Review: Consonance - A Delightfully Complicated Romance
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 18, 2013
If you would like to read this review in its entirety, please visit The Magnolia Blossom Review on the web!1. Book Title - 6 of 10Consonance. To be honest, I don't think this is the best title for a book because I would venture to guess that most people don't have the musical background that Malabanan has. I can say that I had an inkling because I'm an 'artsy' kind of person (having done a good deal of acting & singing as well as playing the piano, flute, and piccolo). And yet, even though I've got a strong musical background, consonance which means:1. Agreement; harmony; accord.2. a. Close correspondence of sounds.b. The repetition of consonants or of a consonant pattern,especially at the ends of words, as in blank and think3. Music A simultaneous combination of sounds not requiringresolution to another combination of sounds for finality ofeffect and conventionally regarded as harmonious or pleasing.I've obviously not had as much music theory training as Lisa Malabanan, so while I knew it had 'something' to do with music, I didn't know right off the bat.And when it comes to book titles - I've found that people tend to shy away from books with titles as 'specific' as Malabanan's Consonance. And from what I understand, this book is the first in a series called 'Dia-Matic Keys #1' -- which is actually a blending of two musical terms that are also not common vernacular for the typical reader.In a nutshell, the title (as well as the series designation) 'alone' is a bit too 'high brow' and it might turn people away before it even gets a chance to turn them on as it sounds more like a book of music theory as opposed to a romance.2. Book Cover - 9 of 10It is a lovely cover of a woman playing a piano...which is extremely beneficial to the title because it gives the average reader a visual point of reference they can use to decipher the title of the book. One look and we know that this book is about music. What's more one can glean from the cover that the main character is a woman who plays the piano - it's a sleek image, too - perhaps the lead of the story is a concert pianist. And since it's listed as a romance one can come up with a basic notion of the story = concert pianist in love. (However, after having read the book - I don't think the cover is the best option because, in truth, it's not at all about the lead being a concert pianist.)3. First 500... 9 of 10For the purpose of this review, I skipped the Introduction to the entire book and also skipped the introduction to Chapter 1 so the examination of the First 500... words begins with the 'actual' story.Immediately I realize that the story is being told in the first person/present tense (a tricky sort of thing for a writer to do because one can so easily fall out of the intended voice). And from what I gather based on these sentences immediately presented to the reader:"The car radio is booming Prince "1999" while my head bobs up and down, singing to the upbeat song. Listening to the chorus, I wonder about the year nineteen ninety nine, a distant future."I'm fairly sure the story takes place in the early to mid 80s or maybe the late 90s (as Prince released the song 1999 in 1982 or maybe the late 90s because the track was re-released in 1998 just in time for the arrival of 1999) and 'a distant future' tends to mean, for a teen, (as is the main character, Elle, is entering her first year of college at Rutgers so she's probably only 18 or 19) perhaps 3 to 5 years in the future. (You know, I'm beginning to think I over analyze things! I can't really help it - I've always done that!)Further, I know that the main setting (at least for this part of the book) is at Rutgers University in New Jersey. It's 'move in' day and the reader is made aware of Mom, Dad, Andrew & James (brothers) and Tiffany. Oddly, the lead character, Elle, isn't actually 'introduced' to the reader until a good 250 words later. It would've been nice to know who she is immediately.Not really because the opening flows nicely. Malabanan has done a terrific job of guiding the reader along with Elle as she steps into the first few 'real' moments of her being an actual freshman at Rutgers...and she did it successfully without ever breaking the POV. The hook in the opening is very subtle and for this story that's fine.4. Age Recommendation/Genre Classification. 10 of 10This is a classic romance/coming of 'college' age story. It's got the angst of Elle's various relationships as well as her growth as a member as the lead singer/guitar player/and keyboard player of the rock-cover band The Dia-Matic Keys. (Weren't expecting that were you?)5. Presentation/Format 8 of 10For the most part, I am truly impressed with Malabanan's ability to keep the action in the proper voice and tense. Likewise, I enjoyed the way she spun the yarn of Elle's relationship(s) with the various men who are in her life. However, there were three things that drove me 'bonkers'.First, there are several places where words and phrases are emphasized by using italics. I don't know if she feels it necessary to stress 'this is a term used during that time period' or if she was worried people won't be able to recognize a phrase as being stressed.Ex. James answers, "I wanna see Tiff" and Drew demands, "I wanna see these girls." Now we are in open view for the women to greet us. Carla and Simone whoop. "Elle you got it goin' on with these fine men. Can your skirt be any shorter and how did you manage to hide underwear? No wonder they're chasing after you." (I'm pretty sure the typical reader will get the gist without the italics)Combine that with the overuse of phrases/words as well as song titles in friendly 'quotation marks' or "quotation marks". And it got 'really' annoying after a while. A couple scattered here and there for effect are fine but geez, it gets quite annoying after about the 30th time.And last after I read the word for the 3rd time I was like, What the hell is a ZERBERT? I had to look it up only to realize it's a term coined by Bill Cosby on the Cosby Show. Yes, period-wise it's on target - however, the Cosby Show has been off the air for over 20 years (as it relates to this review). I have a good memory - better than most people possess and even I struggled to recall the word. Rule of thumb #10 - when you use 'cute words' make sure your readers (who will run the gambit from young to old, black to white, hip to square) know what you're saying. It's not difficult to slyly insert a little 'in case you didn't get what that meant' sentence.6. Theme/Originality 10 of 10Even though there were 'way' too many 'friendly quotes' and cool phrases that were overemphasized for the readers to make sure they 'got' whatever 'it' needed to be 'gotten' - the story - the skeleton of the tale was terrific. It was a combination of sweet, studious girl on a one way ticket to something greater than she ever thought of with 'college girl faces tough decisions about love and just a smattering of love triangle - (or love quadrangle or maybe even love pentagon - there are lots of guys who are totally crushing on Elle in this story. Read it and you'll understand!) to make the story stand out from traditional romance tales. This is one of those stories where the phrase it's complicated fits to a T!7. Description/Enhancement 8 of 10There were a few places where things were a bit over described. It wasn't often but I will say there were about 5 spots in the story where instead of being gently guided through a scene, I felt like I was being forced to see everything in the scene so that the ability to imagine some things was taken away from me because once the image was given - it's all I could consider. (I hope that makes sense, because in my head it totally does!)8. Intrigue 10 of 10This story had me wanting to find out what was going to happen at every turn. Things like the weird shifting of identity in the way that Andrew and James (Elle's 'I've known them so long, they're like big brothers - who are actually brothers - to me') view Elle. Also, the prickly dynamic of two (other) brothers Ryan and Kevin who also develop feelings for Elle. Add to that Elle's boyfriend, Sean, and the fact that she truly loves him but has a hard time turning off the attraction she feels for Ryan and Kevin. (I told you it was complicated - and so juicy you just have to keep reading!)9. Grammar/Mechanics 10 of 10To be honest, I'm really impressed with the technical part of Consonance. Either Malabanan, her editor, or the two of them together did some serious work to make sure this book was dressed to the nines so far as the technical aspects. Especially the POV which I said earlier is tough to maintain!10. Overall Impression 10 of 10I enjoyed this story immensely and I highly recommend it to people who enjoy not only a good romance story but a complicated romance at that!In the end, Lisa Malabanan's Consonance earned 90 out of 100 points - securing the book a 5 Magnolia Blossom (star) rating!**Please note: I received a free copy of this book from the author via the book/blog tour site [...] specifically for the review. Thank you.**