Today gentle readers I'd like to introduce a new thing for our little blog, and that is for me to do a book review. I'm going to focus on Indie books - that is, per the definition, books that have either been self-published or published by "Small Press."
The reasons for this are many. First and foremost, I'd like to spotlight efforts by fellow authors who have gone thru the gamut of writing, editing (or submitting) and publishing a book either on their own or through a small publisher. This is a growing medium that many are using to circumvent the traditional avenues to getting a book published by the major publishers (The "New York 7," as they are sometimes called). While the quality and enjoyability of such books may in some eyes be circumspect, I have found many of these books to be quite readable, if not altogether enjoyable.
Another reason is so that we may have the opportunity to discuss writing-focused issues with the book - That is, use the book perhaps as a kind of learning tool on how and how not to do certain things. In keeping with the spirit of this blog my reviews will focus mainly on this. Hopefully you, dear reader, will be able to take this review and parse it, dissect it so that the good bits may be used by you to help hone your writing craft.
Finally, I'd like to use these reviews as a means to give any Indie authors out there a chance to have their writing put into a spotlight, little though my spotlight may be (for now). If you have a book you'd like me to review, please let me know and I'll do so!
And now, without any further lilly-guilding, let's review!
Indie Book Review - Reap (The Harvest Saga Book 1), by Casey L. Bond
Overall Rating: 7/10
Story Flow: 8/10
Plot Development: 8/10
Writing Quality: 7/10
Re-Readability: 6/10
Ms. Bond's novel, Reap (The Harvest Saga, Book 1) surprised me. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first picked it up. When fishing at Indie Lake one always has to be sure to be careful where you place your cane pole - your quarry can be pretty gamey, especially when the price is cheap (or free). I came into it with reservation, but I came out surprisingly satisfied.
The story revolves around Abigail "Abby Blue" Kelley, a late-teens woman who lives in a world where the classes have been divided by necessity into two different kinds of people: "Greaters" and "Lessers." As a Lesser, Abigail has a rough life, living in a town where, even among the lower class, there are winners and losers. The people in the town in which she lives is responsible for harvesting Apples for the Greaters. Other towns grow and gather other primary resources, and each have their own community that isn't allowed to mix with the others, except by necessity. Abigail's lot in life is similar to those around her, except for the secret that no one (including Abby) knows - she was actually born a Greater.
Her meager life becomes more complicated by higher members of her community when their sadistic and self-loving son begins to focus his attention on her. The focus helps to spark a chain of events that shakes Abby's world to the core, and perhaps gives her a chance to change things for her and her friends for the better.
When I began reading the story, I found it a little difficult to get into the book. The writing starts out a bit choppy and wordy. Some descriptions provided aren't really needed, and indeed sometimes tended to draw me out of the story with their awkwardness. However, it didn't take long for me to disregard this and actually enjoy the story. Abigail's plight is such that you KNOW she's going to have things get better, and you can't wait to find out how that might happen. As is typical with a YA Urban Fiction novel, there is a significant romance aspect involved - not usually my kind of reading. I found the story line entertaining despite myself. The world she creates is an interesting one. I would have liked a bit more history of the world dynamic, but that's just personal preference I think. The lack of backstory doesn't detract from the story.
The thing that DID bother me, however, was the protagonist herself. While she is a likable character, she seemed to have no control over her life whatsoever. Every problem that happens to her seems to require an outside entity - usually a male protagonist - to come in and fix it. It felt like she was a pinball, bouncing from situation to situation while those around her constantly used flippers to keep her in play, so to speak. I kept waiting for her to grow and become a stronger character; unfortunately, that just never happened. This is book one of a series, however. It's possible that the later books show that growth. I would have just liked to have seen a bit of that growth in this one.
The writing style itself is very nice. Written in First Person, Bond has no problem staying with her character and not describing things in such a way that makes you feel like we're not hearing from the person herself. No lengthy or flowery prose, no head-hopping, and at no time did I wonder, "How does she know what that character is feeling?" The flow of the story is smooth, the pacing nearly perfect. Most importantly, Ms. Bond really made me feel for this character. Her plight became my plight and I couldn't wait to see how she came out in the end. Perhaps this is the reason I noticed her weak responses to her issues.
All in all, I enjoyed the book. It's a good beginning into the series, and I'm looking to continue to book 2 to see how it turns out. If she fulfills her promises she's made in the first book, I would find it to be a series I'd want to read again.
Thus concludes my first book review. If you have an Indie book you've written or you've read that you'd like to have reviewed here, be sure to let me know. In the meantime we'll pick up next post on the Indie thing, and have another review in a few weeks or so.
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