Not for Me #2: A Series Fail

Some books are not good reading experiences for me. Sometimes these are books everyone loves that I just don't enjoy. There are books I steer clear off because I know I won't like them. So here's my diary page for the books and series that are just not up my alley.

The Elder Races Series by Thea Harrison

My experience with this series has been really weird

Where they stand so far:

The Awesome	The Busts

Coming Soon: Potentially Awesome?

Praise for the first book in series, Dragon Bound, reverberated though the book-o-sphere late last year. I bought the book on the strength of that praise alone. And once you got past the first half, the effusive praise was right. The book was fresh and excellent. Well, then, bring on book 2.

And what a fall from grace that was. The hero of that book should have received a few slaps of sense to set him straight, and the heroine was a complete ninny. In book three, you had a hero who had been strong and wonderful in the previous books, but was a letdown in his own book. In book 4...nothing happens. And while there was more praise for this one than the intervening two books, the characters did zilch for me.

So truly, only the first book, which is absolutely delightful, is really worth writing home about in my opinion. I have all but given up on this series. The only reason I will be acquiring book 5 is because it features the couple from Book 1, Dragos and Pia, and there's the hope that with them Ms. Harrison can recreate the magic. The only other exception I'll make for this series is if there is a future book about Graydon, a supporting character I adore.

For me, this series has been one massive bust after an electrifying start. It seems Dragon Bound was a flash in the pan. Major letdown. This is one series that is (mostly) not for me.

Reviews:
1. Dragon Bound - 5/5
2. Storm's Heart - 2.5/5
3. Serpent's Kiss - 3/5
4. Oracle's Moon - 3/5

Not for Me #1: Faythe's Shenanigans

Some books are not good reading experiences for me. Sometimes these are books everyone loves that I just don't enjoy. There are books I steer clear off because I know I won't like them. So here's my diary page for the books and series that are just not up my alley.

The Shifters series by Rachel Vincent

Rachel Vincent is probably one of my favorite UF authors. I love her writing - love it! And her world-building is fantastic. Her settings are so, so unique and oh-so memorable. You won't find them, or a worthy facsimile of them anywhere in UF-landia. When you come across something similar, her world is always the superior one, always.

But - and it is a major 'but' here - for me, her characters leave a good deal to be desired.  They drive me to violence. I often want to sit them down and beat some common sense into them; or just beat them bloody. It took five books for me not to want to kill Kaylee in the Soul Screamers series. I still want to badly maim all the other characters in that series except for Tod. Same issue for her Unbound series. The response the characters have to revelations or their knee-jerk reactions just frustrate the daylights out of me! To borrow one of the many British phrases I am learning, her characters just take the piss.

Without having ever read a single book in her Stray series, I can say that this series is not for me. I have read several reviews as well as a couple of discussions about the series. Just about everyone - lovers or haters of the books - complain about Faythe, the protagonist. I tend to believe the complaints because they're almost unanimous. And I know I just can't. Her well-loved characters give me pause, so how much more this almost universally panned one? Great world-building or no, I won't be able to deal with Faythe. So I pass over the Shifters series every time I come across it without blinking an eye. It is loved by many of Ms. Vincent's fans, and probably with good reason too. I would love to read more of Ms. Vincent's adult books, since she creates such fantastic settings. It's a shame really, but this is one set of books that are just not for me.