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Swoon #2
Swear
A promise broken. A bond betrayed.
It’s been six months since ghost-turned golem Sinclair Youngblood Powers confessed his love, stole Dice's heart, and disappeared from Swoon, perhaps from existence. Despite the hurt, Dice has been moving steadily toward ordinary. Dreams of Sin still plague and pleasure her sleep, and the mark of Sin's love remains on her skin, still sore. But Dice has been throwing herself into music, finding solace in song and sometimes even in the arms of her band mate, Tosh. Life seems almost…normal. The last thing Dice wants is to mess with anything remotely supernatural. But when her best friend’s boyfriend goes missing, Dice has no choice but to become very much involved. She knows that his disappearance was no accident, and it somehow has everything to do with Sin. Because Dice can feel it: Sin is back. And the promises and deceptions he left in his wake have returned to haunt him.
What do you do when an oath of devotion threatens to destroy the one you love?
480 pages, ebook
First published September 6, 2011
29 people are currently reading
2504 people want to read
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July 15, 2021
1 star.
After reading the Swoon series, there's something I want to ask Malkin about her writing process.
This will be split into 2 parts. Part 1 is the review of Swear and Part 2 is my thoughts on the Swoon series as a whole.
Part 1
Swear is what I would call a follower. A follower who tries to be like the popular people but fails in every way and aspect. Swoon and Swear are books that were written in the rise of YA paranormal romance where every author was trying to be like Stephenie Meyer. It's like a diamond in the rough where you find a few good ones whereas the rest are bland, mediocre, or terrible. Swoon and Swear full under terrible because... they're terrible.
Swear picks up six months after Sin mysteriously vanished and Dice is trying to go on with life before she leaves for college. But her best friend's boyfriend disappears under mysterious circumstance and Dice finds out that this is no ordinary disappearance.
Where to begin. There's a lot to unload on how bad Swear is. Bad characters, bad plot, bad pacing, bad writing. Nothing but bad. It doesn't even try to improve from the previous book.
The problem lies with how Nina Malkin tried to make everything about this series as different as possible from other books when in reality, it created a jumbled mess.
Dice continues to be a bland protagonist that seems to prioritize her lust (that's what is, lust, not love) for Sin when things are getting out of control. Her only special thing is her being a psychic which doesn't even add to her character. It was there to act as a plot device rather than having any involvement in Dice as a character and the plot. It was there to fix things in convoluted ways.
Sin, like Dice, is bland. He's depicted as a bad boy type of character but in reality, he's nothing more than a glorified version of every YA paranormal love interest that still manages to be forgettable. In one of my comments on Swoon, a friend said that there's a difference between a bad boy and a bad person. Sin is a bad person. Remember, in the previous book, he swore revenge on the descendants of those who murdered him and he himself set fire to a retirement home that killed two people. He KILLED people! And Dice can't seem to get her head out of her ass and still has feelings for him even though the red flags are there. And in Swear, he gets angry at Dice for moving on and flirting with a new guy. He's nothing but an ass.
The story didn't help at all with bad writing and bad pacing. The plot is there but it's lost with slow pacing and writing that is confusing and strange. I've seen people say that John Green uses words that teens don't say or think. If they've read Swoon, they would take back those words in a heartbeat. Malkin writes as if though she's writing from the POV of someone from the early 1800s. No teen talks or thinks the way like Dice or any of the other characters. And because of Malkin's use of words, it made the pacing slow to the point where you have to go back and re-read parts.
There were parts of the story where it read like a classic book I've read in college (I forgot the author's name but one part of the book was written in a strange way that it made no sense) and those parts could've easily been summed up in a direct way. One author that comes to mind is Lauren Oliver who writes beautifully in the first person whereas Malkin writes the way she writes because she tried to be different than other authors except she has no idea what teenagers think or say.
By the end, I couldn't care less about everything. The Swoon series is a terrible series that tried too hard to be like the other YA paranormal books but it tried too hard and flopped.
Part 2
Looking at my time reading Swoon, it's obvious that Malkin was inspired by the many YA books that came out after Twilight. The problem is, she tried to be very different than the other authors and books. That was her downfall of the series. With writing that belongs in the early 1800s, bland characters, and plot, it all comes crashing down in the end. I'm not sure why Malkin thought it was a good idea to write the books the way she wrote it.
I'm more than convinced that she wanted to write a story that took place in the 1800s rather than the 21st century because of the writing style and the way the characters spoke. But when all the new books have modern settings, why not write a story in a modern setting with the language that doesn't belong to teenagers.
As a whole, the Swoon series is a how-not-to type of situation. How not to write a story, how not to write characters, how not to use overexaggerated dialogue and inner monologues. It's been several years since Swear was written and I'm not sure if Malkin decided that this wasn't for her after receiving so many negative reviews from both books.
My experience with the Swoon duology is a bad one. It is a series I do not recommend at all. What started as a good idea turned into a convoluted mess of a duology.
After reading the Swoon series, there's something I want to ask Malkin about her writing process.
This will be split into 2 parts. Part 1 is the review of Swear and Part 2 is my thoughts on the Swoon series as a whole.
Part 1
Swear is what I would call a follower. A follower who tries to be like the popular people but fails in every way and aspect. Swoon and Swear are books that were written in the rise of YA paranormal romance where every author was trying to be like Stephenie Meyer. It's like a diamond in the rough where you find a few good ones whereas the rest are bland, mediocre, or terrible. Swoon and Swear full under terrible because... they're terrible.
Swear picks up six months after Sin mysteriously vanished and Dice is trying to go on with life before she leaves for college. But her best friend's boyfriend disappears under mysterious circumstance and Dice finds out that this is no ordinary disappearance.
Where to begin. There's a lot to unload on how bad Swear is. Bad characters, bad plot, bad pacing, bad writing. Nothing but bad. It doesn't even try to improve from the previous book.
The problem lies with how Nina Malkin tried to make everything about this series as different as possible from other books when in reality, it created a jumbled mess.
Dice continues to be a bland protagonist that seems to prioritize her lust (that's what is, lust, not love) for Sin when things are getting out of control. Her only special thing is her being a psychic which doesn't even add to her character. It was there to act as a plot device rather than having any involvement in Dice as a character and the plot. It was there to fix things in convoluted ways.
Sin, like Dice, is bland. He's depicted as a bad boy type of character but in reality, he's nothing more than a glorified version of every YA paranormal love interest that still manages to be forgettable. In one of my comments on Swoon, a friend said that there's a difference between a bad boy and a bad person. Sin is a bad person. Remember, in the previous book, he swore revenge on the descendants of those who murdered him and he himself set fire to a retirement home that killed two people. He KILLED people! And Dice can't seem to get her head out of her ass and still has feelings for him even though the red flags are there. And in Swear, he gets angry at Dice for moving on and flirting with a new guy. He's nothing but an ass.
The story didn't help at all with bad writing and bad pacing. The plot is there but it's lost with slow pacing and writing that is confusing and strange. I've seen people say that John Green uses words that teens don't say or think. If they've read Swoon, they would take back those words in a heartbeat. Malkin writes as if though she's writing from the POV of someone from the early 1800s. No teen talks or thinks the way like Dice or any of the other characters. And because of Malkin's use of words, it made the pacing slow to the point where you have to go back and re-read parts.
