| Title | : | Zan: Birth of a Legend |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0692757287 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780692757284 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 333 |
| Publication | : | First published August 6, 2013 |
Zan: Birth of a Legend Reviews
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2.5 stars. WHY?!?!!!? I wish I could convey how much I wanted to love this book. A Tarzan retelling? I was so in! I was looking forward to seeing the interaction between Tarzan and Jane, and wanted to witness how a "civilized" woman dealt with an "untamed" man.
Trigger warning : dubious consent (polite term for rapey w/only partial or belated submission from a character). The scene appears to be written from a standpoint of 'character ignorance' because the offender didn't have a clear understanding of his behavior being harmful or wrong, but this is a warning which needs to be included for any readers who would be emotionally harmed by having to read such a scene.
Normally, the triggers in this book (because it's labeled as mainstream and not dark) would be enough to cause me to rate a book 1 or 2 stars, but I had to round up to 3 stars because I loved the bones of the story, and the writing had a certain charm to it. But there were definitely a few 1-star-worthy situations in Untamed which extremely bothered me. I will get into those later. With a few minor tweaks and story rearrangement, this could easily be a 4 star-plus book because the few shining moments that did stand out were absolutely lovely.
I've seen Tarzan movies in the distant past, but have sadly never read the version by Edgar Rice Burroughs. My mind probably confuses Tarzan and The Jungle Book when it comes to how the stories actually played out. I think I expected more of an interaction in the wild, with some time spent on drawing a man out of his untamed instincts, which is what I absolutely loved about The Jungle Book. Since I haven't read Tarzan, I have no basis to compare this to the original, but I was surprised at how little time Ari (the Jane character) and Zan (Tarzan of course) spent together in this story.
Positive number 1 : It was nice to see Zan mentioned as unkempt and harder to distinguish as attractive at first with all of the layers hiding him when he was still living in the wild. You know, you watch that Disney cartoon and never really think about the fact that OF COURSE Tarzan should have been sporting a beard. What uncivilized man raised by non-humans would happen to have a razor handy?
Shhhh, Jane. We won't mention the fact that I'm completely groomed. Just go with it.
Positive number 2 : There were a broad range of character types, from good to evil. Some were bad at the core, others were just self-serving. The characters that were good were not all good on the same levels. One character surprised me by turning out to be good, when I wouldn't have expected it.
Positive number 3 : This book was entertaining. While there were a few drawn-out moments in the middle which required minimal skimming, I generally liked the flow of the story. My complaints about content had more to do with what wasn't happening (i.e. main characters who barely spent any time together) than what was happening.
Positive number 4 : Other than a wtf moment at the start, I thought Zan was an interesting character. His reactions to Ari were strange, yet somehow pulled me in to wanting to know more about him underneath the surface.
But wouldn't you know it? A few things had me wondering how the heck I was going to rate and review Untamed.
Here is where I tread into some spoiler territory. If you want to know what bothered me, keep reading. If you are unsure whether or not to proceed, be warned that I will be discussing a few specific plot points which had an effect on my feelings about the book, and there will be spoilers ahead.
Negative number 1 : We never really go to know Zan. What was his life like all of those years he was living in the wild? I wanted to know about his personal experience of feeling as if he were more animal than man.
Negative number 2 : We never really got to know Ari and Zan together. Their interaction was so extremely limited, that we missed out on the chance of watching them get to know each other on a more intimate level.
Negative number 3 : The dub-con scene and Zan's lack of remorse over it. There should have been a point later in the story when Zan realized what he did was extremely wrong (even though he didn't know any different at the time) and should have tried to make amends for it. He was so in-tune with not wanting to hurt people, that you'd think he would have dealt with guilt later, after he'd realized what he'd done. Ari never suffered any trauma either, which was bizarre in its own right.
Side note : How would a man who had never had sex with a woman (and I'm assuming only had knowledge about sex from watching animals mate) know about oral and breast/nipple play? Wouldn't his views on sex be strictly about getting in and getting out? Wouldn't his views on breasts be strictly from a nursing standpoint? I found it unbelievable that Zan would know how to orally pleasure a woman, or that the thought of doing so would even cross his mind.
