Under a Falling Star by JaeMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
When I first read this book back in November of 2014, I ended up giving it a rating of 5 stars (well, more accurately, a rating of 4.75, but that still means 5 stars were clicked on). After rereading 4 other Jae books this week, and rating all of them higher than I did for their first read, I had a strong suspicion that this one would be as well – rated higher than first read. I was right that my rating changed. But I now wish to rate this somewhere closer to 2.
Before I get into the book or why I thought it being closer to a 2 star work this time, I take a brief break for the only thing I actually wrote in my status updates while reading this book for the second time: When I decided to reread this book, an obvious stand-alone, I did not expect to find that it too was connected to other books. I was both right and wrong – right that it is not connected to that Los Angeles series (Hollywood Series), but wrong since it is connected to the Portland series (that two book cop series). One of the main characters in this book, Austen, is best friends with Dawn – and through her friends with Aidan. Aidan and Dawn are the main characters in the Portland series (though I suspect someone else is the main in the second book in the series, but other than a third name in the book description, a Kade something or other, I didn’t see a specific couple mentioned as the mains in that book; maybe Jae broke her usual practice and actually had more than one book starring the same characters – don’t know, have only read the first book in that Portland series).
Right, so, the book.
The book opens with two main characters – Austen Brooks and Danielle ‘Dee’ Saunders. Austen is just starting work at a new job, as an administrative assistant (or, as some sometimes say in the book ‘just a secretary’), while Dee is number two in the toy company. The COO – chief operating officer.
Before Austen ever meet Dee, she learned – or I should say heard gossip indicating that Dee is basically the worst human who ever existed and is nicknamed ‘Attila’. For some unknown reason, Austen actually uses that nickname to Dee’s face. Didn’t really seem ‘normal’ or ‘in character’ for Austen to do that – she’s strong willed and stubborn, but didn’t get presented as being a gossipy bitch. So her random use of the nickname was odd. As luck would have it, good or bad luck, Austen didn’t actually know that she was using that nickname directly to Dee because she didn’t know ‘the injured woman’s’ name when she used the phrase.
Injured woman? Well, backing up – the marketing department have been given the task of decorating the lobby Christmas tree, Austen took on the task because none of the weak assholes in her department would do it. Austen came up with the idea of putting up silver stars which had personal statements on them from everyone in the company – statements about what that individual wished for. I’m mentioning all of this so I can then mention that, with a great deal of reluctance, Dee hung up a star on the tree. Then promptly, because she’s a know-it-all bitch, started redoing the decorations, which caused the top star to fall and slam into her forehead. By weird and unlikely coincidence, Austen was right there and rushed over to help. This included a visit to an emergency room, and Dee’s home to ‘watch over her’. At no time did Dee give her full name and position within the company to Austen.
So. Austen has the back-story of: two years before the start of this book a relationship she had been in, with a ‘Brenda’, imploded when it came out that Austen was actually ‘the other woman’ and that Brenda had been cheating on her partner with Austen. Not something Austen knew. Years before that, when Austen was 16 her mother died. This is another ‘warping life’ situation (another in addition to that situation with Brenda). I’d say exactly what I mean but . . . spoilers and stuff.
Dee is not an ice queen. An ice queen is cold and emotionally distant – someone who might be bitchy, but in a stern, distant, cold way. No, Dee is way too emotional to be an ice queen (an ice queen might be a bundle of emotion, boiling, rioting emotion - but suppressed, not allowed to be seen by others - Dee has no problem having her emotions seen by others)). She has some of the same characteristics that go along with being one – being thought negatively by those around her, having few or no friends, etc. etc. But Dee is way to fiery and shout-y to be a closed off ice queen. She’s the kind to take out her frustrations on innocent fragile office equipment – she goes through computer mice like she was a hungry snake (and no, she doesn’t eat the mice); she screams loudly at basically everyone around her. She’s a bitch and everyone hates her.
Holy fuck that’s a messed up: a) family (Dee’s); b) company. The company is filled with nasty horrible trolls who can’t seem to actually do work – instead they seem to always be wandering the halls bickering and saying the nasty-est gossip about everyone else in the building they can think of. Horrible horrible company. Probably the worst company to work for in Portland, nah, in the USA.
Dee’s family? Filled with leaches, alpha male assholes, and the like who treat Dee like underperforming dirt, and ‘a girl’ – and obviously ‘girls don’t’ have a head for business’.
Quite frankly this book pissed me off from beginning to end (wow, who would have guess that from what I’ve written so far, eh? Heh). First Austen gets way out of proportionally angry with Dee when the lie of omission occurred (when Dee didn’t immediately scream her name and business title at Austen when they first meet; Dee did try telling Austen during the evening and morning of that ‘emergency event situation’, but Austen kept stopping her from being able to do so; though Dee didn’t try too hard to tell Austen – and did go out of her way to try to keep others from saying her last name in her and Austen’s presence). Second – what the fuck? Dee is described as having a massive and impressive educational background (good college, graduated summa cum laude etc etc.), and she broke away from the family business (as in her father’s, and 3 of her four brothers) to . . . . work for her uncle. WTF? If she was actually willing to break away that far, why the fuck would she work for the uncle? No one in her family respects, or treats her as anything other than an object to acquire a man – and the man would go work in the business while presumably Dee would be somewhere in the background, barefoot and pregnant. Dee’s family is the scum of the earth. Chauvinistic, misogynistic assholes. Why the fuck did Dee go to work for the uncle? It wasn’t like it was her only option – for fuck sake, she got given this background of being super good and having this impressive education so . . . why? WHY? WTF? It isn’t like this is some surprise that they think and act this way – Dee has always known this about her family.
And that ‘good brother’? To a certain extent, he is actually even worse than the others. Because he was ‘nicer’ than the others, he . . . um wasn’t an obvious asshole. But! Even if he might have wished to do so he never backed up his sister, no, instead, he joined in on the screaming, shouting, dickish comments and actions. And – fuck him. Fuck him with a rusty screwdriver. Forcing your assistant to pick up something you fucking forgot on your desk, and drive hours out of her way – when she’s supposed to be on vacation? Fuck you you fucking asshole. The good brother. Fuck that.
One last point – (view spoiler)
My blood is boiling. Fucking people in this book. Fuck them all. I’ve never gotten around to reading the other book in that Portland series (or the short story that occurs after the second book), and now believe I never want to. Since two of the people in that series pop up in this one. Mind you, they were the lone sane people in this book, but they ‘allowed’ themselves to be associated with this book so . . .. bah, I’m being stupid but I can’t bring myself to read the rest of the Portland series now.
Rating: 2.4
March 31 2017
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment