User blog:7GSTF/A Review of Laws of Attraction Book 2

A Review of Laws of Attraction - Book 2

So, another series ends. This time, at the very least, they gave us a two part series. It was certainly a better situation than The Phantom Agent for example, so I am definitely grateful that they gave this series a second book. However, in my opinion, there was still a bit of story yet to be told that they could have given to us readers, but they didn’t. No matter, let’s take what we have in front of us. This book was both better and worse than the first book. Yes, it was both. How was it both? Let me explain.

The Good

LOA 2 was better than LOA read for the simple reason that the story became much more personal and connected to the main characters this time around. The idea to introduce elders into the scene and make the story about them was a stroke of genius to some extent, as Sorcha is a very relatable, very lovable character who instantly strikes all the right chords with the reader base. The fact that she was Aislinn’s grandmother makes her even more lovable. She brought out a side of Aislinn that we hadn’t seen in the first book - a fierce, protective and determined woman, who is one of the better LIs that PB has written. Aislinn’s greater role was logically presented to us, and she flourished in that role as well. Aislinn didn’t feel like a limited (shoved in/ also present) LI this time around, since the main plot focused on her. She was at the centre of things, and the plot was all the better for it. While the first book’s main case wasn’t personally related to any of the characters, it wasn’t the case for the second book. The first book focused on a celebrity murder that eventually had connections to Sadie and therefore Gabe. The personal involvement only came in at a later time in the story. No such thing in the second book, where we learn of Aislinn’s grandmother’s plight pretty early on and this becomes the immediate focus of the story as well. Aislinn’s character was absolutely necessary for the main plot to take place. The story is far more well woven together as a result.

Sorcha - She was a breath of fresh air. The friendly feisty grandmother was a character that most Choices users immediately fell in love with. She was an outspoken woman, with a penchant for whiskey. She refused to take any maltreatment lying down and she was firm about her willingness to fight her case against the guardian agency. Sorcha brings some zest and pep into a Choices story, which was desperately needed. I am not kidding either. Choices of late, especially in the first half of 2023, has been putting out mediocre product after mediocre product, resulting in a downturn in fan interest, that includes me. I have already detailed my complaints with the current way in which books are being released, making no secret of them. Most of the characters that Choices puts out these days are lukewarm at best, failing to hold your attention or spark your imagination. Certainly, it is a shame to behold. This character is not one of them. She endears herself to the reader almost instantly, and unlike several other books of late, the story’s main plot motivations and the readers’ interest don’t clash with each other. Consider the example of Surrender 2 here. It features dialogue that could be read as predatory or sleazy, while featuring behaviour that will raise more than a few eyebrows, especially when the LI exhibits their controlling nature. Sorcha is a character who is relatable to most people and consequently, one feels no conflict of interest when saving her in court.

The sex scenes - I don’t know about the rest but the quality of the love scenes was something else in this book. It felt passionate, intimate and oh so sexy! However, there are way more sex scenes than is required in a book of this nature. This can certainly damage the value of several scenes. However, the extreme descriptive nature of some of the scenes, coupled with Aislinn’s sexiness makes for some of the best male MC oriented love scenes ever. However, the glut of these scenes can be a negative point for some (especially the one involving Sadie for instance), and that will be discussed in the section titled bad.

Martin - Martin is an actual villain in this book. In the first, he was nothing more than a mere annoyance until the climax. Here he is transformed into a chap who wants nothing more than complete control of the agency and is willing to do anything and everything to accomplish his goals. He sees the MC as a threat almost immediately and conspires to be rid of him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t realise that the MC, Aislinn and Gabe are far ahead of him, and are planning to set up their own agency. Holding the MC as a hostage is impossible. His false sense of superiority, pride, and arrogance as well as his unethical client selection eventually lead to his downfall. PB fleshed out his character in this book. He isn’t a villain who has no reason to be a villain. He is a villain due to one simple reason - jealousy. The green eyed monster destroys many lives, and Martin is just another victim in a long list of them. He isn’t incompetent, however, he has a misplaced sense of self worth. Despite being a superior to the MC, he behaves like a child, with a petty inferiority complex.

The Bad

This book diminishes Gabe’s character role greatly. Gabe is an important part of book 1 - especially when it comes to the Sadie betrayal arc. It is not the case anymore. He is at best a side show. After he creates his own firm, he isn’t a part of the main action. Gabe could’ve had a better arc, but this book treats him like a sideshow, and for much of the book, he is one. Aislinn and the MC are at the centre of attention, while Gabe is working behind the scenes. A case of wasted potential? I am inclined to pronounce that judgement, considering PB’s track record.

