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crystalstarrlight's review
2.0
Bullet Review:
What a silly, ridonkulous book. There is just so much absurd and wrong - and yet it wasn't so terrible that I could rate it 1 star.
Full Review:
I suppose I should stop procrastinating and just try reviewing this crazy book a friend of mine recommended for Books and Soup Buddies (that's a thing, right? It is now!).
So Tinker is actually an 18-year old woman named Alexander Graham Bell. Both of her parents were dead long before she was born (still don't get that plot point) so she was raised in Pittsburg (which now floats between Earth and an alternate dimension called Elfhome, occupied, by, you guessed it, Elves) by her grandfather alongside her dear cousin "Oil Can". (Why do these characters have names like this? How much zaniness can be endured before the world implodes upon itself?!) She's a super brilliant genius virgin (but of course), who one day meets this elf, WindWolf, who is nearly killed. She has to keep the elf alive during "shutdown", the one day a month that Pittsburgh is back on Earth, away from Elfhome and magic and all those things that could keep Windwolf alive. So Oil Can and Tinker spend the first quarter or so of the book racing around to keep Windwolf alive.
And THEN the weird sh!t happened. Namely the magical!Elf!sex!transformation.
So. There is some good. I like that Tinker loves math and science. I also like how upbeat and positive she is. And she's pretty damned independent, not taking shit from d-bags (like the person Nate turns out to be - I suppose I should be "sorry" I spoiled it but given that Police Officer Nate who has known Tinker since she was a tween at one point attempts to rape Tinker and admits he's been lusting for her since she was like 12 - BIG FAT NOPE).
Oh and it's also interesting the concept of different worlds and gates leading to worlds. That was cool.
And...
And...
Geez, this was SUCH a disjointed read! At the end of the day, thinking back to what the beginning of THIS BOOK was, I'm like, "That was the same book?!" It feels like at least three distinct books thrown into one:
Book 1: Save Windwolf!
Book 2: Magic Elf Transformation Sex!
Book 3: Evil Asian Stereotypes!
Can anyone in this story bother to respect Tinker's autonomy? Lane pushes Tinker to go to college and - gasp - LEARN MOAR STUFFS. (It's always rather weird to read about these characters being like "I am super smart but I don't want to go to college because icky". Wouldn't you WANT the excuse to do NOTHING but learn all day??) Nate forces himself on her - literally! Windwolf isn't clear about his intent to turn her into an Elf and force her to be his wife when he has (admittedly consensual) sex with her. And then of course, bad guys being baddies leads us to an actual rape complete with forced pregnancy. YAY! Don't you just love this?!
And then Tinker herself has got to be one of the Mary Sueiest Mary Sues I've read. Petite, gorgeous without trying, a genius at the ripe old age of 18, sexing up the most eligible Elf around, attracting the attention of numerous potential lovers, and literally transforming into an Elf?!
Side note: why must we insist on using English names for other cultures? Doesn't anyone else find it a little denigrating to call a full-grown Elf, trained in the arts or war and defense, "Pony"? Seriously?
At the first half of the book, I probably would have just laughed and rated 3- stars. It's cheestastic and silly, but harmless. But so much disregard of personal boundaries, lack of consent, deception, and just plain weird overload, 2- stars is a VERY generous rating from me. I will NOT be reading further in this strange series.
What a silly, ridonkulous book. There is just so much absurd and wrong - and yet it wasn't so terrible that I could rate it 1 star.
Full Review:
I suppose I should stop procrastinating and just try reviewing this crazy book a friend of mine recommended for Books and Soup Buddies (that's a thing, right? It is now!).
So Tinker is actually an 18-year old woman named Alexander Graham Bell. Both of her parents were dead long before she was born (still don't get that plot point) so she was raised in Pittsburg (which now floats between Earth and an alternate dimension called Elfhome, occupied, by, you guessed it, Elves) by her grandfather alongside her dear cousin "Oil Can". (Why do these characters have names like this? How much zaniness can be endured before the world implodes upon itself?!) She's a super brilliant genius virgin (but of course), who one day meets this elf, WindWolf, who is nearly killed. She has to keep the elf alive during "shutdown", the one day a month that Pittsburgh is back on Earth, away from Elfhome and magic and all those things that could keep Windwolf alive. So Oil Can and Tinker spend the first quarter or so of the book racing around to keep Windwolf alive.
And THEN the weird sh!t happened. Namely the magical!Elf!sex!transformation.
