Dark Swan

I also assumed it was due to the pregnancy. So I am thinking that the prophecy is going to be wrong,and its a blessing for both worlds.

And What do you think Kiyo will do now? does he love her? or was he just tricking her all along?

i genuinely think he loves her - but she cant get past what he has done now, surely - FF for sure!

I don't think he really loves her, cared for maybe - but if he was that worried about the prophecy you think he wouldn't have been dipping it!!

Really, if he was that worried about the prophecy shouldn't he have wrapped it up? We know he is selfish.

I don't think I am liking all the not so great reviews for the latest book.. How bad is it???

Starbrites, I loved it! Loved it! It was a wild ride.


FOX STOLE ~ FOX STOLE ~ FOX STOLE (I am starting the chant now)

The birth control thing bothered me throughout the series. How does she remember to take them at the same time everyday, when she is unconscious, stuck in this world or that, it is hard enough in real life, but with her schedule - im-fucking-possible! (ooo - I swore that felt good!)

As for the flowers blooming, yes that was due to the pregnancy. She didn't know she was prego when FOX STOLE said that. Just shows he is an idiot. But Eug figured it out right away after that. That was why she was trying to always get to the stone floors so no one would figure it out.

can i say FUCKING FOX STOLE . . . well it appears i just did

I like mangy cur as a nickname.

You know I just pictured the scene in Ace Ventura Pet Detective 2 where Jim Carey puts the monopoly guy over his shoulder like a stole and is swinging him around...now picture Dorian doing that to the flea bitten mangy cur!

There are so many things wrong with this story it's hard to know where to start:

I'm very frustrated and disppointed. There is a lot of build up in the first two books of the Dark Swan series. The first book is all about the protagonist's family history, overcoming her prejudice and the discovery of a new world. Love the humor and action in this book! The second is just as good if not better with the breakup of that loser of a boyfriend Kiyo and her new relationship with Dorian. It has even more knowledge about the fae world, a surprise twist and dramatic ending that left me sad, but totally satisfied by the end that justice was served.

The third book? WTF?!?

<i>Iron Crowned</i> was NOT well paced and sloppy. The first third of the book was slow and uninteresting. It creep up in action but the transition between worlds was awkward and abrupt. I was jerked around so many times I think I threw up from the sudden turns and random fucked up decisions of the protagonist. The climax was...wait was there a climax? Um..I sorta was lost there because it seemed just when the action picked up when Eugenie gets pregnant and Kiyo wants to kill her, Dorian rescues her...but I'm not sure why since she was a total bitch to him? Then it was over. No cliff hanger or conclusion, just over...like when you watch a tv show and the power goes out.

WHERE WAS THE ACTION???? Dorian fights the good fight off page in the fae world during the war. Apparently people died, but we are only told this because Eugenie lives in a bubble with no consequence. She and Dorian have their sub-dom sex with no build up to make the sex scene really POP. I felt it was thrown in for excitment, but not really adding to the development of the story. The relationship between Dorian and Eugenie was erotic but empty. It moves on to a somewhat interesting plot device with a ghost and a PI agent, but no real action or mystery there...more like background noise rather than any real intrigue. The biggest plot device was Kiyo's return and redeeming boyfriend status which utterly disgusted me. Especially since the last book really pushed the idea that Kiyo's character is a grade A selfish asshole.

The characters (with the exception of Dorian) are in extreme need of therapy. Ugh, Kiyo's come back. He first appears in the wilderness to defend Eugenie randomly during an assignment, then talks smack and disappears. Way to go STUD. He later appears because Eugenie needs him on her mission to find the Iron crown, because he's bi-polar like that. He doesn't support her or Dorian, but is a willing bitch on a mission to get Eugenie what she wants. How much of a bitch is he? Let's see, Eugenie almost kills him during the final challenge for the crown, but that's ok he forgives her. Eugenie then uses him to get back at Dorian and apparently he doesn't care..it's SEX! However, being the irresponsible douche he is, when he learns he is fathering her children he decides she either kills the babies or she dies.

