Review: Double Star by Cindy Saunders

Double Star
By Cindy Saunders
Published November 28th, 2012
Publisher: Book Baby
Paperback, 268 pages

When Cepheus, a dark god, forces seventeen-year-old Ally Ashworth off an isolated overlook, she has no idea she's falling into his world, or that the necklace she’s wearing is actually a key - one with the power to ignite the next world war. But she’s carried beyond his reach and into the one place where he’s powerless ... the forest of Gilgamesh.

Ally’s never been Miss Popularity, but her outsider status takes on new meaning when she’s rescued by Liam Cheveyo and his peculiar friends. After seeing them shape-shift into their freaky humanimal counterparts, Ally smacks hard into a few truths: magic really does exist and, although getting here took no effort, finding her way back might be impossible. Feelings between her and Liam begin to grow along with the realization that, in this world, she’s stronger, better ... until she’s caught in a trap set by the creepy spider-boy Cepheus sends to retrieve her. But Ally’s not going down without a fight, not after learning the horrible truth about the passageways.

The survival of both worlds depends on it. -Goodreads

Review

 

I have to admit it. When I first saw Double Star, I wasn't very interested. The cover just wasn't that appealing. However, I couldn't judge a book by its cover, therefore I had to read it. Double Star definitely turned out to be better than I expected, however it did have some drawbacks. 

The main character, Ally, is a normal girl who leads a normal life, until she (literally) falls into a parallel world. In this new world, people are born with a mark behind their ear, which symbolizes their ability to change into a certain animal. I have to say, Ally's personality is kind of blah. She is nice and has her own special powers, but is also boring and doesn't make me want to really root for her. Her character is flat and one dimensional.

The love interest, Liam is a little more interesting. He is kinda like the tortured guy who blames himself for his mother's death, and is lifted out of it by Ally, whom he originally doesn't like. The thing is, love is actually very close to hate (not that he hates her), and you can just totally tell they're gonna end up together.

With that said, I feel bad for the other guy, Corm. Although he also likes Ally, it isn't quite a love triangle. He is attracted to Ally, but quickly realizes that Ally and Liam are deeply in love, and he can't come between them, which is more than I can say for most third wheels in the love triangle (they continue to fight for the heroine's love, but we all know who will end up with the girl). It may start out as a love triangle, but they don't really end up competing with each other for Ally's love. Although I can't help but feel bad for Corm (I always feel bad for the loser), I'm glad that this book didn't make it into a full blown love triangle and have him struggle along. 

My main problem with this book was it predictability. I have read many YA novels, and this one is very similar to others I have read. I could predict everything that was going to happen, which took all the fun out of it, I like to be kept somewhat guessing. That and it was really cheesy. Some cheesiness in a story is good and can make it cute, but this one had a little too much. Also the characters need more development and back story to them, what makes them unique and different from all of the other characters of YA books I've read? Sadly, not much.

Even though I've mentioned all of this negative stuff, I generally liked the book. It had a good concept, and just needs to find its own voice to stand out, that and more character development. Otherwise, everything else was good. The writing was very descriptive, I could picture everything in my head, and it seemed to flow smoothly (the only problem I had with writing was the speech of the characters from the parallel world, they would flip flop from 21st language to ye olde english). Double Star is started in the right direction, and just needs some improvements to make it even better.

Purchase this book at: Amazon / Barnes and Nobles / The Book Depository

 

Talisman of El by Alecia Stone Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway

Talisman of El (Talisman of El #1)
By Alecia Stone 

Released: May 20, 2012
Publisher: Centrinian Publishing Ltd
Hardcover, 364 pages 

WHAT IF YOUR WHOLE LIFE WAS A LIE?

One Planet.

Two Worlds.

Population: Human ... 7 billion.

Others ... unknown.

When 14-year-old Charlie Blake wakes up sweating and gasping for air in the middle of the night, he knows it is happening again. This time he witnesses a brutal murder. He's afraid to tell any one. No one would believe him ... because it was a dream. Just like the one he had four years ago - the day before his dad died.

Charlie doesn't know why this is happening. He would give any thing to have an ordinary life. The problem: he doesn't belong in the world he knows as home. He belongs with the others. --Goodreads

3 Stars

Review

Talisman of El is one of those middle grade fantasies that has basically everything to make an action-packed thriller for a male targeted audience. The plot is extremely well thought out, there are extremely brief moments of romance for the guys who can just never get the girl, and characters that are enjoyable to read about. Unfortunately though, the book relies on dry plot devices and humor to pave the way into the action for a dreadfully turtle-paced read. Let's just say that there are more positive attributes for this book than negative, but the negative are so painfully obvious.

We begin with Charlie, a kid whose been bouncing from foster home to foster home for most of his life. Then he finally gets the perfect foster parent that all children dream of, right? Sadly, it is not to be when his foster father turns out to be a criminal and is basically destroying his already crummy life that is plagued with nightmares. Life's swell for our poor guy Charlie. The storyline of this book is stuck in this plot hole for a while, taking its own sweet time to finally move along with the action. Even though there is an extremely long waiting period for the answer to all of the questions that are asked, nothing happens. Charlie and his buds meet and greet a whole ton of characters that take forever to lead us to the realization of the two worlds. Notice: I am not spoiling anything. Read the blurb if you think I've done something wrong!

While one reads, it may come to his or her attention that there are a heap of characters in this book. That was one of the problems I had: all of the characters felt the same, so I had a hard time distinguishing one from another. It was as if they were all androids programmed with the same personality that just forced the reader onto a dreary slope up to a climatic realization that will fall flat because the characters have already drived the reader to the point of insanity. I felt absolutely nothing for any of them. Not Charlie, not one of his friends, nor the old guy whose actually young (long story). 

Like many books, this book has excelled with a fascinating and intriguing world development. The problem lies with the execution of the premise with shoddy character development, anticlimatic plot and somewhat weak writing. Surely the writing will improve over the course of the series, but there's a need for improvement soon. Even with so many faults, I found Talisman of El a cute read that stands out among the typical middle grade reads about kids going through puberty and an adventure of a lifetime because of their crummy destiny. 

Purchase Talisman of El here: Amazon/ B&N/ Book Depository

Giveaway Time! 

3 copies up for grabs internationally!

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