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A review by readingmissfroggy
Surrender of a Siren by Tessa Dare
2.0
Considered giving it a 3 star rating but then I wrote my review and I knocked it down to 2.
I enjoyed the first book in this series well enough to want to pick up the sequel. The character of Sophia was intriguing enough in the first book that I was moderately excited to pick this one up. I don't think my excitement had changed the way I have experienced this book, sadly it was a let down.
Let me start with the thing that bothers me the most: I really think that, based on the 4 stories I have read by this author so far (2 full novels, 2 short stories), Tessa Dare should never ever write about animals again.
In 2 of the 4 things that I have read by her, animals are being killed. And in both cases were a) unnecessary details, b) unnecessary cruelty, and c) it didn't serve the plot in whatever way.
One of the two cases that I have read so far is in this particular book. And no Mrs Dare, telling your readers in the acknowledgements that it wasn't a dolphin but just a regular fish and that no dolphins were hurt writing this book hahaha is NOT funny and it does NOT change the fact that you felt the need to describe how a fish is fighting for it's life while being stuck on a harpoon while our "heroine" feels the need to extent it's suffering by being a freaking idiot.
Call me weak or emotional or whatever you want, I do not accept animal cruelty in something that should give me good feelings, like a historical romance. That particular scene left me extremely nauseous and very pissed off.
That one scene has pushed me into giving it 2 stars. The rest of the book was a 3 star at its best in my opinion. The characters were okay, the setting was okay, the romance was okay, the plot was okay. Everything was just okay.
The characters didn't jump of the page with their personality, the setting had some exciting moments but most of it was a bit more dull (walking on the ship, up and down stairs, in and out of a cabin again and again and again), the romance was fine in the beginning but quickly started to get annoying (how often can we get characters to go in the same circle again and again? I like you but I have a secret that I can't share-> You won't tell me your secret I will walk away and hurt you and then come back and ask you about your secret -> go back to the beginning of this sentence). The whole secret of Sophia was milked and milked and then milked some more until nothing came out but still the characters had to continue doing their little dance. Annoying AF.
Basically, nothing sparkled or shone in this book for me. And when we finally met Bel, our mc for the next and final instalment in this series... I just feel more apprehension because I do not like religion in my books. That, combined with my experience reading this book... I don't know if I should see the conclusion as a band-aid that I need to rip-off ASAP to get it over with or if I should avoid it like the plague until I can no longer.
If you have read this far in my frustrated ramble, I'm sorry and thank you for reading. I would love to hear about your experiences with this author. I want to love her work, maybe I just did it the wrong way by picking up an older series by her?
I enjoyed the first book in this series well enough to want to pick up the sequel. The character of Sophia was intriguing enough in the first book that I was moderately excited to pick this one up. I don't think my excitement had changed the way I have experienced this book, sadly it was a let down.
Let me start with the thing that bothers me the most: I really think that, based on the 4 stories I have read by this author so far (2 full novels, 2 short stories), Tessa Dare should never ever write about animals again.
In 2 of the 4 things that I have read by her, animals are being killed. And in both cases were a) unnecessary details, b) unnecessary cruelty, and c) it didn't serve the plot in whatever way.
One of the two cases that I have read so far is in this particular book. And no Mrs Dare, telling your readers in the acknowledgements that it wasn't a dolphin but just a regular fish and that no dolphins were hurt writing this book hahaha is NOT funny and it does NOT change the fact that you felt the need to describe how a fish is fighting for it's life while being stuck on a harpoon while our "heroine" feels the need to extent it's suffering by being a freaking idiot.
Call me weak or emotional or whatever you want, I do not accept animal cruelty in something that should give me good feelings, like a historical romance. That particular scene left me extremely nauseous and very pissed off.
That one scene has pushed me into giving it 2 stars. The rest of the book was a 3 star at its best in my opinion. The characters were okay, the setting was okay, the romance was okay, the plot was okay. Everything was just okay.
The characters didn't jump of the page with their personality, the setting had some exciting moments but most of it was a bit more dull (walking on the ship, up and down stairs, in and out of a cabin again and again and again), the romance was fine in the beginning but quickly started to get annoying (how often can we get characters to go in the same circle again and again? I like you but I have a secret that I can't share-> You won't tell me your secret I will walk away and hurt you and then come back and ask you about your secret -> go back to the beginning of this sentence). The whole secret of Sophia was milked and milked and then milked some more until nothing came out but still the characters had to continue doing their little dance. Annoying AF.
Basically, nothing sparkled or shone in this book for me. And when we finally met Bel, our mc for the next and final instalment in this series... I just feel more apprehension because I do not like religion in my books. That, combined with my experience reading this book... I don't know if I should see the conclusion as a band-aid that I need to rip-off ASAP to get it over with or if I should avoid it like the plague until I can no longer.
If you have read this far in my frustrated ramble, I'm sorry and thank you for reading. I would love to hear about your experiences with this author. I want to love her work, maybe I just did it the wrong way by picking up an older series by her?