Review: Great idea but the lack of editing is horrendous
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 12 29, 2012
Editing: 0 starsStory: 4 starsExecution: 2Right from the beginning, this book was frustrating to read because there were so many errors. Even a casual proofreading of this book would fix so much and make the book enjoyable to read. Below are some of the common errors I found.- typos: breath/breathe, whit/white- unnecessary apostrophes or missing apostrophes- homophone confusions- inconsistencies ("...memory brought me back to my teenage years when the only companions I had were my cousins." No matter how you cut it, Kaiya IS still a teenager, and her only friends ARE the twins! Later on, there's confusion over Alex's and Gabriel's ages)- missing commas- confusing sentences (mainly relating to the use of pronouns)- stating of the obvious (not only unnecessary but senseless and repetitive)Here is just ONE example of MANY:"Paul was the only way that was able to get away with insulting Kris, deserved or not."I was also disappointed by the lack of different tones (or, really, ANY type of tone). There was no difference in speech between royalty, working men, guards, towns peoples, etc. There wasn't even a difference between the Water kingdom and the Fire kingdom, even though these kingdoms haven't communicated almost a thousand years. I find it difficult to believe that speech would remain static for so long.As for the characters, while I was annoyed with Kaiya she did grow immensely, which I enjoyed. The other characters, mainly Alex and Roisin, were interesting and fun to read. Otherwise, none of the other characters are really explored and for the most part their actions go unexplained.The plot goes by fairly quickly, and there is a good amount of action (though I found these to be poorly written). I really wanted to like this book, but the lack of editing makes me cringe.