Straight to Hell

Straight to Hell by Michelle Scott

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I received this book through the R2R program.  Thank you to Michelle Scott for giving us the opportunity to read and review her novel.  I actually gave this book 2½ ♥'s, but as GoodReads does not allow for ½♥'s, I rounded up to 3.

I was really looking forward to this book, I had previously fallen in love with the Georgina Kincaid succubus series and was hoping to find another series along a similar theme to enjoy.  The writing itself (sentence structure, grammar, formatting) is suburb; this must be the best example of technical writing skill and formatting I've seen in a smaller-scale author.  The characters, however, were not endearing or appealing.  There are a few things in particular that really prevented enjoying this book:



◘Lilith Straight, the main character, starts off the novel essentially bragging about her life pre-divorce.  She went to "those parties", hobnobbed with stars and athletes, daughter went to the elite private school... While I understand this gave us necessary background information, I felt the character was aloof and condescending to me as the reader. 
◘She preens about how attractive she is for her age, and how she can still wear her high school cheer leading uniform, then pages later flat out saying that it was true. She lied about fitting the uniform.  The book is in 1st person perspective; if I cannot trust the character telling me the story, I begin to doubt the entire story itself. 
◘Lilith also is practically bipolar in her emotions.  One minute she's breaking her personal "commandments" and traffic laws in her anger and fear toward an individual, and then paragraphs later she's giving kisses to this character and inviting them to stay in her already crowded house tittering between poor and destitute. 

I ultimately just did not care for Lilith and her struggles.

The "blurb" of the book made it sound like there would be more romance, especially considering the succubus angle- but I found that to be lacking from the book.  Some readers, however, may find that to be a welcome change.  William Darcy never "sold" me on his charisma or the sexual tension alluded to between Lilith and William.  The "relationship" between these two characters seemed so shallow.  I did not feel connected to either character.

So many reviews say how witty this is, how it's such a "quick read"... while it did have witty moments, I had to force myself to finish it.  About halfway through the book, it did become a little easier but I would just keep reaching that same barrier of dislike for the characters, wanting more action in multiple ways... overall I was just left plain wanting.  I would absolutely be willing to read another book by Michelle, as I said, the technical end of it was flawless.  But this story was just not for me.

Ultimately, if you are interested in this book, I would recommend a reading of your own.  While I did not find it engaging, many readers have.  To each their own.