Thursday, April 4, 2013

ARC Review: Gameboard of the Gods

Title: Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X #1)
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre: Sci-Fi, Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopia, Urban Fantasy
Expected Release: June 4th

See it at Goodreads


In a futuristic world nearly destroyed by religious extremists, Justin March lives in exile after failing in his job as an investigator of religious groups and supernatural claims. But Justin is given a second chance when Mae Koskinen comes to bring him back to the Republic of United North America (RUNA). Raised in an aristocratic caste, Mae is now a member of the military’s most elite and terrifying tier, a soldier with enhanced reflexes and skills.

When Justin and Mae are assigned to work together to solve a string of ritualistic murders, they soon realize that their discoveries have exposed them to terrible danger. As their investigation races forward, unknown enemies and powers greater than they can imagine are gathering in the shadows, ready to reclaim the world in which humans are merely game pieces on their board.

Gameboard of the Gods, the first installment of Richelle Mead’s Age of X series, will have all the elements that have made her YA Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series such megasuccesses: sexy, irresistible characters; romantic and mythological intrigue; and relentless action and suspense.



I'm glad I finished this one. I almost gave up several times. Extremely slow start and introduction to characters and plot.
I have to say I feel a bit sad that I couldn't enjoy this as much as I'd hoped I could since Mead is one of my fave authors. Ever. In fact, this is the first book of hers I didn't get into much. But this just bored me the majority of the time, and I found myself feeling at times obligated to get it read. I couldn't feel a connection to the characters and that is a huge, crucial point with me. I have a feeling I'm going to be in the minority though of the low ratings.


The first hundred pages are the worst. Probably the area where many readers I know may try and give up themselves. It's where I struggled the most and put it down several times, afraid that I wasn't going to pick it up again. This books presents such a wide mix and unusual terms without much explanation in the beginning. It feels weird. It gets confusing. And while often times I would have likely enjoyed this, I didn't quite get it here. There wasn't an immediate layout of the world or information provided right away. Just a slow gradual buildup, and you just have to be patient. I have a feeling a lot of unanswered questions will be a bit more cleared up in the next installment though.


What I really liked and kept me continuing on with the read: I loved the premise. Mead's writing and pace is also spot on still throughout the book, and the last half of the story picks up enough to become quite an entertaining read after all. Enough to where I'll still likely buy the finished copy and see where the series goes from here. The world building is interesting, refreshing, and detailed (though as I said before, a bit confusing at times). There's a chance I may have just read this at the wrong time, because her writing is quite obviously there. That I noticed for sure. Either way, I still look forward to seeing where this series goes.

There will be a huge audience to love this book because I can see the appeal, but I didn't quite love this one as much this time around from Mead.

 




Photobucket

6 comments:

  1. Aw, I was excited for this one. :(
    Though sci-fi is not my cup of tea, Richelle Mead is one of my favorite authors.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She's one of my faves too. :)
      I'm sure many people will love it. I think maybe I picked it up at a bad time, not sure. I'm pretty picky too when it comes to sci-fi. Her writing was still fantastic as always, I just couldn't get into the story and characters. It happens. Lol. No worries. I'll continue reading it anyway I'm sure. :P

      Thanks for the comment!

      <3
      Pixie

      Delete
  2. Aww I was really looking forward to this! I may still read it but we tend to have really similar opinions on books so if you didn't like it much it's more than likely that I won't either.

    Ahh well, can't love every book I suppose :p

    <3
    Taylor

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Possibly. I'd still say go for it and read it. Her writing is still fantastic. You can tell she put a lot of time and thought into this one. But don't give up! It's got one of those really slow starts and you have to be patient. Haha. I'll still likely read the sequel. I can see the appeal where many people will be loving this much more than I did, but that's okay. No worries. :) She's still one of my fave authors. :P

      <3
      Pixie

      Delete
  3. Nooo, I wanted to love this book! The title alone is so intruiging! And the premise! And it's Richelle Mead for God's sake! Maybe I should mention that I'm just in the middle of the Vampire Academy series and everything with Richelle Mead's name on the cover is pretty much holy ground for me ;D Anyway, I hope I might still love this one - or at least the second half of it :) Thanks for the honest review, though

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Gameboard of the Gods series is hands down the most amazing series that Richelle Mead has written.

    It hurts my soul that the series never got finished. It's definitely a marketing issue in my opinion because these books were absolutely enthralling.

    Wait till you see Hosted Phone System

    ReplyDelete

Drop a line! We love having your comments!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...