Review: Tempest Rising (Jane True #1) by Nicole Peeler

 (click the cover image above to add the book to your to be read pile)

Format: Paperback 

Buy: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository

 Synopsis:

Living in small town Rockabill, Maine, Jane True always knew she didn't quite fit in with so-called normal society. During her nightly, clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean, a grisly find leads Jane to startling revelations about her heritage: she is only half-human.

Now, Jane must enter a world filled with supernatural creatures alternatively terrifying, beautiful, and deadly- all of which perfectly describe her new "friend," Ryu, a gorgeous and powerful vampire.

It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: a dog can heal with a lick; spirits bag your groceries; and whatever you do, never-ever rub the genie's lamp.

If you love Sookie Stackhouse, then you'll want to dive into Nicole Peeler's enchanting debut novel.

Review:

What can I say about a book I disliked wholeheartedly? Let's start with the beautiful cover. The cover art is original and unique and definitely stands out amongst many urban fantasy books and is completely accurate to the book. The  Book Cover and the intriguing book synopsis got me all excited to dive into the world of Tempest Rising.

When I did dive, I dove so much that I started getting caught in a whirlwind of irritating dialogue, protagonists that act like victims 24/7 and a vampire that is just too cliche I was about to throw the book down my toilet so it'll get it's own whirlwind of sewage.

Every time Jane True, the main character, speaks, or narrates. I hear this squeaky annoying voice in my head that I wince whenever she speaks. Imagine me wincing throughout my entire reading experience with Tempest Rising. I'm not particularly fond of Jane nor her irritating inner dialogue. She even calls her inner voice, her libido. *cue me hitting my head with this ridiculous book - twice*

Again, I say irritating. Now, you're probably thinking. Why didn't I just stop reading it? Well, I tried! But my Obsessive Compulsiveness wouldn't let me. What's even worse is that I was dense enough to buy the entire series before checking if I would like the first one. That means, I'm going to have to finish the series and suffer because of my lack of logical thinking. Oh yes, the torture I inflict upon myself with these books. *shakes head disapprovingly*

Now, for the folklore aspect of the book. The book had the most unusual set of supernaturals I've ever read before. This includes Selkies, Vampires, Succubi, Incubi, Shapeshifters, Gnomes,  Nagas and a whole lot of other types that I can't remember because they were just too many. Each one had it's own significant part in the story and too be honest, it's hard for me to keep up with who is what type of supernatural. Frankly, I didn't care. For most of the book I was yelling at the pages telling it to get on with and just do something unpredictable so I can feel like the book had significance. The book was unpredictable maybe only a couple of times and just stopped itself from being good when Jane starts talking to her libido again.

The instigator of her libido conversations is Ryu, a 270-year-old vampire. A 270-year old vampire who doesn't act his age. If I lived for over a hundreds of years and managed to keep my youth, I would be acting my age! Why would you be 270-years-old and act like you're still in your mid-twenties? Why do you want to even keep the naivety, the stupidity and the recklessness of that age? Yes, I dislike Ryu as much as I dislike Jane.

The plot is average, the events and the antagonists were way too predictable and didn't tempt me to read on. I basically had to force myself to finish the book.

The verdict:

The characters were infuriating, unrealistic and not ones that I could relate to. The plot was boring and too patterned. And I ended up still enjoying the book only by convincing myself to look at Jane and Ryu's ridiculousness as something written on purpose by the author to entertain her readers.

2/5 Stars