Showing posts with label new adult. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new adult. Show all posts

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Julia Reviews The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost

Title/Author: The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost
Publisher/Year Published: August 2014 by Harlequin 
How I got this book: I was provided with an ARC in return for an honest review
Why I read this book: I was in the mood for paranormal in October... I wonder why?
Rating: 3.5 stars

This book leaves me a bit torn which is why I think it's taken me a few weeks to start this review. On one hand it has a very interesting paranormal plot line that I haven't read anything similar too. On the other hand the characters aren't very well written. Adrian is as cliche as they come - smoldering demon thing who can melt the pants off women with one look. Ivy is the inexperienced woman who finds herself in a situation she was destined for and somehow gets good at mastering things instantly. Then there is their romance which was very instant attraction that moves into the "I can fix him our love will save the world" cliche mix. But the plot was really interesting! 

Let's back up and talk about that plot. Ivy is a college age woman who's parents just died in a car accident and only other living relative, her sister, has gone missing. She is in New York looking for her when she is sort of kidnapped/rescued by Adrian, a humanish hunk who was sent to take her to this angel guy to start down the path of her destiny and save her from the clutches of demons. She is from some special bloodline and the last of the line and only she can do... something. I don't even really think that was clear... it of course is a series. 

Adrian didn't know who she was initially and was all trying to get in her pants, but once he realized she is the last of that line things change. You see, he is the last of another line whose paths were destined to cross with the first line but in like a betrayer way. 

It's sort of convoluted, but it is introduced easily enough. Things get answered along the way as the plot clips along. It's very much angels vs demons, heaven vs hell sort of book that pulls a lot of stuff from Christianity's history and lore. I really enjoyed that part and the vivid imagery of the demon world. 

But the characters were not as gripping. They were along the ride for the story, but just seemed like plot points or cardboard cutout cliches. I keep using that word, but it very much fits. Think of your normal leading hero in a paranormal book. That's Adrian. Think of your normal heroine in a YA paranormal. That's Ivy. 

That's another thing that bothered me. I thought this was paranormal romance, but it is more like new adultish paranormal romance sort of. When I start a romance novel, I go into it knowing a few things are going to happen. 1) The main characters fall in love (check) 2) They get a Happily Ever After or a Happy For Now (it's a HFN because I think these characters are going to run through the series) 3) They have the sexytimes. (no check) I was a little saddened when I got to the end and pants remained on. This is published by Harlequin, right? Well, I don't know if it will be a plot point later or something, but I was missing the romance part of this book. Not just the sex, but like the tension. It wasn't there for me in the subtext. She told me they were falling in love, but I sure as hell didn't see it.

So in summary, it wasn't horrid. I liked the creativity of the world where it was set. I liked the descriptions of some of the demon based characters. But I didn't like the lackluster leads and their lack of realistic chemistry. Apparently it is marketed as New Adult and not paranormal romance, so if you are looking to try a paranormal story with a dash of romance, I'd say give this a try. At least read the sample and see if it grips you. 


Saturday, May 31, 2014

Tahleen reviews: "Rush Me" by Allison Parr

Title: Rush Me
Author: Allison Parr
Publisher: Carina Press (e-book only), 2013

Rating: 4 stars

Rachael Hamilton is struggling to make a living in New York City, working as an intern (for free) at a major publisher with hopes of eventually landing her dream job, and temping to pay the bills. One night while out with her roommate at a party with theater friends, Rachael gets lost and finds herself in the wrong party. With the New York Leopards, the city's major football team. After an awkward and tense first encounter with the quarterback, Ryan Carter, she leaves in a hurry with a few angry, choice words—only to realize the next morning she forgot her scarf. Of course she goes back for it, only to be pulled into a poker game with some of the other Leopards, to Ryan's chagrin. Thus begins Rachael's unlikely friendship with a bunch of professional football players, and the slow-burn romance that eventually develops between her and the least likely of the Leopards, Mr. Carter himself.

