I don't give up on most books. I tough it out and march on to the end. But this book was such a garbled mess of poor writing, bad scene changes and a terrible plot that I gave up at 22%.
Here's some of my problems:
Mikhail, the male MC and "love interest", is a total asshole and spoiled douche. He tells people what to do, or forces them with his powers when they refuse. He pushes people around and treats them like shit under the guise of trying to protect everyone. BS. He even, after only telepathically speaking to Raven once for 5 minutes, psychically molests the poor girl while she begs him to stop. He's got his metaphysical hand shoved up her crotch and she's crying, and he doesn't see anything wrong with it. This all happens within the first 2 chapters!
Raven, the female MC, is another in the long line of dumb but supposedly smart women who keep putting themselves in stupid, dangerous situations all to prove how tough they are. After Mikhail practically rapes her with his mind, she still goes off with him, makes out with him and lets him bite her. Bite her!And she doesn't even question it! She complains it burns some the next day but the fact this complete stranger she made out with gnawed on her didn't seem to light a warning sign.
Warning: Men don't usually bite women until they bleed! RUN!!
She goes off with him a second time, the next day. So we're up to the third day. Two and a half, really. And she gives her virginity to him, which he takes like a caveman. He almost kills her! She's so weak and banged up that he has to feed her his blood to save her. What a prince charming.
They proclaim their love for one another by 20%. Not just love, but undying, lifemate, I can't breathe without you love. It made me wanna barf. He molested her, bossed her around and told her she was his (not a choice, but a statement) and she swoons for him because he has telepathic powers, too. That seems to be the only basis for this random stupidity. Dude almost killed her and she's holding on to him like he's the last man on Earth. Gag.
If we get past the shitty characters, the writing is terrible, too. I write a lot, switching between two character points of view. But I give page breaks or something to signify the change. Not this work of art. It swaps POV and scenes without breaking stride. You're in Mikhails head, listening to his incessant bitchy man whining about Raven one second and then in the same paragraph, we're swapped over to Raven in a totally different place, miles away, listening her to whine about Mikhail. I had to read some pages multiple times to figure out WTF was happening.
There were problems with anatomy, like Mikhail licking her naughty bits while holding her wrist over her head. (Is he made of rubber?) And him sucking on her nipple while her head is nestled against his chest. (I can't even figure out that contortion.)
And there were terms used that made no sense, only thrown in to try to shock and worry the reader. Like Mikhail's sister getting killed (ala classic vampire measures, which was so cheesy I laughed) and Raven immediately says "There's a serial killer on the loose!"
WTF, woman? One person was killed. Not an entire sorority! Chill out! But she keeps repeating it! THERE IS NO SERIAL KILLER! It's just a murder! CALM THE FUCK DOWN! The term was only used to try to hook us, but for me, an avid murder-show junkie, it backfired.
This books was wordy, dense and ridiculous. There was no build-up to their romance. There wasn't even logic in their romance. I hated it. Mikhail wasn't even likable. Raven was stupid. And the plot, what little I got, was dumb.
DNF at 22%
Now I need a drink.
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