So, I haven’t posted for a while because for a couple of days I just read the newspaper and magazines. And for the last few days I’ve been reading a pretty long YA. I’ve gone back and forth on whether to name it here or not, because I have very mixed feelings about it and I don’t like to say bad things about other people’s work. That said, I didn’t hate this book, in fact, I liked it, so the title is MY LOST AND FOUND LIFE by Melodie Bowsher.
Here’s the deal. The book hooked me with the very first sentence. There was no going back. But then the writing felt like it was a bunch of back-story that could’ve been woven into the real story IF it ever got going. But I still couldn’t put it down because the first sentence hooked me.
There are two reasons I got hooked. One is because it was a premise I’d never seen before. Yeah, I know. Hard to believe, but true…an original premise. The other reason is because I couldn’t help putting myself in the character’s position and imagining all the ways I would’ve handled it better. Anyone who reads this book will do that. I’d put money on it. So I knew what I would do, and I knew I’d do it better, but how was the character going to handle it? I had to find out. Despite the fact that the writing just went on and on AND the character was not very likable at all!
So when did it pick up? You’ll be shocked to hear that I don’t believe the story really got going until around page…150. Seriously. No kidding. The book is 312, pages, by the way. You got some new information around the 75 page mark that helped keep you hooked, but overall, the story really didn’t get interesting and exciting until then. And then it got pretty damn interesting and exciting. I find it fascinating that someone, the writer’s group, her agent, her editor, didn’t see this or chose to let it slide.
So, I tried to find some reviews to see if anyone else felt this way, but these days most reviewers seem to think a plot summary is a review. That baffles me too. You’ll get a plot summary and one sentence about the “voice” or something. How is that helpful? Anyway, that’s another post entirely!!!
Speaking of voice, the voice is excellent and the characters are very well-drawn. I think the author went to unnecessarily great pains (like a hundred pages) to show that the character was a spoiled brat. The way her “friends” reacted to her hardships and how people perceived her already showed who she was very clearly. Anyway, just my thoughts. I would read something else by this author, especially since this is a first novel and her next book is bound to be even better. I would even recommend this book but with the caveat that you have to have some stamina to get to the good part.
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