Shanoah Maine
I guess I'll just start with the bad news: I will admit there were a number of scenes in this book that made me very uncomfortable. I had a really hard time reading from the POV of the murderer and the pedophilia notes were very weird (a.k.a. not something I usually read in my free time since I study psychology and have to read all about the real thing a lot). The main ‘romantic' scene was a bit rape-y in that she was clearly saying no, not now.
The good news: I rather enjoyed the crime procedural, though it wasn't anything new and most it had that written-in-1995-feel, which makes sense as that was when it was written.
I like Eve and felt that she was portrayed as strong and interesting, she would be a reason to read on in the series. And I have always had a pretty intense weakness for tall Irish men, so Roarke. He is intelligent and mysterious, if a little too forceful and stalker-y. He seems perfect... to perfect? Though I don't know that the author gave me much to help me believe he would fall for Eve... anybody else feel this way?
Eve's friend Mavis provided a nice bit of comic relief and I enjoyed her take on the world and her interaction with Eve. She was incredibly charming with a cold (hard thing to pull off). I hope she is prominent in the rest of the series.
I'm interested to read the next book and see how it goes from there...
I must say, I very much enjoyed this book. The story grabbed me immediately and it was non-stop from then on. I wanted to know more about the setting, the characters, and everything in the narrative world.
I loved the main character and am very pleased that there are more books in the series so that I can explore her personality and story more.
This book is broken into various sections, or codas, the first of which was very fun; I really liked the characters and found myself laughing-out-loud numerous times. As a huge fan of the Star Trek Universe I very much appreciated this story and the setting. I especially enjoyed the poking fun at the ‘science' involved (e.g. ‘the box'). It left me wanting more of the characters introduced and I feel that each one could support their own tale. I did have a hard time getting used to the use of the word ‘said', though this may be due partly to the fact that I was listening to the audiobook (narrated by Wil Wheaton, very funny) and it was hard to ignore its frequency.
The second story came from the writer of the fictional show itself, and was my least favorite part. It added to the story as a whole, but I don't think it was necessary.
Story number three brought us back into our world and was a nice close for the character and provided a transition from the science fiction to the world we sort of live in.
The last story was my favorite, possibly overly sentimental but I very much enjoyed being connected to a character that I had just met in such a meaningful way. I personally liked the closure it brought to one of the earlier minor characters that we don't often get to see.
All-in-all, it was a very fun little read and I am interested in investigating other works by this author.
I don't usually read life writing... but when I do it is this!
I laughed, I cried, it moved me Bob.... but seriously it did. I grew up watching Star Trek and am currently utterly addicted to TableTop and The Guild (geekandsundry on YouTube, check it out! Now!).
This is exactly the kind of beautifully honest humanity that so refreshing. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!
The Good: The book itself was fairly well written and flowed easily. The story was interesting and pulled toward the ends (I will expand on the plural later).The descriptions of medicinal plants were detailed and I found them to be interesting.
I was fairly into the story, right up to the spanking scene. (Later)
I really liked the setting; the historical aspects were fascinating, having mostly studied the land across the border. And I will say that I would like to hear more about Claire's time as a war nurse, give me that story!
That being said: I found Claire a little problematic, she seemed to accept fairly easily that she had traveled about 200 years back in time, but scientifically questioned most everything else in the world, looking for rational explanations of fortune telling and witch craft. Which is great but I wish she would have put a little more effort into rationally explaining why she was there in the first place.
Some of her ‘inner conflicts' were a little grating for me, I feel like the author threw in the questions about her husband's fidelity to morally justify her time traveling infidelity. Another reviewer brought up the point that this is a story of how to cheat on your husband without technically cheating and I can see merits in the argument.
And don't get me started on the spanking scene... REALLY!?! I don't see it as justification that it was the time period, because Claire was not part of that time, seriously Claire, get out of there! She spent a lot of time and effort trying to get away early in the book but it isn't her first thought after she gets spanked liked a child! REALLY!?!
Jamie was (at different times in the story) both alpha and man-boy, and fairly inconsistent in either role. And honestly, I had a big problem with near-rape experiences being an aphrodisiac for either character.
The book was too long, I don't mean the number of pages or chapters, I mean the number of endings in the book, at some point you have to stop adding elements).
And by the end spoiler I didn't care whether or not she was pregnant.....
All-in-all... it was okay.