Review: First time author- Good story telling potential
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 23, 2013
The book's narrative is from a first person point-of-view opening as a little boy growing up in Nottingham, UK and progressing through the years as he ages. Since the subject matter was about a boy overcoming various adversities on a journey of fulfilling his goal in becoming a published author as an adult, I made the assumption the author was writing about his own journey. I could have made an incorrect assumption, but that is what I garnered.From a positive aspect, the book is captivating due to the point-of-view drawing the reader in to the personal facets of the main character's story. The protagonist speaks directly to the reader as if the reader already knows him, even referencing this at the outset in his preamble. It is a coming of age story where each reader can identify with some aspects if not all aspects of the character's or multiple character's life experiences. This first time author exhibits vast potential in his actual story telling capability. I enjoyed the character development and the social dynamics amidst the characters while set within a richly descriptive background.However, I would be remiss if I did not make a technical note to other potential readers. Based on the sentence structure, grammar, punctuation usage (excessive semi colons) and mixture of past and present tense sometimes within the same sentence, it seemed as if the author needed a more meticulous book editor to peruse and edit the manuscript before going to print. Overall, the technical and structural issues made the book a very difficult one to follow as it manifested a sporadic flow of thought for the reader. The writing appears to be very informal patterned after British speech rather than formal grammatical writing.  This style may be the actual intent of the author but I am not sure. If the author has an opportunity to rectify these issues then republish, the story telling itself will shine brightly as it should. I am giving this book and first time young author a 4-star based on the compelling story telling and content of the tale versus the technical focus.