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I'm Megan, aspiring author, bookworm, lover of Nutella, and One Direction's biggest fan. I'm addicted to Twitter. And I'll get out of Wisconsin so I can move to London some day.
Self-published
//Amazon//
Oceana is a hard-working, straight down the line indexer with an attitude.
Tristan is the millennia old executioner for the vampire council.
They meet when Tristan seeks her help on a case and she is unwillingly drawn into his twisted and violent world where nothing is as it seems on the surface. As she discovers through Tristan who and what she is, Oceana's life changes irrevocably and the only choice she believes she has left is whether or not to give her love to this charming, perplexing and dangerous man, but even that is twisted around her by the masquerade that is life amongst vampires...
This is my first self-published book review.
Let's start off with the things I didn't like about this book, shall we?
1. Tristan.
Tristan, oh Tristan. I really don't understand why Spicer set him up being... well, so creepy. Honestly, he was a creep from the very beginning at the ball. A few days later, Tristan meets up with Oceana again and--I kid you not--touches her bra. Why? WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! Honestly, I am like a sputtering engine. I just cannot comprehend it.
Then Tristan tells Oceana he's a vampire. This is another thing I don't understand: You just met this chick, you make a move on her, and oh yeah, let's not forget you're a vampire! *sighs* Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but I'm a hot vampire, so have sex with me maybe?
Some people may think Tristan is a really "attractive" love interest, but with me he came off as a rapist. Seriously, the moment he was introduced my rapist warning signals went off.
2. The Rest of the Guys
Not a single male character in this book impressed me. All of them were creepy. It made me sick.
3. Oceana
There's a lot of problems I had with her. First, her age. According to this book, Oceana is 26. If I'm correct, that age is more aimed for adult readers rather than YA readers.
Second thing about Oceana: She gives up her body for information. Let's say some weird guy calls you up and says, "I have some information you need, if you come on over it's all yours." (I toned it down a little, but you get the picture.) Oceana got a similar phone call, and what did she do? No, not call the police. No, not get her vampire boyfriend to kill the guy. She does it. It. She goes ahead and has sex with him to gain information.
I think that's wrong. You may argue that the information is priceless, but I don't really care. I still think it's wrong.
4. The Errors
Maybe more than anything about this book, the punctuation, grammar, and spelling mistakes were the worst. I couldn't read a single page without finding five places where commas were supposed to be, etc. I guess this is the risk you take with self-published book, but COME ON! If you're going to publish something, have someone proof read it! And get a decent proof reader, too, not some Sally who loves everything you do!
5. Explanations
Masquerade had lots of facts to the vamp world, but not a whole lot of explanations. That's all I'm going to say on this one.
As for the things I did like...
The only thing I really enjoyed about this book was the ending. The ending was perfect, because... oh, I can't tell you why. But it made me happy, because finally some justice was served. THAT IS WHAT CREEPY PEOPLE GET. CREEPY PEOPLE DON'T HAVE HAPPILY-EVER-AFTER'S. The ending could have been more thought out and better executed, but the results pleased my soul.
Overall: I really didn't care for this book. I found Tristan creepy, I didn't care for Oceana, but the ending was nice. 1.5/5 stars. I rounded up, because I have a heart of gold.
~Megan
Zoey. Teenager. Aspiring author that needs to get out of Wisconsin before she dies of boredom. Avid reader that really should learn to spend less money on books. When I'm not spending time being lazy or reading or wandering around late at night, I write YA books with characters that like to throw things at each other. I work in a bookstore.
31 comments:
This is so disappointing. It sounds like it even could have been a good read. I'm weirded out by the creep factor.
Every other review of this book is absolutely glowing, I've not yet had a chance to read it (it's on my to-read list) but I can't wait. You are clearly too young for it and I don't know where you got the idea that it was for a teenage audience as the synopsis makes it quite clear how old the characters are.