So I really, really liked this book for the most part. It's what you expect with the "New Adult" genre (which I still maintain is adult fiction with Millenial main characters); young 20-something in the city, trying to find her way in the world, finds a hot and sexy romantic lead. But this book is flipping funny. I loved Rachael (though it took her WAY too long to get over her weird hatred of jocks in my opinion), and Ryan is great too. The secondary characters are all wonderful too; I loved how Rachael just falls in with these guys, who become very brotherly toward her. This was like my dream in college. It's a lot of fun to read.

The dialogue is sparkling and witty, and the situations are occasionally laugh-out-loud. This is a rom-com of the highest order. It was also refreshing that Rachael is Jewish, even though she says she's more Jewish in theory than in practice. Abe, however, seems to be a fairly devout Jew, which is nice to see.

I remember there being a few awkward moment while I was reading where I cringed at a word choice, I think maybe it was the use of a mental disorder as an adjective to describe someone or something that was clearly not suffering from said mental disorder, but other than that my only problem was waiting for the characters just get over themselves, already. I was really rooting for Rachael and Ryan to get together, and stay together, in the end.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoyed Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham, so long as they like more sex and steaminess in their fiction. Because there's that, too. I'm happy to say I've already got the two sequels, Running Back and Imaginary Lines, waiting on my nook.

I do have to say, I know the author personally (worked with her in high school and went to college with her!), but this in no way had any effect on what I thought of this book. Honestly, I'm relieved I liked it so much! Well, maybe I could hear her saying some of the things Rachael says and that made me like it even more, but it's still all good and I recommend it to you anyway. Great job, Allison!

Disclaimer: I bought this e-book with my own money. Even if I also bought it to support my friend. :) It's a bargain, anyway!


Sunday, December 30, 2012

New Adult: Is it really necessary?

I was going to post a review today, and in fact I had one all written out and ready to go. But you'll have to wait for my next post for that. I have spent the past hour or so reading about a, shall we say, literary phenomenon you have probably all heard of by now: "New Adult." There have been many, many articles, blog posts, and comments written about this particular subject, and yes, I'm going to add to the collection. For your reference, here are two posts by other librarians I respect in my specialty, which is teen services: Kelly at Stacked has a few links in her most recent Links of Note post, and Liz Burns wrote the first of a series of articles about it as well. Both of those have a bunch of links worth reading, both for and against the idea of New Adult fiction.

Personally, I am not convinced this should be called an age grouping in the same sense as young adult/teen, children's, and adult literature. I understand that a "new adult" or "emerging adult" has a different sense of the world around them, a different life experience, and in fact I would call myself someone in that range as a 25-year-old woman. But just because you want books that reflect your experience, which is completely valid, does that mean an entirely new age category be created because of it?

People have been saying that you're either an adult, a teen, or a child, and new adults are technically adults. I would have to agree. Just because you don't feel like and adult doesn't mean you're not one. Maybe new adult fiction is a legitimate genre, like fantasy or mysteries or romance, but I wouldn't carve out space for it in the teen section or adult section at my library. It's going to go in one or the other, and unfortunately it will have to suffice for all us emerging adults who want to read books with people in our stage in life.

And guess what? That's FINE. The good news about this discussion, and the sales of books in the genre, is that publishers and retailers are noticing that there is a need for these stories and people are willing to buy them. This is apparent in looking at e-book sales, as well as just looking at popular culture and other forms of entertainment right now. The TV shows Girls and 2 Broke Girls, for example, are about that period, in these instances, in a young woman's life (disclaimer, I've never seen either of these shows). The only show I can think of off the top of my head about young men at that stage is the web series "We Need Girlfriends" which is awesome and hilarious.

I just think they belong in either YA or Adult fiction, and not somewhere in between. That's what we are for, the librarians and booksellers in your life. I know people don't necessarily want to talk to librarians all the time, for various reasons. But the Internet is an amazing place! I have been inspired by all this to try to create a Pinterest board dedicated to the genre, and I'm guessing there are other lists out there that people have compiled already.

In the meantime, I wish we could all agree that these books can go in one place or the other. Frankly, I don't have the space in my library to create a new set of shelves.

Oh, and another thing. I really REALLY hate the term "new adult." First, it sounds like the new adult books are actually new books for adults. Second, the acronym is NA, which just makes me think of the, to me apt, other meaning of that: Not Applicable.


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