There is a fine line I never respected and appreciated until now that exists in Urban Fantasy. Yes, the plots and story lines are fiction and unrealistic (ie Furred, Fanged, or Fey) but at the same time the story has to be realistic (characters, thoughts, actions, outcomes). I love that more people are putting stories out there, and I respect them for it and envy their courage, but at the same time, now EVERY ING IS FANFICTION. Yes, there are some gems and some really good authors that have the opportunity to be discovered, but to find those gems there is a lot of crap u have to sift through.
I appreciate book editors now and they have my love and support. Someone else has to do all the crap digging for me and has to help fix books that have a lot of potential. If ur book has the sentence...."before he waked her".... that is basic grammar and English u r killing. At the very least get a Beta to edit for u. Fan fiction is great and I love both reading and writing it, but one good idea on it's own, does not a good book make.
Reading this Grey Wolves book I got. I purchased it because it was about wolves and had multiple 5 star ratings. I don't know if I just need a break from books or if this book really is that bad.
First off, the main characters names are Jacque and Fane. Already I'm annoyed....it's just ur average small town girl in butt-ville USA Cinderella story. I knew that when I got it, but you can't have it both ways. You cannot have a "down to earth" Sally USA story and give ur characters names like Jacque and Fane. Maybe the Romanian Wolf boy, foreign exchange student can work as a Fane, but with other characters like Jen, Sally, Trent...etc Out of nowhere...Jacque. A small detail, but a huge pet peeve. Like having her meet and be the mate of an Alpha werewolf doesn't make her special enough?
There is also a ridiculous amount of Romanian in the book. It doesn't add to the story and it doesn't help the plot. Has the feel of it being there just because the author can. It was painfully distracting and again, in no way added to the story. A little would have been fine and does help define Fane's character, but having it in almost every single page makes for more a distraction than anything else. I appreciate it, but I didn't sign up to learn Romanian and still don't want to, thanks.
The beginning is incredibly slow in moving the plot. Yes the "action" starts right away with Fane moving in across the street and the whole mind reading thing and other wolves in the area, but so many pages were just random Drabble. There is a lot of describing cute quips and inside jokes that again, seem like they should add to the characters, but don't. It also made me want to rip out my eyeballs to have something like the first 5 chapters be the EXACT SAME THING over and over and over again. Something happens and we read about it, and next chapter is the exact same event through someone else's perspective, and Lord Help Me, but then Jacque has to relay events to her two besties so then we have to hear about it again.... I don't know how I haven't ripped out my hair from sheer frustration.
The characters are flat and one dimensional. A good story has full bodied characters even in the ones that aren't the protagonist. Each character should have his or her own voice and flavor, each one after all has their own story. With the exception of the main characters, everyone else was a bland attempt at supporting cast that comes across more like movie extras or back-up doo woppers to the Fane-Jacque experience. Her friends drop everything they are doing to sleep over at her house...she is upset at her mom so one of them walks her back to her room and pops in her favorite Evanescence CD for her...His host dad has no life so he is ready and available to take Fane to get a motorcycle at his whim, and the license and helmet too...His host parents tell him that he basically doesn't have to tell them where he goes and what he does because he is practically a grown man and it's not their business (cop out).
There is so much potential and at it's kernel, I think there is a small flame of good idea and story, but there needs to be someone to fan the flame and control it, not letting it burn down the forest in the process.
Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs
