Review of The Subtle Beauty by Ann Hunter

The Subtle Beauty

Crowns of Twelve Book 1
By Ann Hunter

Star Rating: 

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Number of Pages: 170

Season Read: Summer


Synopsis:(From Amazon)
A cursed prince. A vain beauty. Glory is the seventh daughter of Balthazar, High King of the Twelve Kingdoms. Glory hopes that - of all her sisters - she can escape the fate of a loveless marriage. But on the night she plans to elope with the royal falconer, her world comes crashing down: Her father announces Glory's betrothal to Eoghan of the Blood Realm - a prince no one has ever seen. The prince is said to be a recluse, cursed and deformed by the gods for the sins of his power-hungry father. Yet when Glory is trapped in Blackthorn Keep she discovers that not everything is what she expected. An insulting gryphon, a persistent ghost, and a secret plan to usurp the prince keep Glory reeling. Can she overcome her vanity to learn that what you want isn’t necessarily what you need—and save the cursed prince?


Review:
The very beginning of the novel was hard to grasp, seeming unimportant and hard to get through.  Although the setting is done quite well, it seems that the Celtic vibe Hunter is aiming for is lost the further in one reads.  Once the fairy tale characters begin to appear, it becomes a bit easier to understand, and to empathize with Xander.  I actually really enjoyed our "bad guy", Sylus, because although warned, Xander does decide to visit him anyway.  Is Sylus really the bad guy, or does he simply let others find the darkness in themselves?

Once deeper into the story, it's hard not to care for Glory's attempted suitor, Colin.  Poor Colin leaves his job and ventures to save Glory, so that they can live out a life they had planned, but he shifts and changes throughout the way.  When Glory is brought to Blackthorn Keep she realizes that although she wanted desperately for Colin, in the end, perhaps she is better off there.  Despite Colin's actions in trying to save Glory, it's hard to forget just how cruel she had originally been to him when he faces horrible consequences.  The relationship between Colin and Glory is an excellent representation of infatuation, where looks provide the sole basis of love.

I like that Glory isn't a like-able character, but most will be able to relate to her.  She has personality, and she grows throughout the book, much like many of us do in life.  Glory learns that her father has more of an understanding and reasoning for what he does than she is aware of, and that getting everything you want isn't the answer to happiness.

There are lots of fun fairy tale retellings hiding throughout this book, and while I don't want to say exactly what, I will say that oh, Beauty and the Beast, but perhaps reversed.  There are more ways to be a beast than merely appearances.

If you love fairy tales, fantasy, intrigue and surprises, you definitely need to find a copy of this book!



Author Bio: (from Amazon)
Multi-award winning author, Ann Hunter, is the creator of the young adult fantasy series Crowns of the Twelve (including the novels The Subtle Beauty, Moonlight, Fallen, with A Piece of Sky, Ashes, and The Rose In The Briar to follow). She likes cherry so
da with chocolate ice cream, is a mom first and a writer second, has a secret identity, and thinks the Twilight movies are cheesier than cheez whiz (which is why they are her guilty pleasure!)

She lives in a cozy Utah home with her two awesome kids and epic husband.

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT HER HOMEPAGE:
https://www.facebook.com/authorannhunter

AND MAILING LIST:
http://eepurl.com/VZsFn




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Thank you! 

Review of Damaged and the Beast by Bijou Hunter

Damaged and the Beast

By Bijou Hunter

Star Rating: 

Date/Time Started: 6/9/2015
Date/Time Finished: 6/14/2015

Genre: Romance?
Number of Pages: 232

Synopsis (From Amazon):
New Adult Biker Romance

Heir to the localmotorcycle club and crime syndicate, Cooper Johansson is accustomed to taking what he wants.  His newest conquest is college freshman Farah Smith.