Martin. Yes, he is both good and bad! I am not complaining about the fact that Martin is a villain. This book needed a villain, and he is a natural option, considering how the first book ended. The real problem is how he has been used as a villain. Despite being the MC’s superior, he behaves as though he is the MC’s junior. His attempts to assert his control in the workplace come across as pathetic, weak willed and underconfident. At no point does he feel confident of his position, his achievements or his credentials. Constantly scheming and looking to get one over the MC, he comes across as petty, selfish and immature. By the time the book ended, I didn’t hate him - I pitied him. He had become a caricature of himself. This causes the final case against him to seem more of a beatdown than a titanic struggle for justice in the court of law. Despite his motivations and good points mentioned above, he is still a pathetic man, and more of a cretin than a dragon. He is an annoyance mostly, and little else. While an actual villain, he is more pathetic and intimidating, and once we make our own firm, he is relegated to a background sideshow.

Sadie - The entire scene involving her and the MC felt misplaced. ‘Hate sex’?! Really PB?! As if the scene that shall not be named in book 1 wasn’t bad enough, they had to go and throw in a worse scene in book 2. Only saving grace is the fact that it isn’t with a character that the reader would care about. Sadie is nowhere near the compelling character that she was in book 1, and our interactions with her are extremely shallow to say the least.

The sex scenes involving your LI might be excellent, but everything else feels cheap and rather hammed in. It also feels way too lustful for my liking. The first book had this problem in a mild sense, but this book exacerbates this problem enormously. The scenes feel cheap and unearned, and many times, out of place - like the aforementioned Sadie scene. Their smutty overload unfortunately gets into this book as well.

The book’s writing isn’t as inspired or as tight as the first book, with numerous cases being settled way too early for my liking. The first book actually dragged out a few more cases, this one doesn’t, to a varying degree of success.

While Aislinn’s greater involvement is certainly a plus point, the case is not as interesting as let’s say - Marcus’s case. Marcus’s case is extremely interesting from beginning to end. There are actual lives on the line there. However, this case always seems like an easy win, even when the odds are against us. Also, the first book’s twist villain - Sadie, causes genuine shock and surprise in the reader. It is not the case in the second book. There are no surprises in store and the villain is known from the first chapter itself. The book becomes tedious and boring rapidly. It isn’t as bad as the rest of PB’s fair of late, but damn! Their writing standards have dropped significantly of late.

Verdict

This book clearly shows the lessons that PB, much like Disney, didn’t learn over the course of the last 3 years. The story writing quality has fallen down immensely, and one of two explanations would make sense here - one, there is immense pressure from the executives to dole out money making books, and since smut sells better than any other kind of book, it isn’t hard to connect two and two together. Smut is the way forward financially for PB, and it is hard to see them not create smutty books at an ever increasing rate. The quality of the app and the books therein is almost certainly going to decline, and it is a sad fall to see. The writers may not like it, but they have little choice. If it is true that only the smutty books keep their lights on, the reader base only has themselves to blame. The second explanation is that the company has been hiring mediocre writers of late, who can’t write anything apart from the smutty genre. I am inclined to believe it is more of the first reason than the second, but either way, the company isn’t helping its reputation of late. The quality is going down the drain, and many of the app’s most dedicated reader base is clearly feeling the same. This book is a middle of the road book at best, and bad at worst. The year has certainly not seen a strong start for PB, with books resorting to the cheapest tricks possible to get people to read them. Increasingly, I am finding that this story app is losing what made it great in the first place. The stories simply have no soul anymore. Hopefully, COP 2 and BOLAS 2 are worth it. Those two books may well keep the reader base around for another year. If the majority of books are what is being doled out now, then - I am sorry, but count me out. I will stay through the end of this year, for sure. If the outlook on next year’s books is much the same as this year’s, with more smutty and slutty books, I would consider quitting as a serious option. I am not joking. I have been here for 7 years. I am a reader who has been with you all the way through your highest and lowest points. However, I have to be honest with you PB, the last three years of books, while having their great moments have not been anywhere near what yourselves had set as the standard when you had first created this app. I am getting burnt out. Please, please, please listen to your reader base and create more soulful books. The recent glut of nonsense has been nothing short of disappointing. I would say I have hope, but I don’t. I feel increasingly apathetic these days. It is up to you PB to change that.

A jaded, disappointed reader,

7GSTF