Tag: Crossfire Series

Guest Review: Bared to You by Sylvia Day

Posted June 22, 2015 by Whitley B in Reviews | 0 Comments

Bared to You by Sylvia DayWhitley’s review of the Bared to You (Crossfire #1) series by Sylvia Day

Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness…

He was beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I’d never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily…

Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other’s most private wounds…and desires.

The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn’t tear us apart…

So I recently decided to read this book and (semi) live-blog my reactions to it.  You can see them all on goodreads or on my blog.  But it all boils down to: this book is a mess.  It’s disjointed, repetitive, stuff pops up only to spiral off into the void, and the emotional tone of the novel seriously does not match the subject matter.

I think that last point is the root of a lot of problems.  I mean, look at that summary.  That is a summary full of dark and despair, right?  And there’s a lot of stuff in this book that warrants such solemnity, what with both our main characters dealing with traumatic pasts.  However, through most of the book, the narration is…downright cheery.  Going just by tone, it reads like a light and fluffy romance.  And for all the main character wants to go on about the problems her past trauma cause…she is remarkably even-tempered about the whole thing.  It doesn’t seem to bug her at all, even when she’s laying the story bare in front a guy she’s only known for a week.  And the same goes for all their problems, really.  There’s just enough enough angst put into the narration to really carry it all off, so the whole thing reads as really flippant and shallow when dealing these really big, heavy issues.  (Now, if it had been intended as a light and fluffy read, it would have been cool.  It’s a nice and readable light and fluffy with some cute banter.  It just doesn’t work for this story.)

Another problem with the tone is that it’s pretty shallow, which means we end up with a lot of repetition.  They get in a fight, they make up, they have sex, they get in a fight, they make up, the have sex, and this cycle repeats again and again without really any carryover or buildup.  Eva gets mad, feels horny, and that’s about it.  She doesn’t connect one fight to the next ever, we’ll hear about one issue and then have something later that should bring that up again but it doesn’t, there’s just no progression or connection between one chapter and the next.  I mean, she panics in the middle of the night when he gets all up on her (which, yes, she should, she’s got history) and then I swear one chapter late he “wakes her up with sex” and she’s totally cool with it?  He doesn’t hesitate playing out that scene again, she doesn’t panic again, because as far as this book is concerned every scene is self-contained.  That doesn’t help the heavy subjects (“wow, yeah, you’re so traumatized, I can tell by how you completely move in two seconds”) and it doesn’t help the (lack of) plot, either.  Not to mention the fact that there’s no end to this book, they just keep repeating the same pattern over and over until suddenly the pages stop.  But if there’s no build-up, how can there be a goal/climax?

And there’s just a lot of stuff that goes off into nothing.  That one character at the start that looks like he might be a second love interest?  Disappears for hundreds of pages.  Gideon trying to convince her to be a submissive (out of the blue, 300 pages in)?  Totally dropped by the next chapter.  (Seriously, there is no BDSM in this, why was that even a subject?  It’s so weird.)

Eva is pretty nice as a character; she’s good at asserting herself, and she’s self-aware of her needs and communicates them.  It’s, honestly, about the only saving grace in this book because Gideon is…just…if this weren’t fiction I’d be convinced he’s got a secret evil twin, because he vacillates wildly between “complete raging asshole” and “cuddly awkward teddy bear.”  The Gideon we see at the start of the book, the one that “doesn’t do romance” and is blunt to the point of FUCKING KIDNAPPING?  Yeah, he disappears, replaced by a guy practically begging for romance.  No build up to that, just bam never mind, let’s date.  Teddy Bear Gideon is still pretty creepy, but it’s mostly reserved to…well, basically, Erotica Romance Tropes.  (Too possessive, kissing a girl to shut her up, downright unfortunate dirty talk, etc.)  They’re moments that don’t seem to fit with the rest of his personality, so they feel like they’re just in there for the sake of genre.

Actually, Asshat Gideon and BDSM both feel like they were added in last minute for the same reason.

