#copper script

ive read many a bad book by many a great author but never in my life have i ever been so disappointed by an author who is 99% of the time a total hit for me.

first of all did you get this edited? like, at all? the pacing is absolutely fucking terrible, NOTHING happens for pages and pages and pages and everything else happens off-screen and the ending is so rushed it's actually offensive. what IS this.

second of all the STAGGERING lack of diverse characters (ESPECIALLY female ones) is absolutely fucking astounding considering ALL of kjc's books so far have featured a wide and heterogeneous cast of characters.

and i don't even mean Strong Likable Female Characters, some of them are extraordinarily annoying, but they are interesting and entertaining enough that they make me want to read them. there is ONE woman who's the first Woman Cop and her singular role is investigating sex crimes (which im assuming is a historical fact), but we know absolutely nothing else about her. and like i am reading an m/m romance for a reason, so my main complaint isn't that there are no female characters, it's just that we don't see ANYONE except for the two romance leads. we know absolutely NOTHING about their backgrounds (other than what serves to further their emotional bond which is comically bland), their friendships, their relationships, their HOBBIES. do you guys like doing stuff? like, do you read? write? draw? knit?

THIRD of all the romance is weak, the sex is also weak (PLEASE for the love of god stop using the word "milked" i am BEGGING!!!), there was a HINT of something interesting but long gone are the days of her BDSM Dom/sub CNC days.

FOURTH. the second main character is supposed to be some Justin Lazarus rip-off but Actually Morally Good which makes him fucking BORING!!! considering the whole appeal of JL was being a sleazy contemptible thief and scammer and THAT was what made him interesting. this one is genuinely a good guy i promise :( someone kill him.

FIFTH of all we are constantly being fed that they are sad and traumatised and emotionally constipated but we see NONE of it. both characters fought in wwi, do we get ANY conversation about that?. no we do not which is CRAZY you guys were in a FUCKING WORLD WAR and one of you was DISABLED, hello????

the cop character (cannot remember his name) apparently has a Complex Family Situation, do we actually meet any of him family members? do we get any of that? no we do not. we are constantly being told stuff about their feelings and emotions, and we never read about them. which works only up to a certain point.

FIFTH. the not-cop main character apparently has PLENTY of friends, but we don't see a SINGLE one of them which is fucking BONKERS to me and incredibly annoying considering, AGAIN, kjc is usually great at establishing interesting and well fleshed-out background characters (frank merrick of the magpie lord fame you will always be in my heart...) which CLEARLY means she is aware of how important having a varied cast of characters is.

anyways link to a much better review than mine :) and one last thing before i leave. kjc's books have been progressively getting worse and worse, i dont know if it's me but there is a CLEAR quality drop both in writing and character development.

like i understand that being an independent author&writer is difficult but also i am not that, i am simply a reader (and fanfic writer but that really doesn't count lmfao), and as a reader i expect (and want) better. the gentlemen of uncertain fortune saga was ok but not to my taste (some bits were incredibly cringe but it's fine i am willing to overlook that. i disliked the second installment mostly because i found the main character as flaccid and bland as a fish but the writing itself is FINE), the doomsday books was kinda mediocre (i had to read the sentence "tickle-attacks" with my own two fucking eyes), masters in this hall was... FINE mostly thanks to jerry crozier my beloved you will ALWAYS be in my heart. death in the spires was better (yay for the foot fetish and the constant palpable misery).

like the previous novels were FINE not her best work (NOTHING will ever top any old diamonds and spectred isle) but they were GOOD. perhaps not to my taste but there was some work, if a bit wonky at times but nothing out of the ordinary. but this book i am 100% convinced is an unfinished draft.