Coffee Club with a Reading Problem discussion

Discussion about Dark Genesis.

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DISCUSSION REVIEW (copy and paste)


Coffee Club With a Reading Problem Monthly Book Questionnaire
Share what you thought about this month's book! Give as many details as you can!

1. What was your initial impression when you started the book? Were you immediately drawn into the story, or did it take you a while? Did your opinion of the book change by the end? If so, why?

2. Did the book intrigue, amuse, disturb, alienate, irritate, or frighten you, or did you have a different response to the book?

3. Did you find the characters convincing? Were they believable? Compelling? Did you consider them fully-developed or one-dimensional? Did they grow or change? Who were your favorite and least favorite characters (and why)?

4. Was the plot well-developed? Was it believable? Did you feel manipulated along the way, or did the plot events unfold naturally or organically?

5. Was the pacing of the story to your liking? Would you consider the story more plot-driven (events unfolding quickly) or character-driven (more time spent developing characters' inner lives), and did that style work?

6. Did you expect the ending or were you surprised? Did you find the ending satisfying, or did you want it to end a different way?

7. Based on this book, would you be interested in continuing the series (if applicable) and/or reading other books by the same author? Is there anything you'd like to ask the author after finishing their book?

I just finished. It was a super quick read, and the free Kindle download on Amazon made it easy to get my hands on this one. questions to be answered shortly

1. What was your initial impression when you started the book? Were you immediately drawn into the story, or did it take you a while? Did your opinion of the book change by the end? If so, why?

I'd Say I was %60 drawn in from beginning to end. My midline opinion was steady throughout. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't super original either. I am one to like a good vampire story, and I may have been spoiled by people who have done it first, or better.

2. Did the book intrigue, amuse, disturb, alienate, irritate, or frighten you, or did you have a different response to the book?

It didn't really do any of these things to a memorable degree. That is part of its failing. Perhaps the point of view, or the writing style in books like Roots and The Color Purple make the reader invest themselves much more strongly and emotionally in characters and situations involving the horrors of slavery. Interview With a Vampire, Dracula, Fevre Dream, and jesus even Salem's Lot had me more emotionally invested in the conflicts of a vampire's existence. Not that Dark Genesis was painful to read, just that it had the same ideas presented in a way that wasn't as memorable as other things I've read.

3. Did you find the characters convincing? Were they believable? Compelling? Did you consider them fully-developed or one-dimensional? Did they grow or change? Who were your favorite and least favorite characters (and why)?

I was rooting for Luna, but her argumentative personality was irritating at times and she wasn't as believable in general as I wish she had been.
Avery was flat. Even though he is supposed to have regained humanity, I just wasn't invested emotionally.
Mary and Jupiter/Dembi were probably my favorite characters...not super complex, but loved Luna when she was hard to love.


4. Was the plot well-developed? Was it believable? Did you feel manipulated along the way, or did the plot events unfold naturally or organically?

ehh. see question 2. I feel like the author missed chances for depth. Like Luna telling Mary to send John to her cabin so she can get the gun cabinet key, and then all of the things Luna needs just showing up, the horse, the gun....that felt almost like the author was just tired of writing and moved things along.
The idea that we were reading a journal written by Luna was pretty lost stylistically too.

5. Did you expect the ending or were you surprised? Did you find the ending satisfying, or did you want it to end a different way?

The ending was pretty standard and predictable, but I can't say that bothered me. It just wasn't anything thrilling that will stand out in my mind later.

7. Based on this book, would you be interested in continuing the series (if applicable) and/or reading other books by the same author?

I probably won't read the rest of the trilogy (even though I am annoyingly compulsive about finishing series regardless of my feelings on the writing). If I'm ever in the mood for a vampire story, and they make the rest of the series a free download, I might read it. It sounds like I hated the book, but I didn't. I just had lukewarm feelings for it in total

Coffee Club With a Reading Problem Monthly Book Questionnaire
Share what you thought about this month's book! Give as many details as you can!

1. What was your initial impression when you started the book? Were you immediately drawn into the story, or did it take you a while? Did your opinion of the book change by the end? If so, why?

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. The opening was interesting (nothing fantastic), but when Luna's narrative came in I was quite hooked. I don't read a lot of books set in the South or during the pre-Civil War era, so it's still a relatively new and fascinating setting for me. It was after the half-way mark(view spoiler)[, after Avery had Luna at the mansion, (hide spoiler)] that I began to lose interest.

2. Did the book intrigue, amuse, disturb, alienate, irritate, or frighten you, or did you have a different response to the book?

Luna's life on the plantation, the relationship with her mother, Mary, and Jupiter along with her masters, were all very intriguing (and disturbing when referring to the masters). Avery's introduction was badass. After all that awesomeness though, it got pretty boring pretty fast.

3. Did you find the characters convincing? Were they believable? Compelling? Did you consider them fully-developed or one-dimensional? Did they grow or change? Who were your favorite and least favorite characters (and why)?

Luna started out believable, but then when she was playing against Avery's flatness she also started to fall flat. The "romance" kicked in, and I was left glaring at the book and yelling, "You're only 'in love' because of physical beauty, aaaaaaah!"

4. Was the plot well-developed? Was it believable? Did you feel manipulated along the way, or did the plot events unfold naturally or organically?

Everything aside from the "romance" was fine, really. Kind of. The more I think about it the more issues I realize.

5. Was the pacing of the story to your liking? Would you consider the story more plot-driven (events unfolding quickly) or character-driven (more time spent developing characters' inner lives), and did that style work?

The pacing kind of went (for me): "Great, yes, good, yes, awesome, okay, well, what are we doing now, really, ugggh, c'mon, things are happening now, uh, why, no, bah."

6. Did you expect the ending or were you surprised? Did you find the ending satisfying, or did you want it to end a different way?

Uhhh... I wish it ended in a different way, for sure...but, I also wish other things had happened in the book prior to the ending...

7. Based on this book, would you be interested in continuing the series (if applicable) and/or reading other books by the same author? Is there anything you'd like to ask the author after finishing their book?

Nope, done!

Seriously, for the first half I was so happy and excited and then boo.

So I was going to try to fit this one in too for March, but you guys seem less than enthused about it. I have a ton of books to get through, so maybe I'll save it for later. It did interest me, and I have it on my Kindle, but I don't know if I want to sacrifice other book club reads that I'm trying to get through right now for it.