666 Park Avenue

Although I picked this up because I so loved the television series based on it, 666, I just have to say: I haven't the faintest idea how they ended up turning this book into that television show. That said, I loved it just as much in all different ways.

First, I want to note that the only real similarities between this book and that television series is the names of the main characters, which are mostly the same even while the relationships are entirely twisted between mediums. Where the television series focuses on a haunted/haunting hotel, however, this series focuses on a young woman/witch who has only just discovered who she is and the real story behind her past, as well as how her present is tangled up in matters she never would show more have imagined. The book hinges on moods of romance, mystery, and suspense, and is a far reach from the horror that Hollywood turned it into (much as I loved that horror, it's true). Pierce's writing, though, is luxuriant and graceful, and her narrative is as fast-moving as her characters are fun. All in all, this is a wonderful read, and everything you'd want in a quiet and easy escape.

For followers of the cancelled television series, I reluctantly have to accept (and share): I doubt that any closure for the story-lines in the television show will be found by following this series through. BUT, this is maybe all the more fascinating for what it was eventually turned into, and there are strains of horror here, any of which I can imagine being taken further in future installments.

Simply, I have to recommend it. I had more fun reading this than I've had with a book in ages. Absolutely recommended. It takes a few chapters to take off, giving backstory, but it speeds up quickly and delivers on all of the suspense and questions it sets up. show less

Even though we're always told not to judge a book by them, I'm often taken in by striking covers. Sometimes you get a story that matches the beauty of the outside. Sometimes you get 666 Park Avenue.

That's not to say 666 Park Avenue is a bad book, just a stunningly uneven one. The first few chapters share more than a few similarities with a popular romance novel. A charming, handsome billionaire is so taken with a bumbling, ordinary girl that he must make love to her a hundred times a day and propose after knowing her less than a month, all while lavishing her with inappropriately expensive gifts. Ana Jane says yes and promptly quits her fabulous job, that she loves, and leaves her friends and home to move into his mom's house in NYC. show more

Fortunately, after leaving Paris, the plot does pick up. First, they must go to her grandmother's little town to tell her Jane's leaving. Sadly, she's dead, but fortunately she left Jane a hideous mirror that turns out to be hiding a magic ring and a letter that says, "Yer a wizard, Harry Jane." Jane takes the news rather well, probably because you can only go so many years blowing up electronics when you're angry before you start to suspect something else is going on.

After this tragedy brings them together, they arrive in New York and are immediately thrust into a party for all of Malcolm's extended family. The Doran clan is very old, tracing their lineage back to ancient Egypt on a massive family tree in the parlor, a very strange tree that only tracks women and next to Malcolm's name there is a dead sister and a space that is mysteriously too smooth, like a name was wiped out. Jane finds it very suspicious, but doesn't bother to ask or investigate at all. Which is a shame because it's hiding Malcolm's mentally handicap brother who is hiding in the attic and tries to rape her. Seriously. Lynne, Malcolm's mom, seems welcoming at first, but almost immediately does an about face.

This leads us to the next, largest portion of the book. Lynne v. Jane. For approximately 200 pages, Lynne does something extremely rude, thoughtless, and pushy and Jane takes it. As someone with overbearing women in her life, I was rooting for Jane to tell Lynne off, but it never comes. She doesn't stand up for herself, her relationship, her friends... So when it turns out that Lynne is a bad witch who wants to steal Jane's magic after Jane bears her a granddaughter, it should come as little surprise that Jane doesn't really do anything about that either.

There is only a smidgen of magic in the whole middle of the book. Jane gets angry, things go wrong. Lynne gets angry, people die. Suddenly I can see why Jane wasn't more assertive. Finally, Jane realizes that she needs to fight Lynne and starts learning magic with her new friends and her friend's hot brother. This is where the book hits its stride. The magic system isn't fleshed out at all, (Jane can use telepathy and telekenesis, but Lynne implies there are actually spells and magic words that we never find out about. She can also use force fields, create chains from mid-air, and dampen another witch's magic,) but what we do learn is actually interesting.

Spoilers for the final battle. Jane thinks if she marries Malcolm, they will run away from Lynne together. Unfortunately, at her reception, she decides to read Malcolm's mind for the first time all book. This reveals that he's the one who killed her grandmother. Jane faints and Lynne and her evil sisters lock Jane in the attic with the aforementioned crazy brother. Jane manages to avoid her fate by using her telepathy to bring up memories of Charles' hero worship for Malcolm, getting him to set her free in the process. She then starts to leave, but hears Malcolm's thoughts and realizes that he does love her, he's just been broken by his evil mommy. So she frees him, gets into a magic fight with Lynne, plunks Malcolm on a train to Anywhere, USA, telling him she forgives him, but she can't be with Grandma's killer, and then wanders off into the subway because Lynne won't think to look for her in NYC. Well gee wilikers, that actually sounds interesting and action driven! Shame that all takes place in literally the last 10% of the book. 4 short chapters following hundred of pages of arguments about caterers and wedding dresses.

I think it's pretty clear from the above summary, 666 Park Avenue has an identity crisis. Is it a paranormal mystery? A romance? A commentary on celebrity and socialites? Rather than weave these together into a cohesive novel, the author instead comments on each in turn, leaving the reader feeling disjointed. This, and much more, can be chalked up to poor writing. Despite the narrator telling us how different Paris and New York are, what we see of Paris is written the same in terms of culture and energy. Except for two brief sentences, everyone speaks perfect, fluent English. And then there's Malcolm, with his molten-gold voice and warm-champagne scent and just as bland and cardboard as can be. Lynne, (who I imagined as Victoria Greyson for the entire book,) wears peach lipstick that the author feels the need to describe every time she comes on scene. The book is filled with red-and-gold duvets and canary-colored Ralph Lauren skirts and créme-fleurrette crises. It gets to a point where you wonder if the author had a thesaurus or a color wheel.

