Review: A challenging book, but worth reading
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 20, 2013
I grabbed this awhile back for the most base reason possible - I thought the cover was cool - and thoroughly enjoyed it. Long story short, I got it when it was four bucks, and thought it was a steal at that price. If this is still on sale for a buck, there's no way to go wrong, but if it's back to normal price, I still heavily recommend it.There are five things that I really enjoyed about HAZE that you don't see in every coming of age story like this:1) Effie is LIKABLE - in so many books in this genre, the main character is hapless, or clueless or something else that makes me go "I wouldn't want to be around this person." In this case, Effie is believable, and does have her problems, but they're realistic. I know people like her. You probably do to - excellent lead character.2) Jack is NOT a comical jerk - the main love interest is not, as he so often is, a big overblown jackass with a superiority complex that hides some vaguely framed abuse in his past. He's, again, a believable character. He's got pain in his background, but it's once again realistic, and even though he does have his moments of being rather a moron, he's a guy, you know? I am too, and I make boneheaded mistakes too. Again, awesome character.3) The plot actually MOVES - this is not a massive tome of a book. The plot isn't ponderous or overly slow. It isn't always go-go-go, but that's a good thing. The love scenes are often sensual and playful, though there are certainly some with a lot of...er...urgency to them. But again, like with the characters, the way the plot moves is BELIEVABLE. Real life doesn't come in bite-sized action scenes, and neither does this book. If you give it the time, the author has a very satisfying tone. The single criticism I have is that at times it does drag a little bit, but I have a feeling this was done on purpose, to show how the characters lives, too, were slowing down.4) The antagonist(s) are menacing, but not moustache-twirling cartoons. I can't say more about them without spoiling things, but the book has a really cool twist that at least I didn't see coming. I might be dense, but the twist took me by surprise.5) No grammatical errors or typos that I noticed, so nothing glaring. The author has a cool tone, and a very active, engaging voice.