Review: Straws of Potential
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 3, 2013
It's Friday, the thirteenth and I recently read a horror story in honor of the superstitions that follow such a date. I don't typically read horror, but this one intrigued me all the same and I found myself purchasing it for my kindle because the idea within the description intrigued me.This story had such great potential, but it had much to be desired. Reading over the description now, I could have guessed that from reading it.Why?The phrase "does the winner truly win" is definitely a question, yet the author failed to put a question mark. This is a simple mistake, and one I can forgive since I missed it as well when I first read it, but it's only the beginning to the end.The premise, the idea, the backbone of the story is brilliant. I'm not a big horror fan, but I do love games - especially those that may become a test of survival. The idea of a game resulting from a box and a handful of straws was excellent. I was excited to read it.Where the story began to lack though was from the beginning with the characters. You know from the description that Jack is supposed to be the main character, and right from the get-go, you discover the names of his friends and his girlfriend, but not much else about them. Beyond knowing which girl is partnered to which guy, there isn't much solide concrete about their relationships with one another until people start dying.I found myself constantly asking myself, "What's the relationship between the two males, Jack and Adam? Are they friends, brothers, cousins, strangers?" You're left to assume the answer.Same with the two girls, Melody and Jennifer. Are they just the girlfriends of the two men? Have they met each other before this encounter? Are they friends? Enemies? There isn't much said about their relationship, and again we are left to assume how they are related.From there, the story plummeted.Again, the idea was brilliant enough to hold my attention captive until the end, but that was all that held me to the story.Ninety percent of the story was dialogue with little-to-no distinguishes as to who was speaking. The ten percent left to description and plot building didn't discuss much past the deaths that followed the start of the game and a description of the contraption that starts the game.There are few details about why the four people went to the house in the first place. They mention that it belonged to the grandfather, but not why they were there. Did the grandfather die and leave it to his grandson? Were they supposed to clean it for him? What was the plan, if one at all, when going there?Other questions popped in my mind as I read along. What did the house look like - both inside and outside? What was surrounding it? Could you see it from the road? Was there a long or short driveway? Why wouldn't the key work in the door when they first tried to open it? Had it been disused for so long that the lock rusted? Why wasn't there electricity? Who really was the stranger that told them the details of the game? Why had his grandfather excepted such a trinket as a box of straws?The further I read, the more questions I had, not answers. It was a quick read due to the lack of description, but there was so much that needed to be discussed in order to fully enjoy the story.An excellent idea but poor execution overall gives "Game of Straws" three stars.However, I'd love to see the author pull the story and clean it up. There's so much potential to the story that it has me chomping at the bit.