Divine By Mistake by P.C. Cast

On the Back of the Book

I get this bizarre mirror world filled with a horse/guy I have the serious hots for, creatures who are terrorising civilisation, deodrant-less armpits that probably stink and no toilet paper. This sucks.

The only excitement Shanon Parker expected while on holiday was a little shopping. Finding herself flung through fire into the world of Partholon (and left with a massive headache, thank you very much.) She's now being treated like a goddess.

Somehow Shannon has stepped into another's role in another world. And while there's an upside - who doesn't love lots of pampering? - it also comes with a ritual marriage to a centaur and threats against her new people. Can Shannon survive this new world and ever find her way home?

My Thoughts

This is a book of two parts for me. The first 300 and something pages are boring and don't really add to the story, they should have been condensed to make a shorter, but better, story. The beginning annoyed me so much I made a list of things I didn't like:

• The chapters were either too long or too short. They needed to be in a middle ground.
• The story is too slow, it takes ages to get to where you want to be in the story.
• Shannon is annoying.
• The author [P.C. Cast] feels like they're trying too hard. Everything feels false.
• Shannon is obsessed with penises and sex in general.
• What's with all the John Wayne? In fact a lot of references were very out of date. I'm 20 years old, I've never seen a John Wayne movie.
• I get that Shannon is/was a(n) English teacher. I don't need to be told every two sentences.
• Rhiannon is a b*tch I get it, lets move along.
• Dragon print was lot #12 not #25. I can't believe that mistake made the final cut.
• Human/horse/person/man/guy - this is annoying he's a centaur, call him a centaur! I'm not freaking out about it.
• Too repetitive... again. I am not stupid, I can hold information inside my head for more than a minute. Unlike you evidently.
• Why are you insulting the Queen? The Queen is not "stiff" she is dignified and even then, in the UK we don't all go around acting like the Queen. Get your stereotypes straight! I'm offended.
• I don't think love should be based on penis size. I'm sorry but for me it's about the person's heart, it's how they treat you.
• The goddess thing is reused in House of Night. Seriously, I'd like to pay money for an original plot and now I feel HoN isn't original. Great job!

As you can see I get sarcastic when I'm annoyed. I was very annoyed at the majority of this book.

Now I didn't really find myself attached to any of the characters. They could have dies and I wouldn't have batted an eyelid. I did however dislike Shannon, the main character. I realise I touched on this in my list but allow me to go into detail. She's selfish, she's a nymphomaniac, she's whiny, she's a bit dim and to top it all, she feels fake. When I read of her actions it's as though she's not doing it to be nice but to spite Rhiannon. In my opinion that makes her no better and if she's like that in the next book then my intense dislike may turn into hatred of this fictional excuse of a woman.

I liked the action (once I'd got there) as it developed in the last couple of hundred pages. I would have liked more information on the Fomorians and why they acted like they had. If we can have a book that consists mainly of filler then surely I can have a chapter or two from Nuada's point of view.

My Rating

3 stars - Or more accurately 2 stars for the awful beginning and 4 stars for the awesome end. This book needs some serious editing, especially early on in the book. I was disappointed, the back of the book sounds amazing. I definitely won't be recommending this one.

A Final Note

It's an adult book so there's swearing (which apparently called cussing in the US of A), violence, sex and rape. (I've put rape separately as some people react in different ways.) It's not for the faint hearted, or the impatient.

• Book summary from the back of the book
• Image from Google