This is the first Terrible Girls Club feature I have participated in. Terrible Girls first formed on Goodreads with a shared love of Terrible from the Downside Ghosts series, it quickly became more as we discovered our love for books and blogging.
Samina from Escapism From Reality and I decided to pick books for each other to review. She chose for me Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffins. You can see my review for it here. I picked The Loss of Sunlight by Lia Black for Samina to read. I love this book. It's a self published book and isn't widely known but I found it to be really good. I had guest posted my review for this over at Paranormal Itch and you can see it here. But back to Samina, read below to see what she thought of my book suggestion...
Sylvie believes she is the perfect modern image of a southern belle. She has a fabulous boyfriend, fashionable career aspirations and everyone is always so eager to help her when she runs into a problem. But her problems were never quite as bad as dying before, and now her biggest problem is trying to keep Aidan Pope, a devilishly handsome man--who insists on calling her by another woman’s name--from ruining her perfect life.
I'm really excited about being a guest at Sinfully Delicious Book Reviews. Emmy is a great friend and we share so many common books that it's ridiculous. I gave her a Young Adult to read (Poor Emmy) and she gave me The Loss of sunlight to read and review. This is how it went.
Sylvie is attacked in a park while going one date to a guy (she thinks she will marry one day) by a large blank mean looking hound. Since that day her life is tuned upside down. She meets a guy named Adrian Pope who tells her how she is supposed to save the world. Not just earth but he two worlds beyond it encompassing the whole universe. She is supposed to defeat her evil Aunt Baine, with whom Aidan may still be in love with.
This is the kind of character you will least expect to become an ass kicking, magic wielding, sexy heroine. The loss of sunlight is in its core is an UF but to me personally it felt as if it was Sylvie’s journey to become what she was destined to be a strong, beautiful self-independent woman. This book was as much about the action, setting and the world as well as Sylvie’s transformation.
Sylvie is asouthern Belle. No, let me re-phrase that. Meet Sylvie your Southern Princess. I have never seen a southern girl having such tendencies before (not that I have seen many). All she thinks about is how to look pretty and get a husband who will look after her. I seriously think Sylvie will give Sookie (Sookie StackHouse series) a run for her money with the amount of thought she puts into how she looks. It takes her hours to get dressed and pick her outfit, her hair, make-up and even the colour of her freaking mascara.
She was shallow and vain, thinking the whole world revolved around her. But never one moment did I dislike her. She had all the characteristics which under normal circumstances would annoy me to no end. She cried at every opportunity, cared too much about how she looked, most of the time only thought about herself, naive to a fault but regardless she had something about her which pulled me in. Perhaps, it was her naivety or maybe the way she looked at the world with rose- tinted glasses. I would not say I loved her but I did not dislike her either. She had serious damsel- in-distress tendencies and sometimes was just waiting for her prince to come and rescue her.
Aidan, on the other hand would fit nicely in my fictional boyfriend list ahem, I mean to say tortured hero list. He has had such a past and due the circumstances, he has had to choose duty over love which must have been so hard for him. He is a lonely soul since birth and was still looking for acceptance. He was loyal fierce loyal and alpha-vicious. I mean tall, dark, handsome mysterious man with tattoos...yes please.
The story line and setting were really well done. The ‘apocalypse’ brought upon the people was very real and I could feel the world coming off the pages. The adventure and plot were engaging and pulled me right in. The romance was well done too and I was rooting for Sylvie and Aidan throughout and obviously waiting for Baine (or the bane of everyone’s existence) die. Since it was revealed that she was Aidan’s ex she was automatically hated. The flashbacks into Aidan life were a great device in providing the reader with insight upon what had happened in him past and also how Sylvie’s father was like.
After all that, The Loss of Sunlight could have been epic and fell short. It felt like 3 books crammed into one. I’m not saying this because this is a self-published work, but because some parts felt neglected. After 30 present of the book, it kind of slowed down and then everything changed at break neck speed. Scenes which were enjoyable could have been extended and the fight scenes and love scenes could have had more. The chemistry between Sylvie and Aidan was great and there banter was full of sexual tension but I wish she had taken slightly longer to declare her love for him. I just wish it was lower. I loved the grit and the darkness in the book but it simply could have been so much better. I wish I could have been rating this book on what it could have been but I can only comment on what it is now .Strings were left dangling and incidents unexplained. The last half of the book seemed rushed and crammed too much in.
I also saw some similarities between s certain popular Urban-fantasy and this book. A southern belle meant to save the world paired with a tall dark hero with tattoos who is horrible to her. Sounds familiar? Well it certainly did to be but after that the similarities end the real plot begins which was fun to read and it was engaging and interesting. I simply wish there was more.
Samina from Escapism From Reality and I decided to pick books for each other to review. She chose for me Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffins. You can see my review for it here. I picked The Loss of Sunlight by Lia Black for Samina to read. I love this book. It's a self published book and isn't widely known but I found it to be really good. I had guest posted my review for this over at Paranormal Itch and you can see it here. But back to Samina, read below to see what she thought of my book suggestion...
The Loss of Sunlight
By Lia Black
4 out of 5 Stars
Aidan is convinced that Sylvie is a woman born between heaven and hell who can save three worlds from a war that is inevitable in a reality where angels kill and demons can be compassionate.
As Sylvie begins to discover the truth of her origins, she comes to the understanding that she can never have the life she thought she wanted, her days of being a pampered princess are numbered, and she must develop her power enough to defeat her aunt, the devil incarnate, and a woman with whom Aidan may still be in love.
I'm really excited about being a guest at Sinfully Delicious Book Reviews. Emmy is a great friend and we share so many common books that it's ridiculous. I gave her a Young Adult to read (Poor Emmy) and she gave me The Loss of sunlight to read and review. This is how it went.
Sylvie is attacked in a park while going one date to a guy (she thinks she will marry one day) by a large blank mean looking hound. Since that day her life is tuned upside down. She meets a guy named Adrian Pope who tells her how she is supposed to save the world. Not just earth but he two worlds beyond it encompassing the whole universe. She is supposed to defeat her evil Aunt Baine, with whom Aidan may still be in love with.
This is the kind of character you will least expect to become an ass kicking, magic wielding, sexy heroine. The loss of sunlight is in its core is an UF but to me personally it felt as if it was Sylvie’s journey to become what she was destined to be a strong, beautiful self-independent woman. This book was as much about the action, setting and the world as well as Sylvie’s transformation.
Sylvie is a
She was shallow and vain, thinking the whole world revolved around her. But never one moment did I dislike her. She had all the characteristics which under normal circumstances would annoy me to no end. She cried at every opportunity, cared too much about how she looked, most of the time only thought about herself, naive to a fault but regardless she had something about her which pulled me in. Perhaps, it was her naivety or maybe the way she looked at the world with rose- tinted glasses. I would not say I loved her but I did not dislike her either. She had serious damsel- in-distress tendencies and sometimes was just waiting for her prince to come and rescue her.
“The road to wherever this was, Hell or otherwise, seemed indeed to be paved and potholed with good-intentions.”
Aidan, on the other hand would fit nicely in my fictional boyfriend list ahem, I mean to say tortured hero list. He has had such a past and due the circumstances, he has had to choose duty over love which must have been so hard for him. He is a lonely soul since birth and was still looking for acceptance. He was loyal fierce loyal and alpha-vicious. I mean tall, dark, handsome mysterious man with tattoos...yes please.
“So how did...what did...why..?”“I see you haven’t lost any of your remarkable communication skills,” Aidan leered at me. “Oh how I’ve missed your insults!” I sobbed.”
The story line and setting were really well done. The ‘apocalypse’ brought upon the people was very real and I could feel the world coming off the pages. The adventure and plot were engaging and pulled me right in. The romance was well done too and I was rooting for Sylvie and Aidan throughout and obviously waiting for Baine (or the bane of everyone’s existence) die. Since it was revealed that she was Aidan’s ex she was automatically hated. The flashbacks into Aidan life were a great device in providing the reader with insight upon what had happened in him past and also how Sylvie’s father was like.
“Ah yes,” he sighed, “the saviour of the universe is afraid of bugs.”
“Having some fear is healthy.”
After all that, The Loss of Sunlight could have been epic and fell short. It felt like 3 books crammed into one. I’m not saying this because this is a self-published work, but because some parts felt neglected. After 30 present of the book, it kind of slowed down and then everything changed at break neck speed. Scenes which were enjoyable could have been extended and the fight scenes and love scenes could have had more. The chemistry between Sylvie and Aidan was great and there banter was full of sexual tension but I wish she had taken slightly longer to declare her love for him. I just wish it was lower. I loved the grit and the darkness in the book but it simply could have been so much better. I wish I could have been rating this book on what it could have been but I can only comment on what it is now .Strings were left dangling and incidents unexplained. The last half of the book seemed rushed and crammed too much in.
“There is beauty in darkness and evil in the light; still hope raises eternal above it all.”
I also saw some similarities between s certain popular Urban-fantasy and this book. A southern belle meant to save the world paired with a tall dark hero with tattoos who is horrible to her. Sounds familiar? Well it certainly did to be but after that the similarities end the real plot begins which was fun to read and it was engaging and interesting. I simply wish there was more.
“He was depending on me to be merciful, even though he’d been quite merciless when I was at my weakest. It eyed with the idea of making home go down on his knees and beg, maybe force home to paint my toenails while he was down there, but I was a bigger person than that.
“Say please,”
I never claimed to be a giant.
Yes, Sylvie reminds me of MacKayla Lane! This review process sounds fun, looking forward to reading more Terrible tandems!
ReplyDeleteTalk Supe
But that's where the similarities end IMO. LOL... Terrible Tandems! :)
DeleteI had so much fun with this too. I really enjoyed reading something which normally I wouldn't have picked.
ReplyDeleteThanks Emmy for pairing up with me. I may have been slightly difficult to work with but I loved every moment of it.
Psht. You weren't difficult! That was fun!!!
Delete:D
xoxo
Emmy