identifies the heroes and villains. To continue, the class divide is apparently prevelant during this time period of the book too. Rich people don’t care about poor people, especially kids. The book says royalty has no real power either so most likely, the rich dominates parliament. If a new bill threatens your wealth and income, essentially your livelihood, there would be negative consequences. That’s just how life works!
In addition, there is no mentioning how less hours would affect the pay of the children. Do they get less wages since they’re working less? Is the 8 hour work day even possible to support a whole family? Essentially, Kat wants no kid to work but how in the hell will that help poor families survive? The kids work their butts off to help their families so if you strip them of their jobs completely with no mention of any support system, you’re making everything worse!

Another thing I had trouble with was Kat’s idea of marriage. Historically speaking, yes, eloping would cause scandal and shame. Being such an avid reader, Kat should’ve realized it wasn’t just a small thing but it was a very, VERY serious matter. She even references Pride and Prejudice a couple times and in that book, Lydia’s elopement was HUGE. It could’ve affected the marriage changes of the other Bennet girls and ruined the family. Why? Scandals ruin reputation and if you wanted to marry up into the world, you don’t want everybody gossiping about your family. Marrying down in the world can even lead to social ostracism because of class divide. The book leans too heavily on modern ideas when it is set in a not-modern world that valued reputation, avoided scandals, and (again) had a predominant class divide. Kat treated Poppy’s elopement idealistically and she should’ve expected some sort of punishment. When Lady Bradshaw “grounded” Kat to her room—rather tame punishment if you ask me—Kat was melodramatic and all teen angst. Her defense against running away from home was “I wrote a note.” Wow, what a “strong” heroine we have here. Even the prince supporting the elopement was far fetched. Him doing that would encourage Kat to dirty her own reputation for supporting the elopement and that could’ve caused the King and Queen to reject her as a daughter in law. At best, they would’ve disapproved of her. Remember, class divide! Reputation! The toffs and their belief they’re better than everyone else! History!!!



I understand the author’s intent with the story but it falls flat, oh sooo flat, with the consequences. If you can overlook those flaws, then this book is your typical teen Disney-esque book with lots and lots of youthful ideals, hopes, and dreams. But if you want a down to earth realistic rendition of Cinderella, like this book intended, this isn’t the book for you. Heck, that Australian transfer student in the beginning lost his accent at the end of the book so if you’re expecting consistency, then look elsewhere.

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Ok but iffy Japanese

Revisado: 07-06-17

Story is good and nice easy read. Just a stickler for the Tokyo part. Island seems fluent enough to translate from Japanese to English yet the narrator pronounces Japanese words off and at times cringingly wrong. It's probably not the narrator's fault but a little research before would've helped greatly. I don't know about the French parts since I don't know French.

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Not fond of the Narrator

Revisado: 09-04-15

How could the performance have been better?

It's like the narrator is whispering to you the story. When action arises, there is no excitement but stays dull and unaffected. Disappointing!

Any additional comments?

Book is a really fun read but narration isn't the best. :(A fan of Smith but not of this narration.

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