Hey everyone! I recently started a blog on blogspot but a friend told me about WordPress and said it worked a lot better so I figured I’d give it a shot! I’m no good at html so everything on my site is pretty simple, but hopefully you’ll like what I have to say and give me a chance! I’d love any feedback or input that you guys are willing to give, and I’d love to spend my time discussing books with you!
This blog is mainly a book blog, since all I really do with my time is read and read and read…. I’d just like to share my opinions with everyone and hopefully inspire some people to read more and enjoy reading as much as I do! Here’s a sample of what my reviews usually look like:
Raven by Suzy Turner
Kindle Edition
Published May 8, 2011
Received for Review
Goodreads Synopsis: Aftrer the inexplicable disappearance of Lilly Taylor’s parents, she has no choice but to move to Canada where she unravels some frightening yet intriguing family secrets…
Raven is a fantasy novel for children and young adults set in the beautiful province of British Columbia.
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars!
My Review: I was lucky enough to receive a free ebook edition of this book from the Author, Suzy Turner, in exchange for an honest review and while I struggled with some parts of it, overall I enjoyed the story. It’s pretty short so it was a quick read, but sadly I couldn’t get it on to my Kindle so I struggled with reading it on my computer. Regardless, here are my thoughts:
What I Didn’t Like: When I first started reading I didn’t feel connected to Lilly, the protagonist, at all. I felt she was sort of boring, depressing, and not too likable. I felt like the writing was too formal for me, Lilly is supposed to be 13 and the book is written from her perspective, but she talks and thinks in complete proper English and there isn’t a lot of slang or typical teen language incorporated which made it hard for me to relate to her. “I was thoroughly spoilt, a feeling I relished.” What kind of 13-year-old talks like that? Also, the first third or so is almost all description with very little dialogue and I found myself skipping over larger paragraphs that were just Lilly reminiscing over her lost parents and then feeling guilty. Why she felt guilty I have no idea, her mom made her eat only canned food and she never spent time with her dad. Rather than feeling sorry for her situation I just wanted to shake her and tell her to be glad they were gone! The love story is sort of overplayed, it’s that “love at first sight” thing as always, which is pretty unrealistic and always bugs me a little.
What I Did Like: The story is pretty interesting, incorporating all types of paranormal activity and characters. Shapeshifters, werewolves, vampires, witches, etc. Being a lover of the paranormal I enjoyed these aspects very much. There’s also a bit of romance which is always good and a lot of the accompanying characters are really interesting. There is a lot of stuff that unfolds throughout the story, helping Lilly figure out who she really is, which makes things easier to read because there’s always something going on. Lilly’s cousin Jo is also really entertaining, she’s spunky and fun and she made me laugh a lot. I almost wished the book was more about Jo than Lilly!
Overall the book was okay, but it wasn’t something amazing. It could have used some fine-tuning but the guts of the story were interesting enough. Thanks for sharing Suzy!
Hopefully you’ll get into it and we can start some discussion! Enjoy!
