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A review by itsapaxycab
The Crown of Unity by Lisa Boomhower
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
I picked up this book at my bookstore during a clean-out. Out of curiosity I opened it to the first page, and I was drawn in immediately. Not by a hook, or an interesting plot. There wasn't even a plot summary on the back, I had to go in blind. But there were 4 spelling errors in the first paragraph alone. This intrigued me enough to continue reading.
I want to be gentle, because publishing a book at all is quite a feat. However, the egregious spelling errors, run-on sentences, and incorrect punctuation made the confusing plot harder to follow and much less enjoyable.
Characters
I'll be honest, these characters felt completely flat to me. I can tell you nothing about the MC, Misty, except for the fact that she has silver streaks in her hair and her parents died in the war... Raver, the male love interest, has no personality except for the fact that he! can! fight! I have nothing to say about her "friend" Chiyo, except that she is incredibly insecure and it will drive me crazy. All other characters are simply there as plot elements, with no diversity, growth, or interesting traits.
Plot
This book is 93 pages long. On page 10, I thought I understood the plot. I did not. On page 31, I felt completely lost. Then, finally, on page 67, I learned what I believe the actual plot was supposed to be. 70% of the way in. That's when I started to get nervous. This book was walking randomly in the woods (much like our main characters, but at least she had the decency to skip forward 10 weeks) and I had no hope that this story was going to end in this book alone. I was right. The ending left much to be desired, with very little direction or tension to keep me wanting to read the next one.
The... everything else...
I do not try to judge people for spelling mishaps and grammar. Some people have a distinctive writing style outside of "proper" English. This book did not. There was not a single page without spelling errors. The author did not seem to consistently remember how to spell certain words. "Agrea" came up constantly, "bout" was placed only a sentence before "boat", and very often words like "without" or "someone" were split into two words. Spell check is important, and I feel even just using a tool like the built-in spell checkers in any word program would have helped elevate this book. I do not judge the author herself for struggling with spelling, but if you can figure out how to publish a book, I believe you should also utilize the tools in front of you.
There were many run-on sentences, but again I was confused because the author could sometimes write very well-crafted sentences with commas and great visual terms. I believe this author has a lot of interest in writing, but needs to also push herself to edit her work as well. There is nothing wrong with second or even thrid drafts!
I do not want this review to seem overly negative, or like I am trying to tear down the author. I had an amazing time reading this book, truly a lot of fun, and I will most likely be reading the second (and it seems like maybe one day there will be a third?). I just wanted to provide some feedback. If you, the author, ever read this, please reach out. I'd love to know what you are up to and offer help if possible!
I want to be gentle, because publishing a book at all is quite a feat. However, the egregious spelling errors, run-on sentences, and incorrect punctuation made the confusing plot harder to follow and much less enjoyable.
Characters
I'll be honest, these characters felt completely flat to me. I can tell you nothing about the MC, Misty, except for the fact that she has silver streaks in her hair and her parents died in the war... Raver, the male love interest, has no personality except for the fact that he! can! fight! I have nothing to say about her "friend" Chiyo, except that she is incredibly insecure and it will drive me crazy. All other characters are simply there as plot elements, with no diversity, growth, or interesting traits.
Plot
This book is 93 pages long. On page 10, I thought I understood the plot. I did not. On page 31, I felt completely lost. Then, finally, on page 67, I learned what I believe the actual plot was supposed to be. 70% of the way in. That's when I started to get nervous. This book was walking randomly in the woods (much like our main characters, but at least she had the decency to skip forward 10 weeks) and I had no hope that this story was going to end in this book alone. I was right. The ending left much to be desired, with very little direction or tension to keep me wanting to read the next one.
The... everything else...
I do not try to judge people for spelling mishaps and grammar. Some people have a distinctive writing style outside of "proper" English. This book did not. There was not a single page without spelling errors. The author did not seem to consistently remember how to spell certain words. "Agrea" came up constantly, "bout" was placed only a sentence before "boat", and very often words like "without" or "someone" were split into two words. Spell check is important, and I feel even just using a tool like the built-in spell checkers in any word program would have helped elevate this book. I do not judge the author herself for struggling with spelling, but if you can figure out how to publish a book, I believe you should also utilize the tools in front of you.
There were many run-on sentences, but again I was confused because the author could sometimes write very well-crafted sentences with commas and great visual terms. I believe this author has a lot of interest in writing, but needs to also push herself to edit her work as well. There is nothing wrong with second or even thrid drafts!
I do not want this review to seem overly negative, or like I am trying to tear down the author. I had an amazing time reading this book, truly a lot of fun, and I will most likely be reading the second (and it seems like maybe one day there will be a third?). I just wanted to provide some feedback. If you, the author, ever read this, please reach out. I'd love to know what you are up to and offer help if possible!
Graphic: Animal death and Gore
Minor: Rape