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claire_loves_books's review
2.0
I liked Arden but I just didn't really like how the 'romance' came about, it's was all kind of stockholmy and violent, while it did hit a few of her kinks there's no way he could have known in advance that she wouldn't mind. (striping someone naked to question them just puts rape on the cards and made the whole situation creepy from the start)
codexmendoza's review against another edition
4.0
So the last book I tried to read mostly because the protagonist was an asian girl was traumatic, so I wasn't sure what to expect with this. To not leave you in suspense, I was pleasantly surprised.
Basically this novella hinges on the concept that our heroine is a trained killer and the dude is an immortal who she is sent to kill but unable to do so. (Which is as good time as any for me to link one of my all time favorite Reductress articles: Why Do I Always Fall for the Very Man I’m Sent to Kill?) Anyway, she can't kill him but is horribly attracted to him and this is an erotic novella so a lot of the obvious happens. There's some scifi novel window dressing in the background that's actually pretty novel, even if it's mostly secondary.
This is the kind of thing where you will know if you will like it or not from the description and it was honestly kind of down my alley. The execution is good and I think Sharpe's writing is actually really lovely and a notch above. Our heroine doesn't become weak as the book progresses and is actually a ruthless assassin and, while the story ends predictably, idk if that's really a negative in this genre. I will say though, I've read other things by Sharpe, and I think that while she is good at selling lust, she's not as great at selling love, which in her works mostly can be summed up with "I'm twisted, you're twisted, we like to bang, so this must be eternal love."
Other note: the heroine speaks Shanghainese which is the best dialect.
Basically this novella hinges on the concept that our heroine is a trained killer and the dude is an immortal who she is sent to kill but unable to do so. (Which is as good time as any for me to link one of my all time favorite Reductress articles: Why Do I Always Fall for the Very Man I’m Sent to Kill?) Anyway, she can't kill him but is horribly attracted to him and this is an erotic novella so a lot of the obvious happens. There's some scifi novel window dressing in the background that's actually pretty novel, even if it's mostly secondary.
This is the kind of thing where you will know if you will like it or not from the description and it was honestly kind of down my alley. The execution is good and I think Sharpe's writing is actually really lovely and a notch above. Our heroine doesn't become weak as the book progresses and is actually a ruthless assassin and, while the story ends predictably, idk if that's really a negative in this genre. I will say though, I've read other things by Sharpe, and I think that while she is good at selling lust, she's not as great at selling love, which in her works mostly can be summed up with "I'm twisted, you're twisted, we like to bang, so this must be eternal love."
Other note: the heroine speaks Shanghainese which is the best dialect.
sarah42783's review against another edition
2.0
Yes ladies and gentlemen, I have done it! I have read another romance! Are you all appropriately (check all that apply):
✔ Mystified
✔ Astounded
✔ Dumbfounded
✔ Bewildered
✔ Astonished
✔ Flabbergasted
✔ Confused as hell
✔ Shuddering
✔ Wondering if this is really me writing this review
✔ Wondering if the apocalypse is near
Yes, you probably are. Well I'm still me and I did read this. Ha! Do you need a moment to compose yourselves before I continue? No worries, I understand. So just follow the sign and take your time. I'll still be here when you come back.
Feel better? Good. Moving on.
►► So YES this is ROMANCE but I have not one, not two but three very valid reasons for choosing to read this (this is where I try to justify myself):
① Because Bettie Sharpe. And because Bettie Sharpe wrote Ember. And because Ember is an evil Cinderella story. And because it was pretty fantastic.
② Because Fantasy. Or is it Sci-Fi? Or Futuristic Fantasy maybe? Or Fantastical Science? I've read the book and I'm still not sure. Oh well.
③ Because Erotica. Need I say more? Didn't think so.
I'm not fooling you am I? That's what I thought. Sigh. Okay, let's rearrange this a little bit shall we? So I'll just put ③ first, ① second and ② third. Happy now?
►► So YES this is ROMANCE but that's only a minor technicality. And NO I didn't give this a 2-star rating because of the romantic crap. Pretty amazing, I know. I gave this book 2 stars because of the great story it could have been but wasn’t.
▧ This story has fantastic 5-star rating potential:
● Sci-fi/fantasy/whatever setting.
● Ruthless woman assassin. Yay!
● Evil corporation that steals children, wipes their memory and turns them into merciless killers.
● Immortal thief.
● Telekinesis.
● Weird creatures.
● Death (as in Death not as in death. Ha).
● Gore and blood. Yay!
● Sex. Lots of sex. Yay!
