Thursday, May 2, 2013

"Unraveling" by Elizabeth Norris

I always feel bad for writing a review for a book that I haven't actually finished.  However, I feel the reason why I didn't finish the book gives me the right to write a review.  Some may argue that I didn't give the book a fair chance, and that I can't really know what the book is about if I don't finish it, or that it might get better so stick with it.  But I don't think so with this book. This book falls under the genre of mystery/sci-fi/paranormal romance, which are all genres I enjoy.
 
It starts with a life and death situation where the main character, Janelle, is hit by a truck, and is unquestionably brought back to life by some supernatural power boy named Ben.  For me, this is a fun, mysterious beginning.
My beef with the story isn't so much the plot or subplots, although, I think the story could do without the ridiculous high school drama some of the characters bring, who don't even seem to be essential to the storyline.  My beef is with the language.  I feel that any writer who quotes writers such as Dickens, Dickensen, authors who had such mastery of the English language, and who wrote, in my opinion, transcendentally, uplifting and inspiring you to be better and feel proud of yourself for having read their writing, is making a mockery of literature, or being a hypocrite in a way, by having characters with such potty mouths!
I realize this is a personal preference thing, but seriously.  If these authors have inspired you to be a writer, than don't mock their literary geniuses by dropping the F bomb everywhere.  Show them you are equal to them and write as well as they do!  That may be impossible in some ways, but I think it shows a serious lack of intelligence when the best you can come up with for your characters is profanity spewing forth out of their mouths left and right. Show how smart you are as a writer by making your characters have some admirable qualities coming out of their mouths!
I know I am being dramatic about this, but I feel dumb when I read books that have stupid language.  And I ask myself, "Is this really the best I can do?  No, it's not!"
This is a harsh review. And I feel that anyone that writes a book is smart and has a lot of determination and will power to create a fun story that readers will love to lose themselves in.  I just think Elizabeth Norris is smarter than this book makes her, and that she is doing herself a disservice by ruining her story with potty mouth characters.
Some people may really relate to this type of language, but it just didn't work for me!

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