Negative number 4 : The only sex scene was the dub con scene. REALLY? Obviously, the author had no issues with writing a sex scene if that much detail was put into the initial encounter. WHY would there not be a LOVING sex scene between the couple after they got together in the end? If this had been a "clean" romance, I would have forgiven the lack of a scene, but it wasn't. There was graphic sex at the start. The readers needed to see Ari and Zan come together willingly of their own accord. The ball was dropped big time with this, to the point of being unforgivable. This is something which irked me, big time. Either an author can choose to have no sex at all, or they need to include sex somewhere in the book which appeals to the reader.
Final Thoughts : The reason why I stood firm and rounded up to 3 is because I don't regret reading Untamed. I was entertained, which does count for something. I liked so many things about the book, and the style of writing makes me want to read more from this author. I might hesitantly recommend this to people who are interested enough in the subject matter and would be willing to overlook a few glaring flaws.
It's almost heartbreaking to see how the book didn't live up to all of the potential which was there for the taking. I would plead with the author/publisher to consider reworking the book and adding in more Zan/Ari time up-front (the separation part could still feasibly happen), as well as the much-needed sex scene at the end. I would also implore them to consider adding at least a few extra days or encounters in the wild because this was an untapped part of the story. Since the book is a retelling, liberties can be taken to enhance or subtract unneeded moments. If we could get a re-publish on this (with either a name change or a note stating that it was reworked), I'd probably be the first in line to read it. We could be dealing with incredible here. It's really quite sad that incredible got lost in the shuffle.
This book provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. -
Damn, damn double damn, I had to words left to go in this lengthy and dare I say brilliant review when my adorable new kitty whom I love, erased everything and now I want to put him in a meat grinder. Seriously, it was a really good review. I’ll try and recreate it but I’m in mourning for what was. I’m also hiding in the bathroom with the door locked and this pitiful mewing going on outside.
I’m not sure how to categorize this book, I struggled with the grade and though I did manage to write a great review, it’s gone now. This isn’t what I would say is a traditional romance the way we see them. But there is a beautiful and tender romance that plays a major role and there is a satisfying ending like we see in romance. I tend to go more with historical fiction plus. The author calls it historical fiction. In case you haven’t picked up on it, this is a retelling of Tarzan.
Arianna or Ari as she is known is a young American woman living in England with her beloved photographer uncle Sullivan. Her mother is dead and she has a very strained relationship with her father. She has travelled the world with her uncle and is very excited to here about his latest adventure. There have been sightings of a young white man living on his own with a tribe of apes as his only companions. An expedition has been raised to check this out and Sully is to be the photographer. They believe they know who this is, a young man named Sebastian Shaffer. His parents and their entire party were killed in Africa when he was six only he was never found.
Ari is all set for adventure but for one thing. She has a suitor who is very insistent she marry him as soon as they get back, but she isn’t sure. She doesn’t really have the feelings she thinks she should have for a husband. When they get to Africa, things are going well. She’s enchanted by the beauty of the land. But Sebastian as soon as he sees her, he knows she his his mate and steals her away in the dead of night. She’s not afraid of him at all, but things happen between them. She is rescued the next day and their trip is cut short when she and her uncle return to England. Sebastian or Zan as he prefers to be called stays behind with an anthropologist who works with to teach him everything he will need to know when he heads back to England. He’s very intelligent and quick to pick up things and he and the scientist form a close friendship. But everything he does is with one goal in mind, to reunite with Ari.
Meanwhile, things aren’t going so well with Ari. Her suitor is Very insistent she marry him and plows over any objections she might have. But something special happened between her and Zan and she can’t stop missing him and longing to see him again.
The reason I don’t consider this a traditional romance is they spend very little time together though there is a lot of pining on both sides. In addition, other than the night he kidnapped her and it wasn’t a very descriptive scene, this is a closed door romance. A bit more of a sexual payoff would have been nice.
