I know I was a little harsh in my last review so let me start by saying that this book was definitely a huge improvement from her last ones. It didn't have the in your face religious propaganda the last few have had and the preachiness was very well disguised.
As soon as you start reading it, you come face to face with the old GS. The one we love and have missed so much. It was incredible! I was so excited I couldn't wait to get into it. You meet Tink and you feel so hopeful. She is everything all of GS's best characters (you know, the old ones) have been. Well.... that didn't last long. She had her moments throughout the book, but they were very few and it just seemed like she lost steam. The vibrancy she had in the first few pages of the book disappeared. Maybe she had stolen it from the Phoenix with the rest of her powers and it faded right along with them?! Who knows. But yet again, personalities were flat in this book too.
When I read the description for this book a few months ago I was really confused. I thought Kane was suppose to be with the girl horsemen. So where the hell did this fairy come from, right? Well this all gets explained, but I thought not very convincingly. I felt the story line for Kane was set in motion many books ago but maybe because it doesn’t' compliment her writing style anymore she decided not to pair them together after all. I like Kane and Tink together just fine, that's not it. I just don't like the interference with were the story was originally supposed to go (assuming this isn't all just in my head).
Anyway, the sex scenes were almost non-existent and the ones we got were very blah. Language was extremely G-rated and I shit you not she even uses dang instead of damn. It really does take so much away from the story. It doesn't allow the characters that extra umph they need for expressing, punctuating and stating anything and everything with the right amount of feeling.
For new GS readers, you will definitely enjoy this book since you have normal "realistic" expectations. For the real GS fans who have read everything she has, this will be another failed attempt at achieving her full potential, but definitely a BIG improvement over the last several books. For me, it was a relief at the improvement but still a letdown. I read fantasy for a reason. I don't want normal, and I don’t want a resemblance to real life. I want to be blown away. I want magic. Unfortunately you can’t have that when your fictional characters have to follow moral, mortal and religious rules. That’s a lot of restrictions. I read a lot of words I never use, sex scenes I’ve never tried, situations I would never be a part of. None of it has changed me. I’m not going to stop saying fuck just because it’s not in the book. I didn’t start saying it because it was in her earlier ones. I want it all back, the foul language, the explicit sex scenes (premarital), the moody, crabby, crazy bitchiness, but more than anything, I want these characters to come to life again as I’m reading about them.
Wait till you find out who Cameo is with!!! Also, very excited about Torin though I’m not sure how that’s going to go, but who cares, finally something!!!! Yay!!!!!
I will remain cautiously optimistic.