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Basic Plot: In the novel Stolen, Eve Levine meets a tragic end (offstage, as it were) when she is murdered. But that's not the end of her story. She transforms into a ghost. After getting on the nerves of the Fates, they assign her a task - to catch a demon who has escaped from hell.
This book seemed to be about twice as long as it should have been. There were countless sections filled with red herrings that dragged the plot into a muddled and swampy mess of nothingness. It took me nearly a month to plow through this book, which is just ridiculous. The plot did manage to pick up a bit towards the end, but not nearly enough to make up for the first two-thirds to three-fourths of the book that felt like a slog.
There were also some really strange questions about ghostly physics that really bugged me. Why would a ghost need a house? Where exactly is this ghost supposed to be living? How on earth does a ghost feel its pulse quicken? And how in the world can ghosts have sex? Why in the name of all that's holy in any religion would they even consider such a thing?
ARGH!
As I mentioned earlier, there were a few irritating elements in this book. Since it only has a loose connection to the other books in the series, I would say it's one that you can skip. It's not that the other books are tightly connected either, but this one definitely wasn't Armstrong's best work. Her pacing doesn't seem to be improving as she continues to write, and I'm willing to give her one more chance before I either give up on the series entirely or take a long break from it. Maybe I'm just irritated because I've read so many of her books in a row and I need a break from the author.
And another pet peeve of mine: I really hate it when authors throw angels into the mix. Maybe it's because I'm not a Christian, but they just really annoy me, especially in urban fantasy books. It's like the author is trying to shoehorn all the supernatural elements into a Christian paradigm that just doesn't make sense. Armstrong actually started mixing Christian and pagan elements together: Fates AND angels? Seriously? She should either pick one mythology or come up with a better explanation for why there are multiple mythologies coexisting in a way that makes sense.
Ok, my rant is over. I'm going to go find something else to read that's actually worth my time.
This book seemed to be about twice as long as it should have been. There were countless sections filled with red herrings that dragged the plot into a muddled and swampy mess of nothingness. It took me nearly a month to plow through this book, which is just ridiculous. The plot did manage to pick up a bit towards the end, but not nearly enough to make up for the first two-thirds to three-fourths of the book that felt like a slog.
There were also some really strange questions about ghostly physics that really bugged me. Why would a ghost need a house? Where exactly is this ghost supposed to be living? How on earth does a ghost feel its pulse quicken? And how in the world can ghosts have sex? Why in the name of all that's holy in any religion would they even consider such a thing?
ARGH!
As I mentioned earlier, there were a few irritating elements in this book. Since it only has a loose connection to the other books in the series, I would say it's one that you can skip. It's not that the other books are tightly connected either, but this one definitely wasn't Armstrong's best work. Her pacing doesn't seem to be improving as she continues to write, and I'm willing to give her one more chance before I either give up on the series entirely or take a long break from it. Maybe I'm just irritated because I've read so many of her books in a row and I need a break from the author.
And another pet peeve of mine: I really hate it when authors throw angels into the mix. Maybe it's because I'm not a Christian, but they just really annoy me, especially in urban fantasy books. It's like the author is trying to shoehorn all the supernatural elements into a Christian paradigm that just doesn't make sense. Armstrong actually started mixing Christian and pagan elements together: Fates AND angels? Seriously? She should either pick one mythology or come up with a better explanation for why there are multiple mythologies coexisting in a way that makes sense.
Ok, my rant is over. I'm going to go find something else to read that's actually worth my time.