There were parts of the story where it read like a classic book I've read in college (I forgot the author's name but one part of the book was written in a strange way that it made no sense) and those parts could've easily been summed up in a direct way. One author that comes to mind is Lauren Oliver who writes beautifully in the first person whereas Malkin writes the way she writes because she tried to be different than other authors except she has no idea what teenagers think or say.
By the end, I couldn't care less about everything. The Swoon series is a terrible series that tried too hard to be like the other YA paranormal books but it tried too hard and flopped.
Part 2
Looking at my time reading Swoon, it's obvious that Malkin was inspired by the many YA books that came out after Twilight. The problem is, she tried to be very different than the other authors and books. That was her downfall of the series. With writing that belongs in the early 1800s, bland characters, and plot, it all comes crashing down in the end. I'm not sure why Malkin thought it was a good idea to write the books the way she wrote it.
I'm more than convinced that she wanted to write a story that took place in the 1800s rather than the 21st century because of the writing style and the way the characters spoke. But when all the new books have modern settings, why not write a story in a modern setting with the language that doesn't belong to teenagers.
As a whole, the Swoon series is a how-not-to type of situation. How not to write a story, how not to write characters, how not to use overexaggerated dialogue and inner monologues. It's been several years since Swear was written and I'm not sure if Malkin decided that this wasn't for her after receiving so many negative reviews from both books.
My experience with the Swoon duology is a bad one. It is a series I do not recommend at all. What started as a good idea turned into a convoluted mess of a duology.
April 27, 2011
All I gotta say is one word: Sin. <3
The minute Barnes & Noble puts this book onto the shelves I 'swear'... ahh! I don't even know. I was so depressed when Swoon ended and Sin disappeared, and now he might be back! I emailed Nina Malkin and she said that the book should be coming out this summer :) I'm too happy!
The minute Barnes & Noble puts this book onto the shelves I 'swear'... ahh! I don't even know. I was so depressed when Swoon ended and Sin disappeared, and now he might be back! I emailed Nina Malkin and she said that the book should be coming out this summer :) I'm too happy!
Want to read
September 7, 2010Oh god, there's a sequel to Swoon? I didn't think that was possible with the way it ended, but I guess I'll give it a try. I just hope it's not as weird as the first.
August 2, 2012
It’s been a while since I’ve read Swoon; I seem to remember loving that book, regardless of the not-so lovely reviews it’s gotten. When I picked up Swear, I knew I would have a hard time acclimating to the goings on post-Swoon. Well, hells bells. I think I just realized why Swoon had such adverse reactions from other readers.
Swear happened about six months after Swoon. Dice is plagued with dreams of the erotic kind co-starring, none other than her ex, Sin Youngblood Powers. Everything should be cool and by cool, meaning no haunting of any kind. So long as Sin stayed wherever the hell he was and not intent on unleashing another bout of debauchery via possession, Dice was okay being haunted in her dreams. But when a boy disappeared without a trace and they’d somehow traced it back to Sin, Dice had no choice but to try and summon her ghost-turned-golem ex. Oh boy. Here we go again.
There is a distinct difference between Dice sans Sin and Dice with Sin; predominantly obvious was she seemed to turn into an insipid, sniveling, shallow girl as opposed to a girl with deep feelings and even deeper intellect. It was frustrating, considering how much I enjoyed her monologues, which, incidentally, reminded me of beatnik poetry.
His return brought another round of ego-maniacal, self-love. What I don’t get is the appeal. Also, Dice and Pen (her cousin) have pretty much fought over this bone from the beginning and his return didn’t seem to have reaped that much attention. Dice insisted that she’s still in lurve with him but after the initial quasi-argument they had, there was a whole lot of…nothing.
You know what pissed me off the most? The fact the Sin was all, riled up because Dice was caught kissing another boy. You know what I have to say about that? SCREW YOU, SIN! May I remind you that you slept with practically the entire female population of Swoon, CT the last time you were in town? You have no right, boy. No right at all. Jesus, God, Dice. Girl, why are you all broken up because the jerk was mad at you for kissing another dude? Get real. Or better yet, get a backbone. Tell the loser off.
VERDICT: My over all feeling about this book? Please God. Please let's get on with the plot. If I have to read one more scene where Dice was pining for Sin and then waffling over Tosh, or Pen stuffing food in her mouth, and girls falling and fawning all over Sin, I’d swear I’d stick a hot poker in my eye. [Head desk]
Swear happened about six months after Swoon. Dice is plagued with dreams of the erotic kind co-starring, none other than her ex, Sin Youngblood Powers. Everything should be cool and by cool, meaning no haunting of any kind. So long as Sin stayed wherever the hell he was and not intent on unleashing another bout of debauchery via possession, Dice was okay being haunted in her dreams. But when a boy disappeared without a trace and they’d somehow traced it back to Sin, Dice had no choice but to try and summon her ghost-turned-golem ex. Oh boy. Here we go again.
There is a distinct difference between Dice sans Sin and Dice with Sin; predominantly obvious was she seemed to turn into an insipid, sniveling, shallow girl as opposed to a girl with deep feelings and even deeper intellect. It was frustrating, considering how much I enjoyed her monologues, which, incidentally, reminded me of beatnik poetry.
His return brought another round of ego-maniacal, self-love. What I don’t get is the appeal. Also, Dice and Pen (her cousin) have pretty much fought over this bone from the beginning and his return didn’t seem to have reaped that much attention. Dice insisted that she’s still in lurve with him but after the initial quasi-argument they had, there was a whole lot of…nothing.
You know what pissed me off the most? The fact the Sin was all, riled up because Dice was caught kissing another boy. You know what I have to say about that? SCREW YOU, SIN! May I remind you that you slept with practically the entire female population of Swoon, CT the last time you were in town? You have no right, boy. No right at all. Jesus, God, Dice. Girl, why are you all broken up because the jerk was mad at you for kissing another dude? Get real. Or better yet, get a backbone. Tell the loser off.
VERDICT: My over all feeling about this book? Please God. Please let's get on with the plot. If I have to read one more scene where Dice was pining for Sin and then waffling over Tosh, or Pen stuffing food in her mouth, and girls falling and fawning all over Sin, I’d swear I’d stick a hot poker in my eye. [Head desk]
October 25, 2011
i absolutely love this writer's style. the flow is unbelievable!!!!! it definitely doesn't feel, nor read, like a 400+ page book.
i think the thing that helps the pace move swiftly are the partial alliterations. i say partial, because the author tends to do them in pairs, where by definition, an alliteration is 3 or more...
another thing i love is that the vocab is completely different from your standard YA novels. where it seems that most authors have a word list they choose from, i'm always finding rarely used words in this series. (not that they're uncommon, just that you don't see them in other YA novels) i really enjoy this.
the imagery is great; the prose excellent! i almost don't want to finish the book, so i can keep reading it forever!
i just can't get over the great word pairing throughout the book...i should probably insert examples here, but i don't have it with me...maybe when i finish!
the author also masters current YA vernacular with ease.
