Review: The Thorn and the Sinking Stone by CJ Dushinski

The Thorn and the Sinking Stone by CJ Dushinski

My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Received: NetGalley
Publication Date: March 10th 2015
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Point of View: 1st Person & Alternative
Recommended Age: 11+
Genres & Themes: YA, Fantasy, Forbidden Love

BLURB:

Warring families. Forbidden love. And danger they can’t escape…

Daggers. Roses. Cowboys. Boat Men. Survivors of Earth’s Last War, four “families” vie to rule the dreary streets of Rain City through violence and blood. Valencia Hara, Princess of the wealthy Black Roses, is raised in warrior ways with sharpened steel. But she is no ordinary Rose. She is Cursed—tainted with the ability to see seconds into the future…

To avenge his father’s death, Sebastian Leold, of the rival gang Two Daggers, must face off against the Black Princess, he with his dagger, she with her katana sword. Yet a secret from a shared past leaves him unable to kill beautiful Valencia; nor can she kill him. For they once knew each other beyond their blood feud…and they have more secrets in common than they know.

But in a world filled with vengeance and violence, there can be no room for love…

REVIEW:

DNF at 23%

Reason #1: I’d known since I was a child that I was different from the other girls.

Why, oh why, do authors keep writing this kind of annoying, cheap, cliché and overused sentence? I prefer realizing by myself how ‘‘special’’ a heroine can be and not be told so because, let’s face it, that’s what the author meant to say.

Reason #2: At first I thought it was just the shock of seeing someone you knew as a child now as an adult, and then realizing they were probably the most beautiful girl you’d ever seen. That alone was enough to strike any hormone-filled teenage boy with heart-racing, palm-sweating, stuttering thoughts. But sitting alone on the rooftop, I’d realized it had been more than that—much more. It was as if I’d finally been reunited with someone I’d longed for every day for nine years, thinking I would never see them again. And then, as if painted by the hand of God, there she was…

First, who thinks like that? Secondly, can you just stop thinking? He would go on and on about cheesy As hard as I tried to push her face from my mind as I repositioned the dirk at my ankle, I couldn’t. And I realized, with a slight discomfort in my chest… I just can’t… I can’t take his interior unnecessary struggle? blathering? Yeah, definitely the latter.

Reason #3: Garrett’s voice bellowed above all others. ‘‘I’ll kill you!’’
The Bowler Hat pushed the brim of his hat back from with the tip of his gun, revealing an ugly scar across his face. He sneered and vanished like smoke into the line of stoic Daggers ready to fight. Garrett freed himself from Aston and crawled back. ‘‘I’ll kill you!’’ he screamed at the Bowler Hat as he staggered to his feet.

Oh, the drama! The only thing missing in that threat is ‘‘Even if it’s the last thing I’ll do.’’

Reason #4: A Dagger would never willingly protect a Rose. Yet, Sebastian had… and that made him different.

That word again. Maybe he’s trying to gain your trust to manipulate you, did you ever think about that? Of course not.

Basically, I DNF’d this book because so many little or not-so-little things annoyed me about it. And it’s romance-driven and, since I found the romance extremely ugh-worthy, that’s no good for me