Cade Merrill
Autor(a) de The Witch's Daughter
Séries
Obras por Cade Merrill
Etiquetado
Conhecimento Comum
- Sexo
- male
Membros
Críticas
While the content and actual story of this issue in the series is actually somewhat entertaining and new; the author falls back into the same boring patterns and I'm once again reading a pithy, whinging orphan who has herself caught up in the Blair Witch drama and sits around waiting for a guy she just met, but is apparently already madly in love with, to save her life. Currently I'm reading The Hunger Games, with the lead character written as a strong, highly independent young woman. Whoever wrote these awful Blair Witch books has some romanticized view of teenage relationships that have no depth or realism.
Again; predictable. But for once not everyone died; someone just ended up in a coma for awhile.
This installment dealt with shapeshifters; but not very convincingly. And once again; everything comes off as skeptical questioning. Not as boring as the previous six; but I still wouldn't go as far to say as I liked it.… (mais)
Again; predictable. But for once not everyone died; someone just ended up in a coma for awhile.
This installment dealt with shapeshifters; but not very convincingly. And once again; everything comes off as skeptical questioning. Not as boring as the previous six; but I still wouldn't go as far to say as I liked it.… (mais)
Similar themes to all the other books rear their heads in this one. Nightmares of the witch that seem to come out of nowhere, the lead character (commonly the outcast) going off in search of Blair Witch info; finding it creepy and then, for some reason, practical jokes are common in this series. A couple of books take place on camps, where the kids play gags on each other, this one plays off a new step brother and sister teasing each other. It's just reusing the same technique; and it doesn't help that the dialogue in each book is so horribly similar it's like reading the same thing all over again; this is kind of a blessing I guess because you can pick the ending from the way the story starts; because you've read it before.
I actually had some hope for this book, its one from the series actually told from Cade (The 'authors') POV. But my hopes dropped considerably on page 20; the start of chapter 3. The basic premise of this book is that there is a prisoner who claims the murder she has been imprisoned for where done by the Blair Witch through her. Her boyfriend is the one who she is said to have murdered, which reminds me that boyfriends rarely survive these books. If they aren't dead already when the story starts; they die at some point along the way. Anyway, this prisoner sends Cade a letter explaining that she needs his help as a Blair Witch Investigator to help clear her name. So, he goes to what is described as 'maximum security prison' and is surprised when he's not allowed in.
Really?
The line from the book is "I guess I should have known better than to drive all the way across the state without checking on the protocols first." Yes, Cade, you, who describes himself as a researcher, whose whole book series is based on his collection of case files with facts and information; didn't think to call a MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON to see if he would be able to visit a CONVICTED MURDERER?
The improbabilities continue when he is called to the warden's office; and she is somewhat touched that Cade visited the prisoner who has had no one visit her in two years; so she tells Cade he'll be able to visit her any time he wants.
Yes, it is that easy.
And I go back to what I said earlier; this is meant to be a 17 year old kid. It just doesn't make any sense. He has a contact at the FBI, is able to send things away to 'the lab' for results...? Why not make Cade a former police officer, or even someone who worked in a law office; and DEFINITELY not make him a teenager :S
We are also given a look into the diary of this murderer, Eliza, who as a teen was moved to the town where the Blair Witch Legend lives, by her father who inexplicably married a woman without telling her or the woman's son, and proceeds to introduce himself as 'your new father' to the young boy and Eliza as his sister :S:S Eliza comes off as a normal teenage girl; nothing too weird about her. Then she meets this guy Adam and falls madly in love with him in like a day, and then when she finds out he's just using her for her brains and sees him kissing his girlfriend; she does what any girl in that situation would do. Goes online and finds a spell (that of course asks for blood from both Eliza and Adam) that will make him do exactly what she asks of him; when she asks it. We've all been there! Aside from the note that Cade claims this spell is somehow connected to the Blair Witch; there is no actual fact in any books. They are all based on the premise that though none of it can be proved; not if it can be disproved either. SO THEN IT MUST BE TRUE! ETA - having read the book through; Cade does bring up the same question as I just asked, and attributes her change in demeanor to hereditary schizophrenia from her mother even though he has no proof of it... but nothing to disprove it, either. :S
Apparently this spell is the key to the rest of the story; Eliza threatens her step brother and somehow starts a fire that kills both her brother and father (men do NOT last in these books), so her step-mother sends her to a boarding school for troubled girls, where she befriends her roommate, tells her the story about the spell; and the next morning the roommate is dead. The girl is then approached by the school's counsellor; to whom she also tells the story; and she also dies, leading Eliza to believe that whoever she tells her story to will die.