-only qualm comes mear the beginning when Kurt lights a joint with a Zippo. i'm assuming that since Kurt is a dealer, he's quite knowledgeable with smoking pot, and anyone who's smoked pot knows that you NEVER use a Zippo! you'd rather struggle with matches than use a zippo. i mean, try it once and you'll know....that nasty taste of butane will never have you trying it again, i don't care how desperate you are!
i adore the short chapters.
i sooo didn't want this book to end!!!! i'm hopeful that there will be another Dice and Sin story to tell, but everything wrapped up so nicely and with finality i'm fearful there won't be another one.
i think the thing that helps the pace move swiftly are the partial alliterations. i say partial, because the author tends to do them in pairs, where by definition, an alliteration is 3 or more...
another thing i love is that the vocab is completely different from your standard YA novels. where it seems that most authors have a word list they choose from, i'm always finding rarely used words in this series. (not that they're uncommon, just that you don't see them in other YA novels) i really enjoy this.
the imagery is great; the prose excellent! i almost don't want to finish the book, so i can keep reading it forever!
i just can't get over the great word pairing throughout the book...i should probably insert examples here, but i don't have it with me...maybe when i finish!
the author also masters current YA vernacular with ease.
-only qualm comes mear the beginning when Kurt lights a joint with a Zippo. i'm assuming that since Kurt is a dealer, he's quite knowledgeable with smoking pot, and anyone who's smoked pot knows that you NEVER use a Zippo! you'd rather struggle with matches than use a zippo. i mean, try it once and you'll know....that nasty taste of butane will never have you trying it again, i don't care how desperate you are!
i adore the short chapters.
i sooo didn't want this book to end!!!! i'm hopeful that there will be another Dice and Sin story to tell, but everything wrapped up so nicely and with finality i'm fearful there won't be another one.
August 25, 2017
Check out my series review here: https://freadomlibrary.wordpress.com/...
Critically
Plot – 2 out of 5 stars
I was so bored the entire time, it’s super drawn out, slow, just plain weird, uncomfortably graphic, flat, there’s a lot of plot holes, it deals with ghosts, goddesses and just inappropriate themes
Writing Style – 3 out of 5 stars
really long and dragged out, scattered and confusing, simple, descriptive, really strange and weird, lost the intensity, boring
Characters – 2 out of 5 stars
Yeah, this part of the book didn’t improve at all from the first book. Dice was still immature, still naive. Kind of meek and quiet. She’s trying to have a “normal” life after what happened in the first book which just puts her in a state of denial because her life isn’t normal and that’s just what she has to deal with. Her thought process was just annoying and I was bored. By her, by the story, and by the side characters. Sin was just bleh now. All the mystery and enigma of him is gone and he’s just another bland character. He’s rude and kind of sexist to be honest. He’s still manipulative but the mystery of it and the intriguing aspect is gone and I was bored out of my mind. The romance is completely unbelievable. I didn’t like it in the first book, it felt super unfounded and insta love like. So since the basis of this book is to reunite them, I wasn’t at all interested. And the new side characters introduced were bland and unnecessary and it dragged the plot on too long for no real reason.
Emotionally
Critically
Plot – 2 out of 5 stars
I was so bored the entire time, it’s super drawn out, slow, just plain weird, uncomfortably graphic, flat, there’s a lot of plot holes, it deals with ghosts, goddesses and just inappropriate themes
Writing Style – 3 out of 5 stars
really long and dragged out, scattered and confusing, simple, descriptive, really strange and weird, lost the intensity, boring
Characters – 2 out of 5 stars
Yeah, this part of the book didn’t improve at all from the first book. Dice was still immature, still naive. Kind of meek and quiet. She’s trying to have a “normal” life after what happened in the first book which just puts her in a state of denial because her life isn’t normal and that’s just what she has to deal with. Her thought process was just annoying and I was bored. By her, by the story, and by the side characters. Sin was just bleh now. All the mystery and enigma of him is gone and he’s just another bland character. He’s rude and kind of sexist to be honest. He’s still manipulative but the mystery of it and the intriguing aspect is gone and I was bored out of my mind. The romance is completely unbelievable. I didn’t like it in the first book, it felt super unfounded and insta love like. So since the basis of this book is to reunite them, I wasn’t at all interested. And the new side characters introduced were bland and unnecessary and it dragged the plot on too long for no real reason.
Emotionally
January 30, 2012
*Mini-review, just for Goodreads. This was written on my phone so U apologize for any mistakes.*
I seem to be rating books pretty low these days, at least compared to even six months ago. that's because my standards have changed. A 3 star book must be a book that I liked. A two star book is a book that I didn't like, but also didn't hate.
My thoughts on Swear can be summed up in one sentence: it just wasn't right for me.
The writing I couldn't get into at all. I often reread several scenes in the beginning because I thought I missed something. By the end I gave up. The writing style isn't to my tastes. It distracted me from the scenes so that the book had terrible flow, plus I just couldn't believe it. The language was super casual at times, resembling what I'd hear at school, and then all of a sudden these big words would be put in, completely confusing me. How does someone near my age talk like that? I've been told to have a good vocabulary just because I said "the deceased" instead of "the dead dude." I appreciate a good vocabulary (seriously, I memorize some words just cause they sound cool) but due to previous experiences, I wasn't buying Dice's.
That was another issue. Not buying into the plot. The end ended up perfect. After all this time spent bemoaning the villain, and how she's so strong it's impossible to stop her we get that as an ending? I'm not satisfied. I feel like there is actual substance in the story line and it might be quite interesting if I bothered to dig deep and stuff. But I'm a lazy reader who just finished exam week. Entertainment is all I really want.
On to the characters... I'll just talk about Sin and Dice, starting with Sin.
(Completely random, but I did my math exam a few days ago and couldn't stop reading "Sin" as Sine. Which isn't a very delicious name.)
I remember liking Sin at some point in Swoon. I remember wishing for Sin to show up to being some flavour to Swear. I don't remember being so bored with him. He was so contrary and... well, Dice always says how he always gives in to impulse. But then we see stuff like he resists the urge to slap/run away from someone. And you always saw him being so good, so why the heck does she call him a demon? He flirts with everyone and Dice doesn't care at all. Except he cares when she flirts. I didn't buy into the love either. Or the fact that he's so charismatic. It's practically shoved down the reader's throat all the ways Sin is amazing, but there doesn't seem to be enough evidence to prove that. He didn't attract me so I missed out on the whole desparity in the situation.
Dice herself isn't the kind of character I like. She's sassy, but I can't stand her attitude sometimes. Like the fact that she often makes jokes about the native "Swoonies" and feels better for being different that way. Stuff like that always manages to annoy the heck out of me, even if it happens only once or twice. Being is awesome, but you.should own it. Not feel in any way superior to everyone else because you're so different and special. Rant aside, I realize what an annoying nitpicky reader I was while reading Swear, so I'll wrap up this paragraph and say I never connected with Dice, nor did I particularly like her.
If I didn't like so much stuff, why was this book not a DNF? I'm not entirely sure. I constantly thought about putting it down when I realized it would never appeal to me. But then I'd look at the stunning cover, or I'd be interested in some examples of Sin's charms. Something would make me continue. I think if this is your kind of book, you'll love it. Really, if you really liked Swoon, be sure to read Swear. If you were a meh on Swoon like me, you might also feel blah about Swear so I'm not sure I recommend reading it.