All of the writing was very readable, making it seem for a younger audience than the relatively graphic sex suggests. I'd say a middle-schooler could easily understand most of the language, though with a masturbation scene that made me blush, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who can't see an R-rated movie.

Overall, I found 666 Park Avenue extremely disappointing. An enjoyable premise was marred by lack-luster writing, poor characterization, and a plot that took too long to get going. There was some to like, mostly in the last quarter, and the end did leave me wanting more. I may pick up the second if I notice it on sale, and I may even check out the new tv show, but it's not a series that I feel a real need to continue. show less

Twenty-three year old Parisian Jane Boyle is completely swept off her feet by handsome, romantic, rich New Yorker Malcolm Doran. She's an orphan, so she has no reason to say no when, after only a month of dating, Malcolm proposes that they move to New York and get married. The only loose end to tie up is a visit to Jane's estranged grandmother in the French countryside whom, they discover upon arriving, has in fact been dead for some time. Grandmother Boyle left Jane a hidden note informing her that she is a witch, from a long line of witches. With this new secret spinning around in her head, Jane and Malcolm arrive in New York where Jane discovers that a) her mother-in-law-to-be is a horrible bitch, and b) the Doran family has way more show more secrets than Jane does.

It's hard for me to say exactly what irked me about this book. I think Jane is just too shallow for me to really root for her as a heroine. Sure, her weird behavior re: Malcolm is somewhat explained later, but it was still a bit like Rachel from Friends realizing she's a witch. There's a bit too much talk about fashion designers and brand names for my taste. I would expect that from Lynne (Malcolm's mother), but not from Jane. I did like a lot of the minor characters, however, like Lynne and Maeve and Harris. I enjoyed reading the book, and the ending was particularly excellent, and I might continue the series if I get around to it, but I think it's a bit too "girly" for me to honestly recommend it. show less

666 PARK AVENUE, by Gabriella Pierce, is a surprising and satisfying novel. After reading it, I still find it hard to put into one genre. There was the obvious supernatural element of the witches, but some of it read closer to a chick-lit. And other times it read like a suspenseful mystery. Either way, I had a blast reading it and I highly (highly!) recommend it.

Jane Boyle is my hero. She is strong, intelligent, and clever. Her relationship with Malcolm is like a fairy-tale. He is handsome, rich, successful, and madly in love with Jane (as she is with him). And I have to say their bedroom escapades were definitely hot and steamy! And if there ever was a witch with a capital 'B' it is Jane's future mother-in-law, Lynne. I got the creeps show more anytime she stepped onto the pages. But if anyone could handle that woman, it was Jane.

I really enjoyed the process that Jane used to practice and perfect her powers. I felt bad for Jane at times because she was technically an orphan. Her likable personality afforded her new friends who worked hard to get Jane prepared for whatever Lynne had up her sleeve.

Pierce truly created a wonderful story. There were twists and turns throughout the book that always kept me guessing. I am excited to read the next book to see where Pierce takes the lovely Jane!

A cover note: For as simple as the cover is, I think it is gorgeous. The color scheme makes me think of Halloween (i.e. witches) and the tree leaves forming bats is a creative addition. show less

I can never resist a novel about witches. There's just something about 'em that calls out to me. *Shrugs* So, when I happened upon 666 Park Avenue while perusing the shelves of my local library one day, I just knew I would have to give it a try.
This is an extremely fun, fast-paced read. The plot definitely sucked me in, and the references to magic were, of course, extremely satisfying. The only aspect of the story that bothered me was the pacing. Pierce wrote wonderful scenes, filled with excitement, drama, and romance, but her descriptions of them seemed somewhat rushed. It felt as though she was in a terrible hurry to just "get on with" the story.
Being as this is a trilogy, I will, of course, be reading the other two novels in the show more series. I just hope that, in her continued divulgence of the saga of Jane Boyle, Pierce is able to slow down a bit. show less

A fun tale of a young woman who discovers her witch-y inheritance and uncovers the evil intent behind her future mother-in-law's magical schemes. Jane Boyle's attempt to penetrate into the wealthy Doran family has some unexpected results, especially as she goes toe to toe with Lynne, her potential mother-in-law, who turns out to be a witch with plans for Jane's powers. A fun read, 666 Park Avenue is filled with the highlights of New York and offers the twist of high society matrons cast as powerful witches. I would recommend this book to someone looking for something light and a little different to read.

Thank you LibraryThing for sending this to me from the December batch. 666 PARK AVENUE was so flippin' GOOD!
It started out slowly and I thought I was going to be in for a long haul since it began with a girl shopping for the perfect dress...phhhht.....but it then picked right the heck up and got on with the story of Jane, said shopping girl, and her life as she discovers she has magical abilities, her grandmother wasn't so much keeping from the outside world so much as protecting her from the magical outside world and that all is not a sparkly shiny as it would first appear when she meets her Prince Charming. There be some evil magical tarnish in them thar rich people's Park Avenue hills...
I enjoyed watching Jane go from small town show more Parisian girl (just go with it) to learning how to deal with the rich witch socialites she's marrying into and with her growing witch powers.
I was pleased to find out that this is the first book in a series or trilogy. The ending is a supremely fab cliffhanger and I cannot wait to see what Ms Pierce has in mind for Jane and good versus mega-rich evil.
Five witchy sparkly diamonds...... show less