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Pearlyn Ng's Reviews > Beyond the Shadows
Beyond the Shadows (Night Angel, #3)
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I don't write reviews.
I can't be bothered, half the time. Even if I love the book to pieces. I'll name my firstborn child after the protagonist and fan-stalk the author, but really, writing reviews isn't my cup of tea.
Brent Weeks deserves some solid applause. He's the first author that's made me a hate a book so much as to actually galvanize me into writing a review, can you imagine that?
The Way of Shadows was okay. I kinda liked it. Enough to try Shadow's Edge, which pretty much left me with a sneer on my face. But by that point in time I just really wanted to see most of the characters meet painful, horrible deaths. Is this some kind of new writing technique? Make the reader hate your book so much that they simply must buy the next book?
Well I guess I got suckered in.
The Night Angel trilogy reads like it was penned by a schizophrenic teenage sex-maniac, and Beyond the Shadows wins hands down for being the worst of the series.
Brent, Brent, Brent. Couldn't you decide where you wanted your novel to go? There's plotholes everywhere. Cavernous gaps and jerks in the story where things just happen without any attempt at explanation. And dues ex machina thrown around like glitter at a 9-year-old's princess party.
(view spoiler)
And don't even get me started on the sexism. The Madonna-whore dichotomy. I'll need to start stabbing someone soon. I think some of the other reviewers have covered this at length so I'll just restrain myself and move on.
Was Brent trying to be funny? The sa'ceurai obviously referred to samurai. Khali was obviously a (very messed up) reference to the Indian goddess Kali. I didn't find those nudges funny. Did you? AND SPEAKING OF FUNNY. The author was just trying too goddamn hard to inject levity everywhere. Sometimes it was appropriate, sometimes it wasn't.
Cool: Durzo and Kylar/Azoth's banter.
NOT cool: Dorian trying to be punny with the Khalidor Keeper of the Dead (or something like that). It felt forced and completely unnecessary for the scene.
The last two books should just have been titled Sex's Edge and Beyond Sex. Sex. Sex sex sex sex sex. I'm not a prude; I've devoured many a juicy romance novel across the years. But this...this was immature, distasteful and completely ridiculous. It's not even like Brent was trying to shock his readers by the dark reality or appeal of sex and sexuality. Or maybe he was trying, but he sure as hell never succeeded.
Kylar and Elene spent virtually their entire relationship in a sex-battle of "GIMME PLS ELENE I LOVE YOU DON'T YOU LOVE ME" and "NO KYLAR I WANTS BUT I'M A SHY PURE VIRGIN". I really don't know how much more juvenile you can get.
Which brings us to the best (worst?) part: the power of love.
Eww. Eww eww eww. If that isn't the biggest, most sickening cliche of them all. Done right, some writers can really make it work. Brent just took a big glob of it and pasted everything near the end of the novel. The black ka'kari is powered by love. Okay. Khali is destroyed by love. Okay. Elene dies spouting about unselfish love.
DUDE. SERIOUSLY. THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH CHEESINESS ONE BOOK CAN TAKE.
J K Rowling, now she handled the 'power of love' thing well.
This? This is a travesty.
Well congratulations Brent Weeks. I spent the last 20 minutes writing an ode to loathing about the Night Angel series.
I can't be bothered, half the time. Even if I love the book to pieces. I'll name my firstborn child after the protagonist and fan-stalk the author, but really, writing reviews isn't my cup of tea.
Brent Weeks deserves some solid applause. He's the first author that's made me a hate a book so much as to actually galvanize me into writing a review, can you imagine that?
The Way of Shadows was okay. I kinda liked it. Enough to try Shadow's Edge, which pretty much left me with a sneer on my face. But by that point in time I just really wanted to see most of the characters meet painful, horrible deaths. Is this some kind of new writing technique? Make the reader hate your book so much that they simply must buy the next book?
Well I guess I got suckered in.
The Night Angel trilogy reads like it was penned by a schizophrenic teenage sex-maniac, and Beyond the Shadows wins hands down for being the worst of the series.
Brent, Brent, Brent. Couldn't you decide where you wanted your novel to go? There's plotholes everywhere. Cavernous gaps and jerks in the story where things just happen without any attempt at explanation. And dues ex machina thrown around like glitter at a 9-year-old's princess party.
(view spoiler)
And don't even get me started on the sexism. The Madonna-whore dichotomy. I'll need to start stabbing someone soon. I think some of the other reviewers have covered this at length so I'll just restrain myself and move on.
Was Brent trying to be funny? The sa'ceurai obviously referred to samurai. Khali was obviously a (very messed up) reference to the Indian goddess Kali. I didn't find those nudges funny. Did you? AND SPEAKING OF FUNNY. The author was just trying too goddamn hard to inject levity everywhere. Sometimes it was appropriate, sometimes it wasn't.
Cool: Durzo and Kylar/Azoth's banter.
NOT cool: Dorian trying to be punny with the Khalidor Keeper of the Dead (or something like that). It felt forced and completely unnecessary for the scene.
The last two books should just have been titled Sex's Edge and Beyond Sex. Sex. Sex sex sex sex sex. I'm not a prude; I've devoured many a juicy romance novel across the years. But this...this was immature, distasteful and completely ridiculous. It's not even like Brent was trying to shock his readers by the dark reality or appeal of sex and sexuality. Or maybe he was trying, but he sure as hell never succeeded.
Kylar and Elene spent virtually their entire relationship in a sex-battle of "GIMME PLS ELENE I LOVE YOU DON'T YOU LOVE ME" and "NO KYLAR I WANTS BUT I'M A SHY PURE VIRGIN". I really don't know how much more juvenile you can get.
Which brings us to the best (worst?) part: the power of love.
Eww. Eww eww eww. If that isn't the biggest, most sickening cliche of them all. Done right, some writers can really make it work. Brent just took a big glob of it and pasted everything near the end of the novel. The black ka'kari is powered by love. Okay. Khali is destroyed by love. Okay. Elene dies spouting about unselfish love.
DUDE. SERIOUSLY. THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH CHEESINESS ONE BOOK CAN TAKE.
J K Rowling, now she handled the 'power of love' thing well.
This? This is a travesty.
Well congratulations Brent Weeks. I spent the last 20 minutes writing an ode to loathing about the Night Angel series.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
March 6, 2014
– Shelved
March 6, 2014
–
Finished Reading
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message 1:
by
Adeel
(new)
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rated it 2 stars
Sep 28, 2014 12:41AM
hahaha that's a great review. I wholeheartedly agree. I listened to the audio book while I drove and I can tell ya, I literally screamed a few times when the whole lovey dovey shite kept going on and on and on. and I made the whole account only so I could rage at this book. thanks for doing it for moi :D
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This was pretty much my feelings!