Zan is an amazing hero. He’s sweet, he’s tender, he’s hopelessly in love with Ari and he gets 5 stars. Ali is a bit more problematic. She is in love with Zan, but can’t seem to find the courage to shut the suitor down. And he’s a bad guy. Also, all those who love her clearly see she and Zan should be together but none stand with her.
So, do I recommend this book? Yes, I do. It’s free on KU and as long as you know it’s not your normal kind of romance going in, I think you will enjoy it. The writing is beautiful and the further I got into the story, the harder it was to put down. I love how the author connected it with Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, that was cool. And hello, there’s the cover. So, yes, try it and see what you think.
And no, no kitten in the meat grinder.
ETA - I just noticed this is my 1OOTH book read this year. This is a fine book to mark that milestone with. -
The legend of Tarzan has been a story I enjoyed since I was a kid watching the old black and white movies and some day I'll read the original written classic, but in the meantime... I saw this retelling and was eager to give it a try.
The Delight
A man raised by apes and an intrepid young woman dissatisfied with the usual life find immediate attraction and understanding. But... a determined suitor, a spiteful friend, and the trappings of civilization work to pull them apart. Flavored with the old-style historical romance in the retelling of a classic.
Zan got off to a good start beginning with the background and set up of Ari's situation and how she ended up on the adventure that led her to Zan. The author caught the feel of the times for young women like her. Marry for comfort and situation, conform to the societal expectation. Ari has been brought up knowing this expectation, but also experiencing something different. Her Uncle Sully took Ari on his adventures and taught her to think and act for herself. However, he also doesn't want her ostracized so he defers to his sister to help now that Ari is of age and feels Ari should spend time in society. But one last adventure changes everything.
As to the man of legend himself, I enjoyed the portrayal of an uncivilized Zan and their early encounter along with Mr. Emerson, the anthropologist's work with Zan and his days of adjusting to London and the civilized world. I actually was disappointed that the story didn't spend more time in Africa and Zan's life there. It heads back to England rather quickly. Zan was six when he was left to fend for himself. Zan tried hard and wasn't afraid to learn. It was courageous the way he trusted Emerson and the others and took his place in society all because he wanted to be worthy of Ari.
And that leads me to what kept this book from being more than moderately engaging for me. I was not impressed with Zan's lady love. He strives to be worthy and she...Ari was a doormat disguised as an adventurous woman. She got all fiery and furious about going off on adventure, but that was where her fire seemed to begin and end. Ari lied about the important stuff happening to her for really lame reasons, and yeesh, she blabbed to people she didn't like or trust with hers and Zan's secrets and then gets all 'how could they betray me?' when it gets used against her and Zan. The engagement was driving me nuts. It's not a love triangle. She never loves the guy only Zan, but she thinks she should accept the guy because loving and wanting Zan is futile. She couldn't seem to make up her mind, dithered, got in a snit, determines to say no, dithered, got in a snit, uh, see where I'm going with this? Meanwhile poor Zan is steady to his course. And even the big crisis and drama that happened near the end was avoidable if she'd just opened her mouth and told the truth, but she thought she knew better and if she couldn't find a solution, well then of course no one could, right? The stubborn-stupid act leading to the unnecessary damsel in distress just grated for me. I could have just read Zan's story and been perfectly happy to be honest.
And that's the thing, there were several stories actually going on with many points of view. Ari's friends all had their story, her fiance and his family, her uncles, aunt. Her frenemy's bullied little sister.... None of this was bad, but it added little to the plot that couldn't be had with Ari or Zan's narration and was distracting.
Also, one caution. It didn't bother me because it fit the situation, but the first scene with Zan as the wild man who steals Ari away back in the jungle to his tree platform, he considers her his and he takes her. She fights him at first, but then she wants it. It's dubious consent at best and he doesn't understand that it's wrong (raised by gorillas and all), but from our modern civilized perspective, it can make one cringe a tad.
I was tickled when I saw how the author tied it all back to how we came to have the classic story and legend by Edgar Rice Burroughs with that quick scene at the end.
So, it was alright. Zan was just what I wanted to see in a Tarzan hero, but his 'Jane' was an irritation that I tolerated. The storyline was an interesting take. I'd recommend it for those who might enjoy a Tarzan legend retelling.
