- Thou shalt not use names in vain. (Come on…does EVERY paranormal series out there have to have ‘titles’ for their ‘destined mates’?)
- Thou shalt not make everybody accepting of the weird (Okay, guys…I’m fairly open to a lot of things. I believe ghosts may exist, and I believe psychic powers may exist. But I know vampires don’t. I know were-creatures don’t. And…uh… if somebody were to turn into a were-whatever in front of my eyes, I’m not going to just blink and go…wow, well how cool is that…I’m going to do a few double-takes, consider getting a psychiatric work-up, maybe toss back a few shots…and it will take me more than five seconds to work up to…how cool)
- Thou shalt not assume power and sexy are synonymous (Guess what…they aren’t. Power can be sexy, sexy can be powerful, but if you just tell me the guy’s sexy because he’s so uber-strong, you’ve lost me.)
- Thou shalt not treat powers as though they are hair colors (Easily obtained, easily changed, from blonde to brunette and back again…if somewhat overprocessed)
- Thou shalt not use destiny to overcome all (Yeah, love can overcome a lot, maybe even all, obstacles…but just because two people are ‘destined’ to be together doesn’t mean they are going to love each other, and especially not right off the bat. Show me the love, or don’t waste my time)
Wow, Shi…where did that come from, you ask? Well, I was reading a book the other day that I saw recommended online. It was a paranormal.
It had, yet again, another derivation of ‘titling’ the alpha-uberpowerful-supreme being’s mate. I read it, rolled my eyes but kept reading. I don’t always like the titling thing. It can work for some. If I understand the reasons behind it. But I like to understand why the author felt it necessary to title the mate. Something other than a whole bunch of others do it-and that’s what this felt like.
Then I get to the part where one of the main characters, born plain old simple human, found out paranormal creatures exist. It was a blink…and wow, cool…and everything carries on as normal. Then the other main character did it. Sorry, that doesn’t work for me…I want to see some sign of normal human curiosity, doubt, fear and man, am I going crazy…even for just a few seconds. Something. But I kept reading.
And of course there were numerous references to one character’s sex appeal. But there wasn’t really anything describing why he had so much sex appeal…other than being so powerful. And big. I don’t associate size with sex appeal. Sex appeal goes deeper than that. The way a person moves, the way they talk, the way they smile at you. But too many seem to think that if the guy is big and broad, that’s sexy. Nope. Not true. Sigh. But I kept reading.
But then comes the part where somebody picks up a paranormal gift and it’s like they just bought a new Mustang and can press down on the gas and BAM. Nope. Not working for me. Gifts, in my mind, would require some sort of training. Natural athletes still have to train. I’m a writer, but the first story I wrote, the second, the third, they sucked. I see an improvement over the years and that comes from practice. Getting a gift shouldn’t be like getting a car, zero to 120 in six seconds flat. There should be some sort of learning, training, struggle… SOMETHING. And if there’s not, I want to know why.
But I kept reading…I gotta admit, though, at this point, it was more because I was getting amused.