For What It's Worth


Monday, March 13, 2017

review: etched in bone (the others #5) by anne bishop


22062213New York Times bestselling author Anne Bishop returns to her world of the Others, as humans struggle to survive in the shadow of shapeshifters and vampires far more powerful than themselves…

After a human uprising was brutally put down by the Elders—a primitive and lethal form of the Others—the few cities left under human control are far-flung. And the people within them now know to fear the no-man’s-land beyond their borders—and the darkness…


As some communities struggle to rebuild, Lakeside Courtyard has emerged relatively unscathed, though Simon Wolfgard, its wolf shifter leader, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn must work with the human pack to maintain the fragile peace. But all their efforts are threatened when Lieutenant Montgomery’s shady brother arrives, looking for a free ride and easy pickings.


With the humans on guard against one of their own, tensions rise, drawing the attention of the Elders, who are curious about the effect such an insignificant predator can have on a pack. But Meg knows the dangers, for she has seen in the cards how it will all end—with her standing beside a grave. ~
Goodreads

Source: e-arc provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Review:

I’m really not adverse to writing negative reviews. But when every single person is in LOVE with a series and book and your the odd woman out, well…yeah. So here goes – don’t throw things at me! lol

I fell so in love with the first book in this series - and of course with Meg and Simon and The Others.

It was a must read series for me. The struggle to integrate humans with the The Others – the creatures (shifters, vampires, blood prophets) that are the natives of this world. Humans basically need their permission to exist. The entire human race could be wiped out in a blink of an eye if they piss off the Terre Indigene. One small community of Others, led by shifter Simon Wolfgard, tries to create that space where they can all coexist peacefully.

TBH, I've been less then thrilled with the last two books, feeling like things were dragging out and that there was less and less of The Courtyard and Others that I had loved so much. But I was still in love with Meg & Simon and the upcoming epic battle so I persevered knowing that Etched in Bone was the final book in this series but I was disappointed.

Bishop added new characters that don't really mean much and local cop Monty Montgomery’s asshole brother was completely unnecessary to get the plot where she was trying to go. There were far more sinister forces that could have put Meg in danger and lead to the same place without creating this convoluted family drama.

So much of this series hinges on you being torn between the humans trying to maintain their brand of civility and modern trappings while coexisting with the Others more wild ways and terrifying brand of enforcement. It was cute when they were figuring each other out at first. For example Meg made the shifter puppies dog biscuits. They’re wild creatures but now they’re addicted to dog biscuits and dog beds.

My problem is I don't care one iota about the humans other than Meg and a few of her friends anymore. They are whiny and demanding. There is no need to keep them around. All they do is put a strain on the Courtyard and then ask for more. The Others provide food, jobs, shelter, schools, gardens, meat, books, 4 place table settings and yet they’ll come up with one more thing that they want. Can’t we have chicken? JFC! Be happy they let you live and protect you instead of asking for more.

On a more technical note - there were looong, boring chapters about how to help the humans share washer/dryer time, how to get the fussy humans more beef, the benefits of yogurt. Who the f cares??

You have this rich world that Bishop built, with wonderfully complex characters and the blood prophets and we're discussing laundry and cheese? Dealing with a simple leach of a brother? That just wasn’t interesting to me.

There’s been a very slow unfurling of relationships and consequences and it seemed to all get thrown aside for more mundane issues that I could have read in any chick-lit contemporary novel.

I know everyone is a huge fan of this series so I suppose this review only applies if you had problems with the last few books like I did. If you didn't then you will love this one as well.

I didn't hate it AT ALL but the magic is gone for me and I'm just kinda bored with the whole thing.

As for Simon and Meg – highlight for spoiler: You do get a nice, if rushed conclusion. I would never expect sexy times or anything like that with them after all she’s been through but it ends up being more of – well are we doing this relationship thing or what kind conclusion. It was sweet and I’m happy with it but I wanted more emotion and together time after 5 books.

So SORRY!!! Just ignore me and my negative review…nothing to see here lol



20 comments:

  1. I appreciate you posted this, everyone's tastes are different. I had that happen with PBriggs latest book, I didn't care for it while everyone else is adoring it!

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    1. Thanks. Yeah, it's tough being the odd person out!

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  2. LOl, I still enjoyed it, and I did give it a 4, but it was more a 3 cos of all those things you mentioned. It was not as good as the previous one

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    1. That's o funny. Because you are waaaay more impatient than me. lol

      The 4th book should have been the plot for the last book I think.

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  3. I loved the first book as well and I'm still on the second book. I'm already with you on the human side and other than Meg and her friends, who cares? *sigh* Sorry to hear about the introduction on the other characters but hopefully it will go better on audio. I think audios can have a different impact. I hope so! :D

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    1. I bet it will seem more tense on audio! I hope you love it.

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  4. Aw, I'm sorry it went a bit downhill for you after the first book. I appreciate your honest thoughts though! I'm sure there are many out there that feel like you.

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    1. Thank you! A few people on Goodreads commented and felt the same so there's like 3 of us! lol

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  5. Grrrrrl. I totally get you with the Meg & Simon thing. I feel like we were strung along for the longest time and was not given enough in terms of where their relationship went. I still loved it, though! :D

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    1. So you wanna date? Sure, we're hanging out anyway. Ok. lol

      That's what it felt like. I truly didn't expect a steamy relationship or anything like that but I would have liked to experience that change over to more.

      I'm glad you enjoyed it. I think I'm the odd man out with this one lol

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  6. I know that you have slowly disliked this series and I know that it started out with a bang .SO i'll let you know my thoughts after I read this puppy :)

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    1. I hope you love it Julie! I know it's a favorite of yours.

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  7. I don't think I ever heard you angrier than this LOL. I suppose 5 books were a bit of a stretch...
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    "You have this rich world that Bishop built, with wonderfully complex characters and the blood prophets and we're discussing laundry and cheese?"
    LOL, no. Definitely NOT laundry. As for me, I have enough of it in my everyday life. NOT in a book, please!

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    1. Ha! Not angry at all. More...perplexed?? It was supposed to be 3 books then stretched into 5. At that point I needed my ending but it was kind of a waste of time overall.

      You must not have followed me years ago when I wrote REALLY angry reviews lol

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    2. Are they still on the blog? We "met" each other when I was still a novice, 2012-2013, so...Now I'm curious about the old, angry reviews now ;D.

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  8. This was a great review. I liked it more than you, I think, but I get your frustrations. For me, it was Simon losing his dominance. The Elders a thinking about how many humans to keep, and Simon is placating them. I wish we'd seen him take a firmer stance.

    Thanks for keeping it real. ;)

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    1. That's a great point. I got really frustrated by how many boring meetings he had to go to. I mean he's an alpha wolf and his whole day consist of meetings. lol

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  9. 5 books, eh? There are very few series these days where I feel like more than 3 books is justified. Sorry you had a bad reading experience with this one!

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    1. Honestly, I wouldn't have started it if I knew it would have been 5 books. I thought it was going to be 3. I don't read any continuing series right now - except for different couple each book romances.

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  10. OH man. Hate when I'm the odd girl out like that and am full of meh and grrs and everyone else is in a swoon. I've not tried this series yet. I do have book one, though.

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