I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. -
2.5 Stars.
I was really looking forward to reading this book, I have loved the story of Tarzan since childhood, and the chance of reading a grown up version of it had me in a tizzy.
Unfortunately, I cannot say that the book did it's synopsis justice at all. The writing is good, but this is a book more about early 1900 society and its nuances and not really about a man/boy discovered living with apes in the African jungle.
To be constructive and explain the above my main issues are listed below -
•Ari and Zan actually spend very little time with each other in the book at all, after reading of their first meeting in the African jungle I was expecting so much more from the rest of the book, in truth they are so bogged in-between everything else going on in the book, I'd guestimate that you see about 8-10% of just them.
•As mentioned above there are far, far too many secondary characters in this book, all with their own little stories and internal monologues and it became tiring. I was looking to read a book about a great and unusual love story, and instead it turned into chapter after chapter of he said/she said.
•There is one sex scene in this book and it was absolutely brilliantly written, so why not more. The author did herself a great disservice by burying Zan, Ari and the reader in all the inconsequential drama of so many extra characters, all I really wanted to read about was Zan and Ari, not the 20 or so other people vying for space on the pages.
•The constant switching from one persons POV to anther's gets confusing as well, I had to go back and re-read several passages to work out who we were actually reading.
•I think the expedition to Africa was cut far too short, Ari should have either been held captive for longer (allowing for more relationship development), or at least stay in the camp with Zan whilst he began his education, it all ended too abruptly, and then they pretty much have no interaction until around 75%, which was wholly frustrating.
This book could have been so much more, but it seemed to me the author got lost in everyone else's stories to actually focus on what the book was meant to actually be about. Jane Shoup can certainly write a vividly detailed story, I just think she needs to concentrate on the pivotal characters and lose all the fluff so to speak.
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Review posted at:
Swept Away By Romance
Story Rating ~ 4 Stars
Hero Rating ~ 5 Stars
Heroine Rating ~ 5 Stars
Romance ~ 4 Stars
Heat Level ~ 2.5 Stars
Ending ~ 4 Stars
Overall Rating ~ 4 Stars
I was pleasantly surprised by this retelling of Tarzan and enjoyed reading this book very much.
The story has been done many of times, but I felt this one had an originality that added to both the hero and heroine, Zan and Arianna's characters. I loved them both and the MANY of other characters that were introduced throughout this book.
I found myself smiling, laughing and tearing up as I read this book. I was definitely invested in both the characters and the story line. I loved reading how these two struggled with being apart, and how they had to deal with the many things that occurred to keep them that way. There was also a lot of everyday family and friends stuff going on throughout the story that added a lot to my overall enjoyment, it keep the story line moving and the pages turning.
My heat rating of only 2.5 was due to the fact that there was only one love scene. While I thought that scene was very erotic and pleasing for me to read, I feel I need to warn readers that they may find it disturbing. Zan saw what he wanted and felt Arainna was his mate, and he just took her, but he did not hurt her, he fell in love with her instantly. The chemistry Zan and Arianna was very believable. Every time they just looked at each one other, I could feel the sizzle!
The ending wrapped up wonderfully, not only for Zan and Arianna, but also for many of the other characters that were introduced. I also enjoyed that the few mean characters got their comeuppance. I love when a book ends, and there are absolutely no questions left unanswered and I'm left sighing and with a smile on my face. -
DISCLAIMER: I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The following thoughts are my own and have not been affected in any way by this.
This book is supposed to be a retelling of
Tarzan of the Apes by
Edgar Rice Burroughs and I guess it is in a way... It's just very different from everything I had imagined it to be. They have some common elements - a young man found living with apes, instalove, ape-man traveling to England in search of his one true love... And while I'm usually not a fan of these things, I actually have enjoyed Tarzan several times over the years and therefore hoped for something similar in this one.
Unfortunately for me, it was not to be as I couldn't relate to the story in any way and felt that Shoup put a bit too big of a spin on things.
