Reviews By Charline

“The Ride”

Author: Patti Day

There are two times I dislike being a book reviewer. One of them is when I have to finish reading a book that anyone else would have set down after chapter one and the other is when I have to write a bad review. To be honest I’m unsure which aspect I dislike more. I just know I hate ruining someone’s day…

So, to start, I had a difficult time reading and getting into “The Ride” because of the mix of formal and informal dialogue. Generally, in today’s day and age, we use contractions regularly in our speaking habits. When an author chooses to write without using contractions, to me, it comes across as very formal. I have no problem with that style as long as it’s consistent. However, if one character is going to speak “formally” then let’s make sure he or she does so all the time. Don’t have that formal speaking character say “Well, Brook, I probably do not need an attorney, but I will write down his name” only to follow it up with “Thank you. I wouldn’t have known who to call.” Or, even worse, mix formal and informal together in the same sentence. Because of this inconsistent writing style the story came across as stilted.

I also found aspects of this book to be extremely unrealistic. Tina, the main character in “The Ride” suffers a horrible tragedy and a terrible loss. But where is her passion? Where are her feelings? Where is the emotion that drags the reader out of their happy existence and makes them want to weep from heartfelt pain? Honestly if this book could read its own story aloud I’m pretty sure it would do so in a monotone because unfortunately that’s how uninspiring it is…

Sadly I found almost nothing positive in this book. It was problem after problem, one issue after the next. “The Ride” seemed filled with almost non-stop negativity and I can honestly say it’s one of the most depressing books I’ve ever read. This book is a novel. It states so quite plainly on the cover: “A Novel By Patti Day.” In my experience a novel is always fictional even if it does draw on fact or real life experiences. In my opinion a novel, aka fictional story, should, if nothing else be an enjoyable read. In case anyone was wondering…this book was NOT an enjoyable experience for me.

Lastly, my copy of “The Ride” was hand corrected on at least four different pages and I must say I found this practice to be extremely unprofessional. I understand the thought behind the corrections, but as the person doing the review/critique there was still a slight chance that I might have missed those errors. Unfortunately, crossing them out and writing in the correct information definitely brought my attention to each and every mistake.

Best part of the book? The excerpt…but that’s probably because it was written by another author…

“The Keya Quests”

Author: Glenn Skinner

Every year RebeccasReads hosts their annual “Written Art Awards” program and I was asked if I would be willing to read/review/critique “The Keya Quests” by author Glenn Skinner. The book sounded interesting enough: a brave young woman being chased by her kingdom’s enemies opens a magical portal and finds herself in modern-day America. She’s been charged with the finding of a “great warrior,” the only person who has the ability to save her world. I enjoy reading fantasy so I, of course, accepted the invitation. Boy was I ever unhappy once I started reading my copy…

Before I begin my review I would like to comment that I couldn’t help but notice a striking similarity between this book’s “The Introduction” and parts of the trilogy “Lord of the Rings…”

Now that my previous statement is out of the way, allow me to move on to my actual review… As I began to read “The Keya Quests” I discovered almost immediately that Glenn Skinner has an uncomfortably stiff and “robotic” writing style. “The Keya Quests” reads more like a court reporter’s transcript than a well-written fantasy. Sadly, the author’s repertoire of adjectives is slim therefore, when adjectives were actually used, they were the same tired ones that had already been used over and over again. The dialogue between characters had way too much “proper” name usage. Generally, we, the reader, understand who is speaking or being spoken to. An experienced author would understand this and would exchange some of those proper names for their corresponding pronouns like: he and him, she and her, or they and them.

I would also like to recommend that the author learn to use words other than “say” and “replies” when writing character dialogue. Don’t use “say” multiple times in the same paragraph; it sticks out like a sore thumb. Instead try something that coincides with what’s happening in that section of the story. Example, instead of writing: “Fine,” says Julie, pulling her hand back. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you to share?” she says as she reaches instead for a slice from the pile of cold cuts on the counter. Try something like: “Fine,” scolds Julie, pulling her hand back. Didn’t your mother ever teach you to share?” she asks as she reaches instead for a slice from the pile of cold cuts on the counter. This is especially important since the last part of that original dialogue is actually phrased as a question…

Grammatically this book was a train wreck and unfortunately there’s really no “nice” way to say that. I also had a challenging time following the separate sections in “The Keya Quests” because the author did not use any form of division between the differing parts. In future I would suggest the author learn to write using chapters as dividers or if he can’t because the scene is too short than please, for your reader’s sake, use asterisks as a divider.

