One carjacking, two possible scenarios - Fight or flight. That's where the story splits off into two different directions, one with Gem the warrior and one with Gem the victim. It's an interesting concept, and it did make for an intriguing storyline. That said, some things worked and some, well, not so much. The contrast between the two Gem's worked, but did get somewhat confusing as the story progressed, so I was flipping back and forth to keep track which Gem said or did what thing. I think part of that was due to a handful of other characters thrown in and of course, there actions and conversations were also different, depending on which timeline they were in. The chapters are labeled with the appropriate Surrender/Fight reality, but it's still a lot to keep up with. In the end, The Victim is an interesting story, a strange one at times, but interesting nonetheless. So, for me, it comes out somewhere in the middle. Parts were terrific, but others fell a little flat.

Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review.

Well this was a shame. I was looking forward to this one because having an author follow the two possible paths a potential car jacking victim could go sounded so intriguing. Too bad that Manning didn't just focus on the main protagonist and added in POVs from so many people. Also I got so confused after a while if I was following Gem as survivor or Gem as warrior.

"The Victim" follows Gem Golding. Gem stops on her way home to get some painkillers and is accosted by a carjacker. Gem reels wondering if she should fight back or should she just acquiesce with the carjacker's demands. We get at the decision point and from there Manning follows Gem's life if she given in or if she had fought back. 

At first I really liked the book. I liked Gem and understood why she was so focused on not being seen as a victim (in either timeline) and getting back to her job. I wish that Manning had stayed more focused on her since the whole point of the book was Gem and how her life was impacted. Manning then shows the different timelines for the same people (her boyfriend, the carjacker, the detectives, the reporter, and others) who follow if Gem was a victim or a survivor. 

There was way too much going on and I had to keep going back and forth in my Kindle to make sure I was reading it correctly if Gem was a victim or survivor. After a while I just gave up and started to feel frustrated because it was hard to follow what was going on. Manning should have stripped out the other characters. We focused way too much on the carjacker who apparently went to how to be a serial killer school. 

The writing was okay, but I think the scattered shot approach to everyone didn't work real well. I was disappointed in the conclusion of one of the story-lines (Gem as a survivor) and think that Manning should have followed up with an epilogue on both of those story-lines. However, I don't think it mattered to him much, since as I said, Gem wasn't really the focus as she should have been. 

The flow was up and down throughout. Following so many people and different story-lines depending on which version of Gem we were with in the book was just confusing and definitely impacted what was going on. It didn't help that we had subplots going on with the detectives and carjacker and reporter as well. The boyfriend POVs don't really count considering how short they were. 

The ending was a meh to one story-line with Gem and a "I guess" to the other one following her. 

You can tell that these were a product of the late 70s and early 80s. I lost count of how many times Leia needed to be rescued. True, she was more active than your average damsel in distress, but still got really annoying, especially when she did things that were out of character. The later stories are better. But the women are largely interchangeable and it is mostly Luke and Han centric.

BTW, Luke, before you found out that Leia was your sister and you still liked her, you might have had better luck if you weren't as patronizing as f**k. Just saying

I've finished The Great Fortune, the first of the three books that make up this trilogy. 

‘Such a war! An unexploded squib of a war! What folly ever to start it. The great nations think only of power. They do not think of the ones who suffer for such a war.’

War has well-and-truly broken out, and Paris has been taken by the Nazis. I'm not ready to write a full review, so I'm just going to toss down some quotes and take a break for a week or two.

* * *

‘All these religious concepts,’ said Guy, ‘are only a means of keeping the poor poor; and the rich rich. Pie in the sky. Accept the condition it has pleased God to put you in. I am not interested in eternity. Our responsibilities are here and now.’

* * *

The day they were invited to luncheon with the Druckers was one of the last warm days of October. Harriet had arranged to meet Guy in the English Bar, but when she looked for him in the bar, he had not arrived. This did not surprise her, for she was beginning to realise that however late she might be for an appointment Guy could always be later.

* * *

* * *

If one could not be a great writer – a Tolstoy, a Flaubert, a Stendhal – what was the point in being a writer at all? Disconcerted, Harriet said lamely: ‘If everyone felt like that, there wouldn’t be much to read.’ ‘What is there to read, anyway? Rubbish, most of it. Myself, I read nothing but detective novels.’ ‘I suppose you do read Tolstoy and Flaubert?’ ‘I did once. Years ago.’ ‘You could read them again.’

The Meat Market is the second book in the Star Brides series, but can be read as a standalone. It is actually a bit of a misnomer. I thought we would start off by 'seeing' the Meat Market, but no. Instead, we dive right into the story and only learn about the market through Tasmyn's remembrances.

Basically, she went there with a friend, got tangled up with a creature, and ended up being 'married' to two men, brothers. She goes back to their planet, to find out everything has changed, and they are shipped off to a different planet. There they have to learn how to live and work together, as well as deal with dangers on the way.

This is an easy to read book, with no great depth to it, or twists and turns. However, what is here is excellently written, and provides enough story for a nice, lighthearted, read. The characters all work together, and help to round each other out. The scenery is easy to see, and the pacing is smooth. There were not editing or grammatical errors to disrupt my reading flow.

A great read, perfect for what I wanted, and thoroughly enjoyable. Definitely recommended by me.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!