I thought that the beginning was pretty decent... till I was 10% in and discovered an intimate scene of sorts that made no sense whatsoever to me. Apparently Arianna has been married before (but hasn't told anyone she knows) and has been intimate before. She hated it, but Zan, who doesn't even remember meeting a human woman, manages to perform some magnificent orgasm-inducing oral sex at his first attempt when he doesn't even remember how to speak...
The heroine Arianna seems to do nothing else but cry and let everyone else walk all over her. Not all of her friends are all that great and one friend in particular, Delia, seemed to be there just for some extra drama. Arianna didn't seem to get along with Delia nor did she seem to even like her, yet they had been "friends" for YEARS. No idea how and why...
I wish that more of the story had been from Zan's POV as his POV was actually interesting and I liked that. Arianna's (and almost every other random character's), however, did nothing but annoy me in the end. The (unnecessary) drama simply bored me, but maybe I'm the only one...
Also, I don't particularly care for the cover. Separate from the story it's actually pretty good, but I don't think it actually fits the story as the reader doesn't see much of Zan like this. Maybe at first, when he was still living in the jungle, but later on he's always dressed like a gentleman. The two simply don't fit in my mind.
In the end I was left kind of wondering if it's the same book as
Untamed just with a different cover... Description and everything seems to suggest so.
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I always think that the first chapter of a book can make or break a book. The first chapter is what will draw the readers in. It's the chapter to captivate, to enchant, to make readers an addict to the story. A little pity that the first chapter of Untamed fell short. It could break the book. The conversations were boring & far from engaging. It doesn't say much of Ari's character. I found myself feeling disappointed.
There's so much potential on the plot. I pressed on, to move beyond Chapter 1, and found myself draw to the characters; the beautiful & scheming - Delia, the adventure-hungry & dare to be different - Ari, the brave & magnificent - Zan, the I-thought-was-prince-charming & egoistic Marshall, the uncle that everyone needs - Sullvan. Too many characters, too many to love.
What happened to Ari's sense of smell? One thing I find amusing was the missing element to describe the sense of smell. It's not a bad thing really & doesn't affect the story in anyway. There's sight about how perfect Sebastian can be. There's feel, how he touched her. There's taste, no comments. And of course verbal interaction. I'm merely curious that how would a jungle boy smell like without the luxury of soap? But it's just a small detail. It wouldn't be romantic if jungle boy doesn't smell too pleasant. I guess we can skip that detail. Other details like the smell of rain didn't escape Ari, I guess when you're attracted to someone, smell has the least importance.
The first meeting wasn't what I was expecting! It's total animal instinct & I liked it. It gave meaning to "untamed" and so raw. After the shaky start, the plot gets better. The characters are interesting & there's more to them than what we already know. I started feeling strongly for Zan/Sebastian. I want him to get the love he deserves. He's brave, direct and knows what he wants. Away from civilization for so long, he didn't learn the schemes, the deception, the manipulation or the art of talking in circles like other humans would. His time in jungle made him strong & adaptable.
I couldn't think of a more prefect ending as Jane Shoup did. This is the untold story of Tarzan & Jane.
This will capture your hearts.
I own a free copy with courtesy from Diversion Books. -
What even is this book? Where has it been my whole life? Can I marry it? Ooops sorry. Hopefully the dude doesn't read this.
Moving on.
This is a TARZAN story, people. Tarzan. Need I say more? I need not. It takes place in 1908, during the industrial revolution, as you can tell from the cover, and it stays pretty accurate to the well-known story of the ape-man, while at the same time managing to bring a fresh perspective of the wild man who was brought to his knees by beauty. We rarely, if ever, get to see Tarzan's more vulnerable side, and it's done brilliantly in this novel. I loved everything about the characters, the setting, the amazing storyline. Tarzan as a gentleman, be still my heart.
Needless to say, I'm getting my hands on a physical copy of this one YESTERDAY. I need to feel the turn of those gorgeous pages, I need to look at those words again. Okay, this got pretty intense pretty soon.
You get it.
LOVE. -
What a wonderful African Adventure!
