Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Review: Mortal Danger by Ann Aguirre

Title: Mortal Danger
Author: Ann Aguirre
Series: Immortal Game, book #1
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: August 5, 2014
Source: ARC received from publisher
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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Revenge is a dish best served cold.

In Ann Aguirre's Mortal Danger, Edie Kramer has a score to settle with the beautiful people at Blackbriar Academy. Their cruelty drove her to the brink of despair, and four months ago, she couldn’t imagine being strong enough to face her senior year. But thanks to a Faustian compact with the enigmatic Kian, she has the power to make the bullies pay. She’s not supposed to think about Kian once the deal is done, but devastating pain burns behind his unearthly beauty, and he’s impossible to forget.

In one short summer, her entire life changes and she sweeps through Blackbriar, prepped to take the beautiful people down from the inside. A whisper here, a look there, and suddenly . . . bad things are happening. It’s a head rush, seeing her tormentors get what they deserve, but things that seem too good to be true usually are, and soon, the pranks and payback turns from delicious to deadly. Edie is alone in a world teeming with secrets and fiends lurking in the shadows. In this murky morass of devil’s bargains, she isn’t sure who—or what—she can trust. Not even her own mind.



I've never read any of Ann Aguirre's adult novels, but I absolutely loved her YA zombie series. The Razorland trilogy was strong from start to finish, so it saddens me to no end that this new series is off to a rocky start. In fact, I almost DNF'd this book, wondering how it could possibly have been written by the same author who wrote Enclave. But since it was written by Aguirre, I kept hoping that the story would turn around and redeem itself.

Unfortunately, that never happened for me. Mortal Danger was very slow to start and very slow to reveal anything of a paranormal nature. But once it did -- sometime after the halfway mark -- I think it was just too much for one book. It's not that there were too many paranormal elements; I just think the author tried to include too many baddies, too many nightmarish creatures to keep track of.  I knew some of them from folklore, but others I had little knowledge of, and I don't think the author explained their purpose or intent as fully as she might have done. Also, the "game" aspect between the two immortal companies wasn't fully developed, or at least not to my liking, and though I'm sure it will be expanded upon in future books, I just felt too ill-informed at this point. And it made me wonder how Edie could just jump at this opportunity, asking little of her benefactors, especially as to what their motives might entail and what that would mean to her.

The romance in this novel was overwhelming, too. It felt very rushed and very unrealistic. And it was not at all what I was hoping for. The summary makes Kian sound mysterious and dangerous, and he is those things. But he quickly becomes the object of Edie's infatuation, despite the fact that she shouldn't trust him. I would have much preferred Edie to continue to question Kian's trustworthiness and have him remain an enigma. And not have him so easily reciprocate Edie's affections. It would have been one thing for this to be completely one-sided, but this was full-blown insta-love and it almost completely wrecked this story for me.

The bullying aspect -- and consequently the vengeance scheme -- were well-intentioned, but I think they had the opposite of the intended effect on me. I empathized with Edie's situation, that she had suffered in silence, and I understood her desire for revenge. Where this path all went wrong for me was when Edie all but gave up on her plan. Basically, she got this awesome magical makeover, turned into a completely vain wretch, and forgot everything that led up to her almost attempting suicide and the subsequent transformation. She does infiltrate the clique that made her life hell, and she finds herself becoming friends with them. And then what does she do? She starts sympathizing with them. I get it. She's not a terrible person and no longer wants to exact the revenge she'd been hell-bent on before. But considering that's what the book's synopsis all but promises, I feel a little cheated.

If you can't tell, I was really disappointed with Mortal Danger. It wasn't creepy. There wasn't nearly enough revenge. And the paranormal bits needed to be expanded upon for me to fully appreciate them. I wanted to love this one. I've been anticipating this book since I first knew of its existence. I'm crestfallen that it didn't live up to my expectations. I hate to say it, but I'm not even sure I'll continue with this series.

GIF it to me straight:




About the author:

Ann Aguirre is a USA Today bestselling author with a degree in English Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a clown, a clerk, a voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives in sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various pets. She likes books, emo music, and action movies. She writes all kinds of genre fiction for adults and teens.

Find Ann:

Website | Twitter | FacebookGoodreads


24 comments:

  1. Yeah, it was disappointing overall. I really rated it higher than it probably deserved but it just killed me to not love it as much as I would have liked. Plus, I saw potential that I'm hoping will be realized in the next book. Fingers crossed the second one is much better...do you think you'll even attempt it?

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    1. I almost went with 3 stars, but it really wasn't okay, how bad this book went. I realize I may have had unrealistic expectations, but how unrealistic could they be when I'd already read and loved so much of the author's previous work? I'll probably give the sequel a cursory attempt, but I won't hesitate to DNF it like I did with this one.