As for your comment about the grammar and punctuation I think that a)there should be some allowance for the fact that you are American and that the author is English and that therefore some spellings and sentence structures are going to be different and that b)if you're going to criticise somebody's grammar you should first stop using so many full stops and get someone to proof read your blogs for you as I found reading this a bit like wading through concrete.
I suggest you grow up a bit before you attempt your next grown up book and then maybe you won't find the characters so "creepy" (what else did you expect vampires to be like?) and won't be so shocked and appalled by the thought of "it". (I keep re-reading that section as it makes me laugh so much.)
Better luck next time! XOX
I'm sorry you don't like my writing style. My opinion on this book still does not change.
Wow. I read this book and actually REALLY liked it. You don't even have valid points to back up your opinion. I just came across your site while looking up the book and here's a summary of this review: "Like, ew, Tristan is so creepy and omg I think I'm so mature when I can't even handle grown-up concepts" Why do people even listen to what you have to say? If you would have made a concrete argument with legitimate reasons, I would have taken you seriously and respected what you had to say, but I honestly see nothing to gain from any of your reviews. MATCHED is also an amazing book and series, too. I'm not upset at you because you don't like it like I do, I'm upset because you throw out opinions and bash writing and come off as a whiny, illiterate bitch. I bet you couldn't even write a book HALF as good as MASQUERADE. Stop acting like you're 12 and maybe more people will listen to what you have to say. I'm from Wisconsin, too, but I am ashamed to live in the same state as someone like you. Even your description sounds predictable. "Unicorns 4 lyfe! 1 Direction is da best!!!111" Riiight. You probably think you're random and cute, when really you're just another average teenage girl who comes off as uninteresting and annoying.
p.s. Don't read adult books if you don't like adult books. Were you really that stupid when you read the description to see it wasn't intended for Young Adults? Shaking my head.
@ Ally-- Great, I'm glad you liked Masquerade. Some people will like it more than me, and that's OK. I haven't even read Matched, my partner Zoey has, so I have no thoughts on it. That part you read was not about me. When Ms. Spicer requested me to read her book, I thought it was a YA book, not an adult book, because I review MG and YA. I read the book and reviewed it just like she asked, even though it was an adult book.
Just wanting to clear things up,
Megan
Megan, don't listen to the immature people commenting on your blog. You are allowed to voice your own opinions without being ashamed of them. So you didn't appreciate some of the characters. Personally, I don't think that has ANYTHING to do with age or maturity; I think that has to do with personal preference. These people sound like pompous jerks and they're probably trolls. They could've very easily said "I don't agree with you and here's why" in a nice way, but instead they went into the "I'm a crazy jerk and I'm going to bash my opinion into your skull and make you feel guilty for not liking this book because I like it and the world revolves around me and if someone else doesn't like it then I will make fun of them because I'm a jerk." Yeah, why these people exist in the world, who knows.
@ Megan-- I find it funny how you act so composed when all I have to do is scroll up and see your obnoxious abuse of the capslock button above combined with a distasteful attitude towards good literature. You're not fooling anyone. Everyone else who has read the book has had nothing but good things to say about it. I pity those who actually end up on this site looking for a second opinion and take what you say into consideration. Those poor souls. As for not knowing it was Young Adult literature, don't blame the author for your own childish errors. She was most likely just trying to help and get her book known and you should be grateful that someone valued your opinion enough to ask you to write a review. You have no respect whatsoever as a fellow writer towards the author and this is clearly shown through your poor attempt to write a review. Maybe you should just stick to reading and keeping your thoughts to yourself.
Also, your obvious avoidance of many things I stated in my first comment show you are incapable of handling criticism, even when it's the clear truth. So, a small word of advice- don't criticize others if you don't want to be criticized, yourself.
Ally: Everyone is allowed to have an opinion. Just because you don't agree doesn't mean you're allowed to call Megan a whiny, illiterate bitch. That's childish and immature and you should be ashamed of yourself.
I'm going to agree with Cara, Megan. I appreciate your opinion. After all, that's what a book review is, right? An opinion? Thank you for telling me these things about the book before I wasted time reading something that isn't as great as others think; as a fellow writer and reader who has been wary of lots of books these days, I truly appreciate it. Thank you for trudging through the book and taking the time to tell us what you *honestly* think about it, because, these days, we see too much of people being afraid to state their opinion.
