Just got my ARC

Yeah, I read her review of Lover Unleashed right after it came out and agreed with the majority of it. But to diss Judd... that's living dangerously

I get that we have our own opinions and Katie's a good reviewer but like Nina said....dissing Judd? Yep. That's a dangerous accusation. XD

CBI is probably Nalini's best written book...in my head anyway. Despite how KOS turns out....we can't fault Nalini for NOT making the book bigger. I'm sure her publishers gave her some limits on what to include and what to take out. Some writers can only write a certain amount. And the fact that she included Lara & Walker with Hawke & Sienna's storyline was probably done to complete the first arc. So again, even if the book isn't as great as I wanted it to be because of certain restrictions (though I'm sure I will RE-READ that book 1,000 times until I memorize every page) I'm not going to give it a rating of 3 out of 5. That's just too difficult for me to do. And I'm a harsh critic.

*sigh* I need to read KOS soon. These talks of KOS are making me so impatient!

CbI is also my favorite. It's funny how it's usually the third (full length) book in a series that really stands out, e.g. Cbi, Lover Awakened (JR Ward), Faefever (KMM)....

AHHH KTL. TOTAL agreement. I LOVED LOVED LOVED Lover Awakened. Bella and Zsadist are AMAZING TOGETHER.

I know! Zsadist is such a nice guy. That bit near the end always gets me - where he's being embarrassed about passing out. If I were a squee-capable being I would definitely squee over that every time.

Nina wrote:I know! Zsadist is such a nice guy. That bit near the end always gets me - where he's being embarrassed about passing out. If I were a squee-capable being I would definitely squee over that every time.

YUP! That's one of my favorite endings of a book EVER! It's so cute!

I find it ADORABLE thinking of Zsadist and Nalla growing up before his eyes. Remember the bit in the Insiders Guide where Wrath talks about him thinking of the future guy who might wanna date Nalla? IMAGINE.

Young, nice teenage boy knocking on the door, waiting for his date and out comes a pissed off Zsadist who threatens to kill him. Poor Nalla. I don't think he'll let her date until she's 40. XD

LOL, Probably!

Only 40?! Try 400!

Behind the pissed off Zsadist there would be an army of BDB uncles glowering at the poor pre-trans.

Lol I love lover awakened and fae fever the most too. Z is epic

Okay, I read her review just now and hmm.. She doesn't really mention WHY there are "only" 3 stars. (At least she doesn't explain much..) But she's right.. Hawke and Sienna seem to be different than they were before. Well, with Sienna we wouldn't really know since NS didn't write in her POV before, but still.. It's been weird, cause I imagined her different from what I've read so far. The same thing with Hawke.

I liked the first 350 pages more than the last, btw. (Which is one of the reasons I gave the books 4 stars -lalala-)

And wtf, Judd is.. Judd. Damnit. Best. Book.

Yep, I thought about the always-love-the-third-book-the-best-thing, too just a few days ago.

Patricia wrote:
I liked the first 350 pages more than the last, btw. (Which is one of the reasons I gave the books 4 stars -lalala-)

Lol, see then, that's the total opposite of the review as well. People just have different opinions, which is cool. And while I can't know for sure until after I read it, I think (possibly) that Hawke might also come off differently due to his "frustrations," lol....or it is just his personality and we've never seen it before since, really, we've never been "in his head" for all that long.

Lovely lucky arc readers - (she coughs to clear throat), could you please post another knee wobbling H/S spoiler to see us through another week??? There is a serious spoiler lacking vibe going on at the moment - only you can help us....................................and love you. lol xxxx

Z is my boy (I mean man). JRW did a wonderful job with his character development. I could go on reading about him, Bella and Nalla. The whole reading aspect and his scratchy 'I Love You' writing at the end of LA...sigh.

I'm really interested to see how Hawke comes off in KoS. What we've gotten so far is his alpha persona with a bit of soft side (interaction with Ben ), angst -ridden side (convos re: Sienna and Snowdancer history with Riley and Indigo ) and of course, the wicked humor (teasing Luc & Sash, Drew). Having almost an entire book on his thought processes, motivations and actions must paint a slightly different picture of him. This calls for some more study - maybe a nice spoiler ??

