S.H. Jucha

DNF at 25%

I tried. I really tried. I almost never DNF a book this early--and I rarely DNF books at all--but this one was only getting more and more frustrating. Unfortunately, this book suffers from many first-novel mistakes, but to an Nth degree. The hero is flawless, and everybody loves him--though we can't quite tell why, because he's so perfectly heroic and flawless that, as readers, we want him to be knocked off his pedestal. There's a lack of action and conflict, the characters are unfailingly polite to each other, and clear questions related to plot/motivation go entirely ignored. As frustratingly, so much is told vs. shown, with the really interesting moments being summarized rather than explored, that it feels like we're getting the cliffnotes of what might have been an interesting story, vs. being allowed to engage with it.

Most of the issues here are common enough first-novel issues, but when piled together into one book that suffers some from some serious flaws in plotting and characterization, they make for an incredibly difficult read. I hope that the writer employed a developmental editor and worked on improving his craft in future books, but I'm afraid I won't be trying another book by the author.… (mer)