3
Followers
3
Following
Vellichor Afternoons
I like trip-hop, anachronism, cats, both coffee and tea, the sound of rain on a tin roof, antique keys, pop culture as a substitute for religion, theatre, photography, Oxford commas, and, of course, reading.
Currently reading
John Dies at the End
Geek Love
I, Lucifer
The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British
An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace
Craven Place
Bloodroot
Unfamiliar Fishes
Academics Handbook 2nd Ed-P
That's a very ambivalent rating of 3 up there.There are definitely things I liked about this book. Hell, I read it in a day, which I don't do unless I'm caught up in a plot. There's a gritty atmosphere that I dug, and the plotting and the slow build of tension was well done. And nothing is more appealing than a good damaged, spunky, sexy character; this has two. Ellie, the main character, isn't really likeable--she's actually pretty heinous, yet she is still compelling, which I appreciate. And I'd be happy to pluck Camden out of the pages and keep him. Everyone who reads the book probably would.
But.
It's an indie novel.
And it really, really shows.
It could very much use an editor, one who would take away the really awful alternating perspective things where all the 'then' parts are a weird first person-masquerading-as-third-person (i.e., "The girl coasted down the street in her beat up Chevy truck, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible"). Yes, it is literally third person, but it all reads as if Ellie is narrating about herself in her head as she has flashbacks. If i had read another "the girl" I might have just gouged my own eyes out. We all know who the fucking girl is. It's not adding to the mystery, it's just making the whole damn thing sound clunky.
And points for the sexytimes described herein, which actually manage to be, you know, sexy, until some odd ear-grating turn of phrase pops up (the most egregious: "He deftly unzipped his pants and positioned his cock into my opening," which just pains my ears in a cringey, bleeding sort of way).
So yeah, an ambivalent 3. I did *like* it, even if I also wanted to edit the whole damn thing.
Maybe I should stick to indie bands instead of books.