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roadtripreader 's review for:
Dear Monster Claus
by Maeve Black
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Let's get the good stuff out of the way first:
The plot is cute. The Cupid barrier to love is interesting and could have definitely been explored in-depth and had a bit more lore to it instead of the railing whine and pouting about it. Also, my infatuation with hot demons is now out of control - thanks Kimberly Lemming you awoke something and here I am paging through a Santa-Demon Cupid story.
Would have been a slam dunk if it wasn't so poorly written.
If this were handed in as an assignment by one of my students the whole book would be dripping with my red ink circles as though I were actually summoning a demon from hell. Where is the editor? Did the MMC eat him/her? Has the editor been banished to another realm where eyes are no longer necessary and as such whatever this was flies under the radar and gets published errors and all? What about an intern paid to just read it and make notes? no? Mmkay Perhaps the editor is on Santa's naughty list and he's rescinded their editing privileges. Either way, my brain wanted to lodge a complain BUT ...my newly awakened romantic heart wouldn't let me burn this fanfiction.
Now for the train wreck:
I found myself wondering if the author was a teenager or perhaps this was translated by an interpreter drunk on eggnog. More often than not, sentences made sense but in a jarring way, taking me back to my days at the front of the class harping on and on about grammar.
An example:
1. The overuse of the word "addicted" for God's sake use a thesaurus.
2. Simple, basic grammar - the adverb comes after the verb etc etc. He laughed heartily -yes. Not: He heartily laughed. WTF
3. The overuse of the words "tense and tension" because there has got to be another way to describe the sexual chemistry between the two characters other than "tense".
Is this a commentary of the increasing DGAF of "idol-style" writers who are basically fanfiction authors and wattpad dabblers? It felt like I was in a Kpop Mosh pit (excuse the oxymoron) reading about teenage ideas of adult erotic romance.
I'll end with this - a few of the steamy scenes were quite....ahem. Which is why I stayed until the very last epilogue. So, there's that.
2.75
The plot is cute. The Cupid barrier to love is interesting and could have definitely been explored in-depth and had a bit more lore to it instead of the railing whine and pouting about it. Also, my infatuation with hot demons is now out of control - thanks Kimberly Lemming you awoke something and here I am paging through a Santa-Demon Cupid story.
Would have been a slam dunk if it wasn't so poorly written.
If this were handed in as an assignment by one of my students the whole book would be dripping with my red ink circles as though I were actually summoning a demon from hell. Where is the editor? Did the MMC eat him/her? Has the editor been banished to another realm where eyes are no longer necessary and as such whatever this was flies under the radar and gets published errors and all? What about an intern paid to just read it and make notes? no? Mmkay Perhaps the editor is on Santa's naughty list and he's rescinded their editing privileges. Either way, my brain wanted to lodge a complain BUT ...my newly awakened romantic heart wouldn't let me burn this fanfiction.
Now for the train wreck:
I found myself wondering if the author was a teenager or perhaps this was translated by an interpreter drunk on eggnog. More often than not, sentences made sense but in a jarring way, taking me back to my days at the front of the class harping on and on about grammar.
An example:
1. The overuse of the word "addicted" for God's sake use a thesaurus.
2. Simple, basic grammar - the adverb comes after the verb etc etc. He laughed heartily -yes. Not: He heartily laughed. WTF
3. The overuse of the words "tense and tension" because there has got to be another way to describe the sexual chemistry between the two characters other than "tense".
Is this a commentary of the increasing DGAF of "idol-style" writers who are basically fanfiction authors and wattpad dabblers? It felt like I was in a Kpop Mosh pit (excuse the oxymoron) reading about teenage ideas of adult erotic romance.
I'll end with this - a few of the steamy scenes were quite....ahem. Which is why I stayed until the very last epilogue. So, there's that.
2.75