Now; this would be a good idea if it hadn't already been flogged to death in the first five novels. This is what happens in each book. People die around the central character who involves themselves with the Blair Witch, more than once this comes about for revenge purposes, which if it is supposed to tie into the Blair witch theme... it does not. It just comes off as repetitive use. Flogging a dead horse seems very fitting. There's no surprise anymore.
Funnily enough, this is the first book that has an actual ending that makes you want to read more. Whether or not it will lead to anything else I don't know yet; but I'll see. I'd say this is the 'best' so far; but that's not saying much.
What I'm curious to find out as I go along with these books (I'm six in now, two to go) is if they were commissioned as a series of 8 and there'll be some conclusion in the final book; or were they case by case (and thus book by book) releases that don't all lead up to anything. My money's on the latter.
Oh, but the one good thing; someone seems to have cut the stupid cliffhangers off at the throat; there were NONE in this novel.… (mais)
I actually had some hope for this book, its one from the series actually told from Cade (The 'authors') POV. But my hopes dropped considerably on page 20; the start of chapter 3. The basic premise of this book is that there is a prisoner who claims the murder she has been imprisoned for where done by the Blair Witch through her. Her boyfriend is the one who she is said to have murdered, which reminds me that boyfriends rarely survive these books. If they aren't dead already when the story starts; they die at some point along the way. Anyway, this prisoner sends Cade a letter explaining that she needs his help as a Blair Witch Investigator to help clear her name. So, he goes to what is described as 'maximum security prison' and is surprised when he's not allowed in.
Really?
The line from the book is "I guess I should have known better than to drive all the way across the state without checking on the protocols first." Yes, Cade, you, who describes himself as a researcher, whose whole book series is based on his collection of case files with facts and information; didn't think to call a MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON to see if he would be able to visit a CONVICTED MURDERER?
The improbabilities continue when he is called to the warden's office; and she is somewhat touched that Cade visited the prisoner who has had no one visit her in two years; so she tells Cade he'll be able to visit her any time he wants.
Yes, it is that easy.
And I go back to what I said earlier; this is meant to be a 17 year old kid. It just doesn't make any sense. He has a contact at the FBI, is able to send things away to 'the lab' for results...? Why not make Cade a former police officer, or even someone who worked in a law office; and DEFINITELY not make him a teenager :S
We are also given a look into the diary of this murderer, Eliza, who as a teen was moved to the town where the Blair Witch Legend lives, by her father who inexplicably married a woman without telling her or the woman's son, and proceeds to introduce himself as 'your new father' to the young boy and Eliza as his sister :S:S Eliza comes off as a normal teenage girl; nothing too weird about her. Then she meets this guy Adam and falls madly in love with him in like a day, and then when she finds out he's just using her for her brains and sees him kissing his girlfriend; she does what any girl in that situation would do. Goes online and finds a spell (that of course asks for blood from both Eliza and Adam) that will make him do exactly what she asks of him; when she asks it. We've all been there! Aside from the note that Cade claims this spell is somehow connected to the Blair Witch; there is no actual fact in any books. They are all based on the premise that though none of it can be proved; not if it can be disproved either. SO THEN IT MUST BE TRUE! ETA - having read the book through; Cade does bring up the same question as I just asked, and attributes her change in demeanor to hereditary schizophrenia from her mother even though he has no proof of it... but nothing to disprove it, either. :S
Apparently this spell is the key to the rest of the story; Eliza threatens her step brother and somehow starts a fire that kills both her brother and father (men do NOT last in these books), so her step-mother sends her to a boarding school for troubled girls, where she befriends her roommate, tells her the story about the spell; and the next morning the roommate is dead. The girl is then approached by the school's counsellor; to whom she also tells the story; and she also dies, leading Eliza to believe that whoever she tells her story to will die.
Now; this would be a good idea if it hadn't already been flogged to death in the first five novels. This is what happens in each book. People die around the central character who involves themselves with the Blair Witch, more than once this comes about for revenge purposes, which if it is supposed to tie into the Blair witch theme... it does not. It just comes off as repetitive use. Flogging a dead horse seems very fitting. There's no surprise anymore.
Funnily enough, this is the first book that has an actual ending that makes you want to read more. Whether or not it will lead to anything else I don't know yet; but I'll see. I'd say this is the 'best' so far; but that's not saying much.
What I'm curious to find out as I go along with these books (I'm six in now, two to go) is if they were commissioned as a series of 8 and there'll be some conclusion in the final book; or were they case by case (and thus book by book) releases that don't all lead up to anything. My money's on the latter.