There's nothing I hated about the book, but I also didn't think it was executed very well either. All in all,my lesson learned is to put a paper bag over the cover of the book I'm reading so it doesn't influence me to read something I'm not interested in. And that I probably won't read the sequel because this was not my kind of read. 2 stars.
**
(That was the longest mini review I've ever done. I guess I have a lot to say about books that don't appeal to me :p )
I seem to be rating books pretty low these days, at least compared to even six months ago. that's because my standards have changed. A 3 star book must be a book that I liked. A two star book is a book that I didn't like, but also didn't hate.
My thoughts on Swear can be summed up in one sentence: it just wasn't right for me.
The writing I couldn't get into at all. I often reread several scenes in the beginning because I thought I missed something. By the end I gave up. The writing style isn't to my tastes. It distracted me from the scenes so that the book had terrible flow, plus I just couldn't believe it. The language was super casual at times, resembling what I'd hear at school, and then all of a sudden these big words would be put in, completely confusing me. How does someone near my age talk like that? I've been told to have a good vocabulary just because I said "the deceased" instead of "the dead dude." I appreciate a good vocabulary (seriously, I memorize some words just cause they sound cool) but due to previous experiences, I wasn't buying Dice's.
That was another issue. Not buying into the plot. The end ended up perfect. After all this time spent bemoaning the villain, and how she's so strong it's impossible to stop her we get that as an ending? I'm not satisfied. I feel like there is actual substance in the story line and it might be quite interesting if I bothered to dig deep and stuff. But I'm a lazy reader who just finished exam week. Entertainment is all I really want.
On to the characters... I'll just talk about Sin and Dice, starting with Sin.
(Completely random, but I did my math exam a few days ago and couldn't stop reading "Sin" as Sine. Which isn't a very delicious name.)
I remember liking Sin at some point in Swoon. I remember wishing for Sin to show up to being some flavour to Swear. I don't remember being so bored with him. He was so contrary and... well, Dice always says how he always gives in to impulse. But then we see stuff like he resists the urge to slap/run away from someone. And you always saw him being so good, so why the heck does she call him a demon? He flirts with everyone and Dice doesn't care at all. Except he cares when she flirts. I didn't buy into the love either. Or the fact that he's so charismatic. It's practically shoved down the reader's throat all the ways Sin is amazing, but there doesn't seem to be enough evidence to prove that. He didn't attract me so I missed out on the whole desparity in the situation.
Dice herself isn't the kind of character I like. She's sassy, but I can't stand her attitude sometimes. Like the fact that she often makes jokes about the native "Swoonies" and feels better for being different that way. Stuff like that always manages to annoy the heck out of me, even if it happens only once or twice. Being is awesome, but you.should own it. Not feel in any way superior to everyone else because you're so different and special. Rant aside, I realize what an annoying nitpicky reader I was while reading Swear, so I'll wrap up this paragraph and say I never connected with Dice, nor did I particularly like her.
If I didn't like so much stuff, why was this book not a DNF? I'm not entirely sure. I constantly thought about putting it down when I realized it would never appeal to me. But then I'd look at the stunning cover, or I'd be interested in some examples of Sin's charms. Something would make me continue. I think if this is your kind of book, you'll love it. Really, if you really liked Swoon, be sure to read Swear. If you were a meh on Swoon like me, you might also feel blah about Swear so I'm not sure I recommend reading it.
There's nothing I hated about the book, but I also didn't think it was executed very well either. All in all,my lesson learned is to put a paper bag over the cover of the book I'm reading so it doesn't influence me to read something I'm not interested in. And that I probably won't read the sequel because this was not my kind of read. 2 stars.
**
(That was the longest mini review I've ever done. I guess I have a lot to say about books that don't appeal to me :p )
August 24, 2011
It’s been six months since everything happened, six months since Sinclair Youngblood Powers disappeared. Dice misses Sin more than anything, but she’s afraid that he might actually be gone forever—from existence. Still, she tries to have a normal life, playing music with her friends and trying to connect with new ones, especially Tosh, her attractive new band made. But just when everything seems back to the plain and ordinary, strange things start happening again. Little snatches of melody, plants that seem to come alive, weird weather, and the disappearance of her best friend’s boyfriend all point in one direction for Dice: to Sin. He’s back. Dice is sure of it, but she’s also sure that I can only mean trouble.
Reading Swoon by Nina Malkin a couple years ago was an interesting experience for me, to say the least, and I can’t tell you what made me pick up its sequel, Swear. I guess I was just curious to see where Malkin would take the story. What readers get in Swear is a lot more bizarre than everything that happens in Swoon. The plot just kept getting weirder and weirder and continuously made me wonder what the point was. Additionally, I’ve always felt a little distanced from Dice’s story because of Malkin’s writing. I’ve come to realize that I really don’t like her writing all that much; in Swear, the descriptions were sometimes a little vulgar, the humor was forced for me as the reader, and there seemed to be an overemphasis on the extremes of teen behavior, such as doing drugs and holding séances. Despite all of the problems that I had with this book, I still found the story incredibly sexy. The one thing that Malkin does very well is develop Dice’s relationship with Sin, and I did enjoy reading along as they worked out their personal issues. Overall, reading Swear was perhaps not the best investment of my time, but, as I said before, it was certainly an interesting experience.
Fans of Swoon by Nina Malkin will likely want to pick up its sequel, Swear, as will readers who also enjoyed Ruined by Paula Morris and Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready.
reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com
Reading Swoon by Nina Malkin a couple years ago was an interesting experience for me, to say the least, and I can’t tell you what made me pick up its sequel, Swear. I guess I was just curious to see where Malkin would take the story. What readers get in Swear is a lot more bizarre than everything that happens in Swoon. The plot just kept getting weirder and weirder and continuously made me wonder what the point was. Additionally, I’ve always felt a little distanced from Dice’s story because of Malkin’s writing. I’ve come to realize that I really don’t like her writing all that much; in Swear, the descriptions were sometimes a little vulgar, the humor was forced for me as the reader, and there seemed to be an overemphasis on the extremes of teen behavior, such as doing drugs and holding séances. Despite all of the problems that I had with this book, I still found the story incredibly sexy. The one thing that Malkin does very well is develop Dice’s relationship with Sin, and I did enjoy reading along as they worked out their personal issues. Overall, reading Swear was perhaps not the best investment of my time, but, as I said before, it was certainly an interesting experience.
Fans of Swoon by Nina Malkin will likely want to pick up its sequel, Swear, as will readers who also enjoyed Ruined by Paula Morris and Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready.
reposted from http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com
August 23, 2011
When I first read Swoon, the book that precedes Swear, Nina Malkin hadn't planned on writing a sequel. So when Swear was announced, I was eager and excited, and did a lot of fan girlish squeeing. :D I have to say that Swear definitely lived up to my expectations.
For the a good portion of the beginning, Sin isn't there physically, but his presence in Dice's life--and her dreams--is unmistakable. But Dice is also getting close to a boy named Tosh, a member of the band Bruise Blue that Dice is the lead singer in. When Tosh and Dice get too close, the jealousy causes Sin to manifest, and, as ever, he brings chaos in his wake.
