Guest Manview: Icy Passage by Ann Gimpel

Today, I have a special Manview by my friend, Arni. I prevailed upon him to read a sci-fi/paranormal romance which I thought he might enjoy. It only took him about a year to read it and finally furnish me with his particular brand of a Manview. Look out Steve, you might have competition!

Icy Passage by Ann Gimpel
Purchase link: Amazon

My rating:   

Heat rating:    

As I do with all Manviews, I sent Arni a bunch of questions for him to asnwer which he did. However, he also posted a review on Goodreads and that review is priceless so I've included both for your enjoyed.

First the questions and answers ...

How many stars rating?

4 (I really liked it, but the romance annoyance almost dragged it down to 3 stars)

How many flames for the heat rating?

3

In one or two sentences can you sum up your overall impression of this book and how you feel about it?

An interesting and enjoyable blend of SciFi and Paranormal Fantasy, that kept me in suspense and not wanting to stop reading. However, the romance writing style did spoil it for me to some extent.

What did you think of Brynn and Kayla?

A good couple and obviously perfectly suited for each other.

How well do you think the science and paranormal worked together? Did you find it interesting?

I think that the Science and Paranormal blended very well together, and that blend gave a really interesting result that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Do you think the science was well explained for the lay person reading the book?

I think the science in the book wasn't too 'science-y', and as such there wasn't too much that needed to be explained to the reader.

Did the book make you intrigued with the Arctic or want to visit it?

Not really. This is Fiction, after all, and there was little if anything about the location of the story that was based in reality, except maybe the deadly isolation and weather - neither of which I'm interested in.

What did you enjoy most about the book?

The SciFi/Paranormal blend, and how well the suspense kept me excited for most of the book.

Do you think you'd like to read another romance? If so, what kind?

Not intentionally, no. :)

And now for the review in Arni's words ....

Seeing as this is the first Romance book I've read (SciFi, Thrillers and Fantasy are more up my alley), I must admit that I am having a hard time framing a review. I simply lack the experience and vocabulary to make any comparisons or even know if it's a particularly good romance novel. Thus, I can only treat it like any other book I've read, and judge it based on that.

Ann Gimpel has created a very interesting blend between SciFi and the Paranormal, and the result is a most enjoyable thriller. The main characters are obviously romantically involved, and their journey to find each other is quite pleasant, but it doesn't detract from the suspense and the excitement to know what happens next.

That being said, I found the romance aspect of the book to be tiresome and irritating. The endless exhaustive descriptions of men's builds, hair styles, facial structures, clothing and demeanor were boring and forgotten as soon as I'd finished reading them. The author's presentation of the partners' reproductive organs, their inanely perfect appearances, their prowess in bed, their... perfectness... was just ridiculous.

I shouldn't judge. After all I read fantasies and science fiction to escape reality and travel to worlds that are in some ways better than our own. But it really bothered me how disgustingly perfect the main characters were for each other, and how some readers actually believe that this perfection compares to reality and expect this to be what life is. This is no less unrealistic than people thinking that the depiction of sex in adult movies is a guide to a healthy sexual relationship.
At least in my fantasies, I don't actually believe that a tall elf lady will come flying on her dragon to crown me king of her empire or something :)

The bottom line is, that I am not a fan of the romance genre, and reading this book didn't change my opinion.

Regardless, the book itself is good and deserves the stars it gets, despite of the annoyance that was the romance part.


View all my reviews


About the author



Ann Gimpel: Website - Facebook - Twitter - Goodreads - Amazon


About the reviewer



Arni Vidar: Goodreads


Find Deanna around SOCIAL MEDIA: