Book Review: Night Stalker by R.L. Weeks

Cover of this book was taken from Amazon for review purposes under Fair Use Doctrine. 

Spoiler Free Summary: Night Stalker by TR.L. Weeks was my 2017 September Book Cover of the Month. Casey is a young woman who’s husband died. She’s haunted by reoccurring nightmares in which a stranger inflicts great pain upon her. One day, she rediscovers that not only is the man of her nightmares real, but he’s working against her supernaturally resurrected dead husband, who now only seeks pleasure in the suffering of mortals.

Character:  Casey is actually pretty proactive, but that’s what bothers me. She’s too quick to swoon and too quick to accept things for my taste. She also seems incredibly naive, and while that would be okay if that was her character arch in which she grew more discerning, but that’s not the plot. Rather than let the conflict of her clashing worlds drive the story in interesting directions, the character is forced along, which makes her feel hard to believe.

Exposition: I was probably affected by the first person narrative here, but it felt like every conversation in the story was just another info-dump session on the history and world building of this world. This results in getting told a lot, and not much quality seeing.

World building:  I got the feeling this is where the author put the bulk of her energy.  The world is as thought out as I’d ask any world to be. The lore seems deep. The society of the creatures was a bit cliche, but it was well-developed.

Title image for R.L. Weeks taken from her Amazon Page for review puroposes under Fair Use Doctrine.

Dialogue: I touched on this above. I’m of the opinion that every conversation in this story (ok, most of them) consisted of convincing Casey to more or less come to the dark side or explain to Casey this world the author spent ages fleshing out. When the conversation wasn’t about those things, it was the less that subtle Twilightesque love story.

Description: This was well done. I got the imagery I needed without bogging the story down. It had a decent mix of detail and room for imagination.

Overall: First, I have to note that I listened to this book on Audible, and it simply wasn’t well produced. There were lines read multiple times. Some lines were cut off. You could hear the narrator taking breaths. I swear I even once heard a dog barking in the background. The narrator read at this tone that seemed at a constant near-tears whine that got old fast. If I’m being honest, the lack of quality audio engineering probably ruined what fairness I could offer the actual story. I was giving the story a try until I felt like I was reading something that felt too much like Twilight, which I’ve never read, but I hated the movie and don’t particularly want to read a story that feels too much like, “let me love this monster to life.”  When it works, it’s amazing, but this story leaves without much resolved, and the main character’s unrealistic reactions just didn’t work for me. That said, if you like melodramatic love stories (and a great many people do) this story is right up your alley, only I strongly recommend you avoid the Audible version.

I don’t typically give reviews like this. Most stories always have something that I can cling to and study. I don’t ever want to bash, and I hope I stopped before I got to “bashing status.”  This last section is simply me explaining that even this story deserves a chance if you’re in the writers’ audience. Please don’t let my own biases affect your willingness to give a story a try. No, I didn’t enjoy this story much, but yo might, and I’d like to hear why.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Book Review: Dream Student by J.J. DiBendetto

Spolier Free Summary: Dream Student by J.J. DiBenedetto is a YA Romance Paranormal mystery novel about Sara Barnes, a med-school student who’s having strange dreams, some of which are horrifying.

She doesn’t think too much about them until she meets the boy of these dreams. Realizing he’s real, she pursues (aggressively) a relationship with him. However, if her romantic dreams are real, her horror comes back when she realizes her nightmares were also real. She chooses to use her dreams to learn who the killer is and help bring him to justice.

DISCLAIMER: J.J. is a friend and fellow author. I met him at AwesomeCon and he became a fan of my work. I think well of him, and bought his book because of the wonderful support and kindness he showed me. I assure you, the only “hookup” I gave was to buy the book based on that friendship. My opinions on his book are based solely on his book.

Character:  This is hot and cold for me. I think Sara’s a good character. Most who know me know I’m really not a fan of romance, and YA romance only amplifies that distaste. So if I read a book like that and don’t want to throw the main character out of a window, you can trust that fans of the genre will love it. The problems I have with the characters in this book are simply common problems I have with any character in a romance novel, or a YA novel; and when it’s a YA romance, well, God help me. I expected to have to slog through this book, but Dibenedetto’s Sara Barnes is a character worthy of a story. Sure, she jumps into some decisions that I sometimes struggle with, but I consider those hazard of the genre more than failures of the author.

