Martha
I found the concept wildly exciting, which is why I requested the book from the Goodreads giveaway (thanks for selecting me, btw!). I received no compensation for my review.
Alas, the book did not live up to its promise at all. It was too preachy, with not enough story. It was too obvious, and gave no reasons to care about the characters or the plot. It had too much telling and not nearly enough showing. The plot twists were easy to predict, as was the conclusion. It was very choppy, jumping around from here to there with no continuity and barely a plan. Periodically, the author would remember that the book was supposed to be interesting and stop preaching to throw in a fight scene or a physics discussion. Unfortunately, those tactics generally did not raise the level of excitement. What is fascinating in an essay is not necessarily interesting in a novel.
It contained inaccurate doctrine, especially of non-Catholic faiths (such as the blatant characterization of Mormons as non-Christians and similar to Muslims, neither of which is true). It's not that I mind someone arguing that their church is the true one. Go for it! However, if you're going to use a religion's doctrine as an argument against its truth, at least use the real doctrine, or it isn't a real argument. It quickly dismissed 99% of Christianity with barely a thought, since the two branches of Catholicism are OBVIOUSLY the only religions worth considering. (Yes, I'm being sarcastic, but the book wasn't.)
The entire book comes off as a conversion tract inadequately disguised as a sci-fi adventure novel, but the sci-fi and religious aspects are poorly integrated and both are ineffective. Even Heaven and Hell were boring.
I am very sorry, but I find that I cannot recommend the book.
The writing was smooth, the characters were varied & believable (although certain guys should decide whom they like and be faithful), & the setting was detailed. Some elements were a little predictable, but more in a “traditional” way than in a boring way.
I liked the minor characters a lot (or hated them when appropriate), including family members and friends. The author did a good job of making one minor character (sure to be a major character in the next book) a believable “enemy.” (High-school-grade enemy, but with hints of sheer genius and complicated motives.) The family interactions were great.
The fantasy elements were a little odd, but fit into the story. Most of the real science blended well with the fantasy.
I do have two complaints: I have read books with disasters, where the characters were over-panicking. In this book, I think they were under-panicking just a bit. As complaints go, it isn't very serious. #2: The Homecoming scene was less believable, although I understand why the author included it.
This series isn't likely to be one of my all-time favorites, but I still enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next book. Three stars from me is still a solid “like.”
I received the book as a Goodreads promotion, but got nothing for my review. My opinions, as always, are my own.
While it did leave a question or two unresolved, in general I really enjoyed this book. The characters were realistic (major and minor), there was a real plot (not just an excuse to throw two people together), and the writing was good. The romance was believable as a slow-growing process rather than a sudden event, between two real people with real concerns and real personalities. The ending was satisfactory, and I really enjoyed the cleanliness of the whole book (no objectionable scenes, yay!).
When I was finished with the book, I passed it on to someone else I thought would also enjoy it.
I won the book from Goodreads, but received no compensation for my review. My opinions, as always, are my own.
First story: Fine, right up until the unbelievable about-face. You just can't say “Yes. Yes, because it's right. Yes, because I want to make you happy. Yes, because you don't really mean it. Oh, you're leaving, well, I was just trying to make you happy, so no, even though I just finished telling you yes even after you told me no.”
Second story: Fine. I would say it's a bit fast, but my own courtship just might have been unusually speedy, so I guess I can't throw stones....
Third story: I liked.
Fourth story: I liked.
Warning: this does contain a few spoilers. Sorry.
Early: I'm only a few pages in, and already I have comments. This book can't seem to decide if it is for people familiar or NOT with LDS culture: it explains about Relief Society and cultural halls, and takes a stab at temple marriage, but rolls right past Stake Presidents and High Councils and calls the Word of Wisdom “ridiculously high standards”.
Update: The book still can't decide on its audience. And the funeral home scene should be majorly summarized.
The doctrine in the book is kind of messed up. A lot of it is correct enough to mostly sound right, but wrong enough to give the wrong impression. I have a problem with that. I realize this is a murder mystery, not a doctrinal book, but authors should be faithful to their “world.” Also, the author seemed to be going out of her way to address unusual factors or viewpoints, rather than staying mainstream (Mormon mainstream, I mean), but there wasn't a literary reason to do so, so it didn't add anything to the story, regardless of audience. In fact, it was quite distracting.
Early: The characters so far include the politically ultra-liberal Mormon, the feminist Mormon, the controversial-&-headed-for-excommunication Mormon, the potentially murderous Mormon. Yes, these all exist in real life, so I'm not complaining about that part of it.... but where's the large proportion of average Mormons?
