Title: All You Desire
Author: Kirsten Miller
Publisher: Penguin/Razorbill
Release Date: August 9, 2011
Pages: 423 pages (hardback)
How I Got the Book: Bought it.
Haven Moore fled to Rome a year ago, leaving behind the Ouroboros Society and its diabolical leader, Adam Rosier. Now she's back in New York City with her beloved Iain. But Iain's supposed to be dead. And if they blow his cover, Adam won't give them any second chances.
Meanwhile, Beau Decker is missing. His life rests in Haven's hands. The Horae, a group of mystical sisters, hold the key to Beau's fate. They want to lock Adam away forever and Haven is his only weakness. To save Beau, Haven must seduce Adam and lure him into the Horae's lair.
But Adam Rosier has always had a funny way of seducing her. And the closer Haven gets to her enemy, the more she succumbs to his spell. Beau's life hangs in the balance--but this time, Haven can't even trust herself. Every decision she makes will shape her destiny.
How far will she go for the people she loves?
The little praise I have for bad books seem to get lost in the noise when I include them closer to the end of a review, so I'll state them first and get it over with. If there's one character I really like, it's Leah, one of Haven's friends who has visions of the future. Her personality appeals to be and I would love to read more about her. Yeah, she's just the Psychic Friend used to move the plot along and that type of friend has plenty of fans wherever they go (Alice Cullen, anyone?), but I like her outside of her ability to see what's going to happen.
Miller takes all the little details that seem so insignificant in both books of the series and ties them together well, revealing them as something that is actually very important. Most readers wouldn't think twice about those details and it makes for some good surprises. I also love the complexities of both the Ouroboros Society and the Horae; neither are totally good or bad, just shades of grey that can't be easily defined.
While I disliked Iain's mother for not being the mother she should have been despite the circumstances and Iain being an Eternal One, she said one line that I praised to the heavens: "Why would you assume there's a man pulling my strings?" Finally, someone gets that man isn't a woman's only motivation! Characters often take the words right out of my mouth when talking to Iain or Haven, and though what they said has little to no effect on the characters, I appreciate that someone seems to be in tune with what the reader will think.
Okay, there went all the praise I can give. Now we move on to the fun part: the bad stuff.
In the first book, Haven was stuck in a revolving door of "I trust Iain! He's my soul mate and I love him." "No, he killed me once and he'll do it again!" I hoped she wouldn't do it again in this book, but I didn't end up getting what I wanted. This time, she's stuck in the revolving door about whether or not Adam and the OS are changing and whether or not she's going bad. In the end, her going around and around and around and around make me sick to my stomach. She get tricked and used as a pawn every which way she can and it's just so frustrating! And her infidelity doesn't make me a fan of her either.
But Haven is not the dumbest person in the book, as dumb as she can be; Iain is. After faking his own death, he just needed to lie low and maybe change his appearance up. Dyed hair or a haircut that frames the face differently can go a long way. Can he do it right? Never! People knew he was alive when they shouldn't and when people still think he's dead, he walks around New York City in the middle of the day. Considering he was so high-profile and wanted for murder before his "death," it is both idiotic of him and unbelievable that no one figured it out earlier. He is a disgrace to all who have faked their deaths in real life or fiction.
Some twists surprised me or had me suspicious instead of sure, but I called the major twists far ahead of time. In one and only one instance, the foreshadowing of one of them was about as subtle as a blunt object to the head. Haven and Iain still don't have any sort of healthy relationship or communication, and it's hard for me to root for them like I should when I don't believe they should be together. It was great we had a gay soul mate couple, but it was difficult to enjoy it when one half had barely any characterization and the other half was the best-friend-turned-plot-point. Don't you hate it when characters get reduced to plot points?
To be honest, I still think Haven would do better in a relationship with Beau, said gay-best-friend-turned-plot-point, than with Adam or Iain. He won't be attracted to her ever, yeah, but he treats her better than either of Haven's own love interests.
Miller's writing is unclear, inconsistent, and confusing, but if there is one thing she can write, it's useless filler. There are detailed infodumps everywhere and the reader should be given more respect than being treated like they might not be smart enough to remember even the biggest points of the first book. Small reminders are okay, but a three-page infodump on Adam's role in the first book is not just going overboard, but swimming to the bottom of the sea and putting together a wardrobe made of seashells. At numerous points, I could have screamed at the book, "WRONG WRONG WRONG!" It would take too long to list them and if you're dying to know, ask and you shall receive.
And that's it. I'm done. The ending might be open, it might not, but I'm not going to keep buying them if it turns out there will be more books in the series. I will not be tricked again! People who loved the first book will love the second just as much, but those who had issues with the first book will find no reprieve here.
2 stars!
