WEREWOLVES BE DAMNED by Stacey Kennedy

Werewolves be Damned
Stacey Kennedy

Rating: F
Synopsis:
Nexi Jones—part witch, part guardian, and wannabe kick-ass warrior—can’t throw a punch or conjure the simplest magic. But that doesn’t stop her from hunting the werewolves who slaughtered her human family. She’ll have her revenge, but only if Kyden, the elite guardian, would get the hell out of her way.

Kyden can’t decide if Nexi wants to get herself killed or if she just has no clue what she’s doing. But her father made it clear: keep Nexi safe…or else. Of course, the more Nexi runs toward revenge, the more she needs Kyden’s aid, and as she grows into her power and confidence, so does his desire to protect her. The only problem? She’d rather he dropped dead.

But when a vampire paints a bull’s-eye on Nexi’s back, she’s hard-pressed to deny Kyden and the help he’s offering. Even if it means getting her revenge will be a little bit harder. At least it will still be as sweet.

My thoughts on the book:
I really wanted to like Werewolves be Damned. It was an awesome premise, and hot warriors in kilts coupled with shapeshifters, vampires, and witches, usually make for a good book, but the writing was just so BAD. Actually, it was awful. I honestly don't think I've ever read such horrible writing in my entire life. Also, the plot didn't make any sense. The characters were one dimensional, and there was no character development at all. This is a book that I wouldn't recommend to anyone. The only reason I finished it is because I was trying to figure out "wtf?" about the plot. Well, I never figured it out. Whatever. 

Not only was Nexi dull, but she was idiotic and bratty. I wanted to smack her for the majority of the book. She was so freaking obnoxious. Kyden had potential, but he didn't have any personality or development. Therefore, I couldn't really attach myself to him. Haven was like a freaking cheerleader on crack, and Finn was some creepy silent guy. Everyone else was just weird, and no one had normal actions or reactions. I don't think I'd want to spend time with any of these characters, and I'm not happy that I wasted two days reading about them. I only have myself to blame for that one, though. 

The writing for this book, as previously mentioned, was ATROCIOUS. The language was juvenile, the author over-explained everything, stated the obvious, talked in circles - stating the same thing twelve different ways, and simply repeated the same thing over and over with only a sentence in between. I don't know if Kennedy was trying to add length to this novel or what, but the excessive wordiness bugged the crap out of me. The book could have been about 200 pages less had all of the superficial words been removed. Some examples of the aforementioned offenses are: "Her shut mouth fell open." Obviously if her mouth was already open, it couldn't fall open, now could it? Also, the dialogue was awkward, and, at times, made no sense. Furthermore, Kennedy wrote some of the longest sentences ever created. I mean we're all guilty of run-on sentences from time to time, but this was unreal. I really hope a lot of this crap gets edited out before the final edition. 

In addition to the writing, the plot was stupid. It made no sense. Why was Lazarus after Nexi? Well he wanted her power. Whoopie. Why not go after other witches if he wanted power? Wouldn't that have been easier? We never learned why Nexi. Anything that actually mattered in the plot remained unanswered. The few answers Kennedy attempted to give were incomplete and obviously not well thought-out. Also there was no big reveal because we know what's going on from the beginning. The "climax" part of the book was rather anti-climactic. It was just the world's longest and most boring fight scene. Since the characters seemed like cardboard cut-outs, I felt no attachment to them. They all could have died, and I wouldn't have cared. Therefore the fight scenes made were yawn worthy. 

Overall, I'd say try this book out from the library before buying it. I really can't stand her writing style (or lack thereof), but some people really enjoyed this novel. If you do decide to give this novel a try, I hope you enjoy it more than I did. This is one author I'll avoid in the future.