Review: Awesome!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 14, 2013
In her debut novel, "Into You," Riley J Ford takes an interesting premise and turns it into one heckuva good book.The writing is sharp. The characters are well developed. The story moves along at a crisp pace.There's a ton of humor in this book: just-plain-funny humor; dark humor; romantic humor; even tragic humor. If Ford was out to showcase how well she can master the subtle nuances between them, she can color me convinced.But it isn't all fun and games. Sure, there's a murder to solve, but Ford's story really delves into some dark and weighty places along the way that make the murder seem somewhat tame in comparison (at least until the murder is later described). Although readers will be satisfied with the ending, "Into You" isn't all sunshine and lollipops, with a cute little HEA to top it off.And kudos to Ford for that. There's no valid reason for YA and/or paranormal romance books to habitually and systematically ignore all of the realities of teenage life except for the angst ... yet it happens far too often."Into You" is a well written, wonderful read that I highly recommend to YA, PNR, and teen mystery fans.*************Riley J Ford follows her impressive debut novel, "Into You," with another winner. "Carpe DiEmily" tells the tale of Emily Keane, an over-organized woman about to lose control over every aspect of her life.Along the way, Emily adopts a neurotic dog that even confounds a dog whisperer, sells her organs to a madman, falls in love with a gay man, and treats a biker bar to a new round of tats. And that ain't even half the story. I mean, most of us have been there ... but it's a brave new world for dear Emily.As is her wont, Ford mixes tons of humor into unpredictable situations to create a unique and rather unforgettable story. I don't know how she does it, but I'm going to suggest that Ford donate her brain to science when her own story is over, so someone can get to the bottom of her madness.The book's description includes the word "zany," and that's the perfect word to describe this tale. Emily's story is zany. It's also well written and quite enjoyable."Carpe DiEmily" is a wonderful read that I highly recommend to YA and humor fans. If you like Christopher Moore, check out Riley J Ford.