[Aengell]'s Reviews > Taking It All

Taking It All by Maya Banks
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it was ok
bookshelves: contemporary-romance



I’m officially taking a break from Maya Banks.



I can’t go on like this, and I’m feeling like a bad fan, but I really can’t do this anymore. I don’t care if I read a novel by an unknown author and don’t like it. It’s okay, because I try them out, they aren’t mine and everything is fine.
But what do you do when one of your favourite authors, one of your auto-buy-authors, where you always got that excited feeling when reading a story of hers, becomes someone entirely different?

Maybe it’s because she writes many books and every few months a new work is published. Maybe it’s because she has lost her touch and some of her creativity. Either way, whatever reason there is, I’m not willing to continue reading books where the name Maya Banks is stamped on and the content is so bad. I hate saying it, but this here is bad writing, a bad storyline, a bad and inappropriate pace, a bad everything.

I went into this novel with the last hope I had. The last of Maya Banks’ KGI-series is downright cheesy and overdone, and also this series here and the one before it are disappointments.
And although I knew that, I was kind of excited for Chessy and Tate’s story. I’m a goner for married couples, so the summary of this one sounded more than appealing.
And even though the last novels I read by Banks weren’t enjoyable at all, I still thought that maybe this one would do a better job.

The result? Well..



My hopes are crushed , not just ‘deleted’. It’s not fun anymore to make your way through repetitive phrases, endless descriptions, no action and cheesy, over-the-top unrealistic dialogues. Chessy and Tate as the Main Characters were so flat, there’s no more flat possible. Their emotions were too much, too fast, too far from real life; I wasn’t able to sympathize with either of them.

I still can’t believe that Chessy let her relationship flow in a non-existent sphere, saying absolutely nothing the whole time. I can’t imagine a wife doing happy faces, and everyone apart from her husband sees through it. It’s not that I can’t believe such relationships exist, but the author should write the story in such a way that I can believe it, that I think that this could be.

And Tate? I can live with the fact that he was blind to his wife’s unhappiness, but that unables him to be a worthy hero in my eyes. And the way, when Chessy talked about it for the first time, he went like: “ooooh, yes, now I can see the hints, ahhhhh!”. Please. Just… please.

I don’t know what to add to my complaints, and I can imagine that for those who can’t see the change in Maya Banks this will come across as overly harsh and unfair, but it’s that way for me. I don’t want to leave the Maya-Banks-fandom, but I have to take a break and hope that she will do better again and return to her former self.



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Reading Progress

September 17, 2013 – Shelved as: to-read
September 17, 2013 – Shelved
Started Reading
August 10, 2014 – Finished Reading
September 13, 2014 – Shelved as: contemporary-romance

Comments Showing 1-7 of 7 (7 new)

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WhiskeyintheJar Stinky. I hate when a favorite author goes off the rails. I always question myself first, why can't I like it? It's probably like you said a case of over saturation and not creating a story organically.


message 2: by Vashti (new) - added it

Vashti Thanks for your honest thoughts.I too was an autobuy for this author and woulld eagerly await her new books,but saddly no more.


[Aengell] I can't understand it, because even if an author has some issues with creativity etc, the core of her writing style should stay the same, right? I know, author's develop their style and are free to change it, but I thought that opinion doesn't include changing your writing talent in a negative way.

@Vashti: I guess we can just hope that it's just a phase...


Neek I to am saddened by the fall of MB. I have gone so far as to email her and ask is she okay. This was my last attempt at hoping for the best from her just to be severely disappointed again. Like you I am taking a well needed MB break.


[Aengell] Has she answered? The problem is that there are the hard-core fans who don't see this change or simply are able to ignore it. That's why I don't think that she will change again because some fans are disappointed, sadly.


Neek Unfortunately she did not reply. Hmmmm, any TRUE fan can see the demise while sitting in the dark with a blindfold on. My biggest frustration is with the KGI series. I absolutely love those guys and the last two have been AAAWWWEEFFFUUULLLL...and I can't spend any more money on carp. Maybe I'll find them at the library, but they time is wasted...Sad, sad, sad.


Marianne Me too after the rush series, I thought wow Maya Banks is one of my favourite authors. But after reading this series, especially the last book, I think I need a break from her. I am just so disappointed with this series!!!


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