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A review by kriscq
The Redemption of Ajax by Trinity Faegen, Stephanie Feagan
3.0
General Comments
What you guys need to know upfront is that I had two very different kinds of reaction to this book, and they can mostly be divided between the first half and the second half of the book, so my entire review will divided down that line. Basically, the first half did not appeal to me very much. The first couple pages were dull and then I felt like I was dropped face first into the deep end of a pool while half asleep. There was too much to handle all at once and I felt like I was trying to catch up for a good while. But for some strange reason I couldn’t stop reading, I just had to find out what happened next.
Luckily, by the second half I found myself enjoying the story. At some point the characters started to grow on me and I was actually invested in the story. I really and truly wanted to know what would happen in the end. And the ending was beautiful. There were actually tears in my eyes. Seriously.
Critical Review
Author’s POV/ Voice:
The author chose to use the third person POV, which didn’t work for me in the very beginning, but somehow the frankness of the author’s voice pulled me in. Even as I struggled at times with sections of the book, I feel like the author’s voice refused to let me stop reading. It was simply that powerful.
Characters:
Sasha, our female protagonist, was my least favourite character in the beginning. My biggest problem was getting to know her. I felt like we were being told what she was like over and over without really seeing or experiencing what she was like. In the second half of the book it felt like the author got more comfortable with Sasha as a character and started to flesh her out. She suddenly became a real person to me, flesh and blood, and by the end I actually liked her.
Jax was my favourite character from the very beginning. I really wanted to know how he’d try to win Sasha over but I actually never got to see him struggle. Despite that, he was still so endearing in how much he cared for her. One problem I had with his character is that I didn’t really see his struggles with his dark side. I felt like I was being told about them or I was seeing a regular guy’s reactions to certain situations, not the reactions of a guy struggling with his innate evil.
The other characters in the story seemed rather underdeveloped. A few had characteristics that seemed unnecessarily exaggerated and were therefore extremely unrealistic. However, I eventually learned to ignore them and just focused on Sasha and Jax, which may have been the point.
Storyline/ Plot:
So the description made this book seem really interesting but it made me expect A and then gave me Z. I expected more development and some beautiful explanations. Instead, I got was a lot of back story early on, and I wasn’t able to digest it all at once. Then there were a few lulls in the action of the story which made me extremely impatient. Sometimes I didn’t want to read about the dysfunctional household that Sasha found herself in, I just wanted her and Jax or her, Jax, and the Ravens. The story really didn’t meet its full potential in my opinion, however, it still managed to be an interesting read.
Other:
There were a few other things that I felt the need to mention. Firstly, the instalove. While Sasha may seem indecisive and ‘resistant’, the instant attraction and lust going on was disappointing because I was looking forward to Jax trying to build a relationship with her from scratch. Secondly, I found it a bit hard to believe how easily all these teenagers accepted the idea of someone recruiting them and telling them they wanted to change Hell so that the world would be a better place, and that all they had to do was renounce God. Finally the sex scene at the end. In a word: uncomfortable. I’m not a prude, but I would have preferred to just have assumed they were going at it rather than having to know in detail.
Rating Conclusion
In my opinion, The Mephisto Covenant rates 2.5 out of 5 stars. By the end of the book, I found myself really liking it, however, the characters and the direction of the storyline were both a little disappointing. Then there were a few uncomfortable moments that really detracted from my overall experience. To sum it up, it was a relatively entertaining read.
For more reviews check out my book blog: Words That Fly
What you guys need to know upfront is that I had two very different kinds of reaction to this book, and they can mostly be divided between the first half and the second half of the book, so my entire review will divided down that line. Basically, the first half did not appeal to me very much. The first couple pages were dull and then I felt like I was dropped face first into the deep end of a pool while half asleep. There was too much to handle all at once and I felt like I was trying to catch up for a good while. But for some strange reason I couldn’t stop reading, I just had to find out what happened next.
Luckily, by the second half I found myself enjoying the story. At some point the characters started to grow on me and I was actually invested in the story. I really and truly wanted to know what would happen in the end. And the ending was beautiful. There were actually tears in my eyes. Seriously.
Critical Review
Author’s POV/ Voice:
The author chose to use the third person POV, which didn’t work for me in the very beginning, but somehow the frankness of the author’s voice pulled me in. Even as I struggled at times with sections of the book, I feel like the author’s voice refused to let me stop reading. It was simply that powerful.
Characters:
Sasha, our female protagonist, was my least favourite character in the beginning. My biggest problem was getting to know her. I felt like we were being told what she was like over and over without really seeing or experiencing what she was like. In the second half of the book it felt like the author got more comfortable with Sasha as a character and started to flesh her out. She suddenly became a real person to me, flesh and blood, and by the end I actually liked her.
Jax was my favourite character from the very beginning. I really wanted to know how he’d try to win Sasha over but I actually never got to see him struggle. Despite that, he was still so endearing in how much he cared for her. One problem I had with his character is that I didn’t really see his struggles with his dark side. I felt like I was being told about them or I was seeing a regular guy’s reactions to certain situations, not the reactions of a guy struggling with his innate evil.
The other characters in the story seemed rather underdeveloped. A few had characteristics that seemed unnecessarily exaggerated and were therefore extremely unrealistic. However, I eventually learned to ignore them and just focused on Sasha and Jax, which may have been the point.
Storyline/ Plot:
So the description made this book seem really interesting but it made me expect A and then gave me Z. I expected more development and some beautiful explanations. Instead, I got was a lot of back story early on, and I wasn’t able to digest it all at once. Then there were a few lulls in the action of the story which made me extremely impatient. Sometimes I didn’t want to read about the dysfunctional household that Sasha found herself in, I just wanted her and Jax or her, Jax, and the Ravens. The story really didn’t meet its full potential in my opinion, however, it still managed to be an interesting read.
Other:
There were a few other things that I felt the need to mention. Firstly, the instalove. While Sasha may seem indecisive and ‘resistant’, the instant attraction and lust going on was disappointing because I was looking forward to Jax trying to build a relationship with her from scratch. Secondly, I found it a bit hard to believe how easily all these teenagers accepted the idea of someone recruiting them and telling them they wanted to change Hell so that the world would be a better place, and that all they had to do was renounce God. Finally the sex scene at the end. In a word: uncomfortable. I’m not a prude, but I would have preferred to just have assumed they were going at it rather than having to know in detail.
Rating Conclusion
In my opinion, The Mephisto Covenant rates 2.5 out of 5 stars. By the end of the book, I found myself really liking it, however, the characters and the direction of the storyline were both a little disappointing. Then there were a few uncomfortable moments that really detracted from my overall experience. To sum it up, it was a relatively entertaining read.
For more reviews check out my book blog: Words That Fly