Interesting idea with obnoxious characters.
354160
This book was certainly different from most I've read. The author showed a great attention to detail, and obviously planned the plot elements meticulously. The setting is lovely, and the premise is very different. The Forfeit game adds a new twist to a genre that often slips into some very predictable ruts.

Unfortunately, I didn't like the characters in this story. While interesting, these aren't people I would want to know in real life. Although the characters show more maturity as the book progresses, they are still quite selfish and petty. The constant alcohol and drug use were a turn-off for me, and the over-the-top drama was tiring. I found it difficult to root for people who seem so determined to be unhappy!

I finished this book, but only because I wanted to know how it would end--not because I cared for the characters involved. I'm sometimes sad to finish a book because it means I'll be leaving behind people I've grown to love--I miss them and feel a sense of loss. That is not the case here. I'm just happy to have the closure of knowing how it ends, and will happily move on to something new. If you like drama, you'll probably love this book!
3349284
I was initially excited about this book because the premise sounds great, but I hated the terrible character development. The main character is a Mary Sue, in the first-time fanfiction writer awfulness of the sense. It starts to go downhill when she is invited to a double date "as friends" by a male lead because the guy wants to set his genius physicist cousin up with a blonde, tall "Jewish American Princess" (the book's exact words, not mine). Well, the blond girl turns out to be the bimbo who can't relate with the genius physicist, but surprise surprise, the main character Mary Sue is smart enough to follow their conversation and impresses him. At one point, they're talking about languages they speak and Mary Sue rattles off more than ten. She's also a great dancer and has a photographic memory. These character elements could have all worked out well, but not with the poor writing that introduces them. I don't recommend this book. It was very frustrating.
3796686
I enjoyed the concept of the world where mirrors really are doors to other universes. But I could not stand the main character nor her motivations in regards to one of the characters who basically sexually assaulted her.
117427
I picked up this book because I thought it sounded like a clever idea and a new wrinkle on urban fantasy. Unfortunately, the characters were all fairly flat, with the plot often being based on characters being dumb on purpose. The female lead kept getting captured and rescued. An allegedly evil goddess spent most of a chapter weeping on the shoulder of the male lead.

About midway through, the author crossed one of my personal thresholds by having the female lead naked (except for a trash bag over her head) while the so-called good guys have a long conversation all around her and not one of them offers her his shirt.

Sadly, I will not be finishing the book.
3420073
Readable, but the protagonists kept making such stupid, unrealistic decisions and actions that it was very annoying. Not good.
1955480
Interesting concept, but somewhat poor execution.
4006047
The main character is flighty, impulsive, given to letting her emotions rule her...until a man steps in with some logic to show her how stupid she's being.

There's also this creepy overtone of rape throughout the series and also that women are only good for the children they bear (heavy theme with her and her sister). Bizarrely (in the first two books) the sister is painted as a "screw anything that moves, so she can get knocked up to get power", without taking into account how she might feel getting used like that (thankfully addressed in the later half of the second book and third books i the series).

Other than that it's your typical: "Oh woe is me having two hunky boys fight over me, but then the author surrogate gets me in the end because the other boy was evil all along" (for bonus points read that in a high squeaky child's voice like you would a nursery rhyme).

I will say that the protagonist gets raped in the second book, thankfully not glorified or made sexy by a misguided attempt to pass it off as just another sexy bit that happens to be non-consensual.

Speaking of sex, this is the most tedious and by the numbers smut I've ever read; There's an almost audible "chunk" as a sex scene starts and where it ends. It has no bearing on the characters or the plot, just there to sell more copies, you can skip them and miss nothing.

The books' parts that deal with helping a medieval society get back on its feat through trade and engineering are kind of interesting, but quickly glossed over, in favor of the screw-of-the-week-who-turns-out-to-be-bad-because-of-reasons plot lines.