So. There is some good. I like that Tinker loves math and science. I also like how upbeat and positive she is. And she's pretty damned independent, not taking shit from d-bags (like the person Nate turns out to be - I suppose I should be "sorry" I spoiled it but given that Police Officer Nate who has known Tinker since she was a tween at one point attempts to rape Tinker and admits he's been lusting for her since she was like 12 - BIG FAT NOPE).
Oh and it's also interesting the concept of different worlds and gates leading to worlds. That was cool.
And...
And...
Geez, this was SUCH a disjointed read! At the end of the day, thinking back to what the beginning of THIS BOOK was, I'm like, "That was the same book?!" It feels like at least three distinct books thrown into one:
Book 1: Save Windwolf!
Book 2: Magic Elf Transformation Sex!
Book 3: Evil Asian Stereotypes!
Can anyone in this story bother to respect Tinker's autonomy? Lane pushes Tinker to go to college and - gasp - LEARN MOAR STUFFS. (It's always rather weird to read about these characters being like "I am super smart but I don't want to go to college because icky". Wouldn't you WANT the excuse to do NOTHING but learn all day??) Nate forces himself on her - literally! Windwolf isn't clear about his intent to turn her into an Elf and force her to be his wife when he has (admittedly consensual) sex with her. And then of course, bad guys being baddies leads us to an actual rape complete with forced pregnancy. YAY! Don't you just love this?!
And then Tinker herself has got to be one of the Mary Sueiest Mary Sues I've read. Petite, gorgeous without trying, a genius at the ripe old age of 18, sexing up the most eligible Elf around, attracting the attention of numerous potential lovers, and literally transforming into an Elf?!
Side note: why must we insist on using English names for other cultures? Doesn't anyone else find it a little denigrating to call a full-grown Elf, trained in the arts or war and defense, "Pony"? Seriously?
At the first half of the book, I probably would have just laughed and rated 3- stars. It's cheestastic and silly, but harmless. But so much disregard of personal boundaries, lack of consent, deception, and just plain weird overload, 2- stars is a VERY generous rating from me. I will NOT be reading further in this strange series.
fyredragyn's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Kidnapping, and Torture
jesuismoi's review
3.0
Need to know.... should the whole series have trigger warnings?
There is a horrific rape in this book that takes place not to the MC, but very much on screen.
Everyone ignores it as it goes on.
I can't forget it.
Is there more like this in the others? i don't mind a Mary Sue, but gender-based violence I do mind.
There is a horrific rape in this book that takes place not to the MC, but very much on screen.
Everyone ignores it as it goes on.
I can't forget it.
Is there more like this in the others? i don't mind a Mary Sue, but gender-based violence I do mind.
sparksofember's review against another edition
1.0
Read all the other 1 & 2 star reviews and you'll have a pretty good idea why this was a one-star for me. In fact, it drove me to create a "wish I had dnf'd this" bookshelf.
The initial concept (Pittsburg spending most of the month in another dimension) was interesting, and the science/magic was cool but the romance was nonexistent (show - don't tell! I didn't believe in the "romance" at all and the love interest spent 90% off the book off-screen. The 10% he was around was 99% lust which didn't add to the story and I was over it instantly, not to mention the creepy "older-friend" and his vile behavior.)
And then the bad guys showed up and I'm the type that prefers to know they are bad but leave the "how bad" to the imagination. But the how bad was demonstrated in graphic, horrifying detail (not just violence but forced-bestiality-rape of a side character) and the only reason I didn't put the book down right then was it was so close to the ending. I loved A Brother's Price but Tinker has turned me off to the author altogether since I can't trust her not to go too far.
The initial concept (Pittsburg spending most of the month in another dimension) was interesting, and the science/magic was cool but the romance was nonexistent (show - don't tell! I didn't believe in the "romance" at all and the love interest spent 90% off the book off-screen. The 10% he was around was 99% lust which didn't add to the story and I was over it instantly, not to mention the creepy "older-friend" and his vile behavior.)
