The Gender Game 2: The Gender Secret

Wordy. Not a full story.

I was shocked when this book ended. Not because the ending was shocking, but because the book shouldn't have been over. It was not an appropriate story arch. It just cuts off and you have to go buy the third. But will the next be a full story? Or am I trapped buying book after book just to get one full story? I understand having a series, but I feel each one should be a complete story in and of itself. As I mentioned, this book has no story arch.

The other thing that annoyed me was the wordiness. Listening to all the adverbs grew tiring, and the dialogue was ridiculous. No one would take that much effort to say what these characters do.

Also, the word repetition. Palpable and flitted are used so often that my eyes flitted so hard upward into the back of my skull that it was palpable.

The concept isn't bad. I may invest in the next one. But these things are beginning to get on my nerves. I feel like the book needs a better editor.

14 of 15 people found this review helpful

Book 2

Sticking with this series is worth it. While I found the first book in the series a tad slow and lacking in description of the universe, the pacing in the second book is excellent and the storyline grows more detailed. I was craving information about the technology of the world, about the motivation of some of the secondary characters, and about the direction of Vigo and Violet's relationship. I enjoyed this second installment more than the first.

16 of 18 people found this review helpful

Not really meant for the intelligent reader...

Although containing okay action scenes, you can probably zone out for 80% of this book. This sequel was a huge let down. I felt it was completely different from the first book. Reasons being:

1.) The writing was absolutely atrocious. Just listening to it had me cringing so bad I might as well have started cramping.

"I jumped, landing on the landing." Or "My eyes looked at him hungrily." Good God.

2.) I didn't even recognize Viggo. I fell in love with his quiet and resevered character in the first book, but in the second, his thought process started to annoy me halfway through. At some points, I admired his determination, and then at others, he sounded completely naive.

To be honest, he sounded a lot like a male character that a female writer envisioned a perfect man should be. Ughhhh I wanted to love his and Violet's relationship, but my eyes hurt from rolling so much.

3.) Violet seemed so much more emotional in this sequel.

4.) Every decision that either Violet or Viggo made was second-guessed and waaaay over-analyzed. It got to the point where I wondered when they would be scared to drink water because it had a hundred ways of killing them.

The ending to the FIRST book redeemed itself for me and had me desperately needing to start this sequel. I was left disappointed. *Sigh*

The plot was more predictable than I had expected, and the horrendous writing sadly washed out the romance for me. I'm curious on how the character relationships turn out (maybe if I read spoilers instead), but it's just not enough to encourage me to spend any more money on this series.

13 of 15 people found this review helpful

Very Muddled Storyline

Would you try another book from Bella Forrest and/or the narrators?

Possibly - I want to see where the story goes but don't know if I care enough to sit through hours of nonsense again

What could Bella Forrest have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

The main character, Violet, becomes extremely unlikeable. She makes some very stupid decisions and sounds like a thirteen-year-old at times.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Yes...except when the narrator was "screaming" in Violet's voice. AWFUL.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Typical plot line, predictable.

plot was very pretictable. Characters aren't very deep and don't grow very much. not bad but not stimulating.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Desperate to get over with this ...

... and I don’t care to see what happens next. That should say it all. So why 2-stars? The story itself is an interesting premise and it sets off so many ideas. It’s a shame the author chose not to explore anything interesting. The love interest is forced with no chemistry (meant more for a harlequin than a thoughtful YA novel).

The performances don’t help either. Maybe they’re trapped by the dialogue but there’s no attempt to even escape it. It’s all too melodramatic.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Disappointed

Barely made it thru this one and I was angry the last 3 hours ready for it to be over.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Every minute activity was over explained

I like the story line but the book could have been cut down to a 2 hour audiobook if all the mundane non-essential details that were excruciatingly over explained throughout this book were omitted. I will purchase the other books in hopes that the writer may have been more concise where it counts.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Kept waiting for things to pick up...never did

Too much expo ding on simple ideas and emotions, not enough movement. Feels like whole series should be trimmed to 1 book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good story, but not the hunger games

This series was done a terrible disservice when they compared it to the Hunger Games. Though the story is good, neither the story nor the writing live up to the Hunger Games. I want to know what happens next in the story, but not sure I can handle any more of the writing. Note: I read the 1st two books before deciding to post.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful