A review by livelymon
Once Bitten, Twice Shy, by Jennifer Rardin
2.0
Let's start with the good stuff. The first person perspective isn't bad, I'm not usually fond of first person but it was bearable in this story; probably due to the fact the story is decently written. The action scenes are decent enough to keep you engaged. But, the thing I was most interested in the story though was the powers Jaz unlocks near the end that I won't go into too much detail due to a want of avoiding spoilers, but... I kind of wish the whole story focused on those powers and how they came to be, there are hints early on but not enough that you can expect her to be able to do what she does later.
Now... the bad. As you can probably tell by the 2 stars, there's a fair bit (in my opinion). Let's start with all the references! There are SO MANY and it honestly dates the story so bad. I started reading this the year it came out but put the book down and am only now finally trying to finish the book and... even as a person who should get all the pop culture references... a lot of it just flew over my head and was unnecessary (why does Jaz even know so much pop culture references? She's constantly claiming to just focus on the job).
Then there's the characters. They're... not developed enough to be interesting. Seeing as this is the first book in a series maybe they'll get more interesting as the series progresses, but... the first book needs to convince me that they're worth putting the effort in to picking up the next book. With the little we have... it's not worth it. We have Jaz jumping between two guys (even though it's obvious which she prefers and that that attraction is returned so why even bother to have a love triangle?). One of those guys she's only just met and he is willing to put his whole life on the line for her for seemingly no reason. We have Vayl who I just don't care about, like he's meant to be mysterious and all that jazz but... it doesn't really work in his favour. The characters and their interactions... are just there for convenience's sake.
On the topic of convenience, almost everything that happens is to make the plot more convenient. Like why that whole thing with her dad? Why the powers (even if I rather that part was the entire plot)? Why do the villains monologue?!
I hate when villains monologue. If it's done well I don't mind, but when it's done to explain their entire scheme or as a distraction I HATE it. The villains monologue MULTIPLE times and... The villains are just BAD. They are the WORST part of this story. They're stereotypical (Russian/Middle Eastern). Boring. Not threatening AT ALL. The villains have SO MANY RESOURCES and HAVE SO MUCH STRENGTH and instead send their weak links after the main characters and basically wait around just letting the heroes save the day. They could have been a threat, instead they were just annoying.
This book I feel is a product of its time (not in a good way) and the small amount of intrigue it has given me is not enough to carry on with the series. I'm glad I've finally read the book after all these years, but I'm equally glad I never have to look at that cover again. I wouldn't recommend unless you're into mindless vampire action and even then there are better stories that fulfill that criteria.
(PS. I never want to see the word 'unladylike' after this book. NEVER AGAIN.)
Now... the bad. As you can probably tell by the 2 stars, there's a fair bit (in my opinion). Let's start with all the references! There are SO MANY and it honestly dates the story so bad. I started reading this the year it came out but put the book down and am only now finally trying to finish the book and... even as a person who should get all the pop culture references... a lot of it just flew over my head and was unnecessary (why does Jaz even know so much pop culture references? She's constantly claiming to just focus on the job).
Then there's the characters. They're... not developed enough to be interesting. Seeing as this is the first book in a series maybe they'll get more interesting as the series progresses, but... the first book needs to convince me that they're worth putting the effort in to picking up the next book. With the little we have... it's not worth it. We have Jaz jumping between two guys (even though it's obvious which she prefers and that that attraction is returned so why even bother to have a love triangle?). One of those guys she's only just met and he is willing to put his whole life on the line for her for seemingly no reason. We have Vayl who I just don't care about, like he's meant to be mysterious and all that jazz but... it doesn't really work in his favour. The characters and their interactions... are just there for convenience's sake.
On the topic of convenience, almost everything that happens is to make the plot more convenient. Like why that whole thing with her dad? Why the powers (even if I rather that part was the entire plot)? Why do the villains monologue?!
I hate when villains monologue. If it's done well I don't mind, but when it's done to explain their entire scheme or as a distraction I HATE it. The villains monologue MULTIPLE times and... The villains are just BAD. They are the WORST part of this story. They're stereotypical (Russian/Middle Eastern). Boring. Not threatening AT ALL. The villains have SO MANY RESOURCES and HAVE SO MUCH STRENGTH and instead send their weak links after the main characters and basically wait around just letting the heroes save the day. They could have been a threat, instead they were just annoying.
This book I feel is a product of its time (not in a good way) and the small amount of intrigue it has given me is not enough to carry on with the series. I'm glad I've finally read the book after all these years, but I'm equally glad I never have to look at that cover again. I wouldn't recommend unless you're into mindless vampire action and even then there are better stories that fulfill that criteria.
(PS. I never want to see the word 'unladylike' after this book. NEVER AGAIN.)