This was as good sequel to Swoon, although I liked Swoon better. I felt like the plot took a while to pick up, and the ending was a little anti-climactic. I enjoyed reading it, but one of my biggest peeves with Swear is that the paranormal elements seem kinda random. In Swoon, we know Dice is psychic. But in Swear, her powers become something more witchy, and then later on, the Roman gods just pop in out of nowhere. I wish there was a more definite mythology to it.
Sin is still a total sex god. Even though he's a douche sometimes, he's just way too irresistible. And in Swear, he's actually making an effort to be a good man, and to have a relationship with Dice. But that all gets complicated when an old acquaintance of Sin's comes back into the picture, and is determined to have him.
I still love Nina Malkin's writing style. I know some people aren't too fond of it, but I love her vivid and almost poetic way of writing. It gives the story a different edge to it.
If you're a die-hard fan of Swoon, then definitely pick up Swear. There's more Sin goodness to sigh contentedly over. But if you weren't too fond of Swoon, then you might not like Swear. Maybe give it a shot. 4 out of 5 stars.
For the a good portion of the beginning, Sin isn't there physically, but his presence in Dice's life--and her dreams--is unmistakable. But Dice is also getting close to a boy named Tosh, a member of the band Bruise Blue that Dice is the lead singer in. When Tosh and Dice get too close, the jealousy causes Sin to manifest, and, as ever, he brings chaos in his wake.
This was as good sequel to Swoon, although I liked Swoon better. I felt like the plot took a while to pick up, and the ending was a little anti-climactic. I enjoyed reading it, but one of my biggest peeves with Swear is that the paranormal elements seem kinda random. In Swoon, we know Dice is psychic. But in Swear, her powers become something more witchy, and then later on, the Roman gods just pop in out of nowhere. I wish there was a more definite mythology to it.
Sin is still a total sex god. Even though he's a douche sometimes, he's just way too irresistible. And in Swear, he's actually making an effort to be a good man, and to have a relationship with Dice. But that all gets complicated when an old acquaintance of Sin's comes back into the picture, and is determined to have him.
I still love Nina Malkin's writing style. I know some people aren't too fond of it, but I love her vivid and almost poetic way of writing. It gives the story a different edge to it.
If you're a die-hard fan of Swoon, then definitely pick up Swear. There's more Sin goodness to sigh contentedly over. But if you weren't too fond of Swoon, then you might not like Swear. Maybe give it a shot. 4 out of 5 stars.
December 29, 2011
So I'm sure most of you can see that I wasn't all that into the first book, Swoon. I wanted to be. I loved the cover. But there were parts that just made it a little hard to sink my teeth into.
Then there was Swear. Not only did I sink my teeth in, I took a HUGE bite and went back for seconds. Seriously this book blew the first one out of the water and I couldn't get enough. In fact I am hoping, praying to the gods at be, doing the rain dance...all in hopes that Nina Malkin will give us more. I want more Dice & Sin. I want more creepy ghosts. I want it all!
What is this book such an improvement over the first one?
I think for many reasons actually. The major one being the flow of things. It was at a steady pace that just grabbed you in and took you along. The way it was written just felt more real if that makes sense. Also in book one I was so lost by the odd way the characters spoke that it kept pulling me out of the story, but now? While theses kids still talk a little funny, in my opinion, to that of regular teens, they dialogue was so much better! Also our pal Sin has seemed to find a balance between the 1700's speech he is used to and the modern day lingo.
Then there is the growth we see in both Dice and Sin. While Dice has grown some...Sin has grown by miles! I couldn't be more happy for the way his character develops throughout the story. I was swooning for him at every turn, and begging for more.
In all I say if you haven't started this series yet...then what are you waiting for?! Pick it up and join my in the land of swoon...
Then there was Swear. Not only did I sink my teeth in, I took a HUGE bite and went back for seconds. Seriously this book blew the first one out of the water and I couldn't get enough. In fact I am hoping, praying to the gods at be, doing the rain dance...all in hopes that Nina Malkin will give us more. I want more Dice & Sin. I want more creepy ghosts. I want it all!
What is this book such an improvement over the first one?
I think for many reasons actually. The major one being the flow of things. It was at a steady pace that just grabbed you in and took you along. The way it was written just felt more real if that makes sense. Also in book one I was so lost by the odd way the characters spoke that it kept pulling me out of the story, but now? While theses kids still talk a little funny, in my opinion, to that of regular teens, they dialogue was so much better! Also our pal Sin has seemed to find a balance between the 1700's speech he is used to and the modern day lingo.
Then there is the growth we see in both Dice and Sin. While Dice has grown some...Sin has grown by miles! I couldn't be more happy for the way his character develops throughout the story. I was swooning for him at every turn, and begging for more.
In all I say if you haven't started this series yet...then what are you waiting for?! Pick it up and join my in the land of swoon...
October 14, 2011
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Technically this should be a two star book. I only gave it three stars because the book cover is so damn beautiful.
Nina Malkin's writing is, interesting. It's definitely different and while I can't quite pinpoint what it is exactly that makes it different, I did enjoy the writing style...for a while.
I felt like Swear had a great purpose and then somewhere got lost in all the words. So many words...472 pages of words. Lots of vocabulary that didn't really add to the book, in my opinion.
What I struggled with most was just the length of the book. And I'm an avid reader and can read a 300 page book in a few hours. But reading Swear felt like it took ages.
And really? The author put at least 5 pages of just song lyrics in the book of what Dice was singing. Did I need to read all of those?
Then I think the biggest page waster was reading two pages (yes two) of Dice listening to her cat meow and imagining the words that would be coming out of Rubycat's mouth. Really?
By the time I got near the end of the book, I didn't even care what happened to the characters. I personally think Dice is stupid for wanting to be with Sin after all the things he's done to her friends and family.
Again, the cover of the book is beautiful. I'll probably touch it in the bookstore. But that's about it.
Technically this should be a two star book. I only gave it three stars because the book cover is so damn beautiful.
Nina Malkin's writing is, interesting. It's definitely different and while I can't quite pinpoint what it is exactly that makes it different, I did enjoy the writing style...for a while.
I felt like Swear had a great purpose and then somewhere got lost in all the words. So many words...472 pages of words. Lots of vocabulary that didn't really add to the book, in my opinion.
What I struggled with most was just the length of the book. And I'm an avid reader and can read a 300 page book in a few hours. But reading Swear felt like it took ages.
And really? The author put at least 5 pages of just song lyrics in the book of what Dice was singing. Did I need to read all of those?
Then I think the biggest page waster was reading two pages (yes two) of Dice listening to her cat meow and imagining the words that would be coming out of Rubycat's mouth. Really?
By the time I got near the end of the book, I didn't even care what happened to the characters. I personally think Dice is stupid for wanting to be with Sin after all the things he's done to her friends and family.
Again, the cover of the book is beautiful. I'll probably touch it in the bookstore. But that's about it.
December 6, 2013
Nina Malkin's writing style is...unique. It takes some time getting used to, and in all honesty it really isn't my thing.
