Elphame's Choice (Partholon #4) By: P.C. Cast (Book Review)

 (There will be spoilers in this review)

Summary:

Though most girls believe they are different, Elphame knows she is. Odd. Strange. Unique.

No one in Partholon has her abilities or her connection to their goddess. And she has a destiny she is about to discover...

A restlessness has infused her, leading her to the other side of her country. There, the remnants of an evil war still linger. Will Elphame be able to redeem bother her country and her soul mate, a survivor of that war? The choice she makes now may bring disaster or a future in which she may never again be alone. 

The first thing out of my mouth when I finished this book was "Is that it?" I expected so much more from Cast. There were many inconsistencies in the story, it dragged on and the only development we really had was in the last 50 pages. How the fuck does that even happen? Besides, from poor writing. 

The inconsistencies were so infuriating for me. Lochlan's heritage being the main culprit. Lochlan's mother was Morrigan MacCallan, the sister of the MacCallan who was defeated by the Fomorians when they invaded his castle. If you guys remember, the MacCallan was Rhiannon's father from Divine By Mistake (you can check out my review of Divine By Mistake Here). It was never mentioned in the first book that Rhiannon had a aunt. It would have been said if the MacCallan's sister was abducted by the Fomorians. But the MacCallan was in his sixties and Rhiannon was already in her mid-thirties. So...are we all gonna ignore the fact that it makes no sense? Even if the MacCallan did have a sister, she would be in her forties if not fifties. Why would the Fomorians grab her? 

Plus, Elphame is a direct descendant of Rhiannon MacCallan. If Lochlan's mother really was a MacCallan then isn't that considered incest? I know he is a hundred years old but still they share the same genetic DNA, anyone else got a little disturbed by this? They were both aware that they are related to each other but jumped right in with unprotected sex. You can't tell me that there is some sort of goddess like magic in play to make sure that their offspring don't turn into hideous genetic mutations, and both Elphame and Lochlan being half-breeds definitely won't help them. 

The story itself was okay but it honestly dragged on and took forever before we had some story development. And no, the renovation of a castle is not story development unless this were a book about how to do renovations. It makes me mad that in the last 50 pages of the book Elphame finds out about the prophecy to take away the madness of the descendants of the Fomorians, she fulfills the prophecy and then finds a way to overcome the madness. Like, what the fuck? The main reason for Lochlan to find Elphame was first to meet his soulmate and then to find out if she could fulfill the prophecy. Most of the book was about this prophecy that Elphame wasn't even aware of till the last couple chapters. And boom, as soon as she finds out about it she fulfilled the prophecy and overcame the madness that is part of the Fomorians. It was so god damned anti-climactic. I was hoping for a nice buildup and actually cover more on Elphame's inner struggle with the madness but naw. She's touched by a goddess, of course shit would be easy and it would remain unexplained. 

Another thing I have to point out that really bothered me and that was annoying was the whole tortured shtick from Locklan. You guys know, the whole vampire gimmick who is racked with guilt and must control himself to not hurt the one he loves. Ugh, get out of here with that bullshit. I'm so over it. Okay, you've got superhuman strength and maybe you're a little crazy but stop it with the whole tortured act. It's boring and women don't like that. 

Rating:

I am going to give Elphame's Choice 1 star on 5. This was a whole fucking shit show. It made no sense, had inconsistencies and it was underwhelming. I expected so much more and was left disappointed. It was anti-climactic and just terrible story development. What possesses a person to have the action happen in the last 50 pages without development the story line?  I hate this book. I wanted more and I didn't get it. Please forgo this book.