Lastly, I really have to hand it to the author at being so skillful at dumbing down the reading level of the book, it's obvious and a bit annoying, but handled well and doesn't feel like she's specifically talking down to the audience; Nothing above the 8th grade reading level, to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.
3118924
This was free on Amazon. Let me start off with a positive. I will say that I liked the premise of this book; the storyline was interesting. It had potential, but ultimately fell way short for me.
I was into it at the very beginning, but rather quickly the way Jacque and her two best friends talked got really annoying. They were disrespectful as well. They are only 17 and they are dealing with werewolves, yet they constantly run their mouths?
And where's the shock factor and disbelief from Jacque, Sally, Jen, and the couple across the street who were hosting Fane when they find out werewolves exist?!? Nothing that happened seem to shock anyone; they all just took everything in stride without batting so much as an eyelash. I know it's a fantasy book but by the end I was rolling my eyes. It was like bad acting in a movie.
Jacque is "alpha" material because she is so strong and sassy. She doesn't take any cr@p; she's a great match for him because she knows how to handle her "wolf man". And Fane was supposed to be sensitive, but he was a total pu$$! There were a few moments where he started to get a little tough and I was like okay he's going to go all alpha (since he IS supposed to become alpha one day), and then he'd cry or something because of his overwhelming love for his Luna as he liked to call her over and over and over again. Maybe Jacque should become alpha instead because she obviously wears the pants in that relationship.
And I have to go back to her friends Sally and Jen because these two were definitely the final nail in the coffin for me - I have NEVER disliked two supporting characters so much, well Jen was WAY worse than Sally. I felt like the book would've been so much better without them in it - they didn't add anything except for upping the annoyance factor. Jen was just rude and constantly interrupting everyone's conversations and getting in Fane's face all the time, warning him not to hurt her friend. And at the end? These guys are werewolves and all Jen has to do is put her hands on her hips and spew out some tough verbage and they all just back off from the tough scary little human female? Huh? I personally would like to think either a) she'd be a little more respectful and scared because she's dealing with werewolves that could rip her to shreds, or that b) they'd be a bit tougher than that and put the little mouth in her place, maybe by ripping her to shreds. I actually started skimming (not even really skimming, but skipping) all the paragraphs that had Sally and Jen in them.
All in all, it was just too "girl power" for me. And I like my werewolves to be a little more bad a$$.
3021829
The characters did too many stupid things to be believable and entertaining. Even the supposedly smart engineer acted dumb too many times. It was an interesting concept but the characters ruined it for me. Even the frivolous sex scenes seemed awkward and out of place.
2709698
I still  really like the concept of this series; it's a compelling premise. But the execution leaves something to be desired.  I figured out jack's secret love for Caleo early on in the first book of the series. In fact I really liked Jack in the first book. However, this book, as another reviewer stated, makes him whinier, needier, and more annoying than Bella Swan from the damn twilight books. I don't know if I'd go that far (I really dislike Bella Swan) but it was a little off putting. Also I want more character development, I want more background on the leeches and the civil war, I want a stinger context to make me care about these struggles. And I want the editor to fix all the typos that are super distracting.
4049480
Characters are very annoying.  Some of them laugh constantly for some reason.  Jimmy Stewart is WEAK.
4624216
The dialogue is distracting. The story is really enjoyable, but the entire time I could only think about how annoying the main character was. She sounds like a 6th grader who just learned to swear, not an adult woman. Also, she's on the police force. Working out shouldn't be such a big deal and she should definitely be doing it more often.
4311326
These books have a cool idea. Unfortunately, the romance part is horrible. The woman are strong willed but stupid. Stupid because they take on killers on their own, no back-up, no one knowing where they are. The men are horrid pigs yet the women end up falling for them anyway. Maybe if the men weren't so awful I would give this author another chance. I've read a couple in this series and would not read another or recommend them to anyone.
2806958
The premise of the book is good. The novel is well written. But the women as written by the author come across as bitchy. The only female in the story that acts reasonable and seems to be championed by the writer is a rather submissive Asian woman. I enjoyed the idea of this novel more than the novel itself.
4741257
Characters a bit too tidy, seem to fit in a box with fairly tight parameters.  The author must be strongly pro-choice; all the pro-life characters are "monsters" , "rabid", "hysterical", spittle flying from their lips, etc.  One of the protagonists is labeled even worse since he lives in an unpopular newer subdivision that "is a blight " on the area and of course lives in an obscenely ostentatious house.  I guess the author is a tree hugger too....still, not a bad read.  I would have read the next in what is obviously a series just to find out what happens, but it's not available and I'm not so interested that I'll watch for it.
4871323
This book has an interesting plot line which is a little derivative as is the case in most fantasy novels.  It seems to jump around a lot with far too many coincidences, scenes that seem like they were written for comedic value (I hope), and quite a few cookie cutter characters.  I did think the main character was well written, but the villain was a cartoon (I kept thinking of the evil villain, Gargamel, from the Smurfs).

Worth what I paid for it (under 3 dollars), but if I'd paid full HB price I would have been disappointed.  Here's hoping the author improves as she hones her craft.
440459
The main female character, Keri, is rude, obnoxious, rude, self-centered, rude, unlikable, and did I mention ... rude!  I just fininshed chapter 3 and I don't think I'm going to finish reading it.  I very rarely not finish a book.
Usually you get to know a character and like them ... and if they say or do something not nice, you can excuse them.  But when a character starts off being horrible .. not inspired to keep reading to see if she ever gets nice.  I like everyone else in the book except her, and frankly at this point I could care less what happens to her.