What am I reading next?: Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
Author: Kirsten Miller
Publisher: Penguin/Razorbill
Release Date: August 9, 2011
Pages: 423 pages (hardback)
How I Got the Book: Bought it.
Haven Moore fled to Rome a year ago, leaving behind the Ouroboros Society and its diabolical leader, Adam Rosier. Now she's back in New York City with her beloved Iain. But Iain's supposed to be dead. And if they blow his cover, Adam won't give them any second chances.Meanwhile, Beau Decker is missing. His life rests in Haven's hands. The Horae, a group of mystical sisters, hold the key to Beau's fate. They want to lock Adam away forever and Haven is his only weakness. To save Beau, Haven must seduce Adam and lure him into the Horae's lair.
But Adam Rosier has always had a funny way of seducing her. And the closer Haven gets to her enemy, the more she succumbs to his spell. Beau's life hangs in the balance--but this time, Haven can't even trust herself. Every decision she makes will shape her destiny.
How far will she go for the people she loves?
Review:
This is my opinion of the series in a nutshell: ""No," he said. "Just no."" (All You Desire, p. 121)The little praise I have for bad books seem to get lost in the noise when I include them closer to the end of a review, so I'll state them first and get it over with. If there's one character I really like, it's Leah, one of Haven's friends who has visions of the future. Her personality appeals to be and I would love to read more about her. Yeah, she's just the Psychic Friend used to move the plot along and that type of friend has plenty of fans wherever they go (Alice Cullen, anyone?), but I like her outside of her ability to see what's going to happen.
Miller takes all the little details that seem so insignificant in both books of the series and ties them together well, revealing them as something that is actually very important. Most readers wouldn't think twice about those details and it makes for some good surprises. I also love the complexities of both the Ouroboros Society and the Horae; neither are totally good or bad, just shades of grey that can't be easily defined.
While I disliked Iain's mother for not being the mother she should have been despite the circumstances and Iain being an Eternal One, she said one line that I praised to the heavens: "Why would you assume there's a man pulling my strings?" Finally, someone gets that man isn't a woman's only motivation! Characters often take the words right out of my mouth when talking to Iain or Haven, and though what they said has little to no effect on the characters, I appreciate that someone seems to be in tune with what the reader will think.
Okay, there went all the praise I can give. Now we move on to the fun part: the bad stuff.
In the first book, Haven was stuck in a revolving door of "I trust Iain! He's my soul mate and I love him." "No, he killed me once and he'll do it again!" I hoped she wouldn't do it again in this book, but I didn't end up getting what I wanted. This time, she's stuck in the revolving door about whether or not Adam and the OS are changing and whether or not she's going bad. In the end, her going around and around and around and around make me sick to my stomach. She get tricked and used as a pawn every which way she can and it's just so frustrating! And her infidelity doesn't make me a fan of her either.
But Haven is not the dumbest person in the book, as dumb as she can be; Iain is. After faking his own death, he just needed to lie low and maybe change his appearance up. Dyed hair or a haircut that frames the face differently can go a long way. Can he do it right? Never! People knew he was alive when they shouldn't and when people still think he's dead, he walks around New York City in the middle of the day. Considering he was so high-profile and wanted for murder before his "death," it is both idiotic of him and unbelievable that no one figured it out earlier. He is a disgrace to all who have faked their deaths in real life or fiction.
Some twists surprised me or had me suspicious instead of sure, but I called the major twists far ahead of time. In one and only one instance, the foreshadowing of one of them was about as subtle as a blunt object to the head. Haven and Iain still don't have any sort of healthy relationship or communication, and it's hard for me to root for them like I should when I don't believe they should be together. It was great we had a gay soul mate couple, but it was difficult to enjoy it when one half had barely any characterization and the other half was the best-friend-turned-plot-point. Don't you hate it when characters get reduced to plot points?
To be honest, I still think Haven would do better in a relationship with Beau, said gay-best-friend-turned-plot-point, than with Adam or Iain. He won't be attracted to her ever, yeah, but he treats her better than either of Haven's own love interests.
Miller's writing is unclear, inconsistent, and confusing, but if there is one thing she can write, it's useless filler. There are detailed infodumps everywhere and the reader should be given more respect than being treated like they might not be smart enough to remember even the biggest points of the first book. Small reminders are okay, but a three-page infodump on Adam's role in the first book is not just going overboard, but swimming to the bottom of the sea and putting together a wardrobe made of seashells. At numerous points, I could have screamed at the book, "WRONG WRONG WRONG!" It would take too long to list them and if you're dying to know, ask and you shall receive.
And that's it. I'm done. The ending might be open, it might not, but I'm not going to keep buying them if it turns out there will be more books in the series. I will not be tricked again! People who loved the first book will love the second just as much, but those who had issues with the first book will find no reprieve here.
2 stars!
What am I reading next?: Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
