Review: Severed Bonds Totally Worth a Read!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 2, 2013
Please note: The review/critique of this book was completed by Judy Colella who was given a copy of the book by the author for the sole purpose of reviewing it. Her review, based on an 11 point rubric designed by the owner of The MBR, L. Avery Brown. Judy has given L. Avery Brown permission to post this review on Amazon.AND NOW FOR THE REVIEW...1. Book Title - 3 of 5For the Reviewer: Did it grab your attention right away? (5) Was it ho hum? (3) Would you glance at it and then forget it? (1) What do you think the author might consider for future book titles? (You should have plenty of space for each item on the form as I think I set it up for the boxes to 'grow'.)The title seems straightforward until after the book is read in its entirety - then it's multi-level significance is better understood. The only part of the title that put me off is the reference to Annwn. It's the Welsh equivalent of Hades, and it seems the author has confused her mythologies somewhat. There are no Welsh entities in the story whatsoever, so I question her use of that term. Unless subsequent books pull the Welsh creature and tales into her story, that part of the title might be better left off.2. Book Cover – 2 of 5For the Reviewer: Did it grab your attention? (5) Was it ho hum? (3) Did it look like it was haphazardly thrown together? (1) What do you think the author might consider for future book covers? Did it help make the title more effective?To be completely honest, I didn't like the cover. I see what she's trying to show, but the layout and overall look is somewhat unprofessional, and implies that what lies between the covers is no more than yet another werewolf/vampire-type story - ho-hum, indeed. And yes, there are of course elements of that, but the story is much richer than most in this genre and deserves a more intriguing cover. Perhaps something that shows a misty forest with glimmers and hints of something supernatural - perhaps wolf eyes only recognized at a closer glance, or some kind of weird mist and the suggestion of animals and unnatural-looking humans?3. First 500... – 10 of 10For the Reviewer: Thinking of the first 500 (usually about 2 pages) words of the book, do you think the author provided enough incentive to urge the reader to continue? What stood out to you the most? Were you captivated after a couple of paragraphs? Did the 1st sentence grab you? Did you get to around the 500 word mark and didn't have a clue where the story was going?Normally, I don't like the "Wonder Years" kind of opening narrative in a book. However, Kyra managed to keep hers interesting enough to make me want to keep reading. Her heroine was immediately likable, the situation compelling. She used a nice balance of action and explanation, and drew me in right from the start. Long before the 500-word mark I had a pretty good idea of what was going on and where the tale was headed, but it also had exactly the right implication of unexpected twists ahead to keep me from thinking I had it all figured out. Very nicely done.4. Blurb Effectiveness – 8 of 10For the Reviewer: Now that you've finished the book, please take a moment to look back over the blurb. How effective do you think the blurb will be to potential readers? Did the author write a blurb that was enticing and went along with the story? (10) Was the blurb lacking? (5) Was it entirely too long or too short? (1) Do you have any suggestions for the author to make it more effective?I like shorter blurbs. Longer ones seem to be an apologetic attempt at telling the entire story in one, long, breathless flood of verbiage. This was not a short blurb. That said, and because of the many complexities of plot, this one actually worked for me. Could she have made it just a tad shorter? Sure. But the way it is didn't put me off the way I thought it would at first glance.5. Age Recommendation/Genre Classification – 10 of 10For the Reviewer: Age Recommendation - If the book is entirely too young/juvenile for the intended age group? Is it entirely too mature? (Please take into account swearing/sexual scenes/drug use, etc... Genre Classification - Was the book listed as a thrill ride of a read but was more of a bumper car ride (sort of all over the place)? Was it listed as a mystery and you simply had to turn the page to find out 'who did it'?To my delight, I found that despite how easy it would have been to make this story flat-out steamy and highly inappropriate for younger readers, Ms. Dunst used considerable skill in conveying more about the heart than the libido despite some serious physical attraction between characters. Even the scene late in the story where an altar, no clothing, and a ritual were involved, she turned this device into a tool that furthered the significance of the title, rather than allowing so much as a hint of tawdriness. I was highly impressed, and can say with confidence that the audience for this book can easily include very young teens.6. Presentation/Format – 10 of 10For the Reviewer: Did the 'innards' of the book follow a clear, concise, standard format throughout the book? Or did you have a hard time keeping up with paragraphs or dialogue? Were multiple fonts used? Were they distracting?I liked the logical progression of this first-person narrative. The pacing was excellent, and overall, very easy to follow. The use of telepathy between certain characters handled the issue of POV beautifully, allowing the story-teller access to the thoughts of feelings of fellow main characters.7. Theme/Originality – 8 of 10For the Reviewer: Was this book similar to something you may have read before? If it was a retelling - did the author make it feel fresh and just different enough that it kept you involved? Or was it formulaic and a 'rehash' of a popular tale/current 'pop' genre? OR - is this the first time you can recall ever reading a book with theme/setup/etc of this particular title?About halfway through, I found myself thinking the author borrowed certain traits and elements of Bella from the "Twilight" series (her clumsiness, most specifically), bits and pieces from the general werewolf genre with the whole Alpha-male thing, a smidge or two from "The Vampire Diaries" (the rivalry for Lexi's affections, for instance), and some of the concepts found in the current trend toward demonic tales. However, she wove it all together in a unique way, presenting an eclectic package that allowed all these familiar concepts to work very nicely with her story in a way that moved things along.8. Description/Enhancement – 10 of 10For the Reviewer: Did the author use descriptive language and 'all those extra little things' to make it the best it could be? Did you feel it was too sparse in description? Did the author go OVER board with the description?The descriptive elements of the book were subtle enough to paint a picture without shoving it in your face, so to speak. Like the Little Bear's porridge, chair and bed, not too much, not too little, but just right. The main focus was on the thread of the story and the action, which is exactly as it should be for a story of this type.9. Intrigue – 10 of 10For the Reviewer: Did you want to turn the next page because it was SO good? (10) Was it interesting but you didn't quite have an urge to keep reading? (5) Did you think 'I wonder if we have Twinkies in the pantry? Mmmmm, Twinkies' while you read? (1)Yup. A total page-turner, dude. I can't say there was any part of this that I found boring. No easy task, that!10. Grammar/Mechanics – 7 of 10For the Reviewer: Was the book pretty darn flawless? (10) Did you see more that 5 or 10 'jump out' at you mistakes in grammar or the actual mechanics (verb tense, noun/pronoun agreement, misused words) ? (5) Did you feel it was a chore to read because it was riddled with errors? (1)Every once in a while, the person or tense would suddenly shift, the latter more frequently than the former. An example of the person shift can be found on page 47, where the story goes from 1st to 3rd, then slides back into 1st in the final sentence of the paragraph: "Kade glared at them both before turning on his heel and marching down the corridor to the private dining room. Lexi bristled at Kade's obvious anger toward them both. Who did he think he was? Ian smirked at at me." The problem with moving from present to past is peppered throughout, although it occurs only briefly in a sentence, then reverts. Rather disconcerting, and it stops the action with a bit of a thud (see page 43, "Horrified, I realize...").Another glitch, if you will, is the tendency to overuse the same word or phrase within a small range of sentences or paragraphs. A glaring example of this can be seen on page 58: "A WIDE disc several feet WIDE (emphasis added)" - this can easily be fixed by simply chancing the second "wide" to "across." I also found a number of words misused in the context. For instance, "course rope" instead of "coarse rope," and a number of other odd instances throughout. Not a lot, but enough to be noticeable. Finally, dialect. Ian is supposed to be Irish, yet he is given a very Scottish accent ("canna" for "cannot" is NOT an Irish pronunciation - read the works of Robert Burns to see what I mean). Writing out an accent can be a tricky business. Better to refer to the accent in a more oblique manner without trying to spell it out.Having said that, I was more pleased than not with the overall grammar and spelling in this book. A quick perusal by a seasoned editor to weed out minor problems like those cited will produce a book that can, in fact, be nearly flawless. The writing is excellent, and her basic command of good and proper English is impressive. Because of this, the story was even more of a joy to read for its smoothness as well as for its ripping good plot!11. Overall Impression – 10 of 10For the Reviewer: When all is said in done - did you enjoy the book? Would you recommend it to others?I would certainly recommend this. The blend of action, tragedy, romance, and an ending that doesn't make the reader gag (sorry, but I can't stand those super-sweet, Hallmark-made-for-television-perfect-ending stories) makes this a great read. The reader is picked up by the whirlwind of Lexi's bizarre life and swept along from cover to cover without a pause. I totally enjoyed the experience, and hope Ms. Dunst continues to write in this genre - she does it so very, very well!For the Reviewer: Is there anything else about the book you'd like to mention?It needs a sequel. Seriously. Where's Book Two?THE BESTOWING OF THE BLOSSOMS...After looking at all the numbers, Kyra Dunst's Severed Bonds has earned a respectable 88 points out of 100 giving it a very strong 4 blossom ranking. And Judy Colella is not an easy one to please when it comes to the world of fantasy writing - which means that Kyra Dunst really had to earn every single point and that says a lot about the book! And since Judy has asked...'Where's Book Two?!' we at The MBR think this is a series with great potential. The MBR wants to wish Kyra all the best as her book which will hopefully be the first in a long, strongly written series!