Marisa

Smashwords book reviews by Marisa

  • Bonds of Fenris on Aug. 02, 2012

    I have to admit, going into this book I expected something completely different than what I got. In retrospect, I don’t think this is bad, as I was expecting something along the lines of most YA paranormal romance novels. Therefore, Bonds of Fenris, was fresh and unique. I loved the main character, Talia. It was easy to connect with her and the experiences she was going through. The rest of her pack members, Pierce, Bo, Leroy, and Marlene, each had distinct and well developed personalities. I especially enjoyed how each one of them had to learn the lessons Corwin taught in different ways. Corwin came across slightly flat to me, if only because he doesn’t seem like a man who possesses very many flaws. Towards the middle of the novel, he did make a crucial mistake, though the rest of the time he seemed to be perfect and somehow that left me not connecting with him as much. I didn’t hate or dislike him because of this, I merely felt myself not getting emotionally attached to him as much as I did the others. Overall, this book has some philosophical and deep thoughts. It examines acceptance of oneself, forgiveness, and the bonds that tie people together for better or worse. Considering a lot of YA novels nowadays fail to dig beneath the surface and often don’t try to touch upon a message (at least in my experience), I was pleasantly surprised Bonds of Fenris did.
  • What Kills Me on Oct. 01, 2012

    I’d like to thank the author for giving me a free copy of this book in return for an honest review. Let me start off by saying this wasn’t bad. I actually rather liked it, but at the end of the day it didn’t draw me in or instill in me the need to continue reading. I could put it down and go a whole day without picking it up again. Some might take that as a sign that the story was boring, but it wasn’t. It was actually quite fast paced and although it wasn’t wildly intricate, it was entertaining and enjoyable. In fact, the plot was what I liked best about the book. The characters were also decent, but I failed to connect or care about them. I didn’t hate them, but I didn’t love them either. Zee also came off rather naive to me at times. For instance, Paulo, a complete stranger, asks her to come out in the middle of the night with him. I understand that she wanted to have an adventure, but the only reason she hesitated was because of the curfew enforced by the people she was staying with. It never crossed her mind that it might not be a good idea to wander the streets at night with a person she’s talked to for roughly five minutes at best. Or that it wouldn’t be a good idea to go someplace secluded with them. Maybe these are the thoughts that just instantly come to my mind because I was raised by a paranoid, overprotective mother, but... I don’t know. It would have been nice if she’d at least considered those aspects at some point rather than blindly trusting Paulo. Also, there’s the bit where she’s taken in by Noel and his family. She’s erring on the side of caution by deciding not to tell them about her back story...then goes and picks flowers and cleans the house while the sun is out. To me that was a rather careless move because of course it could only lead to her cover being blown. This isn’t to say Zee grained on my nerves, but, as I stated, it made her come off as naive and it’s not one of my favorite personality traits, though admittedly I’m naive about certain things myself. In the end, this book is pretty good. It has a fairly solid plot and okay characters that I happened not to connect with, but others might. I was admittedly distracted while reading this book, so in the future I might attempt another go at it and change my opinion then.