AnnaLund2011
I am vociferously passionate about good books. And I hate adverbs.
Book Review - The Practical Guide to Trying Not to Die, by Sam Schooler
Ha, this was really good fun—yet another story from the M/M Romance group's Love Has No Boundaries over at Goodreads, free stories from writers and professional authors alike.
This one was like crack on meth chewing coca-leaves, and was shock-full of fun references to popular culture, and with Hitchhiker's Guide, Star Wars, LotR, Twilight, Supernatural, Star Trek, Darkfever, A Game of Thrones, and all the others that I probably missed, this was truly giggle-snort-worthy.
I cracked up several times, and I'm just sitting here shaking my head still. Awesome.
Great dialogue, flow, and action. I just feel it needed more of all three.
You see, my only problem with it is that it was too short. Don't get me wrong, it ended in the right place. It just got to the end TOO FAST.
There are at least 150 pages missing from this story. Its premise is brilliant, it just needs MORE. More flesh on the bones, as it were.
It feels more like an outline which is rabidly trying to play catch up with its own story. (This may have happened because of time-constraints and rushing to get it finished for the LHNB-event).
I'd love for the author to take this back in hand and work it over, giving it some 30k more words, fleshing out every chapter, so that the action slows down to an understandable pace. So that the reader can lean back and enjoy the BLOODY GOOD WRITING that is happening here. (Also picking up some dropped prepositions—editors?—and a final spellcheck, so that words like Tolkienesque get all their letters in the right place).
So, fleshing it out and spellchecking? That's where the story can win a whole star. Fix that and it goes up to four.
***
But, still! Holy hell, I loved it. So hard. Because then you also get Malia, the gorgeous roommate and best friend. Her parts in the story were absolutely unforgettable. And I loved Soren. Thank you for Soren, author. Brilliant character, absolutely brilliant. We should all get to have a neighbor like him.
Yeah. I'd read this one again, with more words. I might read it again as is, too.
