Review: Surprisingly Great!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 5, 2014
Reading the summary of this book didn't inspire much confidence in me, since it seemed like a bit too much romance for my taste, but this was actually a great character-driven sci-fi thriller. I could deal with the occasional cheesy moment between Shana and Adam when it was surrounded with well-crafted prose and unexpected plot twists. Parv handled the grandiose scope of the plot well, without losing the core motivations of the characters that made the book worth reading. It can be easy to get lost in the science details in a novel like this, but Parv didn't alienate her readers, nor did she condescendingly simplify the more complex subjects. My one critique is that it almost seemed like Parv wasn't sure what genre she was trying to write for, and while that certainly opened up her work to more people, it also made it hard to categorize. When a book doesn't quite have its own identity, it can be difficult for a reader to get hooked, because they spend their time trying to figure out the angle of the author. I think Parv might want to choose a genre rather than combining a bunch of different elements into a book that may have been too complicated for its own good. That being said, I think her writing shows a maturity and a depth that I would certainly read again. Overall, a very worthwhile read.