amyiw reviewed Dark Peril by Christine Feehan
None
2 stars
OK, The book is 342 pages (that is the actual story not including the appendix of language and lessons of the Carpathians). Of those there are 40 spent in the cave, then a small action scene, then 60 more spent in the cave before the action (actually in the cave) begins. So there is 242 pages of story here. The 100 pages is filled with emotions, incomplete sex, and more emotions. The big problem with the cave scene is it takes away from the character of Dominic and Solange.
Solange is a great powerful character until her, as one reviewer called it, wishy-washy attitude in the cave. It is repetitive and she goes back and forth to acceptance of her womanly beauty, to not. The same feelings, of acceptance then denial are repeated over and over.
Dominic seems to admire Solange greatly and accept her warriors soul but somewhere in …
OK, The book is 342 pages (that is the actual story not including the appendix of language and lessons of the Carpathians). Of those there are 40 spent in the cave, then a small action scene, then 60 more spent in the cave before the action (actually in the cave) begins. So there is 242 pages of story here. The 100 pages is filled with emotions, incomplete sex, and more emotions. The big problem with the cave scene is it takes away from the character of Dominic and Solange.
Solange is a great powerful character until her, as one reviewer called it, wishy-washy attitude in the cave. It is repetitive and she goes back and forth to acceptance of her womanly beauty, to not. The same feelings, of acceptance then denial are repeated over and over.
Dominic seems to admire Solange greatly and accept her warriors soul but somewhere in the cave, he seems really manipulative. Did anybody else get this? OK, so he was trying to get her to accept her woman but it just didn't go for me. It was more like it was forced. In the end I felt like he only really cared when she got seriously ill.
OK, so 100 pages of really boring and take away from the characters cave story. Still there are another 242 right? Well the first part was just a little too descriptive for my taste but had substance, slightly repetitive, and got the story off to a good start but then came the cave. There was a scene in the middle of the cave that seemed to push the story forward again but then 60 more cave pages to make you dislike (yes actually dislike) Dominic and Solange. Then finally, finally the story gets going again and redeems itself, with a little twist in the end.
Well I have been saying this about the Carpathian novels since I read Dark Gold which was the first I thought about like this, "This one should have been a novella!" Take out the excess emotions, and sexual scenes, and describe a little less of the foliage and animals and you would have a good, maybe even very good, story of a little over 200 pages. She could release 2 stories at once in a double novel. I have enjoyed her novellas greatly, Dark Descent, Dark Dream, Dark Hunter, all great stories that even seem a little short (not a lot).
I've really hated the Carpathian language and Chants in the past but really the complaints are unfounded in this one. There are only a few times that he uses more than a word. Yes, it distracts. She should just write a Carpathian's Companion book for the appendixes that she has added. I really didn't see much of chants and the little poems at the front of the chapter were OK but didn't add for me.
I actually like the addition of mages, shape shifters and such because the stories need something new and she seems to add it in pretty well. I like Dark Slayer quite a bit (a little different from some) but in the end the distractions of language and chants and the pages of them healing made me rate it a 3 1/2 on the 4 star side. This one wasn't as good and I really wanted to like Dominic's story. It was OK. I won't pre-order her next one. This is the last one unless the next one comes out as a novella!