HEROINE OR BIMBO? Let's face it. Heroines are people we admire and look up to. I can honestly say I do not admire or even respect Eugenie at this point. She's got no esteem and has some very big co-dependency issues that seriously need to be worked through before she can start THINKING about relationships. Daddy issues, lack of self worth, the inability to think independently, the petty revenge through sex...um...not role model material.

WHERE'S THE LOVE? The word 'love' was thrown around so many times in this series, but I have yet to see proof of it. Roland loves Eugenie like a daughter, unless she embraces her fae heritage, which results in alienating her from her only family. Kiyo loves Eugenie except when she's pregnant, cause then he has to kill her. Dorian loves Eugenie but uses her for power because he's an opportunist (opps but he's honest about it). Damn...I don't think Eugenie loves her self because she really does tolerate a lot of abuse and goes back for seconds when it comes to Kiyo.

Seriously, can anyone say this was an enjoyable read???

IC well i still love Dorian - loved the slinky being beside his throne - Eug did bug me big time though. I cried like a baby when she dashed his hopes (for now) about him being the dad; loved his under table prowess the oral sex thing was just a lead up to it being 'wasteful' at the time of reading it i was like, hmm this is not her usual writing style - but went with it! did i enjoy the book?? - certainly not as much as the first 2; eug used to be one of my fave heroines - not so much now... but i am still looking forward to the next one.

Damn Hops and I thought I was mad. :x Feel better? Good point about the battles being fought behind the scene. That would have made for much better reading.

I was disappointed too. So many things didn't work for me in this book. So upsetting because I was really looking forward to it. Hell yes I'm gonna read the next one. I love the world and of course Dorian *sigh* . I also use to really like Eugenie but her decisions and reasoning in this book sucked!!!

IC
I pretty much agree with you Hops, but perhaps to not such an intense degree. I was disappointed with Eugenie - she made some frustratingly stupid decisions and acted like an uncaring slut toward Dorian. Yeh Dorian did bad, but nowhere near the little shit Kiyo's league and she just sleeps with whichever one is in her goodbooks that day. I was glad when Dorian chucked her out - he should have shunned her from then on.
However I am feeling quite invested in the story so I know I will look forward with excitement to the next one. I was glad when she took the Rowan Queens land - it was like she finally was going to stop acting like the whipping boy, I wish she struck her down with lightning too and her nasty little nephew.
I love Jasmine, clever, sneaky, sulky - I think there is a lot of potential for good twists there. And I'm glad that Eugenie is finally building some kind of family tie with her that she is sadly lacking from her mother and Roland.
And Dorian is just adorable - yes he is a manipulative power hungry bastard, but she already knew that and I can't wait to see if one of the twins is his, if not then perhaps my future posts will be even more annoyed than yours!

Yes, people have said they enjoyed this book. Difference of opinion is allowed here.

I have to admit, that this series was not one of my favorites just as *ducking* the KMM Fever series wasn't either...BUT this last book (and the DF of the Fever series and then SF) have left me in suspense and that has all but made up for the other books. Iron Crowned was a very pleasant surprise for me. Yes, Eug was annoying and not so strong. She made very bad choices, but for some reason, it really held my attention much more than the other precursor books. You say potato, I say patato...LOL I love to debate and see other people's opinions and they are welcomed with open arms!

FaeLadyFaye wrote:

Yes, people have said they enjoyed this book. Difference of opinion is allowed here.

No offense Fae, glad you liked the book. I enjoyed the first two and am hoping for a much improved follow up to the third. :D

Oh, like is a strong word for my opinion on this book. I wasn't exactly meaning myself there. I'd have to say I feel much the same way you did, just not as vehemently.

uapeople wrote:

I have to admit, that this series was not one of my favorites just as *ducking* the KMM Fever series wasn't either...BUT this last book (and the DF of the Fever series and then SF) have left me in suspense and that has all but made up for the other books. Iron Crowned was a very pleasant surprise for me. Yes, Eug was annoying and not so strong. She made very bad choices, but for some reason, it really held my attention much more than the other precursor books. You say potato, I say patato...LOL I love to debate and see other people's opinions and they are welcomed with open arms!

