Tempt the Stars (Cassandra Palmer, #6) by Karen Chance
Review: Being a goddess is a lot less fun than you might think. Especially when you’re only a half goddess, and you only found out about it recently, and you still don’t know what you’re doing half the time. And when you’ve just used your not-so-reliable powers to burglarize the booby-trapped office of a vampire mob boss. Yeah, that part sucks.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Cassandra Palmer, aka the Pythia, the freshly minted chief seer of the supernatural world. After all, Cassie still has to save a friend from a fate worse than death, deal with an increasingly possessive master vampire, and prevent a party of her own acolytes from unleashing a storm of fury upon the world. Totally just your average day at the office, right?
Review: I have an idea of where this series is going to go. But after reading this book, I have no idea how long Karen Chance plans to take to get us there. For a two year wait I felt like it should have had more impact for me than it did. But the two year wait could have also been to its detriment. Considering my super long to-be-read list, I’m not really one to go back and re-read books unless I find it exceptional. So because of that I found myself occasionally confused this time around. This one didn’t quite draw me in as easily compared to the others either.
It definitely keeps to Karen Chance’s usual style of non-stop action to the point of where your head spins and occasional humor, but something felt missing for me this time around. I know what else (or rather who else) was missing as well, Mircea. In the earlier books I wasn’t necessarily Team Pritkin or Team Mircea because I’m just not that much of a Cassie fan, but I feel like she’ll ultimately end up with Pritkin. And books like this where Mircea is literally nowhere to be seen only reinforce that idea and further raise my heckles when it comes to my annoyance with this supposed love-triangle. It’s a pathetic one at best. After reading the Dorina Basarab books, Mircea has easily become one of my favorite characters of the series and I feel like while we see fantastic development for him there, he really gets the shaft here and I find that frustrating.
And you know what else is frustrating? Cliffhangers. We’re left with another one. Apparently this was originally 800 pages and Chance practically had to cut the book in half to get it published. After reading it that didn’t surprise me at all. I’m at a place now where I much prefer the Dory books because I find it has all of the plusses and none of the drawbacks that irk me with the Cassie books. I just wish Chance was able to produce both series in one year instead of alternating them every year.
I’m at the point where I’m contemplating dropping the Cassie books and focusing solely on the Dory ones. Since this book was really only half the story, I may read the next one but if I don’t connect with that one either, I’ll be hanging it up…unless the 8th book is the last one.
COVER REVEAL! Tempt the Start (Cassie Palmer #6)
And there’s a synopsis too!
“Being a goddess is a lot less fun than you might think. Especially when you’re only a half goddess, and you only found out about it recently, and you still don’t know what you’re doing half the time. And when you’ve just used your not-so-reliable powers to burglarize the booby-trapped office of a vampire mob boss. Yeah, that part sucks.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Cassandra Palmer, aka the Pythia, the freshly minted chief seer of the supernatural world. After all, Cassie still has to save a friend from a fate worse than death, deal with an increasingly possessive master vampire, and prevent a party of her own acolytes from unleashing a storm of fury upon the world. Totally just your average day at the office, right?”
This may be a spoiler for those of you who don’t read the series (or Dory for that matter) so you shouldn’t read any further, but from the synopsis it looks like she’s clearly trying to make Mircea out to be the bad choice more and more. Personally, after the Dory books (that I completely adore) I like him as a character more than Pritkin. I’m honestly just wanting this book to get over with so Dory can have her turn next and I can read about Mircea in a more likable position.
A Family Affair - Okay, Pritkin’s Irresistable
Only a couple of blog posts ago I was sort of ranting about this series and whether or not I would be able to keep going. As much as its quirks get on my nerves, I can’t really see myself actually stopping and not seeing Pritkin’s story unfold. While I do think Mircea has potential to be interesting, so far I don’t think the series is living up to it. Pritkin on the other hand remains shrouded in mystery and intrigue even as a lot of his background comes to light. After reading his short story, I think I would love this series if it were primarily from his point of view.
