A review by mackle13
The Double Life of Incorporate Things by Leanna Renee Hieber
3.0
I won this book through Goodreads First Reads
Overall I enjoyed this book, and the trilogy as a whole. I like the mix of gothic fantasy and romance - though my general preference would have a bit more focus on the plot and a bit less on the romance than this particular story provides.
One good thing about this story is that it ties up the threads of the story quite nicely, while leaving avenus of exploration open should the author ever decide to have further forays into this world. And the climax of the story was pretty well handled, for the most part.
My biggest complaint with the story has been the same for the whole series, and that's pretty much the first person narration and some of the issues that's inherent in that writing style - particularly limited perspective (i.e. not seeing what other people are doing, which could be an interesting component to the story), and train-of-thought style writing.
For me it's the latter that really bogs down the story, in this case. Natalie is embroiled is this story of love and life and death and demonic plots, and while she does think on these things, it's the love aspect of the story which she focuses on the most and, thus, which we focus on the most. While their are demonic plots and clues abound, we get mostly internal monologuing about her insecurities and jealous and how much Jonathon means to her.
At length.
We're also reminded certain things repeatedly, like how her now surpassed Selective Mutism made her keenly aware of bodily and facial expressions, and how she can read people deeper than most may be able to. (Of course, this ability seems rather selective, as she suddenly can't read people when it's better for the plot for her to be unable to.)
This is just one example but, in general, Natalie seems to focus on a handful of things which are important to her, ad nauseum, and other, potentially more interesting parts of the plot are sort of in the periphary. Kind of annoying, that.
As to the limited perspective, this is also why I say the climax was handled well "for the most part". There's something which happens which, while predictable, seems to come out of nowhere. It seems in many ways may have been the more interesting story, but we only get bits of that in a letter after the big "surprise".
Granted, the "shock" might not have worked had we been more privvy to the various ongoings out of Natalie's purview but, then, as I said, it wasn't really all that surprising anyway.
Anyway -
As I said, this story does wrap things up nicely and we get our long-fought HEA, and that's nice, but I do think the writing style sort of limited the story in some severe ways.
***
Oh, speaking of writing styles - I'm not sure how I feel about the earnestness. The other of Hieber's series that I've read, Percy Parker, was also a bit over-the-top in its gothicness (though perhaps not as self-aware as this book, which repeatedly calls focus to 'being caught up in a gothic novel'), but the writing style lent it an air of tongue-in-cheekness to it. This book seems more earnest, which is, perhaps, one reason I didn't enjoy it quite as much.
Still enjoyable, though, and perhaps I'd enjoy it more if I could stop comparing the two series but, alas, I don't seem to be able to make my brain do it.
Overall I enjoyed this book, and the trilogy as a whole. I like the mix of gothic fantasy and romance - though my general preference would have a bit more focus on the plot and a bit less on the romance than this particular story provides.
One good thing about this story is that it ties up the threads of the story quite nicely, while leaving avenus of exploration open should the author ever decide to have further forays into this world. And the climax of the story was pretty well handled, for the most part.
My biggest complaint with the story has been the same for the whole series, and that's pretty much the first person narration and some of the issues that's inherent in that writing style - particularly limited perspective (i.e. not seeing what other people are doing, which could be an interesting component to the story), and train-of-thought style writing.
For me it's the latter that really bogs down the story, in this case. Natalie is embroiled is this story of love and life and death and demonic plots, and while she does think on these things, it's the love aspect of the story which she focuses on the most and, thus, which we focus on the most. While their are demonic plots and clues abound, we get mostly internal monologuing about her insecurities and jealous and how much Jonathon means to her.
At length.
We're also reminded certain things repeatedly, like how her now surpassed Selective Mutism made her keenly aware of bodily and facial expressions, and how she can read people deeper than most may be able to. (Of course, this ability seems rather selective, as she suddenly can't read people when it's better for the plot for her to be unable to.)
This is just one example but, in general, Natalie seems to focus on a handful of things which are important to her, ad nauseum, and other, potentially more interesting parts of the plot are sort of in the periphary. Kind of annoying, that.
As to the limited perspective, this is also why I say the climax was handled well "for the most part". There's something which happens which, while predictable, seems to come out of nowhere. It seems in many ways
Spoiler
Maggie's journeyGranted, the "shock" might not have worked had we been more privvy to the various ongoings out of Natalie's purview but, then, as I said, it wasn't really all that surprising anyway.
Spoiler
I knew Maggie would end up involved in the climax, just not to what extent.Anyway -
As I said, this story does wrap things up nicely and we get our long-fought HEA, and that's nice, but I do think the writing style sort of limited the story in some severe ways.
***
Oh, speaking of writing styles - I'm not sure how I feel about the earnestness. The other of Hieber's series that I've read, Percy Parker, was also a bit over-the-top in its gothicness (though perhaps not as self-aware as this book, which repeatedly calls focus to 'being caught up in a gothic novel'), but the writing style lent it an air of tongue-in-cheekness to it. This book seems more earnest, which is, perhaps, one reason I didn't enjoy it quite as much.
Still enjoyable, though, and perhaps I'd enjoy it more if I could stop comparing the two series but, alas, I don't seem to be able to make my brain do it.