Oh, but the one good thing; someone seems to have cut the stupid cliffhangers off at the throat; there were NONE in this novel.… (mais)
1 
littleton_pace | Jan 20, 2011 |
littleton_pace | Jan 20, 2011 | 
I realized the last two books didn't have thorough reviews, so I thought with this one I'd go into more detail as to what I did not like so much about it.
One refreshing thing about this book; you get a parent's perspective. Up until now, every teenagers parents are either dead or always 'at work late/travelling into the city for the night' which is a cheap way to write off characters so you don't have to deal with them. I remember in the last book a character came home to an empty house and only then remembered his parents were away for the weekend. :S:S Yeah; that happens ALL THE TIME.
Every book has an outcast, a token weirdo, who always believes in the Blair Witch even though the main character of that novel does not. Random dreams of being in a forrest are a common theme; as are the destroying of property. Creepy feelings that seem to 'come out of nowhere'. And everything is speculation. Nothing is really confirmed. It's all questions upon questions. No real answers are given. Each book seems to end with that story being believed by only the characters it affected (even though numerous, random, gruesome deaths appear in each book) and is explained away by the media.
An annoying thing that happens regularly is the unlikelihood of the events. Such as, the main character of this story, Kayla, her mother doesn't want her daughter to talk about this Deep Creek Lake place, a place Kayla has been to and has a T-shirt that bares its name. When Kayla goes looking for the shirt one night, she finds it in shreds with bloodstains on it! OMG! But when she confronts her mother in the morning; she admits it got ruined in the wash and the stains are lipstick, but Kayla believes her mother did it on purpose.... why? If her mother didn't want the shirt in the house; surely the easiest thing to do is toss it out? Another quibble; the mother refers to her coffee as java at one point. In my entire life I have never heard it called that; and it just reaks of someone not wanting to use the word 'coffee' twice in one paragraph; ironic because there are many points in all books I've read so far with repetitive verb/adjective use. I was taught not to do that in primary school :S
I have an issue with the way women are portrayed specifically in this book. Two female cousins and one of their boyfriend's go off to the forrest; and freak out at every mention the guy makes of leaving them alone. Because two women couldn't possibly make it out alive without the aide of a male :S
I understand that the movie itself was open to interpretation; and didn't give answers, and that was the point of it; the viewer is supposed to make up their own mind about the 'truth'. But these books give apparent 'answers' to questions that the movie asked. You never saw a death in the movie; the first guy went missing, Heather found his teeth later on, and the remaining two were last seen from the camera's POV and the viewer is told they all disappeared as no bodies were found. So, then why, in the books, are bodies piling up everywhere? The Blair Witch seems to attack campers all the time; making her attacks seem less rare. And if all of these books are supposed to come off like 'true stories', there would be better documentation of it. Not just the notes from one kid who keeps 'case files' on everything Blair Witch he comes across.
This book also fails in that it seems to mirror the movie, at some times almost exactly. Three campers go into the woods, filming as they go, one goes missing, the other two look for him and get lost; and then find that they have been walking in a circle even though they were sure they were walking in an opposite direction, one girl hears the missing guy's screams for help at night and goes to follow him,
Is it really worth documenting the movie in book-form all over again with only a few changes?
The silly 'cliffhangers' continue. I noted a few this time; these are actual endings to chapters, these are the final words, nothing more:
1. "No!" A strangled voice called from the doorway. "Not another word!"
2. Gavin's frozen eyes burned into mine. He was already dead! [Turns out the kid wasn't dead at this time; apparently he didn't know he sleeps with his eyes open o_0 He does die later on, his head being ripped off by a rope made of mist, but the lead character decides to tell everyone it was a bear attack :S]
3. "I can't see anymore!" he cried. "Kayla, hang on. I can't drive!"
4. "Is anybody listening?" he cries. "I can't see anything... I can't...Help me! Please! Somebody, HELLLLP!" The tape cuts out.
5."Oh, my God, Erin," she sobbed. "I'm being buried alive!"
There comes a point when ending every chapter with a scream loses effect. And it happened in the first book. How this series was given 8 books, I'll never understand.
If you're wondering of the ending, the boyfriend is killed the same way as Gavin, and the two cousins make it out alive.
Read the book cover to cover in 2 hours; not worth it.… (mais)
One refreshing thing about this book; you get a parent's perspective. Up until now, every teenagers parents are either dead or always 'at work late/travelling into the city for the night' which is a cheap way to write off characters so you don't have to deal with them. I remember in the last book a character came home to an empty house and only then remembered his parents were away for the weekend. :S:S Yeah; that happens ALL THE TIME.
