Review: A tiny bit underdeveloped but otherwise wonderful
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 17, 2011
One of the first things to be noticed about "Spin the Plate" is that there is a short story version and a full length novel version.  Although I have not tried the full version, I would assume it to be fantastic, since the major downfall of this short story has to do with underdevelopment.  Besides that one issue, there is very little to be critiqued about this story.STORY - Jo is a rough, tough, animal-loving tattoo artist that has had quite a harsh childhood.  Because of her background, Jo leads a calloused life, not letting many people get close to her.  Then she meets Francis while riding the bus one day.  He seems determined to get close to her and insists on taking her out on dates and accompanying her to many of the places she goes.  This is the story of how these two very different people grow a very special friendship.I didn't find this story to be particularly heavy on the romance.  I rather found it to be more of an unfolding drama with a hint of romance in the background.WRITING STYLE - I was very quickly drawn into the story because of the author's ability to really make the reader feel some emotion for the characters.  The only problem was that I couldn't be full enveloped into the story since certain areas were a bit rushed.  The friendship between Jo and Francis is a good example of this; it seems like they just met, then suddenly they're doing everything together like best friends.  It would have been really nice to have had their friendship developed just a bit more slowly.  There were other things that could have been developed a bit more in the story, but they were never underdeveloped enough to majorly detract from the story.I mentioned earlier that the author really causes the reader to care for the characters.  One particular way that she does this with Jo is by creating an excellent setting/background.  The author describes in depth what happened to Jo as a child, almost to a point where it's too horrifying to continue.  There are definitely a few graphic sections of the story, so do note this if you are particularly sensitive.Like other reviewers have said, there are also Christian undertones to the story.  However, I almost feel they are canceled out due to the several curse words used by the Christian characters and some of the activities these characters do.  Therefore, I don't feel that the Christian tones are at all overwhelming.OVERALL - This was definitely a long review for such a short story, but I wrote all of this in an attempt to hopefully allow you to decide whether you would want to read this short version of "Spin the Plate" or the long version.  Like I said before, I haven't read the long version, but if it managed to add extra development to certain areas of this story, it would be a 5-star book.I absolutely recommend that you read at least this version of the story, though, because it truly is an inspirational and fantastic story.WARNINGS - Language, Sexual Scenes, ViolenceEDIT - 7/10/11 - After reading/reviewing this story, the author graciously offered me the full version, free of charge, in order for me to review it.  It did not affect my opinion of the story at all, but it did help me to compare the two version.  Both the short and long versions have the same basic skeleton of the story, but the longer story has so many more things added to it so that anyone who has read the short story can feel as if he or she is actually reading somewhat of a different story in the long version.  I can now fully recommend downloading this free short story, and if you like it, buying the full version and enjoying it.