And then the bad guys showed up and I'm the type that prefers to know they are bad but leave the "how bad" to the imagination. But the how bad was demonstrated in graphic, horrifying detail (not just violence but forced-bestiality-rape of a side character) and the only reason I didn't put the book down right then was it was so close to the ending. I loved A Brother's Price but Tinker has turned me off to the author altogether since I can't trust her not to go too far.
karinlib's review against another edition
4.0
I wasn't exactly sure what to expect from this book. In the end, I really liked it. It reminded me a little of [b:Folding Beijing|37520070|Folding Beijing|Hao Jingfang|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1515318173s/37520070.jpg|52501752] by [a:Hao Jingfang|7375946|Hao Jingfang|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1471943564p2/7375946.jpg], which was a part of [b:Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation|28220730|Invisible Planets Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation|Ken Liu|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1463570833s/28220730.jpg|48249401] anthology.
I went to college near Pittsburgh, so I love that the series takes place there.
I went to college near Pittsburgh, so I love that the series takes place there.
lifeasjanedoe's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
jackiehorne's review against another edition
2.0
I believe a commenter on my RNFF blog suggested reading the Elfhome series for SF with a strong female protagonist and a healthy dollop of romance. Can't say that I'm all that impressed. Tinker as a character is pretty interesting, with her super-intelligence, her unusual ancestry & birth circumstances, and her desire to explore her sexual self. And the idea of different dimensions/worlds connected by gates, with one piece from one world inconveniently traveling back and forth between the two was cool world building. But...
1. No real romance to speak of. Tinker rescues/is rescued by Windwolf, a hunky Elf whom she's met precisely once before (also in a battle situation). He's injured/out cold for most of the time they are together, so their interactions don't amount to much. Elf hunk decides Tink is the one for him because she's so much better than all the elf women, who, because Elvish caste society hasn't changed in thousands of years, don't have any courage or drive (why, then, do the boy elves??). After they get together (not quite consensually, see below), Tink is kidnapped, and spends the last third of the book separated from her husband. Somehow, though, they just know that they belong together. Ugh.
2. Windwolf offers Tink marriage by giving her a gift (accepting which she doesn't understand means accepting his suit. He also tells her she'll die unless she allows him to cast a spell on her; since his ideas and hers about dying are quite different, again Tink consents to something she doesn't really understand. One bout of kinky sex magic later, and Tink has been. Can't decide whether this is just as bad, or worse, than your typical old skool romance non-consensual sex.
3. There's an underlying misogyny that comes across through two of female secondary characters. One is actually punished by being "bred" by the bad guy to another species. But it's ok, because this is actually much better than any of the other punishments the bad guy might have doled out. Ah, not so much. And the fact that even our heroine calls it "breeding" rather than rape, and that she (and through her, we) are forced to watch it is really gross. Never mind all the times Tinker and others call women "bitches."
4. Another reviewer commented upon the problems with laying Japanese mythology atop of Chinese humans to create our bad guys. Not the same cultures by far.
Disappointing.
1. No real romance to speak of. Tinker rescues/is rescued by Windwolf, a hunky Elf whom she's met precisely once before (also in a battle situation). He's injured/out cold for most of the time they are together, so their interactions don't amount to much. Elf hunk decides Tink is the one for him because she's so much better than all the elf women, who, because Elvish caste society hasn't changed in thousands of years, don't have any courage or drive (why, then, do the boy elves??). After they get together (not quite consensually, see below), Tink is kidnapped, and spends the last third of the book separated from her husband. Somehow, though, they just know that they belong together. Ugh.
2. Windwolf offers Tink marriage by giving her a gift (accepting which she doesn't understand means accepting his suit. He also tells her she'll die unless she allows him to cast a spell on her; since his ideas and hers about dying are quite different, again Tink consents to something she doesn't really understand. One bout of kinky sex magic later, and Tink has been
Spoiler
transformed genetically from human to elf3. There's an underlying misogyny that comes across through two of female secondary characters. One is actually punished by being "bred" by the bad guy to another species. But it's ok, because this is actually much better than any of the other punishments the bad guy might have doled out. Ah, not so much. And the fact that even our heroine calls it "breeding" rather than rape, and that she (and through her, we) are forced to watch it is really gross. Never mind all the times Tinker and others call women "bitches."
4. Another reviewer commented upon the problems with laying Japanese mythology atop of Chinese humans to create our bad guys. Not the same cultures by far.
Disappointing.
peanutfor15yrs's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
ammbooks's review
2.0
I was excited with the premise of the book. There is some mixing of cultural myths but it’s fiction so i let it go.
jeremybost's review against another edition
3.0
A bit too much romance for my tastes. Plus, you would think a "genius" like Tinker would have invented some sort of protection devices for herself or something, instead of an alarm system to call overworked police...