Ally: And also, it is clearly stated in the review policy that Megan reviews MG and YA books. The author shouldn't have asked her to read her book, as it is NOT clear from the summary that this is an adult book.
Also, I agree with your review. Having a character who has sex to gain info is downgrading. Adult or not, I like characters with at least some sense of dignity. Having sex to get something isn't exactly uplifting characterization.
I didn't bother buying the book, but here are my thoughts from the preview on Amazon.
Prologue:
Right away, I can tell it is in need of commas. "I used you mercilessly…" is much too long of a sentence. It bogs you down. "The remorse I feel is the only thing keeping me upright and loving you and I hope that one day you will forgive me." Wow, this sentence fails. The "And loving you" part seems really out of place. It could be that it's a run-on, but still. It's like she said: "The remorse I feel is the only keeping me upright OH and loving you too! Haha forgot about that! Let me just slide it in real quick!)
Also, the prologue holds no purpose. I can see why agents/publishers frown on most of them. This is the 'most' of them I'm sure they frowned on. I would've preferred finding out this mistake or w/e of the MCs in the novel opposed to out of context.
Chapter one:
A lot of dialogue and not enough imagery. Where is this taking place? And why does the dialogue start the scene? It's one of the no-nos you hear agents/publishers talking about. Starting a book with dialogue, unless it's particularly good dialogue, is too disorienting.
@Ally and PrincessLizard
There's other people who liked the book. Great. Megan didn't.
Why don't you shut up and go read the happy sunshiney reviews of people who DID like the book? Quit wasting your time here?
Some people like books. Others will think them crap. That's life. Now go GET yourself one. Thank you.
I guess some people are not allowed to have their own personal opinion on a book that they were asked to review, granted the fact that this was not a YA book should have been added when asked for the review to be done, that way someone else could have taken the book instead, clearly not everyone enjoys thess types of books and they are allowed to have "icky or creepy" feelings towards a character ot two.
I'm sure that when some of you started off doing your first review you had a few people disagree with your POV. So what gives you the right to turn around to do this to someone else, if you don't like the review just say "I don't agree" without tearing into the person doing the review, we all don't agree on everything.
Megan, don't take any of what these people have said on here to heart. The whole point behind reviewing a book is to give your opinion. Not everyone can love a book; there's always going to be negative comments. Remember a writer cannot please everyone!
And I also would just like to say that your writing skills have nothing to do with your opinion on this book. You're an excellent writer, and there's always room to grow :)
Honestly I'm just disappointed in the Blogger community that this would happen to someone during this first review of a book. Not everyone agrees; people argue about books and shows all the time. Please don't comment about an aspiring writer's skills as a writer especially when that has nothing to do with this book. As Megan's friend and a published writer, I'm disappointed in the negativity here.
Next time if you don't like it, maybe you should voice your own opinion on your blog where you won't be negatively commenting at one specific person.
