I came back to blogspot to look for a poem I posted a number of years ago, and discovered that people still look at this blog... which is so weird because I haven't posted in it in so many years. I just forgot about it and I realized that I wasn't very good at giving book reviews. I just consume books now, anything that makes me think too hard makes me roll my eyes because I don't have the patience to analyze it and digest it. I blame my BA in English. *cue Avenue Q soundtrack*
In any case, I'll throw in a new review today, just for kicks, since people seem to still look at this. Or rather, stumble upon it. So, why not.
The Unleashing by Shelly Laurenston is a new series by the prolific supernatural romance writer. Although you wouldn't think she was very prolific by her newsletters (lots of complaining and whining about how hard it is for her to meet deadlines). This story is about an ex-marine who has trouble adjusting to normal life, who one day gets killed and is given the opportunity to become a "Crow" or a second chance at life as a warrior under the viking god Skuld. She consents and has to adjust to a whole new kind of life.
The main character is kind of annoying because she constantly refers back to her previous life as a marine, and how awesome it was. While withholding alot of details about her life before her military career. The male protagonist is very one-dimensional, but he's a viking. As usual, the side characters interacting together is far more entertaining than the main storyline.
This book is fun, but is not her best work. This book feels like an extended prologue for explaining the world... the story doesn't feel like it gets going until the very end when *spoiler alert* the bad bitch goddess steps out of Brianna's skin. The whole exposition for the world could have been condensed into one chapter if only Kera wasn't so pigheaded and thick. And alot of the explaining could have been done simultaneously with the plot development, rather than pause the action to have an extended dialog where the Crows freak out about clipboards and how to annoy each other. Don't need to point out when people are being annoying, it stands out on their own.
Anyways, despite my irritation with some of the writing, it was entertaining enough that I would read the next books. Hopefully, the plot picks up a bit and it's focused on Erin... Anyone that doesn't have nightmares is worth exploring.
