Review: Symbol of Hope 1: Men of the Cave
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 10, 2014
This is a hard review for me to write.  I read this for the author's Blog Tour and the main purpose of a Blog Tour is to help the book and it's sales.  A bad stop on a Blog Tour can ruin an author and I would hate to see that happen.  So, of course, as I sit down at my computer to write this, I am super nervous.  This is my first Blog Tour and I want to make sure I get it right.  I talked this out with my mom (the go-to for advice on any subject) and she says to just write the review like I always write reviews - to be honest, to share my feelings, to share my likes and my dislikes because that's what my readers expect from me and that's what I expect from myself.  So, here goes ...I liked this book, but even though I truly wanted to, I did not love this book.  Will I finish the trilogy, of course.  Would I finish the trilogy if I hadn't signed up to do so for the Blog Tour?  Yeah, I would.  Because I didn't hate it.  Just merely liked it.It is an enjoyable storyline and I love the authors take on stories from mythology (I love mythology and always have to give a writer a chance who takes those characters on and includes them in a modern story).  There are exciting moments (though, sadly, not until after 50%) and the characters are quite good - at first they are kind of flat, but they then develop into well-rounded characters.  As time goes by, you get to know them better and, by learning more about their backgrounds, you see why they are where they are and what has happened to make them into who they are.I found myself rooting for the good guys and hoping that the "bad guys" would see the light.  I'm curious to see where things go, to see how this storyline moves through the next two books, how things play out.So now we come to why I don't love the book.  The first person writing is a little awkward, especially when it skips to a new point of view, because there really is no warning at first.  Sometimes the point of view stays the same for a few chapters, sometimes it switches every time, but it takes the first paragraph before you realize who is talking and then you have to go back to re-read that stuff.  It does get better and start to flow better as the book moves through, though.  I also had a hard time connecting (and even liking) the main female character (Kasey).  A lot of her actions made me feel that she disrespected the people around her and herself.  I'm hoping that, as the story moves on, I will change my mind about her.  And one more thing, though it did not effect my rating of the book (4 stars) - the editing issues.  There were extensive punctuation issues in the copy that I was given for this tour.All in all, though, not a bad book - and a good beginning to this trilogy.  I'm very excited to pick up the next book. :)Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review in time for the blog tour.