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A review by beeboisourgod
River Marked by Patricia Briggs
2.0
River Marked, it's not you, it's me. Okay, maybe it's a *little* you because this book just... didn't work for me, at all. And maybe two stars seems harsh, it *is* harsh, but the thing is, I rated Bone Crossed 3 stars, and I enjoyed that instalment infinitely more than this one, so it seems only fair in comparison.
I'm disappointed though, really I am. I wanted to like this book, but from the very start it had everything going against it. The surprise wedding, the removal from its regular setting, and in turn the absence of some of our more interesting beloved side characters, not to mention the tiring, overzealous, tensionless and repetitive possessiveness of the Mercy/Adam relationship, which... well don't even get me started. Actually, I already am started so here you go: This instalment features heavily on the romance front, which is something I appreciated the other instalments for NOT doing, but the romance in itself is not necessarily the problem. The problem is how a lot of Mercy's character and Adam's, too, has seemingly become defined by this "romance", throwing out the things that made both it and each other interesting in the first place. No more rebellion on each side, no witty banter, no glimpse into who they are except for who they're with, you know? It feels out of place. I mean, no more back and forth will they won't they at such an early point in the series, well six books isn't really early, but I mean considering the type of setup we had beforehand, especially with say, Stefan in Blood Bound and Bone Crossed (I'm not bitter, do I seem bitter), it feels almost rushed to smush them together once and for all just like that, snap of the fingers, done and done. Even with their in-universe history, it feels somehow off, it feels out of character, it feels... forced, sapping all sexual tension out of the equation despite adding more sex to it. Like, their dynamics are askew from this point on. The second this book starts, Mercy feels like an entirely different person, and not in a good way, defined by her "mate," becoming meek and just as possessive as Adam to the point it becomes less romantic and more worrying, not to mention annoying as all Hell, with the constant "Mines" peppered throughout every other line. Adam, meanwhile, I *used* to like Adam. In the first book, I thought their relationship and the setup for future romance was done well, but ever since, his character has been rapidly deteriorating before my eyes, becoming less "well meaning but overprotective" and more outright controlling out-dated alpha male with no regard for Mercy's own agency or nature... and Mercy is just okay with that, okay with the fact he doesn't trust her to take care of herself in any situation, and it's just such un-Mercy like behaviour to sit down and accept that and not call him out on it or come to compromises on it that I openly cringe at certain parts of this. I can't believe I'm saying this, hypocrite that I am, but I think in this series' case, a love triangle would have actually worked better-not just because I like Stefan better-because it kind of felt like they were setting one up and then just scrapped it, just like that, feels like we're missing a book in between, you know? And I hate love triangles, hate em with a fiery passion, so you know me saying that means something.
So, much like the tension seeped out of their relationship, my motivation to continue this book seeped out of me. While I excitedly tore through the rest of the series up to this point, I lost ALL momentum for River Marked really early on and had to set it down for a long while before forcing myself to finish. I'm still probably going to continue because I'm this far already but... I don't know how I'll feel about it going forward, I was already in neutral territory and it's been slowly falling further down the scale.
Of course, Patricia Briggs *thought* she could win me over by opening (and closing) with my beloved Stefan, but then she immediately sent him away for the entire rest of the book and that just wasn't going to fly with me, you hear me, Miss Briggs? Give me more Stefan, then we'll talk. On that note, I once again find the vampires in this series more interesting than any other aspect, despite not usually caring that much for vampires, so do with that info what you will when looking at my reviews.
I'm disappointed though, really I am. I wanted to like this book, but from the very start it had everything going against it. The surprise wedding, the removal from its regular setting, and in turn the absence of some of our more interesting beloved side characters, not to mention the tiring, overzealous, tensionless and repetitive possessiveness of the Mercy/Adam relationship, which... well don't even get me started. Actually, I already am started so here you go: This instalment features heavily on the romance front, which is something I appreciated the other instalments for NOT doing, but the romance in itself is not necessarily the problem. The problem is how a lot of Mercy's character and Adam's, too, has seemingly become defined by this "romance", throwing out the things that made both it and each other interesting in the first place. No more rebellion on each side, no witty banter, no glimpse into who they are except for who they're with, you know? It feels out of place. I mean, no more back and forth will they won't they at such an early point in the series, well six books isn't really early, but I mean considering the type of setup we had beforehand, especially with say, Stefan in Blood Bound and Bone Crossed (I'm not bitter, do I seem bitter), it feels almost rushed to smush them together once and for all just like that, snap of the fingers, done and done. Even with their in-universe history, it feels somehow off, it feels out of character, it feels... forced, sapping all sexual tension out of the equation despite adding more sex to it. Like, their dynamics are askew from this point on. The second this book starts, Mercy feels like an entirely different person, and not in a good way, defined by her "mate," becoming meek and just as possessive as Adam to the point it becomes less romantic and more worrying, not to mention annoying as all Hell, with the constant "Mines" peppered throughout every other line. Adam, meanwhile, I *used* to like Adam. In the first book, I thought their relationship and the setup for future romance was done well, but ever since, his character has been rapidly deteriorating before my eyes, becoming less "well meaning but overprotective" and more outright controlling out-dated alpha male with no regard for Mercy's own agency or nature... and Mercy is just okay with that, okay with the fact he doesn't trust her to take care of herself in any situation, and it's just such un-Mercy like behaviour to sit down and accept that and not call him out on it or come to compromises on it that I openly cringe at certain parts of this. I can't believe I'm saying this, hypocrite that I am, but I think in this series' case, a love triangle would have actually worked better-
So, much like the tension seeped out of their relationship, my motivation to continue this book seeped out of me. While I excitedly tore through the rest of the series up to this point, I lost ALL momentum for River Marked really early on and had to set it down for a long while before forcing myself to finish. I'm still probably going to continue because I'm this far already but... I don't know how I'll feel about it going forward, I was already in neutral territory and it's been slowly falling further down the scale.
Of course, Patricia Briggs *thought* she could win me over by opening (and closing) with my beloved Stefan, but then she immediately sent him away for the entire rest of the book and that just wasn't going to fly with me, you hear me, Miss Briggs? Give me more Stefan, then we'll talk. On that note, I once again find the vampires in this series more interesting than any other aspect, despite not usually caring that much for vampires, so do with that info what you will when looking at my reviews.