Unapologetic Reviews

Ruthless is about Dave Miscavige, as seen through the eyes of his dad. In some ways it’s an interesting book. It’s not solely about Dave, as Ron calls him. It’s actually about a couple of things. First of all, it’s about Ron himself. You do have to understand where he comes from, to understand his parenting, and his marriage. His first marriage was a tumultuous one. They fought a lot, and sometimes it turned violent. From his description it was the fault of both of them, but he does point out that maybe he saw it wrong. His wife, Loretta, died some years ago. I do applaud that he says that, because it could be easy to blame it on her, maybe her Italian temper, or that she wanted a kind of a man that he just wasn’t. However, he came from a place and an era when people often didn’t have the tools to resolve their marital problems. It’s partly in an effort to find a better way to communicate with his wife that he got into Scientology. Another aspect of this story is what Scient...

I really wanted to like this book, but it was a major disappointment. Let me tell you why. The setting is the same as the previous books, mostly taking place in the capital city. The difference is that in this case the main character isn’t a mortal, but actually one of the godlings, Sieh. He is the oldest and the first. I was actually excited to read from his point of view, because I liked him a lot in the first book. It’s hard to talk about this book without spoiling the major plot point, but I’ll try. He meets two children by chance, a brother and sister, both Arameri. He meets them several times, at a few points in their lives, until an incident happens that changes his life forever. Now, you may think this is a start of a great adventure of self-discovery. Herein lies my problem with the story. Things do happen. Here and there. In between those sporadic events though are lots and lots and lots and … did I mention … a lot of thinking. And talking. Then more thinking a...

First of all, having read the book, I still don’t really get the title. I mean, if the title has the word “kingdoms” in it, you expect intrigue, politics, conflict, that sort of thing. I’m trying to decipher a hidden meaning, and at the edge of my thoughts there is something that I cannot grasp, but it eludes me. No wonder I had a hard time even remembering the title. This, however, didn’t mean that the book was bad, it just means that I think the title was a poor choice. I actually enjoyed this book, though perhaps not as much as the first one. The reason for it was the ending. It almost seemed like it had this steady pacing up until a point, when the author realised she was coming up on her word limit, and suddenly tied everything up into this neat little bow. It felt off, but you’ll have to read it to understand it. It was an okay ending, but it was still weird. Now onto the story itself. This is a sequel of a kind. You still get some of the original characters, but they ...