Every book has an outcast, a token weirdo, who always believes in the Blair Witch even though the main character of that novel does not. Random dreams of being in a forrest are a common theme; as are the destroying of property. Creepy feelings that seem to 'come out of nowhere'. And everything is speculation. Nothing is really confirmed. It's all questions upon questions. No real answers are given. Each book seems to end with that story being believed by only the characters it affected (even though numerous, random, gruesome deaths appear in each book) and is explained away by the media.
An annoying thing that happens regularly is the unlikelihood of the events. Such as, the main character of this story, Kayla, her mother doesn't want her daughter to talk about this Deep Creek Lake place, a place Kayla has been to and has a T-shirt that bares its name. When Kayla goes looking for the shirt one night, she finds it in shreds with bloodstains on it! OMG! But when she confronts her mother in the morning; she admits it got ruined in the wash and the stains are lipstick, but Kayla believes her mother did it on purpose.... why? If her mother didn't want the shirt in the house; surely the easiest thing to do is toss it out? Another quibble; the mother refers to her coffee as java at one point. In my entire life I have never heard it called that; and it just reaks of someone not wanting to use the word 'coffee' twice in one paragraph; ironic because there are many points in all books I've read so far with repetitive verb/adjective use. I was taught not to do that in primary school :S
I have an issue with the way women are portrayed specifically in this book. Two female cousins and one of their boyfriend's go off to the forrest; and freak out at every mention the guy makes of leaving them alone. Because two women couldn't possibly make it out alive without the aide of a male :S
I understand that the movie itself was open to interpretation; and didn't give answers, and that was the point of it; the viewer is supposed to make up their own mind about the 'truth'. But these books give apparent 'answers' to questions that the movie asked. You never saw a death in the movie; the first guy went missing, Heather found his teeth later on, and the remaining two were last seen from the camera's POV and the viewer is told they all disappeared as no bodies were found. So, then why, in the books, are bodies piling up everywhere? The Blair Witch seems to attack campers all the time; making her attacks seem less rare. And if all of these books are supposed to come off like 'true stories', there would be better documentation of it. Not just the notes from one kid who keeps 'case files' on everything Blair Witch he comes across.
This book also fails in that it seems to mirror the movie, at some times almost exactly. Three campers go into the woods, filming as they go, one goes missing, the other two look for him and get lost; and then find that they have been walking in a circle even though they were sure they were walking in an opposite direction, one girl hears the missing guy's screams for help at night and goes to follow him,
Is it really worth documenting the movie in book-form all over again with only a few changes?
The silly 'cliffhangers' continue. I noted a few this time; these are actual endings to chapters, these are the final words, nothing more:
1. "No!" A strangled voice called from the doorway. "Not another word!"
2. Gavin's frozen eyes burned into mine. He was already dead! [Turns out the kid wasn't dead at this time; apparently he didn't know he sleeps with his eyes open o_0 He does die later on, his head being ripped off by a rope made of mist, but the lead character decides to tell everyone it was a bear attack :S]
3. "I can't see anymore!" he cried. "Kayla, hang on. I can't drive!"
4. "Is anybody listening?" he cries. "I can't see anything... I can't...Help me! Please! Somebody, HELLLLP!" The tape cuts out.
5."Oh, my God, Erin," she sobbed. "I'm being buried alive!"
There comes a point when ending every chapter with a scream loses effect. And it happened in the first book. How this series was given 8 books, I'll never understand.
If you're wondering of the ending, the boyfriend is killed the same way as Gavin, and the two cousins make it out alive.
Read the book cover to cover in 2 hours; not worth it.… (mais)
1 littleton_pace | Jan 20, 2011 |
littleton_pace | Jan 20, 2011 | You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Estatísticas
- Obras
- 8
- Membros
- 207
- Popularidade
- #106,920
- Avaliação
- 2.5
- Críticas
- 6
- ISBN
- 16
We get a great insight into Elly Kedward, the Blair Witch, but perhaps the most annoying thing is that Elly Kedward is NOT the Blair Witch at all, rather she is just one of the 'vessels' that the evil that apparently already resides in the forests of the town of Blair has decided to possess.
So really, there is no answers. We have another outcast, more unbelievable - in that I can't believe them for a second - facts that this teenager has received from his FBI friend. Apparently we're just supposed to accept that the FBI has the time and means to use their labs and equipment to help a 17 year old with a bunch of hunches. If only all investigators were that lucky.… (mais)