So sorry this happened to you, Megan! <3 (hugs)
"She's allowed to have her own opinion" And I'm not? Hmm, how very open-minded of all of you. Just because she owns the site doesn't mean she's the only one allowed to say what she thinks. No, I'm not going to just write, "I don't agree" and move on. You all are completely missing the point, jumping to conclusions, and twisting my words. I wrote, " I'm not upset at you because you don't like it like I do, I'm upset because you throw out opinions and bash writing." I'm actually trying to HELP Megan, believe it or not. When you write something negative, you have to be prepared for the backlash you are going to get. She put her opinion out there and made herself vulnerable to conflicting responses. Just because I had an opposing argument does not make my opinion any less valid than hers. If someone talks shit about something, they should be able to handle the consequences of their words and be able to have a solid argument about how they feel the way they do. If you ridicule something, you can't do it blindly and expect everyone to agree with you. I know I come off as the "bad person" here because I had the courage to try to provoke Megan to think beyond her simplistic ways and actually gave her a chance to back up her thoughts with more explanation. You can't just say, "I hate something" without having intelligent reasons as to why you don't like it. You end up looking really immature. Her measly few paragraph about the book hardly contained anything of tangible worth. I know most of you are little mindless minions that can't make up their own opinions and religiously check these blogs and take everything verbatim. It's okay, most teenies do. Maybe when you're older, you'll understand. I'm not some hateful jerk unless someone is hateful, first. She spoke her mind, I spoke back. I don't expect any of you to understand, seeing as most of you automatically agree and kiss ass anyways. Good luck out in the real world where you can't hide behind a computer screen. People WILL have not-so-nice things to say and if you can't take it, then why even speak? I'm out. I've wasted far too much time on this sad excuse of a site. You all can say whatever you want about me for trying to push Megan to compose intelligent, backed opinions supporting her case in order to defend herself, but I'm gone.
Ally: Calling her a "whiny, illiterate bitch" is not helping. NOT AT ALL. Saying your ashamed to live in the same state as her is not HELPING. None of what you've done is helping. You've been unnecessarily rude.
"Most of you automatically agree and kiss ass anyways."
You know absolutely nothing about us. So yes, get the fuck out. I'm done trying to be nice.
I out grew my teen years a wile ago, so I don't care much for the attack assuming that everyone in here is a child/teen.
Attacking someone is NOT helping them, but I guess in your mind and in your bubble that's how it works for you, but of course I'm sure that's how everyone where you are "helps" others is by yelling and insulting them.
Calling someone stupid really show the maturity you have also, and I don't think you would be acting like this if you weren't hiding behind a screen yourself.
Ally- I don't know if you've actually really thought this through, but you attacked Megan. From behind a computer screen. You are the one hiding behind the computer screen. Megan is just doing her job, and she is doing fine.
PS- It's okay to be a teenager who likes One Direction and unicorns and Nutella. Lots of us do.
Like Danielle D, I also outgrew my teen years a long time ago. I will also agree that Ally is the one coming off as immature here. Megan gave an opinion, that's what a review is. Ally slammed her for it and Megan responded in a very mature way considering what was said. And as far as saying you aren't allowed an opinion, Ally, they did post your comments. They could have turned them off. So you are being allowed to express your opinion. And the rest of us are expressing ours as well.
Ally- Really? Megan's the bitch? I think you better look in the mirror. You know absolutely nothing and have no right to go on here and attack her like that. If you think that's "helping her" then you are out of your mind. Helping her isn't insulting her like a complete jerk. It makes me laugh at really how immature and classless you are. You're also a coward. Hiding behind a computer screen to attack someone... yep, that's the right way to go for sure! Learn some respect. If you don't like the review, just don't comment on it and save everyone the trouble of reading your worthless words.
Ally: What the hell is wrong with you? I'm pretty sure nothing said is going to actually sink through your judgmental, obnoxious little head so I'm not gonna even try.
But seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?
*anything, not nothing. Damn typos. :P
I'm just going to say this.
It is one thing to criticize someone's book review and their opinion of it (and do remember, a review is an opinion; there are two sides to every story, and there can be negative reviews as well as positive ones). If you liked the book, and Megan didn't, that's fine. No one is saying you can't like the book she reviewed.
However, it if another thing, completely, to attack Megan personally because she gave the book a bad review. If you didn't like that she disliked the book, that's fine. You are entitled to that opinion. What you are not entitled to is the right to attack her as a person. In the above comments, I saw attacks on her age, her maturity, her likes and dislikes, her grammar, her writing style, her aspirations, and more. None of this was okay. Megan, as a person, should not have been pulled into this argument. Megan, as a person, is not to blame. The fact that she likes Nutella and used One Direction as a joking reference in her review should not have been attacked; none of those things have anything to do with her negative review.
