The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost

DNF @ 10%

Life is too short to read bad books. That's why I've decided that if I'm not into a book, I'm just not going to push myself through it. I feel like the reasons a book makes you throw in the towel early on are valid enough to write a review. Depending on whether it's a "me" thing or a "book" thing, the book will get 1-2 stars.

In the case of THE BEAUTIFUL ASHES, I don't think it's a "me" thing; I think it was the book. Does the title refer to my hopes, as they burn into a crisp only to flutter away on the breeze? I'm honestly surprised that this TSTL Gumbo™ was written by Jeanine Frost, an author whose works I genuinely prize as much as Jenny Trout's or Ilona Andrews's. This was like a hallmark to all those insipid YA books that were hot on TWILIGHT's heels to see who could write the most spineless, instalovey hot mess ever.

Our heroine sees things that shouldn't be there, kind of like Mac from Karen Marie Moning's series. Everyone thought it was an undiagnosed mental health issue but now it seems like she might actually be seeing something... real. Her parents just died, and when she's kidnapped by the Obligatory Hot Guy Love Interest™, her first thought is literally just "This sucks! Oh well! At least he's hot!" Like, this is unfazable, but not on a kick-butt level-- more like a "I am a single-celled amoeba sluicing my way to the edge of death!" level. She acts like a pre-programmed robot who has been taught to only do the stupid thing.

After getting to 10% of non-stop stupid decisions and endless descriptions of OHGLI™ (named Adrian) and how hot he was, I was D-O-N-E. I'm really sad I had to do this because Frost is usually such a winner for me, but I guess everyone has that One Book that isn't as good as the others, and for Frost, this one seems to be hers. If you're curious about it, it's only $1.99 in the Kindle store right now (that was how I got suckered in), but I'd honestly recommend sticking with her vampire crew instead.

1 out of 5 stars