Review: startled
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 07 16, 2011
I'm a fan of Kindle freebies, but always check the reviews first - I may not be investing money, but in choosing to read a work, I'm investing my time.  Although some other reviewers mention that there's sexuality in the book, I was startled by the discrepancy between what reviewers describe and what was actually there.  Yes, a teenager is given an amulet that offers invisibility; what no one else has mentioned is that EVERY SINGLE TIME he puts it on he becomes a voyeur to some sort of sexual activity, most of which he actively seeks out.  (I'm sure some late-teenage boys would be interested by this notion, and would use such an amulet in exactly this way, but I still found it creepy.)  There's masturbation, lesbian experimentation, oral, anal, toys . . .  All of this superimposed on a rather overfamiliar story of a young man finding he's always loved the girl next door.  I found the collision of these two styles - extended "Penthouse" letter meets male Gidget - to be jarring.  And I kept waiting for even one other (more creative) use for such a gift to suggest itself to the hero, who's supposed to be of above-average intelligence, and to have some spiritual depth.  I'm not out to bash anyone's writing, or spoil any reader's enjoyment, but I wanted to present a more accurate sense of what to expect for other potential readers.