I know the story of "Tarzan" and have loved how it was even made into a movie with an Olympian swimmer playing, TARZAN . it was very exciting and romantic. But let me tell you, Jane Shoup's book, ZAN: BIRTH OF A LEGAND, was so exciting to read I couldn't wait to pick it up everyday and continue reading. A new tame on the Tarzan story that I quite loved it more than the original story of Tarzan. so swing into your favorite ebook store and claim your copy, ASAP!!!!! -
Great Story!
Loved the tie into Tarzan and Edgar Rice Burroughs. The story however, was a creative spin on an old tale. There were similarities that made it familiar but enough originality to make it interesting and engaging. Zan was believable in as much as an account of a man raised by apes can be. His ability to love deeply was touching against the backdrop of what was supposed to be civility by gentlemen and ladies. Seemed that he was more civil coming out of the jungle than the British culture full of deception, conceit, pettiness and jealousy that he was brought into…. -
It was an engaging book. Had quite a lot of characters and drama to follow along with. She had a pretty clever bit at the end that made me chuckle. There are some loose ends I would have liked a little blurb about. How did some of those many characters end up?
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Retelling of an old story
This book is a reimagining of Tarzan. I enjoyed the book. It's well written. I just don't really have much else to say about it. I would recommend it though. -
🎁 FREE on Amazon today (11/18/2022)! 🎁
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(I received an ARC copy of this book courtesy of Netgalley)
"A love too strong to be tamed: the true story of Tarzan, and the woman who loved him.
In 1908, on a mission to find a new breed of ape in central Africa, an unfathomable thing is discovered – a wild, white man, living amongst gorillas. Local villagers call him matokeo ya utafutaji kwa, the untamed one.
Joining the team of hunters and trackers searching for matokeo ya utafutaji kwa is Arianna Day, the 21-year-old niece of the expedition’s leader. She catches the untamed one’s eye and, believing she is meant for him, he takes her captive and claims her for his own, body and soul.
When Arianna is rescued, the untamed one is captured, and they are sent their separate ways: the wild man to learn language and social skills he’d long forgotten, Arianna back home to England to try to fit back into her old life. A promising marriage proposal awaits, but thoughts of the untamed one haunts her.
Amidst the backdrop of London in the summer of 1908, as the Olympic Games are hosted and the Franko-British Exhibition is held, the now-civilized wild man returns home, with his original name restored: Sebastian or ‘Zan' Shaffer. He and Arianna are drawn together again only to be ripped apart by social convention and Marshall Derringer, the man determined to have her as his wife. But Zan is not the only one with an untamed heart…"
I'd give this 2.5 out of 5 stars.
I struggled with the first 1/3 of this book. The writing came across stale and unimaginative. Nothing captivated interest or drew me (emotionally or intellectually) to the main characters. I also wasn't sure where Shoup was going with this plot. Was this going to be loosely based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' original? The worlds didn't mesh and I wasn't sure if I would be able to finish the book. I found that the main characters were confused and helpless- no decisiveness or personal development- hard to relate to. But somewhere along the way I started rooting for these guys (while amazingly they spend little to no time together which I found odd).
Shoup has potential and I would read something of her again. Overall it's a good first effort. Shoup needs to rethink some of the plot and maybe consider rewriting the characters. And I'm sorry, but I would suggest scrapping the first 1/3 of the book all together. -
Ari and her uncle travel to Africa in hopes that they will be able to locate the wild man who's been living in the jungle for the majority of his life. The only problem is, they have no idea that the second they stepped into the jungle, the wild one was watching them... Ari to be precise.
I was extremely excited to read this story. I've never read a re-telling of Tarzan before and this story sounded like a good one. You see, they capture the wild one, teach him how to be civilized and introduce him back into society as Zan. The only thing that Zan wants though is Ari but Ari is engaged to be married to another man.
There were way too many points of view in this story for me and there wasn't always a definite break between them. So I found myself getting confused quite a bit when the POV would switch to a secondary or sometimes even more distant character. It would jump like this between chapters with no markings that the POV had changed. I also felt that all the POVs weren't necessary. I would have much preferred just Zan and Ari's POV with a little bit of Ari's fiance mixed in. There was also a lot of scenes that were drawn out or not necessary. I found myself skimming over quite a bit of the story to get back to the important parts that were taking place.
