Saturday, July 20, 2013

Mini Review: Outcast by Adrienne Kress



Release Date: May 16, 2013
Publisher: Diversion Books
Pages: 324
Received: ARC from publisher, via NetGalley
Stars: 3.5
Goodreads Page


After the attention-grabbing shooting-an-angel-in-the-face opening, Outcast took a turn to the contemporary romance with the plot focus shifting to the slow-burn romance between Riley and Gabe. Gabe is the face-shot angel turned time traveling hot guy from the 1950s. Yeah. It's a bit much, but it actually works.

Which is in no small part due to the fact that I can't say no to a smartass, leather-jacketed, motorcycle-riding, 1950s greaser who teasingly refers to Riley as "sweetheart." He was swoony, even if it was a stock kind of surface swoon.

Much as this was nice and everything, I didn't pick up Outcast to read about Riley's self-esteem growth and tentative dating life. I picked it up to read about shooting angels in the face, and that didn't happen all that much.

I did get some pretty neat angel mythology (delivered via infrequent info-dumps), which was awesome and pretty original, but the mythology wasn't nearly as developed as I wanted it to be and I feel like there's still a lot left that needs to be explored more. The evil religious institution plot thread was equally weak and a little eye-rolling. The ending was abrupt and rushed, and left a lot of things hazier than I'd like.

The writing style and likable characters were what kept me going in between the interesting but widely spaced info-dumps. Everything is written in a really easy way that made the pages fly by.

Riley was a relatable narrator and definitely someone I'd want to hang out with. I liked Riley's take-no-BS attitude and wallflower personality. She's honest, brave, and she stands up for what matters. Though I need to take away some points because she did feel like a Mary Sue after a while. I got pretty tired of hearing about her amazing body and stunning beauty (that, of course, she does not see AT ALL). I just about quit reading when SPOILER! her super specialness was revealed.

Overall, though, Outcast was good and I looked forward to the time I spent reading it. If there were a sequel, I'd probably read it eventually, if I could get a copy through the library. I am interested in reading more from this author though.


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14 comments:

  1. Sounds like a fun read. I just bought this book last week, so I'll be reading it soon and now my expectations my been set. Great review! ~Pam

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  2. I was interested in this one but the Twilight comparison is kind of killing that. I adored Kress' The Friday Society so was hoping for something along those lines.

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    1. Wellll, I wouldn't let the Twilight comparison pull the plug on it completely. I think people who like Twilight would like this, but I can see people who dislike Twilight liking Outcast still. I think it all depends on why you dislike Twilight. I haven't read The Friday Society, so I'm no help there.

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  3. I'm falling over laughing because you recommended this one for those that liked Twilight! *falls over some more*

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    1. :) I thought that might be a controversial recommendation!

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  4. That the mythology was delivered in info-dumps and still wasn't developed doesn't bode well. (I'm also not big into the whole angel thing to begin with.)

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    1. Agreed on all counts. I can be ok with info dumps, but at least give me a lot of details! The only angel book I can think of now that I've REALLY liked is Angelfall of Susan Ee.

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  5. "Much as this was nice and everything, I didn't pick up Outcast to read about Riley's self-esteem growth and tentative dating life. I picked it up to read about shooting angels in the face, and that didn't happen all that much." Lol, I requested this for review because the author is a Canadian and thought there'd be a lot of shooting angels too. I still like the sound of this one, Small, even if things are revealed through info dumps.

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    1. Hope you enjoy it! I'm glad I read it for sure. Even though I didn't love it, it was fun.

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  6. I was only a mildly interested in this book because of the cover, and it was a completely superficial interest that last five seconds. I was able to compel myself NOT to request it purely because of that cover. I'm happy that I'm not really missing out on anything major.

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    1. Nope, it's not major. Nice, but not MAJOR. I do like the cover though.

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  7. At least it's a slow burn romance. I know what you mean about the overkill with the looks. I'd rather have a regular looking protag - and even a regular love interest.

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    1. Yup. It wasn't even that bad at first, but then as the romance became more of a focus so did the endlessly repetitive commentary on her looks. Even the super popular pretty girl is secretly jealous of Riley's looks.

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