This book wasn't anything amazing. Yeah, there was a plot (hurrah) but it wasn't a plot that goes BAM. There was a complication that really, nobody seems to genuinely worry about, a bit of angst, lots of eccentric here-there 1920s narration and fun, and then a solution to the complication that's so absurd in its simplicity that it really doesn't make sense when you stop to think about it.
Really, you find a mysterious psychic girl who all but shoves the answer to your problem down your throat? Then after receiving enlightenment and some cool magic powers, you decide to give it all up to faith and love to fix your problem?
And then there's that issue I had with the dynamics of Sin and Dice's early relationship. How is Dice the bad person for kissing someone else after Sin's disappeared for six months? With Sin's history of flirting around and basically screwing the whole town, how come DICE is made to feel guilty? That's some serious backward thinking. I didn't feel good at all reading that part, it just felt really wrong.
This book was just...unimpressive. If there's another book out I don't think I'll be reading it.
This book wasn't anything amazing. Yeah, there was a plot (hurrah) but it wasn't a plot that goes BAM. There was a complication that really, nobody seems to genuinely worry about, a bit of angst, lots of eccentric here-there 1920s narration and fun, and then a solution to the complication that's so absurd in its simplicity that it really doesn't make sense when you stop to think about it.
Really, you find a mysterious psychic girl who all but shoves the answer to your problem down your throat? Then after receiving enlightenment and some cool magic powers, you decide to give it all up to faith and love to fix your problem?
And then there's that issue I had with the dynamics of Sin and Dice's early relationship. How is Dice the bad person for kissing someone else after Sin's disappeared for six months? With Sin's history of flirting around and basically screwing the whole town, how come DICE is made to feel guilty? That's some serious backward thinking. I didn't feel good at all reading that part, it just felt really wrong.
This book was just...unimpressive. If there's another book out I don't think I'll be reading it.
November 11, 2011
I highly anticipated Swear because, I am so in love with Swoon. Sadly this book did not meet my standards. I wanted so much to love it. And it's not that Swear was bad I just felt like it was missing something. Something Swoon had that made it unbelievable. I also feel like this book was a bit more censored than Swoon was. I enjoyed the way Swoon was written so much. It made it stand apart from so many other Ya books that only have "kissing." But still overall I love the story of Dice and Sin.
October 22, 2011
Another!? YAY! I have to say I was a bit surprised, I was under the impression that there was no chance of another, well with the same love interest anyway, I'm so excited for this book to come out, It was everything I could’ve asked for in a book! And I’m sure the second one will be even better.
February 9, 2012
I thought the whole talking to animals thing at the end was pointless.
Look out Eliza Thornberry! You have some competition!
Look out Eliza Thornberry! You have some competition!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2012
Better than the first one...
Want to read
February 5, 2011Ohmygod, I hope Sin comes back!
YESYESYES.
YESYESYES.
May 17, 2021
This book was a bit better than the first in this series, Swoon. Both books were slow-moving & at times hard to understand. The author took many liberties with strange, way-out-there fantastical events which had very little to do with the plot. That said, I did like the relationship between the two main characters, even though the male was at one time dead & at another recreated from mud into a golem. The author never revisited that to explain just what he was, just went on like he was a normal human character?? That really irked me! The story didn’t make much sense & a lot of time was wasted on senseless filler that made no sense to the storyline at all.
April 17, 2020
*4.5 stars*
First, I have to say that I enjoyed this more than the first one. The characters, I felt were more developed and so was the story. It was more interesting and twisting. I'm also surprised how nice the story ended. I could have used more interaction between Dice and Sin at the end, but at least everything was resolved.
First, I have to say that I enjoyed this more than the first one. The characters, I felt were more developed and so was the story. It was more interesting and twisting. I'm also surprised how nice the story ended. I could have used more interaction between Dice and Sin at the end, but at least everything was resolved.
March 10, 2024
After reading to page 39 of the swoon, I stopped reading and skipped to the reviews.. this series is a very tough read and slowly paced with confusion, especially with the first person point of view and breaking the readers' fourth wall instead of world building and emerging the reader. I COULDN'T finish this series, and I really wanted to like it because the synopsis is intriguing. So sad.
March 15, 2018
Actual rating: 3.5
This book was okay. Just okay. It didn’t start to get interesting until about half-way through, and even then, it didn’t really hold my interest until the last 100 pages or so. I prefer the first book over this one.
This book was okay. Just okay. It didn’t start to get interesting until about half-way through, and even then, it didn’t really hold my interest until the last 100 pages or so. I prefer the first book over this one.
August 26, 2018
I want to go to a party like that!
January 28, 2023
I’m a sucker for a happy ending and this proved just that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 24, 2023
This book was really hard to grab my interest and took me a long time to read. It felt like it took a long time to develop the plot. If you like romance give it a try.
April 8, 2019
Not as good as the first book in the series
November 3, 2016
Well, that was terrible compared to "Swoon". Swoon wasn't the best story ever, but it wasn't the worst I ever read, so I enjoyed it. I thought I would enjoy its sequel, "Swear", as well. But damn. I was proved wrong.
I don't like doing the whole summary of crap, so I'm just going to get into my usual rant of why I didn't like this book.
1. The plot was boring. Seriously. The entire story is that a chick's boyfriend goes missing, it's linked to a ghost who wants to marry Sin, and Dice spends the rest of the book whining and crying and dealing with her bitchy attitude towards the rival girl. Then the last 20 or so pages of the book... Oh, Sin doesn't love the ghost girl rival! So she wilts and disappears and Sin and Dice live happily ever after. Puke.
2. There were too many typical corny things found in YA romances. Dice is in a band. Wow, that's new and completely original. And there's about 50 pages in this book about her band, her singing, blah blah, which doesn't really play much of a role in the plot of Sin and Antonia. I skipped through a lot of Dice's "singing". It was boring, and I don't care how relevant the stupid song lyrics are to her personal problems with Sin and Antonia. Yes, we get it, she's the OTHER woman and you hate her. Get over it and grow a pair, Dice. Do something about it. Which, by the way, doesn't happen until the last little bit of the novel. Yawn.
3. Lack of explanation and logic. How did Antonia magically go from ghost to flesh-and-blood girl without needing a clay body made for her, like Sin? That's one of my biggest beefs with this book. What the hell was with Dice meeting with "goddesses" and gaining supernatural powers? What was the point in all that other than speaking to some stupid crows who magically found the damn letters that destroyed Antonia? Malkin, you could have done better. That was weak. So weak.
4. Descriptions and details were vague and sketchy. I know people complained about "Swoon" for its many sex scenes, but I'm like, what sex scenes? Sometimes I can't tell whether they are doing the nasty or making frozen yogurt. The descriptions are so damn vague that I had to re-read more sections than I'd care to re-read just to understand WTF happened. I understand Malkin is going for this whole POV of a sassy teenager narrative, but damn, that doesn't mean you have to confuse your readers with these idiotic analogies and stupid slang.
5. This line, found on page 442 in the hardcover version, which literally made me laugh out loud for how ridiculous it is: "When he holds me, it's forever. When he holds me, it's for never." WTF DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? It's like Malkin wrote it and thought, "Omg I'm so clever, that's so deep", and I don't see anything deep in that sentence. I cannot wrap my brain around what the hell....