▧ The problem is that Sharpe mixed all these great ingredients together, shook well (but didn't stir)see what I did right there? No? Okay, that's what I thought, you're hopeless and what did we get?
►► A big mess:
● Subpar writing.
● Badly developed characters.
● A plot that could have been fantastic but wasn't exploited to its full potential.
● Too many sex scenes. Yes this is me saying it *is* possible to have too many sex scenes in a book. Will wonders never cease? Don't get me wrong, the sex scenes here are pretty good (and some are pretty kinky) but they do get repetitive after a while. Sex without a purpose is all good and dandy but up to a certain point. I just wished there had been less sex scenes and more world building ← I promise this is me writing this and not some Hysterical Historical Romance fangirl who possessed my body and soul. Cross my heart, hope to die and all that silly nonsense.
● A ridiculous HEA *shudders* that didn't fit the dark atmosphere of the story at all. Ugh. Ridiculous. Did I say that already? I guess I did. Well it was. Ridiculous I mean. Completely ridiculous. Ugh again ← see, that's my HEA allergy kicking in. Which means this really is me writing this review.
►► This story could definitely do with a major rewrite. May I suggest asking for Pippa DaCosta's help? I'm pretty sure she'd turn this into a hell of a story. I'm sorry Bettie Sharpe, I realize this is probably not a very nice thing to say but I've used up my kindness quota this month. I no longer have it in me to be lenient.
↓↓↓ Simple maths time ↓↓↓
{Great potential} + {poor execution} = what a waste²
✔ Mystified
✔ Astounded
✔ Dumbfounded
✔ Bewildered
✔ Astonished
✔ Flabbergasted
✔ Confused as hell
✔ Shuddering
✔ Wondering if this is really me writing this review
✔ Wondering if the apocalypse is near
Yes, you probably are. Well I'm still me and I did read this. Ha! Do you need a moment to compose yourselves before I continue? No worries, I understand. So just follow the sign and take your time. I'll still be here when you come back.
Feel better? Good. Moving on.
►► So YES this is ROMANCE but I have not one, not two but three very valid reasons for choosing to read this (this is where I try to justify myself):
① Because Bettie Sharpe. And because Bettie Sharpe wrote Ember. And because Ember is an evil Cinderella story. And because it was pretty fantastic.
② Because Fantasy. Or is it Sci-Fi? Or Futuristic Fantasy maybe? Or Fantastical Science? I've read the book and I'm still not sure. Oh well.
③ Because Erotica. Need I say more? Didn't think so.
I'm not fooling you am I? That's what I thought. Sigh. Okay, let's rearrange this a little bit shall we? So I'll just put ③ first, ① second and ② third. Happy now?
►► So YES this is ROMANCE but that's only a minor technicality. And NO I didn't give this a 2-star rating because of the romantic crap. Pretty amazing, I know. I gave this book 2 stars because of the great story it could have been but wasn’t.
▧ This story has fantastic 5-star rating potential:
● Sci-fi/fantasy/whatever setting.
● Ruthless woman assassin. Yay!
● Evil corporation that steals children, wipes their memory and turns them into merciless killers.
● Immortal thief.
● Telekinesis.
● Weird creatures.
● Death (as in Death not as in death. Ha).
● Gore and blood. Yay!
● Sex. Lots of sex. Yay!
▧ The problem is that Sharpe mixed all these great ingredients together, shook well (but didn't stir)
►► A big mess:
● Subpar writing.
● Badly developed characters.
● A plot that could have been fantastic but wasn't exploited to its full potential.
● Too many sex scenes. Yes this is me saying it *is* possible to have too many sex scenes in a book. Will wonders never cease? Don't get me wrong, the sex scenes here are pretty good (and some are pretty kinky) but they do get repetitive after a while. Sex without a purpose is all good and dandy but up to a certain point. I just wished there had been less sex scenes and more world building ← I promise this is me writing this and not some Hysterical Historical Romance fangirl who possessed my body and soul. Cross my heart, hope to die and all that silly nonsense.
● A ridiculous HEA *shudders* that didn't fit the dark atmosphere of the story at all. Ugh. Ridiculous. Did I say that already? I guess I did. Well it was. Ridiculous I mean. Completely ridiculous. Ugh again ← see, that's my HEA allergy kicking in. Which means this really is me writing this review.
►► This story could definitely do with a major rewrite. May I suggest asking for Pippa DaCosta's help? I'm pretty sure she'd turn this into a hell of a story. I'm sorry Bettie Sharpe, I realize this is probably not a very nice thing to say but I've used up my kindness quota this month. I no longer have it in me to be lenient.
↓↓↓ Simple maths time ↓↓↓
{Great potential} + {poor execution} = what a waste²
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