Scan barcode
A review by mugsandpugs
The Merciless III: Origins of Evil by Danielle Vega
3.0
Hmm... So, this was a bit of a mixed bag. I enjoyed it a lot, but it wasn't as good as the first. (The first 40-50% or so was good, though! It was mostly the ending that was a letdown.) It suffers from what all prequals suffer from: A lack of tension. We already KNOW how things will end up, so...
But, fine; it's the journey, not the destination.
I like Brooklyn as a character... mostly. I like how she's independent and driven and has her heart in the right place... SHE started the youth "help" hotline. She tries to help people, in a direct (if ill-advised) way. Sometimes her stupidity surpassed "well, she's a teenager" impulsiveness, though... I don't care how stubborn and plucky you are; if a man you tell the damn police! You tell your parents, you go to the hospital... Why the hell WOULDN'T you?! Her reasoning is weak... So her parents would be mad??? Okay; so you get grounded. So what!
Not to mention, things started to get formulaic fast. Brooklyn has a hallucination, she freaks out, other people come, it turns out not to be real. Repeat ad nauseum. And she went from making impulsive/foolish choices to making flat-out DUMB choices by the end. (Stay in the damn HOUSE, Brooklyn; don't go into the goddamn woods!)
(I am way, way too gay for the heterosexual nonsense, by the way. So the boy is cute; DON'T GO OFF ALONE WITH HIM, IDIOT. Not under these circumstances. Why are you getting so worked up over boys you barely know?! Is this really how straight people act?)
I had this issue with the first book, but it feels like the author sometimes just throws in horror clichés for the hell of it. Creepy dolls? Sure! Roaches and bleeding walls? Why not! Running around and twisting your ankle in the woods? Well of COURSE! Sigh. It's not scary if there's no point behind it! Just having a creepy thing for no reason doesn't add anything in a literary medium (in a visual medium, maybe).
Finally... I wish I could talk to Vega and be like, "Can you tell me which side you're on?" Because the demons do horrible, violent things, but so does the Christian cult. Who am I supposed to root for, here? The implication that a teenager is "evil" for... What, shoplifting lipstick? Leaving the man who'd attacked and tried to kill her to burn? That's ridiculous. I'm choosing to believe that was just the demon trying to gaslight her into embracing it by convincing her she was "obviously" already evil, when she OBVIOUSLY wasn't... But if Vega ACTUALLY THINKS that a little shoplifting makes someone evil, then we've got bigger issues here.
(Also: I'm fine with teenagers fooling around with other teenagers, but teens fooling around with adults is SUPER ewie. Am I supposed to find Elijah endearing when he openly admits to going after a, quote, "hot teenager"? Sick. Go after someone your own age, pedo. See what I mean when I say there's no characters to root for? Aside from Dierdre, I guess.)
I think book 1's strongest point was that it (mostly) took place in a single night, and it had that "is she or isn't she" element re: the demon. Sofia was doing the best she could with limited information. But stretching the story out over multiple days, when we know how it will end, just makes all of Brooklyn's fuck-ups feel more frustrating.
HHHH. But I still enjoyed it too much to give it less than 3 stars. I read it all, and fast, and am excited to read more in the series.
But, fine; it's the journey, not the destination.
I like Brooklyn as a character... mostly. I like how she's independent and driven and has her heart in the right place... SHE started the youth "help" hotline. She tries to help people, in a direct (if ill-advised) way. Sometimes her stupidity surpassed "well, she's a teenager" impulsiveness, though... I don't care how stubborn and plucky you are; if a man
Spoiler
kidnaps you, drugs you, beats you, and attempts to drown you,Not to mention, things started to get formulaic fast. Brooklyn has a hallucination, she freaks out, other people come, it turns out not to be real. Repeat ad nauseum. And she went from making impulsive/foolish choices to making flat-out DUMB choices by the end. (Stay in the damn HOUSE, Brooklyn; don't go into the goddamn woods!)
(I am way, way too gay for the heterosexual nonsense, by the way. So the boy is cute; DON'T GO OFF ALONE WITH HIM, IDIOT. Not under these circumstances. Why are you getting so worked up over boys you barely know?! Is this really how straight people act?)
I had this issue with the first book, but it feels like the author sometimes just throws in horror clichés for the hell of it. Creepy dolls? Sure! Roaches and bleeding walls? Why not! Running around and twisting your ankle in the woods? Well of COURSE! Sigh. It's not scary if there's no point behind it! Just having a creepy thing for no reason doesn't add anything in a literary medium (in a visual medium, maybe).
Finally... I wish I could talk to Vega and be like, "Can you tell me which side you're on?" Because the demons do horrible, violent things, but so does the Christian cult. Who am I supposed to root for, here? The implication that a teenager is "evil" for... What, shoplifting lipstick? Leaving the man who'd attacked and tried to kill her to burn? That's ridiculous. I'm choosing to believe that was just the demon trying to gaslight her into embracing it by convincing her she was "obviously" already evil, when she OBVIOUSLY wasn't... But if Vega ACTUALLY THINKS that a little shoplifting makes someone evil, then we've got bigger issues here.
(Also: I'm fine with teenagers fooling around with other teenagers, but teens fooling around with adults is SUPER ewie. Am I supposed to find Elijah endearing when he openly admits to going after a, quote, "hot teenager"? Sick. Go after someone your own age, pedo. See what I mean when I say there's no characters to root for? Aside from Dierdre, I guess.)
I think book 1's strongest point was that it (mostly) took place in a single night, and it had that "is she or isn't she" element re: the demon. Sofia was doing the best she could with limited information. But stretching the story out over multiple days, when we know how it will end, just makes all of Brooklyn's fuck-ups feel more frustrating.
HHHH. But I still enjoyed it too much to give it less than 3 stars. I read it all, and fast, and am excited to read more in the series.