Anyway.
I can't think of what else annoyed me about this novel. Maybe it was simply too typical of a YA romance novel: perfect boy that all the girls want, average girl with hidden powers, bands.... God. I'm especially sick of seeing bands. Every protagonist cannot be in a band, authors. Enough of this!
In conclusion... this novel sucked. Swoon was decent, but don't bother with this garbage. It's a huge let down and nothing like Swoon. If you like Swoon, stick with Swoon, don't try Swear.
If you didn't like Swoon, you're going to really hate Swear.
I don't like doing the whole summary of crap, so I'm just going to get into my usual rant of why I didn't like this book.
1. The plot was boring. Seriously. The entire story is that a chick's boyfriend goes missing, it's linked to a ghost who wants to marry Sin, and Dice spends the rest of the book whining and crying and dealing with her bitchy attitude towards the rival girl. Then the last 20 or so pages of the book... Oh, Sin doesn't love the ghost girl rival! So she wilts and disappears and Sin and Dice live happily ever after. Puke.
2. There were too many typical corny things found in YA romances. Dice is in a band. Wow, that's new and completely original. And there's about 50 pages in this book about her band, her singing, blah blah, which doesn't really play much of a role in the plot of Sin and Antonia. I skipped through a lot of Dice's "singing". It was boring, and I don't care how relevant the stupid song lyrics are to her personal problems with Sin and Antonia. Yes, we get it, she's the OTHER woman and you hate her. Get over it and grow a pair, Dice. Do something about it. Which, by the way, doesn't happen until the last little bit of the novel. Yawn.
3. Lack of explanation and logic. How did Antonia magically go from ghost to flesh-and-blood girl without needing a clay body made for her, like Sin? That's one of my biggest beefs with this book. What the hell was with Dice meeting with "goddesses" and gaining supernatural powers? What was the point in all that other than speaking to some stupid crows who magically found the damn letters that destroyed Antonia? Malkin, you could have done better. That was weak. So weak.
4. Descriptions and details were vague and sketchy. I know people complained about "Swoon" for its many sex scenes, but I'm like, what sex scenes? Sometimes I can't tell whether they are doing the nasty or making frozen yogurt. The descriptions are so damn vague that I had to re-read more sections than I'd care to re-read just to understand WTF happened. I understand Malkin is going for this whole POV of a sassy teenager narrative, but damn, that doesn't mean you have to confuse your readers with these idiotic analogies and stupid slang.
5. This line, found on page 442 in the hardcover version, which literally made me laugh out loud for how ridiculous it is: "When he holds me, it's forever. When he holds me, it's for never." WTF DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? It's like Malkin wrote it and thought, "Omg I'm so clever, that's so deep", and I don't see anything deep in that sentence. I cannot wrap my brain around what the hell....
Anyway.
I can't think of what else annoyed me about this novel. Maybe it was simply too typical of a YA romance novel: perfect boy that all the girls want, average girl with hidden powers, bands.... God. I'm especially sick of seeing bands. Every protagonist cannot be in a band, authors. Enough of this!
In conclusion... this novel sucked. Swoon was decent, but don't bother with this garbage. It's a huge let down and nothing like Swoon. If you like Swoon, stick with Swoon, don't try Swear.
If you didn't like Swoon, you're going to really hate Swear.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 10, 2011
The summer before Dice and her friends go to college Crane goes missing. His brother believes that it has something to do with the house. Dice hesitates to get into anything magic or other-worldly after Sin’s disappearance. Marsh, Crane’s girlfriend, and Dice’s best friend soon convince Dice to look at all the options. Looking into things brings ghosts back, and a world of trouble for Dice.
The first novel Swoon caught my eye because of its provocative nature. The truth is that teens are confronted with sex and drugs. It happens, and in these books it happens with rich kids too. These books do not go in to detail, but I am glad that these issues are there. It doesn’t fabricate the urges of the youth, but says yes, Dice wants Sin. That is one thing I have always liked about these novels.
I enjoy the nature of the book, and the scenery, but sometimes scenes are a little confusing. Dice can gush about one topic or another, but while she is gushing something very important will happen, and I will be thrown out. This happens more than once and left me a little confused, and not feeling any suspense for the scene.
Tosh is a new character introduced into the mix. He helps put together a band with Dice at the forefront. I loved how the music related with the story. It also bonded the characters closer to one another. The only thing that drove me nuts was how much Dice didn’t worry about Crane, instead all her worries were about Sin.
This novel has more ghosts in it than it ever did. One of those is the problem, Antonia. Antonia is a character that I felt pity for, but at the same time more than a little annoyance. She is a bad guy who doesn’t really know she is bad, which is for me, the best kind. Everything for Antonia is very tragic, and reminds me of a twisted tragic romance.
The story slowed a little for me towards the middle, but then picks up as does the music. There are some great scenes, but it doesn’t change the fact, that like Swoon I felt distanced from the characters. I don’t know if this is because I am not a teen, or due to the characters themselves. The story is neat, and I loved the ending, which I felt was worth it, but I want more out of these books. I want to feel something more from the characters, I am just not getting.
The story is neat, and it played out in a way I didn’t suspect. The paranormal in these books is where the novel shines for me, and it has definitely grown since Swoon. I believe that teens will enjoy it, but I don’t think it’s a book for everyone. It does make references to drugs and sex, but not in ways that I believe are crude, and it has actually toned down since the last novel. All-in-all I look forward to the future of these books.
The first novel Swoon caught my eye because of its provocative nature. The truth is that teens are confronted with sex and drugs. It happens, and in these books it happens with rich kids too. These books do not go in to detail, but I am glad that these issues are there. It doesn’t fabricate the urges of the youth, but says yes, Dice wants Sin. That is one thing I have always liked about these novels.
I enjoy the nature of the book, and the scenery, but sometimes scenes are a little confusing. Dice can gush about one topic or another, but while she is gushing something very important will happen, and I will be thrown out. This happens more than once and left me a little confused, and not feeling any suspense for the scene.
Tosh is a new character introduced into the mix. He helps put together a band with Dice at the forefront. I loved how the music related with the story. It also bonded the characters closer to one another. The only thing that drove me nuts was how much Dice didn’t worry about Crane, instead all her worries were about Sin.
This novel has more ghosts in it than it ever did. One of those is the problem, Antonia. Antonia is a character that I felt pity for, but at the same time more than a little annoyance. She is a bad guy who doesn’t really know she is bad, which is for me, the best kind. Everything for Antonia is very tragic, and reminds me of a twisted tragic romance.
The story slowed a little for me towards the middle, but then picks up as does the music. There are some great scenes, but it doesn’t change the fact, that like Swoon I felt distanced from the characters. I don’t know if this is because I am not a teen, or due to the characters themselves. The story is neat, and I loved the ending, which I felt was worth it, but I want more out of these books. I want to feel something more from the characters, I am just not getting.
The story is neat, and it played out in a way I didn’t suspect. The paranormal in these books is where the novel shines for me, and it has definitely grown since Swoon. I believe that teens will enjoy it, but I don’t think it’s a book for everyone. It does make references to drugs and sex, but not in ways that I believe are crude, and it has actually toned down since the last novel. All-in-all I look forward to the future of these books.
