C.J. Mugleston

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C.J. is Currently Reading

C.J. Mugleston is currently reading

Ashes (Ashes Trilogy, #1)

by Ilsa J. Bick (Goodreads Author)

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C.J. Mugleston said: " I'm about halfway through this book and I've never had quite so many eye roll moments or scoffed so often. The book and story are good, dont get me wrong, but its like the author is completely disconnnected from the world, her characters and the situ I'm about halfway through this book and I've never had quite so many eye roll moments or scoffed so often. The book and story are good, dont get me wrong, but its like the author is completely disconnnected from the world, her characters and the situations they're in, like she cant actually feel the characters at all and is just idly having a fantasy about a soldier. Alex is so obviously Ilsa Bick right down to their deep red hair and blue eyes that its embarrassing, only Ilsa's weakness when it comes to getting a young soldier to love her isnt a tumour, its age.

Like I said, the author is super disconnected. Take this paragraph for example, the guy is laying there 90% dead, all sweaty, covered in pus, blood and infection, is almost too weak to speak, let alone stand and yet she writes this
"“All right,” she said. Then she surprised herself, and leaned down and kissed him. She meant to pull back, but his other hand snaked into her hair to cup the back of her head, and the kiss turned into something she didn’t want to end, that she worried might never happen again. Her heart filled and her blood warmed, and his scent—spicy and strange—bloomed, nearly overpowering the choke of sickness and decay. Whatever his secrets, this was no lie." and their romance feels super forced. It basically goes from "I dont trust this guy, he might rape/murder and or eat me" to "he look sexy i wanna have his babies" in like ten pages. without the forced romance, Ashes could easily be a 4 star book, but as it stands I have to rate it 2.5 stars. It's a shame too, because the opening, the world and the premise had the makings of greatness if only she hadn't ruined it by doing the romance incorrectly and forcing so damn many cliffhangers down our throats, which wouldnt actually be so bad if she resumed the story there next chapter and explained how they escaped and what happened instead of leaving us in the dark because "reasons".

Other than the flaws that glare out at you like a malevolent gang member waiting to mug you in a back alley in L.A., the world is incredible and atmospheric. Gems like this almost make the read worth it. Almost.

"Away from the woods, the air was sullen with smells: engine oil, gasoline, rubber—and death. The stink was so thick and cloying that she gagged, and she wished she had something to tie around her mouth and nose. There were a lot of bodies, all in various stages of decomposition. Many had died in their cars. Others—men and women who’d stumbled from their cars only to collapse on the road that first day—wore shrouds of snow. Even with the cold to slow down the rot, the corpses were hideous, as bloated as those dead cows she, Tom, and Ellie had seen. There were many animals, too: fat raccoons with paws full of meat, mangy foxes, and opossums, their white snouts clogged with gore, braving the daylight for the feast. And of course, there were always the birds, jabbing and pecking and stripping away frozen niblets of flesh right down to the bone. One pair of very large crows squabbled over something in the snow. At her approach, they fluttered off, and she spotted what she thought was a fat drop of blood—only to realize that she was staring down at a woman’s disarticulated big toe, the nail still painted a bright, cheery, fire-engine red."

This is what really saddens me. ...more "

progress:

(page 275 of 465)
"I'm about halfway through this book and I've never had quite so many eye roll moments or scoffed so often. The book and story are good, dont get me wrong, but its like the author is completely disconnnected from the world shes writing, like she cant actually feel the characters and is just idly daydreaming about a soldier fantasy. Alex is so obviously Ilsa Bick that its painful." — Jun 01, 2018 01:39AM

Jun 01, 2018 02:16AM · see review