I read WATERFALL and part of CASCADE today. They were the only books I had on hand, and I told myself they couldn't be as bad as I was making them out to be. You know those books? The ones you feel kind of obliged to keep reading, in the hope that they will somehow end much, much better than they started?
I should know better by now.
The premise got me so excited, but the heroine left me cold. In the first forty-odd pages, she takes an instant dislike to one female character for no discernible reason, except that the character "reminds" Gabriella of girls she hasn't liked before. Gabi sarcastically says that Romana is as "innocent as a streetwalker" and notes that she uses a "trampy" way to get a man (never mind that he's Romana's intended husband) to notice her.
Seeing a pattern?
A slut-shaming teenage character may be an accurate creation, but I don't find her admirable, especially since she never recants her behaviour. Add to that a fair amount of clumsy word choice and the fact that some of Gabi's slang is outdated and "teen" voice seems forced and inauthentic, and . . . bah.
CASCADE is somewhat better than WATERFALL and I am determined to see it through to the end, but I am overall disappointed. I wanted to like these books so badly. I love historical ANYTHING. I thought these would be fantastic, and I was sorely disappointed. There was a certain amount of period accuracy, which I appreciated, but by the second or third time I tripped over a 14th century Italian character offering up a bizarrely 21st century Evangelical-style prayer, I was pretty much over the whole thing.
On the bright side, I think these books will ensure I am a much more appreciative reader when I return to THE GIRL IN THE STEEL CORSET!