Two Quick Quack DNF Reviews by Liviania

It’s rare that I don’t finish a book.  I try to pick up stuff that I think I’ll like and then I’m generous with giving it time to get good.  Generally, I feel picking a book up is a commitment.  It was in late junior high before I began not-finishing books.  On the other hand, it’s something I feel I need to do more.  There’s too much out there to read to waste time on books I’m not into.  However, the reasons I’m not into something may be wildly disparate. 

Soul Catcher (The Outsider, Book 1) by Leigh Bridger
Paranormal romance released by Bell Bridge Books 20 Oct 09

Soul Catcher has an awesome premise.  Reality is made of multiple dimensions and some beings like to travel among them.  Livia is born again and again to throw out unruly demons who negatively affect Earth.  Born with her are a group of protectors, to insure she can do her job.

How do they do so?  Why, they let her grow up ignorant of what her creepy paintings mean and only give her the truth once she’s brutally raped by her demonic enemy who apparently gets her every life.  I had to throw the book at the wall due to this passage:

“We’re here to help you. . . . If you listen to your soul and see past the surface, the evil souls will never seduce you again.”

I stiffened.  “I wasn’t seduced.  I was raped and nearly beaten to death.”

“Yes, but he lured you.  He charmed you.  And all because you didn’t recognize his evil soul hiding behind his handsome face.”

Yeah Livia.  It was your own damn fault you got raped.  Certainly not mine.  I mean, my purpose in being reborn isn’t to help you.  I haven’t known you for years in which I could’ve given you this info dump.  No, there’s no way my teaching you about your powers earlier could’ve prevented the rape.  Not that even then it would still be his fault, since he’s a rapist, not anyone else’s for failing to defend adequately against rape.  Because, you know, not being able to defend yourself against rape means you wanted to get raped.  It means you deserved it.

Book. Wall.  (Followed soon after by the trash can, is my recommendation.)

Grade: DNF

Summary:

From the gothic eccentricity of Asheville, North Carolina, to the terrifying recesses of the Appalachian wilderness, from modern demonology to ancient Cherokee mythology, Soul Catcher follows the tormented journey of folk artist Livia Belane, who has been stalked through many lives by a sadistic and vengeful demon. Livia and her loved ones, including her frontier-era soulmate and husband, Ian, a Soul Hunter, have never beaten the demon before. Now, in this life, it’s found them again.

Read an excerpt here.

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Blood Kin (Blood Lines, Book 3) by Maria Lima
Urban fantasy released by Juno/Pocket 27 Oct 09

Blood Kin has an interesting cast.  The heroine is heir to quite a bit of power, but she has no clue about any of it and would rather remain the family outcast.  She’s got a fairy cousin, a gay werewolf brother, and a vampire boyfriend.  It could be ridiculous, but Keira Kelly’s voice is down to earth.  I’m also willing to forgive a lot in a book that praises the Texas landscape this much.

So why am I setting Blood Kin down?  Because I’m on page 140 of the ARC and nothing has happened, that’s why.  Keira’s grandmother called her home to Canada since she’s now the heir.  Keira says her goodbyes and goes to Canada.  Due to weather, Keira and entourage are stuck in the city for a bit until they can go to the homestead.  In the city, they discover that there’s possibly a Sidhe around that possibly killed a random musician.

I’ve been having a rough couple of weeks.  I need something more compelling than “I kind of like the characters.”  I may try Blood Kin again when I’m less busy, but for now it’s putting me to sleep.  It’s a generally accepted rule of plot that something needs to happen before the book is halfway over.

Grade: DNF

Summary:

The perils of power…

Keira Kelly has come into her full powers, and they are frighteningly strong, creating a distance between her and her human friends in her beloved Rio Seco.  It is time to obey her great-great-grandmother Gigi’s orders and rejoin her family in northwest Canada, where Keira can learn to handle her dangerous new skills.

She’ll have friends with her every step of the way — her shapeshifter brother Tucker, his beloved Niko, and, to Keira’s dismay, her cousin on her mother’s side, Daffyd ap Geraint, the Sidhe prince who suddenly appeared in her life and now refuses to leave — but her vampire lover Adam has insisted on staying in Texas.

And while there are certainly perks to being Family, such as a private Learjet for the flight to Canada and a fabulous penthouse condo overlooking Vancouver, there are threats looming that nobody, not even Gigi, anticipated. Keira’s Sidhe inheritance from her mother is far more important than anyone ever realized, and the fate of the Family may depend upon what she does next….

Read an excerpt here.