Borrowed Flesh

Rating:
Summary: Not Bad, Could Use Some Blending
Review: (...) While I will agree that some of the elements could have been threaded together a little neater and in some cases further exposition would have been nice (like Vanessa's background), I liked this novel for the unique vision behind it. This novel deserves to be recognized for the fact that it's not a "cookie cutter" sort of book.

***SLIGHT SPOILERS***

We have Vanessa, an aging witch who has a penchant for sacrificing virgins in order to maintain her youthful good looks, yet still is difficult to view as a villain. We get glimpses of her trying to justify her selfish acts to her victims, and seemingly failing to convince even herself. She's pretty human in that while committing acts she doesn't seem to see as evil, she's also out trying to help people. I was able to empathize what it must be like to be a scarred 40 year-old woman wanting to continue to be attractive and loved, and I'm a guy in my mid-twenties, so that was a bit of a stretch for me. I give this novel only 3 stars because there was a sub-plot featuring a bunch of urine-drinking weirdos that just sort of disappeared, along with the issue of Vanessa's former lover and what he did never being resolved (though maybe that's planned for a future release). There were also a few occurences towards the end where I felt like events had been a little too "fast-forwarded." Just a little bit of slowing down and doing some more storytelling would have helped a lot in the thread involving Alex's friend(s), and the bit about Molly. I still enjoyed this one, though. I think I'll hunt down a used copy of "Eternal Sunset" to get a better understanding of Vanessa's backstory. There is definitely talent behind this work, so I'd be willing to give Sephera Giron a little more of my reading time before passing any final judgements.

Rating:
Summary: Good witch battles
Review: I dont know why this is getting unfavorable reviews from people I thought it was a great read and was able to finish it in a couple days. I liked the fact that neither of the main characters was good in the beginning but things sort of turned around in the end which was kind of a bad thing for the heroine of the book although she was able to take it all in stride. I liked it and would recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Didn't make sense to me
Review: I really did not see the point of a murdering animal abuser (Vannesa) calling another animal abuser (Molly) evil. It was plain to see that she was no better. Also, why would Ashley trust Vannesa after Molly already confirmed her suspicions of Vannesa killing her friend?

Rating:
Summary: So far it's pathetic
Review: I'm not finished reading BORROWED FLESH,but at this point, I'm
wondering if I should bother...what bothers me the most is the the title. It is misleading. She's not going to give any flesh back to these people, is she? This book should be called USED FLESH or STOLEN FLESH, not BORROWED FLESH.

Rating:
Summary: Too bad "0 stars" isn't an option
Review: There's a prequel to this book?? I don't know how the author made it past the first one through her publisher. This is my first review simply because this is one of the worst, if not THE worst, book I have ever read. I thought this a poor book in many aspects, though I did read it to the end. The whole plot was laughable with it's little subplots & "inner turmoil" of Vanessa, the fight at the end was too easy and very anti-climatic, the book in general was poorly written, and knowledge on the subject matter was poor. Witches are cliched in here for the 1700s, as it's one of those "witches are evil and make spells out of virgins blood" books. Please save yourself the time and money and read a well-written and worthwhile book instead.

Rating:
Summary: Lacks focus and connection.
Review: Vanessa is a witch with eternal life. Her battle scars, however, necessitate regular virgin sacrifices to keep her skin fresh and healthy. If she doesn't do this she starts to breakdown, literally. All is well, considering, until her quiet life as a tarot card reader/psychic counselor is disrupted by a rash of missing husbands. A friend of her latest sacrifice starts sniffing around as well. All this sounds like good thriller material, but it is wasted in a haze of poorly sketched characters and fuzzy narrative. I had a hard telling telling the wives apart - they all seemed alike, perhaps it was intentional on some artistic level, for Ashley (the sacrifice's on-the-prowl-and-searching-for-clues best friend) is fully developed. The story unfolds with dream logic, but this hampers any emotional connection with the events and don't get me started on the pages wasted focusing on one wife's dabbling with a New Age group and mulling over whether or not to drink her own urine (a meaningless subplot that goes nowhere). Events proceeding those in the novel are mentioned, making me think that this is a sequel or continuing 'series'. If it is, I have little interest in reading any others. A real disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Lacks focus and connection.
Review: Vanessa is a witch with eternal life. Her battle scars, however, necessitate regular virgin sacrifices to keep her skin fresh and healthy. If she doesn't do this she starts to breakdown, literally. All is well, considering, until her quiet life as a tarot card reader/psychic counselor is disrupted by a rash of missing husbands. A friend of her latest sacrifice starts sniffing around as well. All this sounds like good thriller material, but it is wasted in a haze of poorly sketched characters and fuzzy narrative. I had a hard telling telling the wives apart - they all seemed alike, perhaps it was intentional on some artistic level, for Ashley (the sacrifice's on-the-prowl-and-searching-for-clues best friend) is fully developed. The story unfolds with dream logic, but this hampers any emotional connection with the events and don't get me started on the pages wasted focusing on one wife's dabbling with a New Age group and mulling over whether or not to drink her own urine (a meaningless subplot that goes nowhere). Events proceeding those in the novel are mentioned, making me think that this is a sequel or continuing 'series'. If it is, I have little interest in reading any others. A real disappointment.