When the tattooed bad boy reminds her of a rough childhood she desperately wishes to forget, Farah keeps him at arm's length.  Yet, Cooper refuses to give up.  He pushes her buttons, tears through her walls, and forces her to admit her feelings for him.  What begins as lust soon builds into something more powerful than either expects.

Can a beast like Cooper heal the damage inside the girl of his dreams?

***Warning: This novel contains scenes of a sexual nature, violent themes, and coarse language.  It is intended for mature readers.


Review:
Notice how I didn't link the book at the top of the page?  This book is available on Amazon for free, yet I am not going to link it.

List of discrepancies/issues within the novel:

- Repetitive/redundant: my parents are the absolute best!

- Horrible language for no reason: bitch seems to make the page at least twice in the first 2/3 of the book.

- Pushy creepy dude asks incredibly invasive questions, which Farah just answers.

- Overtly sexual, meanwhile the guy says she's different, yet continues to cuss at her, mentioning sex all the time

- Way too close family.  An 18 year old girl continuously sitting on her brothers' laps, and mention of how they all know how the others look naked, not to mention she knows everything of her brothers' sex lives.

- Derogatory name calling that is supposed to be cute/endearing.

- Random unnecessary question marks/bad punctuation

- Explaining everything in dialogue all the time.  Every time Farah and Cooper have an issue or disagreement, they talk it out.  While that is a great practice in real life, it makes for a very boring read.

- Farah's signature line: "You're scaring me."  If he scares you so much, why are you still with him?

- Everyone talks about sex so openly, and like it's nothing.

- Farah states several times throughout the novel that her sense of worth comes from Cooper, his desire for her and him liking her.  Later, for one whole paragraph, it's stated that she would only have worth if she became a teacher like she wanted to in her lifelong dream, yet you've already heard for 2/3 of the book how she's only worth anything if Cooper wants her, and how she could "get better" and couldn't stand for him to dump her.

- Unrealistic college, written as if it was a high school.  Generally colleges do not have an "exam week" the first month of school where there is an exam in every class, nor do students that fail every single exam have to go to the administration building to talk to a guidance counselor.  Usually colleges consist of having an advisor, but even then, it is more to make sure you are picking the right classes for your major, not to check up and make sure you are doing alright in every general education class you take.

- The major conflict of the entire novel doesn't take place until 95% in to the novel, according to the marker on my kindle.  And this is all within a two week period of time.

- Most people do not get a tattoo of a girlfriend's name within a two week period.  They also don't end up cohabiting, nor getting a house after knowing each other for a month or less.

- General time is used poorly.  Time keeps passing, and there are brief mentions of it, yet it keeps going back to mention two weeks, which leads the reader to believe that almost the entire novel takes place in that time frame.

- Giant time shift from two weeks into their relationship to having a child.

- Despite having a few moments mentioning how she needed to graduate school and become a teacher, at the end of the book she states that her self worth is now determined by having had a daughter, and that she's comfortable being herself because of that.  I cannot conceive how someone who was adamant that they would accomplish their dream would simply give in to a significant other to have children because he wanted to right away, forgoing whatever they had planned for their own future.

It was suggested that perhaps I should offer ways in which this novel could have been made better.  I am not sure that is possible.  I have racked my brain trying to think of the issues in this novel, and if it would have seemed better with anything slightly tweaked.  It would have been better for Farah to have actually had experience with men before simply giving in and settling with the first guy who showed her any genuine attention, but even if she was an established adult, I don't see how the timeline of their relationship would have been any better.  Perhaps if more time had been allotted to being realistic instead of pushing the over dramatized issues both she and Cooper faced, the book could have been a smidgen better.

Author information:

I'm a romance author of Contemporary, New Adult, and Suspense.  Living in Indiana with my three sweet sons, three wacky cats, one super mom (and her ugly dog), I love writing, Denny's, 1970's rock, Beanie Boos, and sitcoms cancelled before their time.

If you like this review, and the writing style of this quirky reviewer, please consider visiting and liking my Facebook author page: Lizzy March.