I am dismayed by the hateful comments thrown at Megan. Readers, if you didn't like her review, I respect that. That's completely up to you. Still, she should not have been attacked. She, personally, should have been left out of this entire argument and hate fest. No one respects the hate poured out in these comments for that exact reason. If you notice, no one is commenting on the fact that you two (Ally and PrincessLizard) did not like her review. We are all commenting on the fact that you two attacked her personally and made negative comments about her. That was a low blow. There is no respect for that. Back off, and leave this blog if you didn't like the review. There were better, more MATURE, ways to handle this.
And just as a final note: Just because "every other review" of this book has been "glowing" does not mean that Megan was in the wrong to review it negatively. She has her morals and her likes/dislikes, and she stuck by them when giving this review. For that, I am very thankful. A million "glowing" reviews doesn't make a book good. It might mean a lot of people like it, but that doesn't mean everyone likes it. I'm sure Megan isn't the first person to have disliked this book. And also, the fact that she doesn't appreciate gratuitous sex scenes doesn't mean she's wrong to think that...or even that she's not mature enough for it. Please. The views society has on sex these days... Just because it's in a book doesn't mean it's okay. Just saying.
Great review, Megan. I'm so sorry you didn't enjoy this book very much.
I'm also sorry about the hate you're getting from this review. It's probably not the best way to be introduced into the book blogging community. Go you for replying so professionally and with so much grace.
Thank you for that mature reply, I wasn't trying to change your opinion on the book (like I said I've not had a chance to read it yet) I was merely trying to open your eyes to things that you should consider when you're reviewing (because I'm an avid review reader). The people below all seem to think that I was attacking you personally, of this is how it came across then I apologise as I was taking about this blog and this review not you; just wanted to clear that up so that people stop calling me a troll and whatever else. XOX
Megan thank you for your honest review!! So sorry that people are attacking you on the blog. That obviously shows their maturity level. Instead of insulting you or making negative comments they could just do the mature thing and keep it to themselves. I happen to appreciate honest reviews. Just because one person loves a book doesn't mean someone else will. You were just stating your opinions on the book. That is what personal blogs are for. I don't usually involve myself in drama, but I think it's just rude what was said in these comments.
I'm always so hesitant to read self-published books. It can either be good or really horrible, haha. But thank you for the honest review!! :D This isn't the type of book I would usually read anyway.
I'm sorry about everything I said, would you please delete my comments? Thank you.
I'm definitely late to the party, but every now and then I like checking out Zoey's, and now Megan's, blog.
Megan, don't let any of the comments made against you put you off doing what you're doing. You're entitled to your opinion, and no one has the right to make feel bad for having it, not unless it's committing a crime,lol, that's slightly different. It's their maturity that is lacking not yours. :)
I haven't read the book so I have no opinion either way, but I do not like coming onto a blog and seeing one of the hosts attacked in this fashion. We are human, not robots. Not everyone is going to love the same book, but we can control how we react to seeing someone give a bad review to a book we may love. I have had to learn this myself.
Good luck, and I'm looking forward to seeing your next review. :)
Ally: "When people hate with all that energy, it is something in themselves they are hating." -Evelyn Waugh
Not everyone can love the same book. There is not a single book in the world that EVERYONE loves, no matter how popular it is or seems to be. That is no reason to personally attack a reviewer. Megan's maturity is shown by the fact that she didn't immediately strike back at you and continue a useless fight. She is not the one hiding behind a computer screen here; you are. People who attack others on the internet are the ones who hide behind their computer screens, knowing that no one can really do anything about it because it's the internet and it's anonymous. Please don't do this to anyone else, and take a long look at your own life before projecting such meanness into the lives of others. There is a difference between constructive criticism and plain, needless venom.
Megan, don't listen to the haters. It's clear that many people love your reviews, as do I. :)
P.S. Also, sex scenes do not guarantee a mature book. There are many books out there that have creepy, unnecessary sex in them just to shock readers and sell the story.
So, to sum it up, there's errors, creepy dudes, and the over-use of explanation? Meep. I might pass on this one, thanks.
Thanks for the honest review!
Misa
Skyway Avenue Reads
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