Exposition:  This was where I felt there was the most room for improvement. Here, I understand that 1st person narrative inherently feels like a ball of exposition, but I noticed a few times where the MC seemed to be explaining herself to convince the reader to go with the plot more than provide scope or context. This wasn’t a problem through the whole book, but it got real heavy in the middle, and that part did indeed slow me down. Characters do this in 1st person, and if done with the right emotional tone and timing, readers consider it more snark, wit, or contemplation than justification. Here, I felt that happened, and it happened more than I feel it should. The consequence was that it slowed the middle of the book for me. This also happened at a point when I felt the story sort of veered off course. Once it got back on course, I was enthralled by the mystery and the clues.

World building:  This, alternatively, was a strength of the story. Whenever one deals with dreams in fiction (and I’d know a bit about this) it takes a lot of world building and planning. DiBenedetto does a solid job hiding clues in the dreams. He also uses those sequences and that world to a range of emotional results. In this, it felt a bit like the show Medium, which I enjoyed.

Dialogue: This again seemed to fit in line with typical YA themes. I felt the interactions between some characters (especially Sara’s friend) could have had a lot more conflict, giving the story depth, but typically in these books (at least the small sample I’ve read), the side characters tend to just roll with whatever insanity the main character heads for, which takes potential tension from the story. Yes, DiBenedetto did this, but not to a more offensive degree than any other YA book I’ve read does.

Description: This was average if not more effective in the dream sequences. J.J. uses detail to highlight clues, and I found myself paying more attention to description than I normally do (which is not at all). He doesn’t beat you to death with description. He’s also more merciful with some of the scenes one would commonly see in a mystery novel, and I appreciated that. However, I understand others would not like that. I’m more of a fan of cut aways mid swing than I am watching the blades trace lines of blood along a subject. I advise readers of this review to take note and decide which person you are to determine what you’ll think of this technique.

Overall: This book had a satisfying ending to a pretty cute paranormal romance mystery.  Sara was the most interesting part. Like any good 1st person story, she’s the reason I kept turing the pages in a book that falls outside my genre preferences. I’d recommend this to this genre’s readers and fans of the TV show Medium.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Book Review: The Door Keeper by Steen Jones

This image was taken from Goodreads.com for review purposes under fair use doctrine. The banner and author’s image were taken from her blog for the same purposes.

Spoiler Free Summary: The Door Keeper by Steen Jones  was my March Book Cover of the Month. It’s a fantasy story about Eden Saunders, a young single mother whose trip to learn more about her birth mother thrusts her into realms she’d never imagine. As she learns more of her place of origin, her mother’s secrets and tragedies leave her with a choice that will affect not only her life, but that of her young daughter.

Character:  Eden has some sympathy to her, and she’s proactive. Honestly, my knock on her is she’s a bit too proactive. I found myself wishing she’d thought of a few things more carefully before she found herself in danger. This seemed like an intentional character flaw to me as she habitually acts first and then considers those consequences later. Some of those impulsive decisions didn’t necessarily sit well with me, but her actions lead to more interesting conflicts which have higher stakes. Some of these characters were interesting, but unexplored. Marek, is a character I would’ve liked to have seen explored more. His arc was probably the most interesting, but it wasn’t honestly pursued.

Exposition: If I’m being honest, it’s been too long for me to remember much about the exposition. It was first person narrative, but I don’t honestly recall too much exposition. It could be the amount of time it’s been, but I don’t think so. I’d remember being slowed down by a ton of exposition, and this book didn’t slow me down that much. I have to be honest about the time though. I’d say it was done only when necessary if I was forced to comment on it.

Worldbuilding:  This is the best quality of this book. The realms are interesting. This is what kept me reading. Portals (or in this case literal doors) to other places aren’t rare in fiction like this, but the world building for each culture and each setting stand apart. The author seemed to have given a lot of thought to the appearance of each realm as well as the political landscape.

Dialogue: This was hit or miss for me. Sometimes it was snappy, but other times it felt a tad forced. I’d never go so far as to say it was ever stilted or bad, but the snappy, witty segments showed promises of what could be where the more forced or stereotypical dialog passages were harder to handle because I knew what Jones could do.

Description:  If the worldbuilding is the best aspect of the book, this is the next closest. Jones makes each setting and location feel visceral. I honestly think her magical realms feel more real sometimes than her Earth realm settings. I think her worldbuilding and description work together brilliantly. This means if wondrous landscapes and brilliant details are priorities for you, this book is probably right up your alley.

Overall: This was an ambitiously optimistic novel with a fascinating world to explore. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone looking for stories jam-packed with conflict. The problems and challenges are quickly overcome without a lot of effort or sacrifice. (Some may argue the sacrifice part, but I’m willing to have it with whoever wants.) That said, some readers appreciate a story that’s happy and hopeful throughout. The entertainment of the story is in the experience of the worlds, not the evolution of it’s characters. Fans of wondrous landscapes and interesting settings will love it.

Thanks for reading,

Matt