Review Of Tainted By Jamie Roberts

I love books by Jaimie Roberts and Siren is one of my absolute favourites. So depsite all the potential triggers, I was all set to dive into this book blind with high expectations. Though it did make for a very engaging and suspenseful read, it didn't meet my expectations and blew me away like Siren did.

I am proud of myself for figuring out the big twist in the first few chapters. It's not obvious at all actually but having read her other books and loving just how dark and delicious they were, I was able to make a wise guess about this book and I was actually proven right. And there were clues throughout the book that strongly hinted at it. I have absolutely no issues with the big secret/twist, in fact I actually loved that part. But I have issues with the characters and the too many overarching story arcs.

Firstly and most importantly I wasn't a fan of Brie. And this is coming from someone who absolutely loved Valentine from Siren. Brie doesn't really stand-out. I mean, one minute she hates herself then the other min she is enamoured by her mysterious boss Charlie and within the next min, she is thinking of fucking her boyfriend. She might like them both and I have no issues with that, but there is no consistency in her actions. I don't get if she loved Chris or hated him and why she kept pushing his buttons and what exactly she was trying to achieve. Her feelings were all over the place and I found it that hard to actually like her. I don't know why the author tried to paint her as a victim of circumstance, trying to make us like her out of pity. Whatever happened in her past is understandable but in the present, she made her own choices and after reading the bonus chapters, it felt like she was more in the wrong than anyone else and yet I am supposed to feel sorry for her and admire her? I wasn't able to, depsite trying real hard. There were certain actions she took, that I could admire and even call selfless but other than those I didn't really find her likeable.

Chris too was a character I couldn't understand or even describe with the right words. Till the very end I wasn't sure as to what I was expected to feel for him. There was a particular scene that made me absolutely hate him but I beleive that scene was added to story and the entire plotline developed just to make the readers dislike him. He was a very interesting character and could have been fleshed out really well but I suppose he ended up receiving the short end of the stock just for the story convenience. I don't event want to talk about Michael. That was one arc that didn't server any purpose and left a very bad taste in my mouth.

Charlie was likeable but he too was there just to be a contrast to Chris. His role in the story is pretty interesting but as an overall character, I didn't find the great pull towards him. And also I pretty much got tired of Brie feeling sorry for herself. There were moments I believed she was badass with a cold and violent edge but in the very next scene she became so docile and tame. I kept wondering why she can't be more like Valentine who is so accepting of her personality and so awesome depsite her wrong deeds.

Last but not the least there was just too many things happening - overarching stories to keep track of everything. There were drug cartels, bad boys seeking Revenge, Past Haunting, the big secret and mysterious boss. Even if few of these elements had been removed, it would have made for a much tighter and engaging read. I also wasn't a fan of how neatly everything was tied together at the end with little or no consequence. It was a little too smooth and convenient for my liking.

It might seem like I am nitpicking but this is Jaimie Roberts book and she has set such a high standard for herself which this book failed to meet. Overall it was a fun and engaging read but could have been soo much better.

I would go with 4 promising stars.