1. Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu
Mar. 16th, 2009 06:30 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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50books_pocHello, everyone! I'm one of the slew of newcomers to this comm; I've been lurking for a few days, and now I'm making my first book review.
TITLE: Tiger Eye
AUTHOR: Marjorie M. Liu
GENRE: Paranormal Romance
NUMBER OF PAGES: 342
PART OF A SERIES?: Yes, it's #1 in the Dirk and Steele series.
AMAZON.COM'S PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: When a young psychic acquires a riddle box in Beijing, China, she learns she can free the shapeshifter imprisoned inside, and that he is the beginning of an adventure – and a love – of a lifetime.
So. Our heroine, Dela Reese, is on vacation in Beijing when she buys a riddle box from a mysterious old woman at a street market. On her way back to her hotel, she is accosted by a creepy guy, but manages to get away from him. Brushing that encounter off as random street crime, she heads back to her hotel, takes a shower, and opens her box.
At this point, she meets the hero, Hari. He's an immortal shapechanger who has been cursed to obey the owners of the box and fulfill their every wish. By opening the box, Dela has, in effect, let the genie out of the bottle. Given that this is a romance novel, this seems like a fairly obvious set-up for some sex scenes with dubious consent issues, right?
Fortunately, Tiger Eye goes in a less porntastic direction. Here's a quote:
As it turns out, Hari is actually quite traumatized from being forced to be either a weapon or a sex slave over the last couple thousand years, and isn't interested in either one at first. Dela, being a decent human being, isn't interested in owning a slave, and vows to help Hari break the curse and find his freedom. And because the two of them take the time to get to know each other and treat each other with kindness and respect, they become real friends first, and lovers later in the book. Unlike a few other romances I've read, I get the sense that these character aren't just attracted to each other, they actually like each other too.
While this book does get quite sexy in places, the sex isn't its only reason for being; there's a lot of plot here, too. I mean, a lot of plot. The part I've mentioned is only the beginning. It turns out Dela has her own special abilities; she has prophetic dreams and can manipulate metal telekinetically. Plus someone is trying to kill her. Well, two someones. And once the two of them make it back to the United States, we get introduced to a whole slew of supporting characters (who obviously are going to get their own installments in the series) and quite a few subplots. In fact, that's one of the reason why I enjoyed this book so much; things happen to these characters. And it's just so much fun!
Because there's so much happening in this novel, there are a few loose threads that get dropped -- but this is the first part of a series, so I'm willing to bet they get picked up again in later books. And if they're as much fun to read as this book was, I'll be picking them up for sure!
ETA cut tag to hide spoilers.
TITLE: Tiger EyeAUTHOR: Marjorie M. Liu
GENRE: Paranormal Romance
NUMBER OF PAGES: 342
PART OF A SERIES?: Yes, it's #1 in the Dirk and Steele series.
AMAZON.COM'S PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: When a young psychic acquires a riddle box in Beijing, China, she learns she can free the shapeshifter imprisoned inside, and that he is the beginning of an adventure – and a love – of a lifetime.
So. Our heroine, Dela Reese, is on vacation in Beijing when she buys a riddle box from a mysterious old woman at a street market. On her way back to her hotel, she is accosted by a creepy guy, but manages to get away from him. Brushing that encounter off as random street crime, she heads back to her hotel, takes a shower, and opens her box.
At this point, she meets the hero, Hari. He's an immortal shapechanger who has been cursed to obey the owners of the box and fulfill their every wish. By opening the box, Dela has, in effect, let the genie out of the bottle. Given that this is a romance novel, this seems like a fairly obvious set-up for some sex scenes with dubious consent issues, right?
Fortunately, Tiger Eye goes in a less porntastic direction. Here's a quote:
His mouth tightened into a hard white line. "I see." He gave her a slow once-over that, oddly, managed not to feel degrading. "If you did not bring me here to kill or fight, then I was summoned to pleasure your body." He looked like he would rather impale himself face-first on a bed of nails.
As it turns out, Hari is actually quite traumatized from being forced to be either a weapon or a sex slave over the last couple thousand years, and isn't interested in either one at first. Dela, being a decent human being, isn't interested in owning a slave, and vows to help Hari break the curse and find his freedom. And because the two of them take the time to get to know each other and treat each other with kindness and respect, they become real friends first, and lovers later in the book. Unlike a few other romances I've read, I get the sense that these character aren't just attracted to each other, they actually like each other too.
While this book does get quite sexy in places, the sex isn't its only reason for being; there's a lot of plot here, too. I mean, a lot of plot. The part I've mentioned is only the beginning. It turns out Dela has her own special abilities; she has prophetic dreams and can manipulate metal telekinetically. Plus someone is trying to kill her. Well, two someones. And once the two of them make it back to the United States, we get introduced to a whole slew of supporting characters (who obviously are going to get their own installments in the series) and quite a few subplots. In fact, that's one of the reason why I enjoyed this book so much; things happen to these characters. And it's just so much fun!
Because there's so much happening in this novel, there are a few loose threads that get dropped -- but this is the first part of a series, so I'm willing to bet they get picked up again in later books. And if they're as much fun to read as this book was, I'll be picking them up for sure!
ETA cut tag to hide spoilers.
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