It's taking me a lot longer to get through books, so here's the interim review. Currently reading Ghostland by Jory Strong - up to page 122 of 341. Here's the blurb from the back cover. "In a post-Apocalyptic world where supernaturals have emerged from hiding, wealthy humans delight in decadence while the religious gain power through temptation. For the masses, fear reigns from birth to death, and the afterlife holds beings that only the bravest can summon—or dare to desire…
Taken from her home and family, shamaness Aisling McConaughey has no choice except to enter the “ghostlands” in order to learn the fate of a wealthy man’s mistress. But there is always a price to pay for the use of her power. To save the woman’s life she must summon the Djinn prince Zurael en Caym—and yield to his savage, sensual rage.
Zurael fears nothing except being called and bound to a human’s will. He intends to kill Aisling after she’s served as bait to find an enemy in possession of an ancient tablet. But the more he tastes of her innocent spirit, the more he’ll use his fiery touch and seductive whispers to keep her hungry for his mercy—even as they weave an erotic spell that he cannot escape…
Powerful forces threaten both their worlds, leaving Aisling and Zurael with an unbearable choice. Follow their hearts…or stay true to their honor and risk losing an eternity of pleasure."
Hmmm.
Labelled as an urban fantasy romance - I remain unconvinced as regards the genre expansion - if nothing else so far this story has engendered strong emotions in me, mainly frustration.
Lows - The prose in places is a little clunky, though that improves greatly as you get into the story. The worst thing for me is the fact that the hero seems to have a permanent erection (and seems is understating it). His cock is constantly either stiffened, engorged, weeping, hardening or leaking. And the heroine's labia has just joined in.
Highs - And hence my incredible frustration with the fixation on the protagonist's genitalia. The worldbuilding in this story is FANTASTIC! And the plot when you get past the sex is absolutely compelling.
In summary - I'm torn. This is a series that I'd like to follow but so far I'm not sure if the original worldbuilding, characterisation and enthralling plot will be enough to get me past the unnecessary sex acts (I flick past them) which keep interrupting an otherwise excellent story.
Full review coming soon.
4 comments:
I'm in the same boat. I sat down last night to attempt to read it and its not going so well. I like the world building and idea behind it but can't stand the hero's problem...
Sarai - I've finished and will be posting a longer review. The last third of the book is the best part, there's a lot less sex, which I admit to just skipping over when it rears its head. And I like a good sex scene - lol. But this was definitely a case of less would have been more.
I particularly liked Aisling's visit to the vampire which I thought was well done and illustrated how well the worldbuilding has been thought out.
I hear ya and feel your frustration. This was a struggle for me as I read it, too. I was glad I gave it a go all the way to the end, though. It ended up working for me.
KMont - I'm glad I read it through to the end and will probably pick up the next book in the series.
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