May 31, 2013
Ever since Sin pledged his love to Dice and disappeared, Dice has been trying to keep herself busy with her music and band. But Sin's mark on her doesn't disappear with him, and so Dice dreams of Sin night after night. She knows he's back. What she doesn't know is where, why, or how. But when the ghost of Sin's admirer from the 1700's kidnaps Dice's best friend's boyfriend and little sister, Dice knows she has to step in. Avoiding all magic was Dice's goal, but she'll have to get past that if she is to save a little girl, a love, and Sin. No one ever said love is easy.
This is the second book in the Swoon series. I'd read the first and it hadn't met up to my standards. However, knowing where to place my standards this time, this book surpassed them. I found this book had more meat to it. With the first book, I couldn't see much of a storyline. It was a lot of just 'hanging out'. But in this book, Dice devoted more time to the mystery and her music, instead of drugs and alcohol. The mystery was complex, too; there were many small tricks and questions formed within the larger puzzle.
I found this book evoked more emotions in me as well. With book one, when something surprising happened, it didn't faze me; I just kept on reading, simply because I didn't care enough. But this book had more characters to like or dislike, and more information to build opinions upon. For example, I particularly disliked Antonia, Sin's admirer from the past. And when Dice received the ability to communicate with animals, I was quite excited to hear what they had to say. Emotions are important when reading a book; if you're not interested, you won't want to read it.
There were certain parts of Swear I found to be quite confusing and disconcerting. The wording of it made it sound like maybe what it was describing was happening, and maybe it wasn't. I wondered whether specific parts were dreams, just because the tone was off and odd things were happening, but most turned out to be real. I found this in book one as well, but it was much more prominent in this novel. If I had been the editor, I most certainly would have changed these parts, because they completely threw me off track and made me rethink what was actually going on.
This book was better than its prequel, but I would still only rate it three stars. The storyline was much better and the characters were more developed, so I debated on whether I should give it four stars, but it didn't pull me in like four star books do, so three stars is what I rate it at. I would recommend this story for anyone who enjoys mystery, paranormal happenings, and love.
This is the second book in the Swoon series. I'd read the first and it hadn't met up to my standards. However, knowing where to place my standards this time, this book surpassed them. I found this book had more meat to it. With the first book, I couldn't see much of a storyline. It was a lot of just 'hanging out'. But in this book, Dice devoted more time to the mystery and her music, instead of drugs and alcohol. The mystery was complex, too; there were many small tricks and questions formed within the larger puzzle.
I found this book evoked more emotions in me as well. With book one, when something surprising happened, it didn't faze me; I just kept on reading, simply because I didn't care enough. But this book had more characters to like or dislike, and more information to build opinions upon. For example, I particularly disliked Antonia, Sin's admirer from the past. And when Dice received the ability to communicate with animals, I was quite excited to hear what they had to say. Emotions are important when reading a book; if you're not interested, you won't want to read it.
There were certain parts of Swear I found to be quite confusing and disconcerting. The wording of it made it sound like maybe what it was describing was happening, and maybe it wasn't. I wondered whether specific parts were dreams, just because the tone was off and odd things were happening, but most turned out to be real. I found this in book one as well, but it was much more prominent in this novel. If I had been the editor, I most certainly would have changed these parts, because they completely threw me off track and made me rethink what was actually going on.
This book was better than its prequel, but I would still only rate it three stars. The storyline was much better and the characters were more developed, so I debated on whether I should give it four stars, but it didn't pull me in like four star books do, so three stars is what I rate it at. I would recommend this story for anyone who enjoys mystery, paranormal happenings, and love.
October 17, 2011
I will admit, I didn't read the first book in the series, but I don't think that would have made a difference (other than maybe not reading this one).
Dice has spent the last six months missing the boy who stole her heart. She's not sure where he is or if he's coming back, but at times she can still feel him...especially when she's throwing herself into music. She dreams about him and the blue bruise he left on the inside of her thigh is still a tender reminder of him. But the disappearance of her best friend's boyfriend gives her something else to focus on.
While Dice and her friend's worry over the disappearance of Marsh's boyfriend, Dice finds herself the object of Tosh's interest. She can't discount her feelings for Sin, but he's not there so she figures she has to move on. Suddenly, with one kiss from Tosh, Dice's love life becomes a lot more complicated, as Sin reappears and is quite upset with Ms. Dice.
Dice soon enlists Sin to help her figure out where Crane is (since it's been determined that he was kidnapped by the ghosts in the house). The problem is, that causes Sin to become involved with a ghost from him past in hopes that Crane will be brought back to them.
To me, this story was a jumbled mess. I get that it was written for teenagers and at times, teenagers ramble and carry on but knowing teenagers act that way and having a story written like that was painful. Maybe if Pen has passed cig-a-weed to me, I would have had no problem following the flow of this book.
I'm pretty sure, that if it was discovered that some freaky ghost kidnapped my brother, friend, boyfriend (pick whichever one of those would apply) I would be seriously mad and out to get a little revenge. I certainly wouldn't be inviting the specter to come live with me or take her wedding dress shopping or any of the other things the "gang" did.
I'm also positive that had Sin been the love of my life, I certainly wouldn't go along with the little romance he had to have with the ghost (I can't even remember her name, isn't that sad??) in order to try and save Crane. It was all just a little too bizarre for me.
Too flightly, jumbled and nonsensical for me.
Dice has spent the last six months missing the boy who stole her heart. She's not sure where he is or if he's coming back, but at times she can still feel him...especially when she's throwing herself into music. She dreams about him and the blue bruise he left on the inside of her thigh is still a tender reminder of him. But the disappearance of her best friend's boyfriend gives her something else to focus on.
While Dice and her friend's worry over the disappearance of Marsh's boyfriend, Dice finds herself the object of Tosh's interest. She can't discount her feelings for Sin, but he's not there so she figures she has to move on. Suddenly, with one kiss from Tosh, Dice's love life becomes a lot more complicated, as Sin reappears and is quite upset with Ms. Dice.
Dice soon enlists Sin to help her figure out where Crane is (since it's been determined that he was kidnapped by the ghosts in the house). The problem is, that causes Sin to become involved with a ghost from him past in hopes that Crane will be brought back to them.
To me, this story was a jumbled mess. I get that it was written for teenagers and at times, teenagers ramble and carry on but knowing teenagers act that way and having a story written like that was painful. Maybe if Pen has passed cig-a-weed to me, I would have had no problem following the flow of this book.
I'm pretty sure, that if it was discovered that some freaky ghost kidnapped my brother, friend, boyfriend (pick whichever one of those would apply) I would be seriously mad and out to get a little revenge. I certainly wouldn't be inviting the specter to come live with me or take her wedding dress shopping or any of the other things the "gang" did.
I'm also positive that had Sin been the love of my life, I certainly wouldn't go along with the little romance he had to have with the ghost (I can't even remember her name, isn't that sad??) in order to try and save Crane. It was all just a little too bizarre for me.
Too flightly, jumbled and nonsensical for me.
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