Well, I agree to disagree with the third book in the Dark Swan series,Uap. As for KMM books, not a big fan. The last book of the Fever series is still on my tbr list and might stay there a good while before I get to reading it. I tried the Highlander books, but they really weren't my thing. I'm rather picky about PR.

hopsngrapes wrote:

Well, I agree to disagree with the third book in the Dark Swan series,Uap. As for KMM books, not a big fan. The last book of the Fever series is still on my tbr list and might stay there a good while before I get to reading it. I tried the Highlander books, but they really weren't my thing. I'm rather picky about PR.

Didn't like the Highlander books very much either. I read them more for background info on the Fever series. They were way too textbook for me...Virgin girl meets sexy and very sexually adept Highlander from past. Girl resists Highlander. Highlander resists girl. Highlander and girl sleep together. They get married and have children HEA! Nope not for me! I mean I liked Kerrilyn Sparks and they are similar, but KS are so much better and are quirky and funny and no so textbook. Yeah there's a HEA, but it isn't so obvious in getting there! heck even BDB is textbook in that there is a HEA at the end of each, but they too aren't so textbook, so therefore enjoyable. Plus there aren't that many 20+ year old 21st Century virgins as in the Highlander series. Mmpphhfffmm!

uapeople.. Love your discription of the highlander series.

You guys are crazy! The Fever series is AWESOME!!!!

Highlander meets virgin, Highlander resists virgin.... nice UAP that cracked me up!

Well, I liked it! I admit it. Maybe I am just starting to get invested enough in the series, as I only read the first in January. But I wasn't really taken with the first book at all. The second was better, and I liked this one just as much because there was so much action. I have always liked Dorian and I love the worlds, but Eugenie always made me a little angry or frustrated. She was certainly bad-ass enough, I liked that. I also liked her quirkiness - puzzels... So maybe I am not invested in her as a character as I should be, and that kept me from being disappointed in her. I hope that makes sense.

I liked the rollercoaster ride that this one became. I always enjoy when books surprise me, whether it is the development of the character or the turns the plot takes or the fact that they don't follow "typical" plot evolution.

Just a difference of opinion, but thanks for posting your hops, I enjoyed reading it. *waves hi, btw* Now if she forgives the FUCKING FOX STOLE again, or even considers it, I am going to have a not so nice review next time.

FFS - - for FUCKING FOX STOLE.

I really liked IC, annoying Eugenie and all! Let's face it, everyone's guilty of being less than perfect at some point in their life, so why not fictional characters? Although, I really hope Eugenie is done with the FFS for good this time :P

I'm loving reading all the different ideas and opinions, whether they agree with mine or not

B4V my daughter has that pic on her wall

I discussed this book again today, a bit more reasonably with other readers. It seemed lots of people were frustrated with the book. Here was my main gripe.

I'll repost my response: I think my frustration can be summed up by the way it was executed, not so much by what occured in Iron Crowned.

I don't care about plot twists and mixing up the romance, but the storyteller needs to pull me into the characters head and get me to understand where they are coming from. For instance, decisions were made without build up or much explanation. There were some big actions scenes that were totally skipped over that would have made the character's motives more understandable.

Example: there is a fae war going on, but do we see it? We are TOLD about the deaths in numbers and hardships, but hard to be empathetic if we don't see it. SHOW DON'T TELL.

Example 2: Eugenie went from distrusting Kiyo to uncertainty to sex to a committed relationship with him. Since Eugenie basically tells us rather than showing us WHY she decides this is a rational choice, I feel like I was shadowing a crazy woman. It made no sense and it was totally frustrating since the last book rationalized how incompatible Kiyo and she were in the last book.