I really enjoyed the beginning of the book when they find him in the jungle. The first encounter between Ari and Zan is so "untamed" and animal instinct driven that it's hard to not get sucked into the rawness of it. It got me really excited for the upcoming story because surely it had to get better than that! But like I said a lot of the middle was boring talk and way too many POV's to keep track of who I was reading from, that I lost interest for a while there. I wish the author had kept that same rawness throughout more of the story before it turned to Zan "the gentleman". -
Any romance featuring Tarzan and Jane (here called Zan and Ari) must face a tough competition from plenty of books and movies. And don't forget cartoons :).
I can't fault Ms Shoup too much then if this book wasn't able to sustain my interest.
I was willing to be transported by the usual magic. Unfortunately I could not feel it.
I am character-centric and here I was totally unimpressed by the heroine. (Up to 30% of the book the hero was notably absent, except at the beginning.)
Ari is supposed to be this unconventional woman who travels the world with her uncle. But in the 30% of the book I read she is bullied constantly. She's unable to react. Oh she does say something, but when faced with it, she caves. Worse, she flattens herself.
There's nothing to make us believe she's a woman worth of anything. She's totally unable to stick to a decision, if and when she does take one.
At times she doesn't even seem the same person.
Zan. As I said there's not much to him at the beginning except the kidnapping. But honestly I can't understand why he's so fixated with Ari. They met, had sex, she disappeared.
Nothing in this makes me believe he's all for her. There's no time together when a "sympathy" could grow. And if you follow a woman on the other side of the planet, I have to believe you do have a valid reason.
The story is well-known, the characters weren't for me. There was nothing that grabbed me and kept me reading. So, at 30% when the heroine showed me again her total lack of spine, I gave up on Untamed.
ARC courtesy of publisher via NetGalley -
Untamed is a Tarzan story and it starts out exciting and adventurous with a trek to Africa, finding the untamed, and his taking of Arianna.
What ensues is the kind of love we all dream about. Both Ari and Zan would do anything to ensure the other’s happiness even if it means sacrificing their own.
Ari’s character was well developed and I found myself crying along with her. I did find myself wanting to know more about Zan. He seemed to be a complex and intelligent man but all you’re given in the story is his desire to be with Ari, and everything he does is driven by that desire and wanting to make her happy.
There were many interesting side stories but the Ari/Zan story could have been much more developed in the jungle as well as back home. While I did enjoy the book, I felt myself wanting much more.
I recommend this book, especially if you enjoy historical fiction. -
This book was a big big disappointment. The beginning has promise but then goes down hill fast. The one love scene in the entire book is more of a forced one, more like a rape, although "Jane" submits for no reason. it was very jarring and didn't make any sense. Then it comes out that Jane was once married for a hot minute, and that reason why she was married didn't make any sense either. Also,our "Tarzan and Jane" are separated throughout the entire novel. Even when our couple get together, which is at the very end, it's dull, boring and lacking. No spark for this couple in any way, shape or form. There is really no romance to speak of here. The villain is a joke.
I will say the author has a nice historical fiction voice, but Untamed was bland and very tame.
Big big pass. -
This 'true' story of "Tarzan" was really good! The book has humor throughout, the characters are very intriguing. I have read Jane Shoup before and really like her style. My most favorite thing about Ari and Zan and their companions is their HUMAN-ness (not humanity, necessarily.) This book was a fascinating look into early 1900's culture and how 'Tarzan' fits into it. The characters (like us!) struggle between their true emotions and feelings and how the world expects us to behave and what it is that we are supposed to do. Stay tuned to the very end and all things are explained!!
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This book was so good. The characters were all well developed and the way the author describes the sceneries was wonderful. I could picture the different locations and characters vividly.
You can't help but be immediately drawn into the story from the start and I could not put it down. I look forward to reading other books by this author.
I wish I could add more but I'm afraid it would be a spoiler and would not do this book justice. -
DNF.
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Loved this book. Until the end would have loved to have seen more interaction with the two main characters.