The story itself is just okay for me, but it’s rare that novella’s are as compelling as a full novel. What I really liked the most was the potential and getting a little taste of John’s world from his perspective and seeing how he juggles several responsibilties from his dedication to Cassie, his heritage, and his mission. I would probably be a Cassie/Pritkin shipper more easily if it were from his point of view. If you like the ship, I really don’t think you’re going to want to miss this one. It’s just too bad Karen Chance has to follow the trend and keep her urban fantasy series from the female’s point of view.
All caught up with the Cassie Palmer books by Karen Chance
I have to start off by saying that the biggest plus to this is how well the book matches my blog background, haha.
Just forewarning that I do have a bit of a rant ahead in general, and it contains some spoilers.
I was considering writing more, but I realized this would either be super long or fairly short, so I’m taking the shorter route. After much lauding I finally got around to the Cassie Palmer Saga. I expected a lot of action and supposedly a ton of love interests that would leave me not knowing which team I shipped. That’s not really my thing but I gave it a try anyway…and this series only affirms why is isn’t. The series kicks off with a ton of options, but by the 5th book there’s really only two as one was swept under the rug. The first one gets a little side story that I’m in the middle of reading now (though it feels like such an afterthought since I know the character literally goes nowhere) after he’s just used as a plot device to take Cassie’s virtue.
As for the other two, they are at least interesting as characters in their own right, but I really have a hard time even beginning to talk about their complications with Cassie. You have Pritkin (the overwhelming fan favorite), who starts out trying to kill her, yet they end up in a partnership and grow close over the course of the series. Then there’s Mircea, super mysterious vampire, Dracula’s big bro, Senate member, and super sexy to boot who is Cassie’s current boyfriend, though it’s hard to tell most times. The only real reason for their attraction initially was because of a spell. With that done, why still go there with Pritkin obviously poised to be end game? Mircea’s busy trying to lock her away, never telling her anything and then Pritkin’s always around for the action. To me it just doesn’t feel like a real contest, so I was really irritated to hear the “L” word (for “love” not “lesbian”~_^) thrown around for Cassie and Mircea and then you have the kind of ending for this book where it’s very obvious she loves Pritkin and vice-versa. Her issues with Mircea are dragged out and out and out to where it now just seems stupid. I just don’t really see the point of them being together. I feel like it’s been books since Cassie can’t figure out who a special brunette girl is that Mircea keeps photos of. Of course, if you’re not Cassie you know it’s Dorina, Mircea’s daughter (only because she’s the focal character in the spin-off series). And actually as I think about it, it’s been 3 years, 3 Cassie Palmer books, and 2 Dorina books. What gives?
So after 5 books, I officially declare that I am not “Team Pritkin” or “Team Mircea”. Cassie ruins both for me. I’m not sure if others aren’t quite bothered because as far as Pritkin’s concerned, it’s a matter of “when” they get together, not “if,” so pretty much anything Karen Chance throws in there in the meantime means nothing. But that just doesn’t jive with me. I don’t support either ship enough to validate essentially making Cassie…kind of a hoe. Not really sure what else you can call it. Cassie doesn’t really think on it much herself, be it before or after which is even more stupid.
I’m also not a huge fan of the pace. It’s super fast and a lot of the action is really difficult to get into. I have taken a liking to her body guard, Marco. Sometimes you just feel bad for the guy since he’s pretty much responsible for Cassie and she’s always off nearly getting herself killed. No, she can’t sit tight and look pretty, but there’s got to be a middle ground. Neither side is wrong per se.
I was strongly considering the Dorina Basarab series, but I hear that it’s just as fast-paced and on-the-go as Cassie Palmer. A better lead female (at least for me because I’m not a Cassie fan at all) and no stupid “triangle” would be a plus, but the pacing usually exhausts me and I just READ the stuff so I’m not sure if I want to get to that right away. There are a number of other series in the TBR pile that I’m more excited to get around to in the meantime.
Not sure if I will keep up with this series or not. I may read a couple of spoilers first. I would wait until couple of books are out, but I suspect that too much Cassie at once is more irritating than one every year, so I’m at a loss… We’ll just see how I feel in 2012. I mostly want to see what happens to Pritkin (as a character, not a love interest though I predict she’ll end up with him), but since Book 6 won’t be the final book I can expect the same song and dance, dragging it all out.
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