Review: Moralistic, magical mess
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 02 12, 2014
This is a supernatural, moralistic tale of two friends trying to save another friend from a life of drug addiction and prostitution. The author, Angie Skelhorn does a good job of describing the seedier side of life in her physical descriptions of the strip club and low life people that frequent it. I was drawn in by this and eagerly awaited more of the same, whilst wondering how she would incorporate the mystical/Wiccan theme.Billed as a supernatural book, Severed Ties begins more like a Chick Lit novel. The characters talk about their missing friend using very girly dialogue and discussing what to wear. At first I was confused, waiting for some kind of paranormal activity to occur. When it did, I'm afraid I found it somewhat weak, bordering on cliché.The witch/spiritual aspect of the story isn't well developed. The only bit of magic they used was a pendant, a candle and a pack of cards, saying phrases like: 'Oh spirit guide find our friend." I found it all a bit tame and not dramatic or atmospheric enough for me. More magic comes into play towards the end of the book, but it isn't particularly exciting. Things like astral projection, telepathy, some mist, a bit of transparency and that is it.The main characters aren't all that well developed, Sandra and Frankie don't sound or behave all that differently to one another; they could be the same character almost.Frankie comes across as being rather judgmental and very up tight. When she has to work in a strip club in attempt to rescue Candice from a life of drugs and sexual exploitation, she reacts in a very puritanical way. This is good as it reinforces the personality of the character. I would have liked Angie Skelhorn to develop the characters more via their reaction to events that occur, so enabling a more satisfying narrative.Sandra isn't as well defined as Frankie and seems to be there as some kind of side-kick or conscience. She lies on the couch or the bed for much of the novel commenting on the clothes Frankie has to wear to go to the club. There was too much talk and not enough action. The drama of Candice's predicament is good and I would have liked less long, often moralistic conversations between Frankie, Sandra and Calvin and more physical action and interaction to keep up the narrative pace. Chapter nine is one long conversation without any action to speak of.I did not think that the novel was very well written. I believe that the author needs to do some serious editing to make this work credible, as the sentences are often clumsy. The dialogue is stilted and qualified with unnecessary adverbs, verbs, and adjectives.I was not engaged in this story because it wasn't saying anything that hasn't been dealt with before, in far more exciting and interesting ways. The narrative was full of clichés and moralistic ramblings that got in the way of the action. Many chapters were just conversations and when the inevitable finale occurred I was relieved that something actually happened. The ending was another big cliché for me and far too simplistic. I felt the author just wanted to get her take on life and death out there via a rather unimaginative plotline and cardboard cutout characters. Some readers may enjoy this kind of witch/supernatural book, but I'm afraid I did not.