On Grim Reapers: A Review of First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

This book came to me with nothing but great reviews. And not just great reviews from readers, but also from writers like J.R. Ward and Kresley Cole. People genuinely love this book. Now, having finally read it, can I just say...meh?

Whatever magic everyone else feels for this book honestly eludes me, and it's hard to say how much of my reaction is due to a genuine lack of quality, and how much is due to a let down from all the build up of my expectations going into this. Because believe me, a recommendation from the great authors of paranormal romance will always stack my expectations sky high--and maybe that's a bad thing.

The story is about Charley Davidson, aka the Grim Reaper. She can see the dead and they can pass through her to the other side. In the meantime she can help them tie up loose ends and settle their affairs and what have you. Unsurprisingly, she is also a private investigator (although, to me, she seems really bad at it). So, in this book there is a big mystery surrounding three dead lawyers, a falsely accused murderer, and another unconnected falsely accused murderer who has been having dream sex with Charley and stalking her for years. No, I'm not kidding.

Positive Comments

So much potential. Seriously, so much freaking potential. You have a quirky heroine. You have a sexy, mysterious hero. Funny ghosts. The potential for heart felt stories about death and moving on. The potential for wackiness. The potential for heart stopping, unique romance.

I really liked where the book was going with Reyes. I wanted it to be just about him. Honestly, that would have put this book easily in the 4 to 5 star range for me...

Critical Comments

...but Reyes isn't really a character. Well, he is, but he isn't. He's a being. He's a mystery. Which is fine, up and to a point, but won't work for an entire book if what you intend to do is write a romance. We see Reyes and a sex symbol, a problem to be solved, a puzzle piece, but we don't get to connect with him as a person. You can't call what he has with Charley a relationship, because it's formed in this vague smoke-and-mirrors telling that leaves me feeling distanced from it. To me they seem like potential lovers, but not necessarily anything more.

This book does a lot of telling instead of showing. Charley's backstory, for example, get's told via her explaining her past to others. This was so frustrating to me. She talks about these huge events, but she's flippant about them. We don't actually get to feel her emotions in those moments that supposedly shaped her into who she is today.

I didn't feel a connection to Charley, mostly because of the above mentioned problem of too much telling, but also because the narration was trying way to freaking hard to be witty and fun. The events are described as though from a third party commentator with a penchant for sarcasm, rather than from the point of view of someone who this is actually happening to. 

We are told that Charley is smart and good at her job, but I don't see either of those things as actually being true. Mostly she relies on others to help her figure stuff out (a really fantastic PI indeed). She gets her ass kicked more often than not, and we are told repeatedly that she's always having to be rescued. And as for her role as counselor to the dead, she seems kind of whiny about it. She'll help the ghosts with their problems, but only because she's the only one who can, and her attitude about the whole thing is jaded and put-upon. All of these people literally passing through her life, and she can't muster up one emotion that strikes me as genuine (except lust for Reyes).

The plot has ADD. It is seriously all over the place. It wanted to be a mystery...but we also have to fit this romance in...wait, we have to cram some backstory in now....what about these ghosts, maybe we should give them a few subplots...and back to the mystery! I felt distanced from the story because it lacked cohesion.

Recommendation

I just don't know, you guys. I feel like I read a different book from everyone else, because based on the reviews I've seen and the overall ratings on Goodreads and Amazon, this book is much loved. I don't get it. 2.5 stars.

Find your copy here: First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, Book 1)

Best Book of June/July Preview

Retrieved from: http://blisscarmannews.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/weird-wacky-8-the-firework/

There's no point lying to you guys--June was a rough month for Reading to Penguins. My personal life exploded with a series of things that NEED TO GET DONE, RIGHT NOW, OR OMG, THE WORLD MIGHT END. So books took forever to be read, there were a good number of DNFs, I haven't been visiting other blogs or commenting as often as usual, and I haven't participated in any hops or followed anyone new in weeks. But July is going to be better, right? Well...

Because I'm moving next week, and because our internet may take some time to get set up, and because my wedding is in August (AHHH!), I honestly don't know if I'll be able to do better. But I'll try. So keep visiting, keep commenting, keep being the awesome followers that you are, and just know that if I don't respond right away it's probably because I'm lost in a maze of boxes. I will reply and visit you back...eventually.

Okay, so we do have to crown the book of the month. The winner is--

Best Book of May/June Preview

Well folks, the merry month of May is over, so it's time to crown the Book of the Month!

It was another close call, but in the end I have to go with Dark Frost by Jennifer Estep! In a month filled with a lot of mediocre reads, this book stood out for being far more amusing than annoying. Also it has wolves. You should check it out!

The June line up is full of awesome, guys. Here we go:


The Selection by Kiera Cass:I finished this yesterday, and my review for it should be up today or tomorrow. Probably tomorrow. I gave it 3.5 stars.

Castaway Dreams by Darlene Marshall: I'm 28% into this book. I started it because I had insomnia. But it's really good so far!

Insurgent by Veronica Roth: I just started reading this yesterday, so I'm only like 10 pages into it. At 520 pages, who knows how long it will take me.

The Last Timemaker and the Stolen Sun by S.A. Damus

Stand-in Wife by Karina Bliss

Breaking The Devil's Heart: A Logic of Demons Novel by H.A. Goodman


Bring Him Home by Karina Bliss

The Orphan, the Soulcatcher, and the Black Blizzard by Kimberlee Ann Bastian

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

Flicker by Kaye Thornbrugh

I'm insanely excited to have some contemporary romance back on the list, along with all of the paranormal and YA.

Now it's your turn: what do you plan on reading this June?

Stacking the Shelves (4)

 Stacking the Shelves is a meme brought to us by Tynga at Tynga's Reviews!

 

Wrecked by Anna Davies (Library)
The Selection (Selection - Trilogy) by Kiera Cass (Library)
First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones (Library)

And for ebooks, (all given to me to review) we have:

I'd also like to introduce you to my new buddy, Castiel. Cas is a parrotlet that my mom rescued today. He is a bit shy, and was already rejected by one owner after only a day. I'm going to be helping to socialize and hand tame him.