Update: Also the abusive fathers (plural!) and the keep-a-secret-by-burying-the-body-in-the-backyard Mormon. Again, those are NOT typical–where's the large proportion of average Mormons? (Actually, those aren't even typical for non-Mormons, either...)
On a more nitpicky level, there's a random “Samuel” sandwiched between two sentences on the first page, and two farther along, as well as the occasional missing space that crams two words together.
It really bothered me that a certain character, who had been abused by her father, was more concerned that her four abortions (to hide the consequences) had created fertility problems than she was by the fact that she had had four (FOUR!) abortions. Considering that abortion is a big (no, not absolute) NO in Mormon doctrine, it SHOULD have at least bothered her.
The ongoing internal conflict regarding Georgia was never resolved in any way.
The plot seemed overly complicated. (“You thought she was killed! But there is the video... But what about the other neighbor... But the phone call.... But... But... But...”)
While the murderer was caught (sorry, spoiler), I still didn't like the way the book ended. Or middled. (That SHOULD be a word, right?)
I'm afraid I can't recommend this book, although I do think that the problems I have with it could be fixed (or at least improved in the author's next book).
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway, but got no other compensation for my review. My opinions are entirely my own.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. I guess I should first admit that I only skipped through this book. I don't think I missed much, though. This is “young love” at its stupidest. Kids, you aren't going to find the love of your life in high school (okay, it is very, very, very unlikely), so don't be surprised when your boy/girlfriend finds somebody else. In fact, if you date for the social experience and don't even TRY to find your true love until after you graduate, you'll probably enjoy yourself a lot more AND end up happier. (Please notice that I said “date,” not “have sex.”)
“Oh, that's an international magazine with a picture of you on the cover. With a runaway European prince. In your underwear.... I guess you must like him more than I thought. Let me think of a way to facilitate your reunion.”
Noooooo, Mom! Reality would go more like this....
“That's an international magazine with a picture of you in your underwear on the cover! With an equally almost-naked man! I don't care if he's a European prince, you are never seeing him again!”
Now THIS is what YA romance should be like! (No, this isn't really a romance; it's a story of the Spanish Flu epidemic, when more people died than in the Black Plague.) Quick attraction, but not insta-love. Real characters, not cardboard cutouts. Time to develop friendship & love, because duh, love at first sight isn't really love (it's just infatuation). Real conflicts, not just “my family doesn't like him.” Decent (I mean “good,” not “well-written”) characters, not bad boys and rebellious girls. And this is all on top of a fascinating historical event, good writing, and interesting characters.
The finale managed to hold true to the first two books in both tone and content. The ending was believable, the characters were enjoyable, and while there will apparently be a following series, enough ends are tied up here to be quite satisfying.
In other words, I liked it. (A 3-star score from me is still quite good. I'm afraid I'm a bit of a miser in ratings.) If you liked the first two books, I feel confident you will like this one as well. If you haven't read the first two books, what are you waiting for?
I did have to read the gruesomely macabre parts in small sessions, which slowed me down considerably at one point in the book, but readers with stronger stomachs should be fine.
I received a free copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway, but was given no compensation for my review. My opinions, as always, are my own.
I know I gave it three stars, but I still have some problems with this book. Among other things,
1) No, someone being kind to you isn't enough for you to fall in love with them, but neither is someone understanding you. Have higher standards, already!
2) It deftly illustrates why people should not assume that their insta-love is true love (but then it forgets its own lesson).
3) When someone says “I love you,” it does not mean “rip off my clothes and let's have sex right this minute.”
On the one hand, I liked the realism of marriage in this book. (No, it isn't easy! Who told you it would be easy?? What were they thinking?!) I like Nina & Elliot (except when I want to smack them). I appreciated the look at semi-recent history. Spoiler alert–I liked that Nina & Elliot decided to give themselves another chance–end spoiler.
On the other hand, the book had too much emotional distance. (I'd like to care, I ought to care, but somehow, I just don't. I never really got into either main character's emotions.) Both sets of in-laws drive me insane. And if I were Elliott, Pam's post-break-up behavior would have turned me off a lot sooner. (If Pam had any integrity or self-worth, she wouldn't be making moves on a still-married man!) Some of the teachers (you'll be able to tell who) are over the top, even for the story. Please notice that most of these are minor points, not major writing flaws (I'd love to have the emotional distance fixed, though).
All in all, I did enjoy the book. I'd love to discuss it with my spouse. Three stars from me is a decent score (it really does mean I liked the book).
I got the book in a Goodreads giveaway, but I have not been compensated for my review. My opinions, as always, are my own.