So, that’s my take on it.  There’s some really creepy stuff in there, stuff that I raged when I read it, but the overall effect is so disjointed that when I look at the book as a whole I’m mostly just…confused.

Rating: 1 out of 5

This title is available from Berkley.  You can purchase it here or here in e-format.


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Guest Review: Captivated by You by Sylvia Day

Posted December 24, 2014 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

captivated by you by sylvia dayChrystal‘s review of Captivated by You (Crossfire, Book 4) by Sylvia Day

Gideon calls me his angel, but he’s the miracle in my life. My gorgeous, wounded warrior, so determined to slay my demons while refusing to face his own.

The vows we’d exchanged should have bound us tighter than blood and flesh. Instead they opened old wounds, exposed pain and insecurities, and lured bitter enemies out of the shadows. I felt him slipping from my grasp, my greatest fears becoming my reality, my love tested in ways I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to bear.

At the brightest time in our lives, the darkness of his past encroached and threatened everything we’d worked so hard for. We faced a terrible choice: the familiar safety of the lives we’d had before each other or the fight for a future that suddenly seemed an impossible and hopeless dream….

Captivated by you is the fourth book in the Crossfire series by Sylvia Day. It is an aptly named book as both Gideon Cross and Eva Tramell have held us captivated from the beginning of Bared to You, the first book in the series.

It picks up not far from where Entwined with You left off, but…. from Gideon’s point of view!  Can we pause for a fan girl squee?! We’ve all wanted into the head of that mega mogul super hottie since we first read about him. How he made Eva melt right then and there in the lobby of the Crossfire Building!

Well, inside that head is a past as dark as the gorgeous hair that crowns it. One thing I absolutely love about this book was that we were able to get into Gideon. His fears and pains were opened up to us. Not just through the eyes of Eva but through his own thoughts and fears; His needs and wants.

Sylvia Day also kept a good balance when jumping from Eva to Gideon. We were able to feel with her as she picked up the pieces of Gideon after he confessed everything to his stepfather.  Our hearts broke right along with hers.There isn’t much more I can say without giving away all the wonderful details, but I can say this:

Sylvia Day is an amazing author. She is talented in ways not many writers are.

She has an ability to make a person feel. To take some of the most taboo subjects, pains and experiences most people try not to even think about, and write them. She gives hope for people who feel so damaged they don’t believe there’s someone out there for them. She let’s us all know and believe there is someone to slay our dragons. There will always be someone to help us fight our demons and chase away the darkness.

I loved everything about this book and can not wait to read the next one!

5 out of 5

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it from here or here in e-format.


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Giveaway: Bared to You by Sylvia Day (autographed)

Posted November 4, 2014 by Holly in Giveaways | 7 Comments

bared to you by sylvia dayIn just two weeks book 4 in Sylvia Day’s bestselling Crossfire series, Captivated by You, will release. To celebrate, we’re giving away a signed copy of the book that started it all, Bared to You!

 

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness… 

He was beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I’d never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily…

Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other’s most private wounds…and desires.The bonds of his love transformed me, even as i prayed that the torment of our pasts didn’t tear us apart…

 

Leave a comment for a chance to win an autographed copy of Bared to You (US Only)!!

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Bared to You is available now from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

captivated by you by sylvia dayCaptivated by You will release 11/18/14.

Gideon calls me his angel, but he’s the miracle in my life. My gorgeous, wounded warrior, so determined to slay my demons while refusing to face his own.

The vows we’d exchanged should have bound us tighter than blood and flesh. Instead they opened old wounds, exposed pain and insecurities, and lured bitter enemies out of the shadows. I felt him slipping from my grasp, my greatest fears becoming my reality, my love tested in ways I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to bear.

At the brightest time in our lives, the darkness of his past encroached and threatened everything we’d worked so hard for. We faced a terrible choice: the familiar safety of the lives we’d had before each other or the fight for a future that suddenly seemed an impossible and hopeless dream….

Preorder your copy today! 

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