Review: Zero Gravity
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 10, 2013
I promise to be brutally honest with my opinion, but it should not be taken as fact. Any reader should read it for themselves, before they decide if this book has any merit or not. Do not judge this book biased solely on my opinion. If you do, you might miss out on a great read. You never know. It could happen. My review may contain spoilers, but I really strive to be spoiler-free.1. Strong Main Character/ Female Heroine: Ariel was a dedicated best friend that did not understand what was going on with her best friend. She did not understand why she was being pushed away. She is very loyal and a caring person. She is a bit of a recluse; however, and has a hard time making friends. She is sort of antisocial, but she is not afraid to defend the ones that she loves. She loves a good mystery and when weird things start happening to her, she looks for answers. She is a self-empowered girl detective that will stop at nothing, until she finds the answers to all of her questions. She is really relatable and down-to-earth. She has a sense of humor and a bit of a morbid obsession with horror films, stories, and the works. She is a perfect specimen for paranormal manipulation. 5 out of 5 stars2. Strong Main Character / Male Hero: This book is not split into two perspectives, but I believe that there really is a hero to this story that the readers find in Henry Rhodes. He is a mysterious guy with a mysterious origin. I cannot help, but think that his family is into some really dark stuff. Maybe, they are witches, demons, or fallen angels. Whatever they are, Henry really intrigues me as the reader and fascinates me as a fellow writer. I enjoy how the romance with Henry is hot then cold, yes, then no like the Katy Perry song. It makes the relationship a lot more interesting and dynamic. I hope in the second book that the reader learns more about Henry and his family and how they fit into this realistic paranormal world. 5 out of 5 stars3. Strong Main Character / Evil Antagonist: I do not want to say who the evil antagonist is but let me tell you that you will never see this one coming. It is that unexpected. I loved the aspects of this character. The person is so nice and caring, but there are little hints throughout the entire novel that leads to the reveal. As a fellow reader, I brushed it aside as much as the character did and forgot about it. After the big reveal, as a writer, I remembered all the little breadcrumbs of hints that lead up to it and smacked my own forehead. The reader will, too once they realize it. The character is so unassuming that I do not want to ruin it with saying more. 5 out of 5 stars4. Strong Minor Characters: Theo is the greatest best friend that Ariel could have, although she knows that Theo is keeping something secret from her and I desperately want to know what it is. She is such a compelling, artistic, quirky character that it grounds the novel and adds a nice dose of reality to the sometimes unbelievable story. She is nerdy, but a very fierce friend. She is at Ariel's side most of the time being Robin to Ariel's Batman. I just wish that the author would let Theo out of Ariel's shadow and make her really shine. Hopefully, this will occur in the next book. Then, my perfect image of Theo would be complete. There are other background characters, but nobody that is as major minor as Theo. I do not want to say anything else that could lead to the identity of the evil antagonist; the snobby, bitchy popular girls do not count as well as the boys that hang out with them. 4 out of 5 stars5. The Plot: An excellent storyline with beautifully crafted characters. When I truly love a book, I tend to write so much about it and this book is no exception to the rule. It is an unassuming plot that the reader believes that it will be all about finding out what happened to the missing friend, but the reader gets so much more than that. They get this whole different plot that they never saw coming weaved into the original plot and it is done so smoothly, naturally, and flawlessly that the reader thinks nothing of it. This is pure magic and I hope the rest of the series are as riveting as the first book. I hope the sequel can keep up the expectations that readers who have read this book now have. I know my opinions are high up there. The only drawback I have for the plot is that I wish the reader would know a little bit more about what happened to Ariel's friend, not a lot more but a little. It would make for a more epic ending. 4 out of 5 stars6. The Setting: There is one word that I could use to describe the setting of Hell: haunting. I can also list a whole bunch more, but that is the key adjective. Everything is beautiful in a hauntingly crude and ugly way. Yes, there is a way where ugly can be beautiful like the girls in horror movies. There is so much description that I believe like I am actually in the town of Hell, such a suiting name for this town once you add the paranormal aspect to it. I have a funny feeling that it will have an angels and demons theme, but if it does not, then this author really does know how to keep an audience entranced. The only thing that could improve the setting is maybe a cemetery visit. It would have added a little something to it, I think. 4 out of 5 stars7. The Dialogue: Classic teenager language. I loved every second of it. The dialogue had the perfect amount of excitement, humor, sarcasm, and boredom. The four main ingredients that most teenagers are made out of. The perfect blend of normal into the paranormal. It made the whole novel more realistic or plausible that something like this could happen, if the reader can relate to this book personally or point out a few characteristics of their friends in the characters. The characters are not generic, but they are relatable. 5 out of 5 stars8. Engaging Surprises: There seemed to be a surprise in every chapter whether big or small. I love it when a new bend comes in the story and something jumps out that you never expected. This book is filled with those high thrilling moments. The surprises were very enjoyable and urged me to keep reading to see what else was going to happen. It spurred me to the read the book more than I usually would. I read this book in one day, because it was so good. I sacrificed a Revenge marathon to read this book. Yes, it was that good. 5 out of 5 stars9. Climax: Let's just say that I was biting my knuckles in an anticipation as the climax rises and tittered on the edge. I was so engrossed in the book, talking out loud to myself to NOT GET OUT OF YOUR HIDING SPACE! Oh, it was very intense and I gasped on a big breath of air when the boogie monster jumped out. This was a very thrilling read and the climax was the best part of the book in my opinion. It was even better than the ending of the book and that really creeped me out, the ending that is. 5 out of 5 stars10. Emotional Response: I was with the main character Ariel all the way. I was laughing when she was and crying when she was. When she was scared (and she is hardly ever scared at all), I was definitely frightened. I read this book into the night and let me just tell you that I had to sleep with a lamp on in my room. If you read Goosebumps at night, this would be a book for you. Maybe, a little less scary all of the time, but still just as good. I enjoy being scared, but not horror scared. I love thrillers and that is exactly what this series is. 4 out of 5 stars11. Ending: The ending is really unexpected and as a reader, you almost forget the core point of the book, but the ending shocks you back into reality, while making chills creep down your spine at the same time. It was indeed bone chillingly good. I would have liked a little more closure at the end, but this is a great lead in to the second installment. 4 out of 5 stars12. The Writing: Hauntingly beautiful prose that will keep you guessing until the very end. That is how I felt about the writing in this novel. It was so well edited and cared for. You could tell that the author cared enough to put the proper amount of time into editing the entire book and this is reflected in all the positive reviews and ratings that this book is getting from readers everywhere. This is an author to keep an eye on and not a lazy eye on but a good one preferably with 20/20 vision. 5 out of 5 stars13. The Artwork: The cover is pretty, but I would have liked to see something a bit darker and edgier, since that is the feeling and impression I get from the story. The girl in the white dress is a little too delicate for a book like this. 3 out of 5 stars14. Genre: Labeling this book as paranormal is the right choice, but I would also add the tag of thriller onto it, too. It really has that aspect to it. It is a dark paranormal and people should know that before they buy it and you do not really get that feeling from the cover. It is a new type of genre that I have not really seen before, because not many paranormal novels are also thrillers. They are usually romance, so this is interesting to me. 4 out of 5 starsThe overall rating I give this book is a 4  stars. This is as close to perfect as most books get from me. Occasionally, I do give out fives to the best series known to man, but this one might very well earn a five in the next book, if minor improvements are made. To be honest, there are not a lot of improvements to do to make the next book a perfect 5.