Hard to believe this is truly the last book. This has been one of my favorite series for a long time and I am sorry to see it end. I love all of these characters and this lore. True to form, this story is delivered with beautiful, vivid imagery and most of the characters stayed true to their personalities as they have for the entire series. I only had a couple of complaints about this one (I know, it surprised me too, after not being able to find a single fault with any of the preceding books in this series). If you’ve read the book that proceeded this one, you know that Rowan is back, but has resurrected without her memories. That’s fine, but in addition, she seems to have had a complete personality transplant. Nothing about her was the same strong Rowan we last saw, and actually she almost seemed to revert into a child. I understand there would be some confusion, but she was completely different, no spark of her old self at all. Which brings me to my next point of contention. I think too much of this book was spent chasing Rowan’s memories. I know that was a major thing, but the plot, itself, ended up lost in the mix. Esperanza’s attempt at revenge was… not very impressive. In my opinion, it fell flat, compared to the other books in this series. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It felt like most of it was spent tying up loose ends, but I enjoyed seeing the characters interact one last time. The author is a master story teller and does an excellent job bringing you into the world, mind and emotions of her characters. Perhaps my feelings about the flow would be different if this were a middle story. As it is, I guess I just expected more out of a finale. I do still recommend this book. If you haven’t been reading this series, well, what are you waiting for? Go get them ALL, as this is an excellent series! 4 platypires for this one. **I was given a copy of this book free from the author in exchange for honest review** **I was given a free copy of this ebook in exchange for honest review** There is so much to this wonderful book that it’s hard to know where to begin a review. Funeral with a View is a poignant tale of one man’s life and experiences. When Richard Franchitti’s life is brought to an untimely end by a freak accident, he finds himself in an out of body experience as he attends his own funeral and relives the memories – both beautiful and tragic – of his all-too-short life. Ricky is not a perfect man, but I think he epitomizes a good man; a man that others would look up to and admire. This book drives home so many of life’s experiences, from the highs of being in love with that one person who completes you and the birth of your child, to the lows of loss and death, as well as everything in between. The writing style is fluid and is incredibly well done, while the editing is excellent. The imagery is vivid and the story sucked me right in. Many times I found myself either laughing out loud at the antics of some of the characters (like Ricky’s mother – she’s a hoot) or wallowing with a broken heart at the unfairness of it all. Something else I really enjoyed seeing in the book was the character growth as they grew older and more mature. These are not two-dimensional characters that are established early on and never change, these characters seem real. They are people that grow, learn and change as time goes on and as they gain life experiences. They have fears, flaws and emotions, and I think that many of us could stand to learn a few things from them, especially Ricky. Life is just too short and we should all make the most of every moment. I wholeheartedly recommend this book and award it 5 platypires! I wish I had a better report for this book. Unfortunately, the female MC, Jenna, was somewhat devoid of personality. She had many weird quirks (like turning bright red and slurring drunkenly after drinking even the tiniest bit of alcohol), but tended to be a bit monosyllabic in her dealings with the male MC, Max. There were story inconsistencies. Jenna gets a brand new high-paying job but misses a ton of days, which no one seems to care about. She goes to a function and gets completely, horribly, embarrassingly wasted (see above description of that), which 'reflects badly on the company'... but then this is never referenced again. She is apparently completely naive and above the rules. Now, Max was an entirely different story. Where Jenna had no personality, he had an excess of one. He probably had enough for them to share. Max was funny, caring, and heartfelt. He was perfect... in some ways almost too much so. He got ALL the best lines, and Jenna got the easy road of just agreeing with him. More than once, I found myself wondering what he saw in her. Max is the one aspect of this book that really saved this story. I did enjoy the dynamic with Jenna's friends and with Max's family. Each of the supporting characters were well done and had flair. They were interesting. The storyline itself was cute and was a refreshing twist on on the "rich businessman meets innocent girl who is more beautiful than she realizes" theme that many romances have tended toward as of late. As a final note, although I do see that this book has an editor, it needs a better one. Examples: "Then...unexpecdetly.....I saw Luke's face in my mind." on the very next page came: "We were all busy with own lives" And that was in the beginning of the book. The typos and errors continued like that throughout the entire thing and many times I had to stop to try to translate, which removed me from the story. I almost quit reading after Chapter 3, because it was starting to feel like too much work. In the end, I enjoyed the story, but it needs work. I am torn on reading book 2. On the one hand, I want to read more about Max and his brother, but on the other hand, I am not sure I can handle any more Jenna... or the editing. I award this book 2 Platypires. |
"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one."
Currently Reading: Rating System: 5 Platypires: I loved this book! It was awesome and you should go get it right now! The story captivated me and the editing was superb. 4 Platypires: I enjoyed this book. There are minor issues that I had with it, either with editing, or perhaps with the character development or something else. Either way, I still recommend this story. 3 Platypires: This book was okay. It didn't grab me the way I would have hoped, but it wasn't bad. Editing may or may not be a factor. 2 Platypires: I didn't really enjoy this book. Character development or plot could use a major facelift. Editing may need an overhaul. 1 Platypire: I did not like this book. It needs work on both plot and editing. Next to Read/Review:
Last Reviewed:
June 2015
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Valesha
Hi! I'm a huge supporter of Indie authors, being one myself. I started as a beta reader and reviewer, and discovered what a great community of people Indies really are! I love most kinds of Romance and Sci-Fi, but my absolute favorite is Fantasy! Really, I love most genres except for slasher/horror and hard-core romance-free erotica.