Tạo Thú Vui Học Tập tải xuống LIT miễn phí

Bruce Charonnat brucharo — Be vewy, vewy quiet, I'm hunting Stones... or possibly dwawfes! Wicked Appetite is like an episode of Looney Tunes. It's goofy, it's over-the-top, and it's hilarious! Janet Evanovich finally gets her groove back after a long, torturous 'Plum'met into really boring fiction. I first fell in love with Evanovich way back when she was writing weird, wacky romances for Loveswept. Books like Naughty Neighbor and The Rocky Road to Romance marked her as being a class apart, especially in the paperback romance category, where funny, zany books are not exactly the norm. I mean, what other romance novel have you read that involves large dogs with a passion for burgers, Capitol Hill mysteries involving pigs, cookbooks for dog food and trigger-happy geriatrics? I cannot tell a lie, I liked Stephanie Plum and the Trenton gang too... about thirteen books ago! Thankfully, Wicked Appetite is the first book in a series about the Seven Deadly Sins, so it can't go beyond, you know, seven books. Lizzy Tucker is a baker who bakes superlative cupcakes at Dazzle bakery and tries to peddle her cookbook to various publishers so she can keep her house from falling down about her ears. Until one day, a dark, creepy looking stranger walks up to the bakery and brands her. He is instantly followed by a tall, blond, hot hunk who claims that the stranger in black is his evil, homicidal cousin, Gerwulf Grimoire. He goes on to reveal that Lizzy is an Unmentionable (no, not a piece of underwear, but a person with enhanced abilities to sense magical objects) whose help he needs to recover the lost Stones containing the Seven deadly sins. "The way it’s been told to me is that there are seven deadly sins known collectively as SALIGIA. Envy, Pride, Greed, Gluttony, Lusty, Grumpy, and Sneezy.” “I think some of those were dwarfs,” I said to Diesel Diesel tells Lizzy that any person who manages to collect all seven stones will have the power to create hell on earth. His mandate is to find the stone of Gluttony before Wulf does and return it to BUM, the governing body (part?!) for Unmentionables. "My orders are to stop Wulf from acquiring the Stones. Probably, no one cares if he collects the dwarfs.” “What happens if you only get some of the Stones but not all of the Stones?” “I don’t know. Maybe you just create hell in Connecticut.” Along for the ride are a cast of characters straight out of a screwball comedy flick. There's Gloria, whose inept attempts at casting a spell of truth always conclude in disaster for her poor victim, who graduates from speaking gibberish to merely gobbling. “Maybe it’ll wear off,” Glo said. “Some of these spells are temporary. The book isn’t always specific about length of time.” “Hear that?” I said to Shirley. “Good news. The spell might wear off.” Shirley flipped me the finger. “More good news,” Diesel said. “She knows sign language.” And then there is a one-eyed ninja cat. And a monkey that's almost human, and fluent in sign language too. Also a rival Unmentionable with a fetish for medieval role playing. No, Sir Hatchelot, you don't look stupid at all! This book is full of wisecracks and one-liners. “There you have it,” I said to Mel Mensher. “The big guy here has an unusual energy field.” “Lady, I’m talking full-blown spectral phenomenon.” “Well?” I asked Diesel. “I’m not spectral, but I’ve been told I can be pretty damn phenomenal.” This is like other urban fantasy books in the same way that Bugs Bunny is like Yogi Bear. If you are expecting Wicked Appetite to have world building, plot development, suspense build-up, etc, you are destined for disappointment. This is not an urban fantasy book, really. Nor is it a paranormal romance. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but it sure as hell is fun! The lack of plot development and build-up sometimes makes the book seem abrupt and uneven. There is also no real point to a lot of the book. There are very many, many scenes that have been inserted simply for the amusement factor, with no regard to whether they further the plot or not. Evanovich's writing style is funny and wiseass, but no-one could call it sophisticated. These are the sort of things that will disturb and possibly severely annoy serious UF readers, but for someone looking for a summer beach read, or some fluff to laugh away the blues, this is the perfect book. And for fans of Janet Evanovich, like me, this book heralds the return of the non-collaborative, non-Plummy, original and gold-plated queen of the funny romance. I'll be looking forward to the next book in this series. P.S. I just discovered that Diesel and Carl (the monkey) have previously appeared in the Stephanie Plum novels, and that Diesel, in fact, was a sort-of love interest for Stephanie. I'm not sure how to feel about this. Doesn't Stephanie have enough men in her life already? She's really not all that, so why does she have all these men falling at her feet? I haven't read the books with Diesel in them, so I'm going to pretend I never found out that tidbit, and Diesel is a brand-new character!

Peichen Tu _chen — Ok, I know it's probably really bad to only give the Hobbit 3 stars but I guess I just don't dig fantasy adventure books as much as the rest of the world. I'm going to say it...here it goes....I'd rather watch the movie.