Friday, May 18, 2012

On Gifts: A Review of a Job From Hell by Jayde Scott

A Job From Hell is probably about as stereotypical of a vampire book as you can get. I can't really say why I decided to read it, but I can tell you that it did not knock my socks off.

Despite a distinct lack of domestic skill, Amber accepts a job as Aiden's housekeeper and quickly discovers that there's something odd about him. He sleeps all day and never seems to eat and...you know the drill. Amber is Aiden's fated mate, so she's obviously stuck falling in love with him. Then she ends up unwittingly participating in a paranormal race where the prize is a supernatural power that will make her a walking target.

Positive Comments

The dialogue and character interactions are actually very clever. At times it might be a little forced, but at least it's amusing.  I liked the cast of secondary characters, perhaps more than I liked either main character.

The plot approached interesting, but it did so from a sideways route. I kept thinking that if the author had focused the book on different elements--the prize, the magic book thingy, all of the darker stuff introduced in the world, the book might actually be really good. This actually gave me vague hope that the sequels might be decent, although I have no immediate plans to read them.

Negative Comments

Fated mates. Don't like them. End of story.

To be more specific, I do think that fated mates can be a good trope, but you cannot use it in place of relationship development. You still need to have your characters go from meet cute to happy ending via a well paced, logical route. This book doesn't do that. A lot of the emotions, especially on Aiden's end, are "I must be with her because she is my mate." There's nothing specific that makes them work as a couple.

It's just terribly cliched. Aiden is a rich vampire. Amber is a financially struggling human. Come on now, can't we rise above this old gambit? And then there's the "will he or won't he turn her" plot. Boring. Boring. Boring. Nothing new to add, the plot goes exactly where you'd expect it to, and you'll feel like you've wasted hours of your life.

Amber is a flaccid, dull heroine. She surprised me a bit near the end, when she actually became somewhat useful. Otherwise she's incredibly boring. She's an ordinary girl with ordinary goals. She takes a job she's not qualified for. Finds herself in a fish-out-of-water situation when surrounded by rich supernaturals. Reacts to it exactly as you would expect her to. Even her flaws are boring--she's clumsy and she can't cook.

Recommendation

There's nothing wrong with the writing style, and the book wasn't a total disaster. For me, it was mostly just dull. So I'm going to warn you off of it, but gently. If you're a huge vampire fan, for example, this might be a satisfactory book for you. It just wasn't for me. 2 stars.

Buy From Amazon: A Job From Hell (Ancient Legends #1)

6 comments:

  1. That's the problem with vampires being so insanely popular, there are some less-than-thrilling books out there.

    On a Christian fiction blog I read the author suggests combining two popular tropes, the vampire novel and the Amish-themed Christian romance. He was kidding. Me, I think Amish vampires would be kind of cool.

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    Replies
    1. Oh wow, wouldn't that be something? I haven't read an Amish themed book since I was a teenager!

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  2. I totally agree. The fated mates thing is just annoying and overused. I am not into the "typical" vamp story. I need there to be something unique in them to catch my attention. Great review.

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    1. Annoying and overused, plus never done well. I blame Christine Feehan, it has to be her fault somehow.

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  3. I enjoyed this one but I understand your feelings. Didn't you think that it's not a YA book? For me there was a problem with the age of Amber...

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    Replies
    1. If it was supposed to be a YA book, it didn't come across that way to me. But honestly, I just all around did not like Amber.

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Thoughtful comments are appreciated! I always respond to them, and I usually return the favor! Happy reading!

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