Fear My Mortality
Fear My Mortality had so much potential. The cover is interesting, and the idea of mortality being an anomaly was unique. I found myself uncharacteristically looking forward to this read. (Remember, I’m not one who easily jumps into reads unless they come from trusted advisers.) Turns out this book was a bit of an anomaly itself. You see, while I was holding my Kindle in my hands, and physically reading the book, I was invested. However, when I would take a reading break I found myself not wanting to pick it back up. I was hesitating so much that I kept trying to convince myself to quit. Then I would force myself to pick back up the book, and again I would find myself sucked into the action. It was a very strange up and down feeling.
That’s not to say that I didn’t actively have a problem with the writing or the plot, even when reading. I mean, first of all, the biggest gripe I had was the stupidity of every single character in the entire story, save one. I’m not even talking only about the main characters, I’m talking about the villains, too. Nothing, absolutely nothing, that anyone did in this story made even a little sense. Michael and Ava are on the run, yet multiple times they just stop to sleep for the night… before they’re in the safe zone. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going to happen at that point, and yet they kept doing it! I’m sorry if you think that’s a small spoiler, I think it’s relevant to the review. I have more, about the stupidity of the bad guys, but I’ll keep those to myself.
I think I just felt like the author wasn’t writing in the heads of well thought out characters. I felt like she created cookie cutter characters, then had them do what she thought they should to amp up the action. Even when it made no sense whatsoever. Normally I’m a go with the flow reader, I can suspend reality further than I probably should. In this story I couldn’t rationalize hardly anything at all.
On the flip side, like I said, when I was reading I couldn’t stop. What was it that kept me going even when I had all those complaints? Well, the action is pretty much non-stop. When the book is in your hands, and you’re reading those words, your adrenaline spikes and you just find yourself riding those waves. Also, I loved this worlds idea’s when it came to regeneration. The slow healers, vs the fast healers. Particularly Michael. He could grow on me. In addition, I also really loved Josh, Ava’s brother. He doesn’t last long, but he definitely left an impression. That impression was strong enough to resonate through the whole story.
I also loved my personal internal dialogue about whether or not Michael was truly a murderer. When nobody can die, and that’s the world in which you were raised, is it really your fault when out of nowhere someone DOES? Killing in Fear the Mortality is commonplace. They play Killing games. Their right of passage is to be killed and then timed to see how long it takes you to heal. Death isn’t permanent. Until suddenly it was, and Michael was branded a murderer. But was he really?
Overall, I may find myself reading the next installment. I can’t say I’m jumping up and down for it, but that residual interest is still there. I just hope that the characters learn from past mistakes.
Thank you to Month9Books for providing a copy of his book, in exchange for an honest review.
To read this review and more, visit us at Badass Book Reviews.
That’s not to say that I didn’t actively have a problem with the writing or the plot, even when reading. I mean, first of all, the biggest gripe I had was the stupidity of every single character in the entire story, save one. I’m not even talking only about the main characters, I’m talking about the villains, too. Nothing, absolutely nothing, that anyone did in this story made even a little sense. Michael and Ava are on the run, yet multiple times they just stop to sleep for the night… before they’re in the safe zone. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going to happen at that point, and yet they kept doing it! I’m sorry if you think that’s a small spoiler, I think it’s relevant to the review. I have more, about the stupidity of the bad guys, but I’ll keep those to myself.
I think I just felt like the author wasn’t writing in the heads of well thought out characters. I felt like she created cookie cutter characters, then had them do what she thought they should to amp up the action. Even when it made no sense whatsoever. Normally I’m a go with the flow reader, I can suspend reality further than I probably should. In this story I couldn’t rationalize hardly anything at all.
On the flip side, like I said, when I was reading I couldn’t stop. What was it that kept me going even when I had all those complaints? Well, the action is pretty much non-stop. When the book is in your hands, and you’re reading those words, your adrenaline spikes and you just find yourself riding those waves. Also, I loved this worlds idea’s when it came to regeneration. The slow healers, vs the fast healers. Particularly Michael. He could grow on me. In addition, I also really loved Josh, Ava’s brother. He doesn’t last long, but he definitely left an impression. That impression was strong enough to resonate through the whole story.
I also loved my personal internal dialogue about whether or not Michael was truly a murderer. When nobody can die, and that’s the world in which you were raised, is it really your fault when out of nowhere someone DOES? Killing in Fear the Mortality is commonplace. They play Killing games. Their right of passage is to be killed and then timed to see how long it takes you to heal. Death isn’t permanent. Until suddenly it was, and Michael was branded a murderer. But was he really?
Overall, I may find myself reading the next installment. I can’t say I’m jumping up and down for it, but that residual interest is still there. I just hope that the characters learn from past mistakes.
Thank you to Month9Books for providing a copy of his book, in exchange for an honest review.
To read this review and more, visit us at Badass Book Reviews.