In summary I found “The Keya Quests” to be a difficult, odd and un-enjoyable read. While Skinner may feel that his “true calling would be that of a bard, spinning a rich tapestry of tales by firelight, infusing magic into the grey sameness of everyday life” I’m going to just say that I did not find this tale richly spun OR infused with magic…

“Soul Mate”

Author: Ronald Lewis Weaver

About a week ago I was asked if I would be interested in reading the book “Soul Mate” by author Ronald Lewis Weaver. With a title like “Soul Mate” how could I even think about refusing? It’s amazing what thoughts those two little words can stir up and I knew I would accept the review request without doing my customary research. After all, when it comes to love isn’t each one of us searching for “happily ever after?” Doesn’t each one of us want that elusive “soul mate?” That one person who understands us better than anyone else? That one person who “gets” us? That one person who honestly thinks our morning crankiness and idiosyncrasies are cute? Of course that same person would still manage to laugh at our lame little jokes even though we’ve told them a million times…

So, my copy of “Soul Mate” arrived and I flipped it over to read the back cover. “TEACHER + STUDENT = DISASTER. OR DOES IT?” jumped off the page at me. Hmmm… That warm fuzzy feeling I’d had when I originally agreed to read this title was quickly dissipating. It was now being replaced with television images of attractive young women wearing orange as they are led out of court under police escort…

I put those images aside and continued reading the jacket. Claudia de la Rosa, our soon to be infamous school teacher, arrives in Beverly Hills, California with stars in her eyes. She’s the high school’s new English teacher and (surprise!) this is where she meets Lance, our eighteen year old student. I expelled my breath in a huge sigh of relief. At least age-wise he was legal… At this point I tried to coerce my warm fuzzy feeling into returning but apparently it had already left the building…

A couple hours later I sat down with “Soul Mate” and was pleasantly surprised. Weaver has a fantastic writing style and his words have the ability to transport you into this fictional world he has created. Great character development, and even though the love affair Claudia and Lance share doesn’t conform to today’s social standards there’s definitely nothing tawdry about it. In fact, halfway through the book, I actually found myself wanting them to be able to share their future with each other. Having finished “Soul Mate” I can definitely see why Weaver is the Senior Producer for television’s most-watched daily drama “The Bold And The Beautiful.”

In summary, “Soul Mate” is a great book, a captivating read and well worth the five-stars I’m giving it…

“A Corpse at St. Andrew’s Chapel”

Author: Mel Starr

While “A Corpse at St Andrew’s Chapel” was a really great read it definitely was not what I was originally expecting. The title sounded intriguing; it sounded medieval and having a corpse found outside a place of worship made me wonder if there would be an unnatural element like a werewolf or vampire included in the tale. I performed my customary Amazon research and the plot description seemed to validate my initial feelings.

It’s spring. The year is 1365 and Alan the beadle, or manor officer, left at dusk one evening to ensure no residents were lingering outside after curfew. He never returned home. The next morning Alan’s wife, Matilda, sought assistance from Master Hugh de Singleton the surgeon and manor’s bailiff. Two days later Alan’s body is discovered in the hedge on the way to St Andrew’s Chapel. His throat has been ripped open, his head is barely attached to his body and his face, hands and forearms are covered with deep lacerations. The coroner surmises that a wolf has inflicted all of this damage yet Master Hugh is not convinced. Alan suffered mortal wounds to the throat and the head yet neither the coroner nor the investigators can find more than a drop or two of blood where his body was discovered.

My copy finally arrived and I sat down with it a few days later. Wow, what a great book! Mel Starr, the author, has a really great writing style and I enjoyed the book immensely. I liked that the book was written in the first person and I also appreciated its medieval history. Starr did a phenomenal job with the time period, the language, the religious aspects and the characters while winding multiple mysteries throughout the tale.

In closing I give “A Corpse at St Andrew’s Chapel” a five-star rating. A fantastic read for young adults and older and I look forward to reading more by Mel Starr in future.