Roc (April 7, 2009)
336 pages (I read the Kindle version)
$6.99 paperback
$4.79 Kindle
Originality: 18/20
Characters: 16/20
Writing: 17/20
Setting: 8/10
Plot: 15/20
Passion: 4/10
Cover: 2/5 (bonus pts)
Grade: 80/100 = B–
Originality:
Corine has a special gift of being able to touch objects and “read” them. Some objects hold a charge that Corine can see. This was about the only cool thing in this book.
Characters:
Corine Solomon: special gifted woman, running from ex-boyfriend Chance because they used to work together and she nearly got killed so she blames him. She was living in Mexico City until Chance found her. He needed help. She’s a very weak character, literally. Her only good thing is the crack of her tongue and her gift of touching objects. Other than that she’s kind of bland.
Chance: He’s the hot, dark skinned, asian mixed male character. His “gift” is that he can influence situations with his “Chance” gift. He’s totally in love with Corine but he doesn’t do much to win her back. I mean come on! If you want a girl you don’t let her run away and not track her down after 18 months until you need her “gift”. Lame.
Chuch & Eva: Married couple that helps Chance and Corine. He’s a super cool dude and his wife is a kick ass woman. They would have made better lead characters.
There are a few other minor characters that were important to the story line but they weren’t great characters.
Writing:
This was my first book by Ann Aguirre. I most likely will not read any other books by her. The writing wasn’t terrible. I blame the characters. I didn’t like the characters. There wasn’t much to laugh at, there was little to no passion, and I just didn’t click with the story or the characters.
Setting:
Most of the story took place in or incredibly near Mexico. There was a lot of Spanish in the book. Some of it was translated word for word but there were some times that I don’t think it was translated word for word and it left me questioning exactly what was said. I think it’s okay to use foreign speech in a book but only if it’s common knowledge. There were quite a few times I didn’t know what the hell was being said and I took three years of high school Spanish! The setting didn’t help the story what so ever. If anything, I think it made it worse for me.
Plot:
Now this is probably where it all went wrong for me. The plot centers around the disappearence of Chance’s mom Min. They work together to find her. It’s not entirely interesting to find out what happened to her. The characters we meet along the way are lacking. The fued between Chance and Corine is just overdone and old by the end of the book that I almost hope they don’t get back together.
Passion:
It’s there but like so not there. Chance is a hottie that likes a nottie. Corine does not impress me whatsoever and honestly I think I hate her. She’s totally screwed up and fighting her own self esteem or selfishness on the whole ordeal with taking back Chance. Blah.
Cover:
And last but not least. The Cover. The Title. WTF? Blue Diablo? I thought the title was cool. I thought that this book was going to be amazing. The title is from Corine’s favorite alcoholic beverage. A blue diablo. It has nothing to do with the story. It’s like the author or publisher was like, “What do we call it?”. It doesn’t have anything catching so they called it the drink of choice and gave it the “Corine Solomon Novels” series name. The cover it’s self isn’t that great but the drink does look kinda cool.
Overall:
Not a fan. I’m really surprised that I even finished it. I guess I was still clinging to a last hope that Corine and Chance would make up but I don’t know why I even gave it a second thought. I probably will not read any follow ups because I don’t like being pulled around by my heartstrings by characters or authors. Chance deserves better. I know I sound bitter but I can’t help it.
Excerpt is available on Ann Aguirre’s website.
Did you read this one? Did you enjoy it? How is my review different than yours? Did you love or hate Corine?