I'm afraid I won't like Hawke if he's the opposite of what I thought. But maybe my Opposite is not the same Opposite of Patricia's Opposite
I don't know if this makes sense, but as far as I can see, some of us will be disapointed and some not.
I hope I'm one of the not-disapointed-people

No quote from me, sorry. :/

He's not really an opposite of anything, he's just different.
For starters, I get that he had a tough past and that he's frustrated, but to me he's just bitter. Often. Then he's arrogant. Okay, they all are, but he's arrogant in a way that's too "eesh" for me. He decides for Sienna and I really don't like that (Before someone faints and wants to know what I'm talking about, this is no spoiler, I'm talking about how he says that he's no good for her, because he can't give her the mating bond, when in fact, she knows already and still wants him. Yes, she's too young to know everything about what'd be missing, but seriously, "normal" humans don't have a mating bond, either. Does this mean that those relationships aren't as lovely as those of the changelings? (talking about humans in the book and in real life, btw) Thanks a lot. Also, he's kind of.. thinking too far ahead. Yes, he wants her, she wants him. But as far as he knows, it could be that as soon as they really get to know each other, the interest fades. He could at least give it a try, but no, he doesn't. And he says it's because Sienna is young etc. But the truth is, he's just a coward and it's the easiest way for him not to get hurt.)
Another thing'd be his personality or the lack of it (except, haha, him being a bitter old man :<. Srsly, it's like he swore to be unhappy. And even if there are funny scenes it doesn't feel right.)

Again, this is just me. At first I loved the book right now I don't. I guess in a few weeks I'm going to love it again (yay), but right now I'm still pissed at Hawke, motherfucker that he is.

Okay, I still like the book. It's just Hawke I'd like to beat to a pulp. HMPF!

Oh Hawke.. -sighs- -thinks about cute "Sienna wakes up in her bed and Hawke's lying in it, too"-scene- Yes, I know, I still like you.. But I want to beat you, nevertheless..

-grins-

Bella, don't be just yet. You liked the excerpts, I guess and I don't think you're going to dislike it completely, even if it's not as good as you want it to be. AND Nalini's going to write a bunch of other books, too. :>

Ahwooh, I wan't to read Illiums book. Even if that's completely unrelated to KoS xD.

I agree with those things Patricia said. (P.S.: Ich hab´s ja schon in der Mail geschrieben, du bist blutrünstig^^)
Hawke and Sienna seemed to be different in their book, than in the one´s they were only mentioned... It´s not a "bad" -different, it´s just a "hmm, never thought that they would behave like that" - different.

KoS isn´t my favourite book of this series, but it´s a good final with a pairing we all have longed for such a long time - so please, don´t get all crazy about different reviews, ´cause you don´t have to. It´s worth to wait

Btw: CbI is amazing!!!

I think I am going to try not to expect too much perfection from this book because, to be honest Nalini could write a shopping list and it would be gripping. I haven't read a NS book yet that wasn't head and shoulders above all the others in this genre so I think it will be fine. I expect Sienna to bring out all of Hawke's character traits, good and bad as she has him rattled out of his expecting never to find a mate etc To be honest, NS writes good page porn and as long as that's drawn out and then hot and dirty I will be happy. Ahem, of course I also appreciate the literary masterpiece of the interwoven characters/species bla bla ........but really love the sex scenes!!! lol xxxx

And Patricia....................what happened? It's so interesting, when you posted your original review you loved Hawke and now you seem to feel dissappointed in him. Is it because you needed to re-read more H/S interaction before you let someone else read your book? I know when I read a NS book, I have to re-read parts and sometimes the whole book to get the little nuances between the characters. I find it fascinating that your opinion has changed and wonder if your good opinion will be restored when you re-read.

Patricia, it's hilarious how you have such a love/hate relationship with Hawke. Only shows how much emotional investment we have with these characters. And it sounds as if Hawke prefers Sienna's place over his . Will they look for different quarters in the mated pair's section of the den? BTW, here's a q you may or may not answer: since we know from various reviews how Hawke is uber 'frustrated,' does the book address exactly how long he's been without 'companionship?'

Wtf, where's my answer? It was SO DAMN LONG! >___<

Um, I don't think I've read how long exactly he hasn't been layed.. Hm.. Long. Let's just say, long.
And we'll see some new places, yes. :>

Edit: HA! HERE IT IS!
|
v

Rofl xD

Nah, I still like him and I really think he cares about Sienna, but I also had some time to think about him as a person, not only as "OMG HAWKE".
I fell for him and I still love his scenes, but.. Hm, how to put it. Ah!

