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A review by steph01924
Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting
2.0
So...yeeeah. This book disappointed me. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, since I had some issues with the first one, but there were some things that really annoyed me about Desires of the Dead that made it far less enjoyable than I'd imagined:
1. Violet. Just Violet. I tried, but I really didn't like her. She's an idiot. She doesn't think through any of her actions, she's emotionally retarded, and she's dense to everything going on around her.
She is constantly being 'surprised' that her parents let her do anything. Were they super strict until recently? Then again, they did basically no parenting in the book, so maybe she had reasons to be concerned. She's such a goody-goody though, so it's not like she does anything really crazy of her own free will while she's out wandering the streets in the middle of the night. She's just compelled to do things, guys.
She really lost me when she thought she 'broke up' with Jay. I was literally looking at the book going "WTF??" He voiced ONE dissenting opinion and you hung up on him. That is called a FIGHT, and a stupid one at that. But to go on to sob and moan and tell people you broke up, and then blather on about your independence and how you don't NEED him but WANT him? To shun the poor boy and not even talk to him? Who the eff does that? That whole section was needless. She was so freakin' self-righteous about it all, too, which really bothered me. So, let me guess, Violet, when you were 'just' best friends he never said anything against your ideas? You never had a friendly disagreement? Yeah, that's healthy. Then the make-up scene. Ugh. Jay is not a real teenage boy. His balls are dangling on Violet's bedpost.
2. Jay's over-protectiveness of Violet started to get annoying, too. Are you her father? She doesn't even feel comfortable enough in confiding little things to you for fear that you will lock her in a room and stand guard. I don't blame her for keeping secrets from you. It's also not very interesting to read about him demanding she tell the adults every little thing. Are you 13? No, you're almost adults. I think you can figure shit out on your own.
On one hand, however, I don't blame Jay completely for his concern, because Violet is so freaking clueless about doing anything to protect herself EVER that she probably will get herself offed while she's out hunting bodies. She just stood there like a lump when Mike's dad threatened her, and, of course, the boys swooped in to save the day.
3. The entire Sara Priest/Rafe storyline was not well-thought out. And to leave it just kind of dangling--obviously for the next book--was kind of a slap in the face for anyone reading THIS book. We see them all dance around this 'band of special people' the entire book. But yet we get no actual information about it. Rafe is mysterious (and attractive--for Christ's sake. Do we have to go there?) and obviously has some sort of mind-reading ability thing, but let's not give the readers any details, just pointless conversations where everyone is keeping secrets from each other. Sara also barely gets any background info except that she's super efficient at her job. Yay? And Violet just trudges along like she doesn't understand what's going on when it's...not that hard to comprehend.
The premise of these books is intriguing. If the characters had been a little more realized, acted more like actual people; if the plot had been given a bit more depth and finesse, this could have been really compelling. I kept waiting for so much more. I think I'll be waiting a long time.
I'll probably read the next one, but it definitely won't be something I have to run right out for.
1. Violet. Just Violet. I tried, but I really didn't like her. She's an idiot. She doesn't think through any of her actions, she's emotionally retarded, and she's dense to everything going on around her.
She is constantly being 'surprised' that her parents let her do anything. Were they super strict until recently? Then again, they did basically no parenting in the book, so maybe she had reasons to be concerned. She's such a goody-goody though, so it's not like she does anything really crazy of her own free will while she's out wandering the streets in the middle of the night. She's just compelled to do things, guys.
She really lost me when she thought she 'broke up' with Jay. I was literally looking at the book going "WTF??" He voiced ONE dissenting opinion and you hung up on him. That is called a FIGHT, and a stupid one at that. But to go on to sob and moan and tell people you broke up, and then blather on about your independence and how you don't NEED him but WANT him? To shun the poor boy and not even talk to him? Who the eff does that? That whole section was needless. She was so freakin' self-righteous about it all, too, which really bothered me. So, let me guess, Violet, when you were 'just' best friends he never said anything against your ideas? You never had a friendly disagreement? Yeah, that's healthy. Then the make-up scene. Ugh. Jay is not a real teenage boy. His balls are dangling on Violet's bedpost.
2. Jay's over-protectiveness of Violet started to get annoying, too. Are you her father? She doesn't even feel comfortable enough in confiding little things to you for fear that you will lock her in a room and stand guard. I don't blame her for keeping secrets from you. It's also not very interesting to read about him demanding she tell the adults every little thing. Are you 13? No, you're almost adults. I think you can figure shit out on your own.
On one hand, however, I don't blame Jay completely for his concern, because Violet is so freaking clueless about doing anything to protect herself EVER that she probably will get herself offed while she's out hunting bodies. She just stood there like a lump when Mike's dad threatened her, and, of course, the boys swooped in to save the day.
3. The entire Sara Priest/Rafe storyline was not well-thought out. And to leave it just kind of dangling--obviously for the next book--was kind of a slap in the face for anyone reading THIS book. We see them all dance around this 'band of special people' the entire book. But yet we get no actual information about it. Rafe is mysterious (and attractive--for Christ's sake. Do we have to go there?) and obviously has some sort of mind-reading ability thing, but let's not give the readers any details, just pointless conversations where everyone is keeping secrets from each other. Sara also barely gets any background info except that she's super efficient at her job. Yay? And Violet just trudges along like she doesn't understand what's going on when it's...not that hard to comprehend.
The premise of these books is intriguing. If the characters had been a little more realized, acted more like actual people; if the plot had been given a bit more depth and finesse, this could have been really compelling. I kept waiting for so much more. I think I'll be waiting a long time.
I'll probably read the next one, but it definitely won't be something I have to run right out for.