I gave Apolonia 4 out of 5 stars:
I'm not sure what made me pick up a copy of Apolonia. I can't even remember how it ended up in my kindle collection. I think it was on some kind of offer. I was looking for a good science fiction story and I found one, kind of, but it took a long time to get to the actual science fiction.
This book is seventy percent talking about Rory Riordan and her messed up relationships and thirty percent talking about her messed up past and a bit of sci-fi. I'd describe it as a romance novel with elements of science fiction. It also has a YA feel to it in places.
The relationship parts were well written, which is what made me read to the end, but this really was too touchy feely for my taste and probably aimed at YA. There were many times in the story when I just thought, 'Oh just get on with it.'
One of the most annoying things about this story, apart from Rory's complete inability to form a relationship with one person at a time, was the character called Bengi. Even his name makes me want to grind my teeth. He was painted as some kind of quarterback hero with shining white teeth and perfect genetics, someone who always said the right thing and was caring and always offering Rory his coat or a ride in his car. He was basically a complete asshole. The fact that he turned up wherever Rory was, time after time just made him even more irritating. He clung to her like some kind of skin disease and wined on like an old woman piles. If I ever met Benji in real life I would beat him unconscious with a stick.
I gave Apolonia 4 out of 5 stars, mainly because Rory was an interesting character, even if she had little sense or capacity to reason in relationships. The science fiction elements were interesting when they finally arrived but they did seem like an add on rather than what the book was actually about.
There was plenty of tension in the book and the plot twisted and turned to maintain the reader's interest. This was what probably saved the story from a lower mark.
I would recommend this novel to romance fans who like stories with a sci-fi theme. I think sci-fi is probably not the author's main genre, though she has the ability to write in it if she can cut down the relationship elements to less than forty percent of the book and focus on the actual story.
This book is seventy percent talking about Rory Riordan and her messed up relationships and thirty percent talking about her messed up past and a bit of sci-fi. I'd describe it as a romance novel with elements of science fiction. It also has a YA feel to it in places.
The relationship parts were well written, which is what made me read to the end, but this really was too touchy feely for my taste and probably aimed at YA. There were many times in the story when I just thought, 'Oh just get on with it.'
Author Jamie McGuire
I gave Apolonia 4 out of 5 stars, mainly because Rory was an interesting character, even if she had little sense or capacity to reason in relationships. The science fiction elements were interesting when they finally arrived but they did seem like an add on rather than what the book was actually about.
There was plenty of tension in the book and the plot twisted and turned to maintain the reader's interest. This was what probably saved the story from a lower mark.
I would recommend this novel to romance fans who like stories with a sci-fi theme. I think sci-fi is probably not the author's main genre, though she has the ability to write in it if she can cut down the relationship elements to less than forty percent of the book and focus on the actual story.
[Posted by: Peter James West, author of the science fiction series: Tales of Cinnamon City.]
If you're new to the my books, you'll find that they're a mixture of military science fiction, action, and fantasy.
Tales of Cinnamon City is a science fiction series set in the richly detailed world of Megarothia.
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