Imagine the following book:

Boys POV

Boy meets girl. Reason? He rapes her. Reason for rape: Boy takes drugs. Boy also beats girl. Two days later: Boy regrets everything. Boy thinks about girl.

Girls POV.

Girl loves this one boy, but he doesn't even know she exists, so she tried to get over him, already deciding to (in 2 months) go to a college far away. One day he rapes her, but she still loves him and she *knows* (big naive girly face here) how much he regrets everything so she is on her way to his house, trying to comfort him.

Boys POV

Girl at his doorstep. Wtf? Boy falls for her, because she's soo nice and tender and cute and lovely and blabla.

HAPPY END.

So by making all of those mistakes he gets his happy ending. What does this tell the reader? The problem isn't exactly what he did to her, but the non-existing consequences/completely positive outcome.

No, Hawke didn't rape Sienna or did treat her like dirt, but he isn't perfect. The problem isn't that he's not perfect, the problem is, that in the end, Sienna accepts it the way she does. She's uber-happy that he is with her when she actually should make him beg to be with her. On his knees.

So again, everyone makes mistakes. (Although the rape-example was too extreme. I just took the first thing that popped into my mind. And I know, Sarah, I'm bloodthirsty and cruel, so what? xD) I don't dislike that Hawke made those. I simply dislike that he didn't have to suffer the way Sienna had to. By constantly getting rejected and abandoned. I don't mean that in the childish "I hurt, so you have to hurt, too!"-way. I mean it in the "Karma's a bitch"-way. Because seriously, Karma is. A. Bitch. And it seems she's avoiding Hawke.

PLUS: I have daddy issues. (So, actually you can forget everything I wrote before. Just focus on the daddy issue-thing. xD)

Yes, you are bloodthirsty and cruel! Re: daddy issues , yes got 'em too. I lost my dad at nine so my views on men are sometimes radical. About Hawke, I think your main point is, and you've said this before, does he really deserve Sienna? In the end he hasn't quite earned the right and privilege to have her as a mate (being optimistic here). Sienna's fought for him, faced his rejections and even tried to move on, but Hawke, he just decides, "sure, let's give it a try so let's do it." haha, I'm sure he had to endure some of Sienna's wrath in the process, however, the scales are still not balanced as to how much each one had to suffer.

I'm green with envy; I just don't know how I'm going to survive the 6 months until I can get KoS, too. Mostly, I have gotten used to wait for books to appear in pb, but with this one it might be just too difficult...I think I'm going to splurge on the hardcover edition...
Patricia, I really enjoyed your hints of the book, though I don't know whether they have made things better or worse...

monadh wrote:Patricia, I really enjoyed your hints of the book, though I don't know whether they have made things better or worse...

I get that alot..

KTL wrote:Yes, you are bloodthirsty and cruel!

And it all started with toothache.. Thank you, Sarah! Now I'm going to think about my cruelty everytime I have toothache x'D

KTL wrote: Re: daddy issues , yes got 'em too. I lost my dad at nine so my views on men are sometimes radical. About Hawke, I think your main point is, and you've said this before, does he really deserve Sienna? In the end he hasn't quite earned the right and privilege to have her as a mate (being optimistic here). Sienna's fought for him, faced his rejections and even tried to move on, but Hawke, he just decides, "sure, let's give it a try so let's do it." haha, I'm sure he had to endure some of Sienna's wrath in the process, however, the scales are still not balanced as to how much each one had to suffer.

I'm sorry about that. I haven't lost my father, he's just.. um.. Well, he's just being himself, I guess.

I don't know if this is really the thing. Someone else said it already and I didn't disagree, but no. I want her and him to be happy and it seems they have to be together to be happy (which is a sad thing, because I'd rather be indipendent than in a relationship that is the main reason for my happiness). So, no, the outcome is okay. But between the happy ending and the "okay, come on, hot sex now." should've been a scene where Sienna is all like:

"YOU MOTHAFUCKA, GET AWAY FROM ME, I'M GUNNA MARRY KIT, HE'S YOUNGER THAN YOU AND THEREFOR DOESN'T FALL ASLEEP AS SOON AS HE COMES, YO!"

You know? -serious face-