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  2. I'm so sorry to hear it didn't work out for you. I haven't read any of her other books (though I've heard great things), but I was still looking forward to this one because the synopsis sounded so interesting. That might be the best GIF I've ever seen haha. I literally LOL'ed when I saw it.

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    1. Haha, I always kind of hope the GIFs soften the blow a bit. :) Yeah, it's really too bad this one didn't work out because that synopsis had such promise. :(

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  3. Boo! What a disappointment, Jen! I have this to review and it's going to be hard to make myself pick this up now. With a poorly done romance, underdeveloped world building and an unlikable heroine are three big strikes against this story. I've seen several other reviews to this effect too. Major bummer. I still haven't read the Razorland series though. I think I need to just go back to that and read it straight through.

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    1. Well, I'm sad to admit this, but I'm glad it wasn't just me. Knowing others are having trouble with Mortal Danger eases my worry at not enjoying it. I was beginning to wonder if it was me and not the book.

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  4. Aw, man. I haven't read anything by Aguirre yet but this one sounded SO COOL. I'm really bummed to hear that she overdid it on the paranormal baddies without actually fleshing them out well. That's one of my big issues with paranormal - when it's overwhelming and not well explained. And the revenge was supposed to be the best part of the whole thing! Boo. That's disappointing.

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    1. It sounded awesome, right? I love the basic premise of the Faustian compact, and if it had JUST focused on that, I might have enjoyed the book a lot more.

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  5. Sigh. I went into this with high hopes too. Faustian bargains, and scary urban legend creatures sounded just my speed. But as you know, I found Edie frustrating, the pace really slow and the romance unappealing. I'll wait and read reviews for the second book before I decide. Or maybe I'll try Razorland. Except ... zombies...
    Thanks so much for stopping by! Jen @ YA Romantics

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    1. I'm with you...I'll let others feel out the sequel for me instead of diving into another disappointment. You really should give Razorland a chance, though...it's not JUST about zombies. :)

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  6. Oh no! I'm so bummed to hear this didn't work for you! Like you I loved her Razorland books so I had insanely high expectations for this. I have it for review but now I'm way less excited about it. It seems like a lot of people had trouble connecting with Edie. Add in insta-love and too many paranormal baddies and I am not going to be a happy camper. Sigh. Well I appreciate your honest thoughtful review!

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    1. Trust me, I was just as bummed. It really sucks when a favorite author's newest book just doesn't work for you. But I've seen others who've never read her books before that really enjoyed this, so maybe I just put her previous work up on some kind of pedestal? Oh, well, too late to worry about that now.

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  7. That's really a bummer, Jen! I was looking forward to this, but the reviews have been so mixed. :/ I actually haven't read the Razorland trilogy, just her NA book I Want It That Way, but I really enjoyed it, and was looking forward to reading her YA. I think I'll still give it a shot, but my expectations have definitely been lowered. Insta-love and confusing world building aren't my thing. :/

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    1. I still have I Want It That Way to read, but I'm going into it with lower expectations now. Glad you enjoyed it...that gives me hope.

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  8. Ugh, I hate it when a revered author kind of doesn't pull through. (But I guess they like to try different styles and things?) I've been interested in this one on cover alone (hehe) but I'm worried now. Slow? I hate slow. Slow makes me sleepy.

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    1. It's the worst, especially when you've really been looking forward to their newest book. I'm all for trying new things -- and this author is trying her hand at New Adult this fall, too -- but this didn't even read like something from this author. So different and so not for me.

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  9. Bahahah! that gif.. I opened this up the other day at work and I saw the fcomment about the gif.. but it wasn't showing up on my computer. I can see why Samantha liked it. Too funny.

    I have yet to read anything by her. I have Enclave. I bought that a while ago for kindle.I haven't gotten to it yet. I will be steering clear of this one though. Bleh.

    I'm sorry you didn't love it like you wanted too. :(

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    1. No worries...I can't love EVERY book, right, no matter how much I want to. And I love that GIF, too. As soon as I saw it, I was like, Yep, that's exactly how this book made me feel. Lol.

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  10. This sounds like a mess. I just read another review for this that really echoes your disappoint. The insta-love, the lack of revenge in a revenge story, the slow-pace, the unexplained creatures. None of this sounds good. The synopsis sounds so interesting--but I'm glad I decided to read a couple of reviews before reading it. I'll pass. Great review!

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    1. Believe me, it was. Whoever wrote that synopsis should have written the actual book. I will definitely be reading reviews for the sequel before I waste my time on it.

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  11. :( I keep reading disappointed reviews for Mortal Danger. It definitely sounds like a problem of 'quantity over quality' with different story aspects. Such a bummer though. *le sigh....*

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    1. Everyone who's said "Bummer" has succinctly summed up my thoughts on this book exactly. Such a disappointment.

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  12. Drowning in romance.....no....thank you...

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