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ingalovinde's review
2.0
It is as if the novel was made of three separate short stories.
First third is an urban fantasy story, quite interesting and unusual one, with a tense plot. Then suddenly it morphs into an extremely detailed adult-only account of two protagonists getting it on.
All the way into the second third the reader learns of all the ways people are supposed by the author to be intimate when they are tracked by an overwhelmingly strong enemy, with the degree of detail that will make other adult stories look like children's tales. Oh, that's VERY believable that when you're in grave danger, you won't do a thing to improve your standing but instead will indulge in mating, wasting all the precious time.
And then, once it ends, we switch from the climax(es) in protagonists' relations to the climax of the first part. SURPRISE: they almost get killed, and are only saved in the last moment (had they called for help a couple of minutes earlier than they did, instead of occupying themselves with more important bed matters, they would not have to take any chances). All the questions raised by the first part are getting ignored as meaningless, rather than answered.
And they lived happily ever after.
I've read this novel in EFF's "Pwning Tomorrow" collection. While I understand and appreciate that Carolyn Jewel made much to advance EFF cause, I'm not sure if this alone should qualify "Free Fall" for inclusion. All the other stories in the collection are about pwning tomorrow; Free Fall is anything but that. And it is extremely long, too, occupying 1/4th of the 22-story-strong collection. Which means that the explicit scenes alone are as long as 7 shortest stories there, combined together.
First third is an urban fantasy story, quite interesting and unusual one, with a tense plot. Then suddenly it morphs into an extremely detailed adult-only account of two protagonists getting it on.
All the way into the second third the reader learns of all the ways people are supposed by the author to be intimate when they are tracked by an overwhelmingly strong enemy, with the degree of detail that will make other adult stories look like children's tales. Oh, that's VERY believable that when you're in grave danger, you won't do a thing to improve your standing but instead will indulge in mating, wasting all the precious time.
And then, once it ends, we switch from the climax(es) in protagonists' relations to the climax of the first part. SURPRISE: they almost get killed, and are only saved in the last moment (had they called for help a couple of minutes earlier than they did, instead of occupying themselves with more important bed matters, they would not have to take any chances). All the questions raised by the first part are getting ignored as meaningless, rather than answered.
And they lived happily ever after.
I've read this novel in EFF's "Pwning Tomorrow" collection. While I understand and appreciate that Carolyn Jewel made much to advance EFF cause, I'm not sure if this alone should qualify "Free Fall" for inclusion. All the other stories in the collection are about pwning tomorrow; Free Fall is anything but that. And it is extremely long, too, occupying 1/4th of the 22-story-strong collection. Which means that the explicit scenes alone are as long as 7 shortest stories there, combined together.
larisa2021's review
5.0
Once again Jewel delivers a smoking hot, well-paced read. A suck-you-in-gobble-it-down-in-one-sitting read. When I think I'm burnt out on paranormal she proves it can still be fresh, fast and addictive.
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