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The Native Star (2010)

by M.K. Hobson(Favorite Author)

3.58 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0553592653 (ISBN13: 9780553592658)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Spectra Books

series

Veneficas Americana

review 1: This book was fantastically written, despite some slip ups. The problem with writing a period book is that you either have to stick to the period perfectly, or you have to diverge from it in your own way. Hobson did a pretty decent job of this by adding magic, but it still didn't ring authentic. Maybe it was because she tried to combine steampunk, magic, and a wild west history. She was stretching the historical aspect quite a bit. It felt corny and very rehearsed. The dialog was hit or miss. But the world building was fantastic. She took something that's been done to death - done to the point that the wild west is all but forgotten, except for the occasional film or popular novel - and made it sparkle like it was new again. She is still working out the kinks in her world,... more but it's fascinating.I did not buy the romance. Stanton and Emily did not work for me at all. I know a lot of people praised the romance writing this book, but it was entirely too formulaic for me. Girl meets boy. Girl dislikes boy. Boy harbors secret crush for girl. Boy puts up defenses. Girl gets snarky. Girl/boy saves boy/girl's life. Girl harbors secret crush for boy. Moment of tension requires boy to admit his love for girl. Girl reciprocates. Things fall apart. Then! They come back together. Girl and boy get it on.Stanton was still the cold hearted selfish man we saw at the beginning of the novel. And while we know a few personal details about him, we know almost nothing important. He's an idea of perfection, not an actual character. I'm really sick and tired of completely drawn and well articulated female characters falling for the idea of perfection rather than an actual person. It's just bad writing. Giving your readers 2 or 3 extremely personal details about your male protagonist doesn't make him real or well rounded. It makes him flat and unbelievable. So, to sum it up:+ world building+/- character development (saved only by Emily)+/- writing (saved only by good world building)- romanceOverall? B-World building alone? B+/A-I will pay attention to additional books in this series, if only for the promise of more world building. I'm going to give her time to develop her characters. Sometimes you just can't do everything in one book!
review 2: Hobson's, The Native Star, follows the fantastic adventure of Emily Edwards across America with a Warlock, Stanton, whom she initially detests to remove the blue mineral that's thoroughly inserted within her favored hand. I was truly enamored by this book. It's my cup of tea: a journey filled with many obstacles including: Maelstroms, trains, an Italian assassin, Russian scientists and a stubborn antagonist, that the two main leads have to overcome while fruitlessly denying the romantic tension that's between them. It certainly helps that their banter is very witty as well. less

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