[sic]
By
Scott Kelly
One rule: If another player taps you on the shoulder, you have to
completely change your life within the next fifteen minutes. In front of
everyone. Your car, your virginity, your grades, your identity – nothing is
safe. When five high school students from the wrong part of town devote their
lives to playing the game David invented, they walk a line between insanity and
enlightenment.
Excerpt
My personal savior is named David Bloom, and presently he’s
falling about ten stories from the top of a water tower. And my stupid stunned
mind; all I can think is that he looks great doing it. Arms spread, fingertips
extended, face serene—homicide by stage dive. His body returns to the earth
below, the ten-story drop reducing him to a streak of white and blue cloth,
brown hair blown back from closed eyes. Maybe he’s smiling. Maybe I just like
to think so.
My Review
I was really looking forward to reading this book. I loved the premise and found parts interesting. BUT, the writing just didn't flow for me. It flipped back and forth from the past to the present so quickly. The characters and the story just didn't grip me like I was expecting it would. After reading all the rave reviews on both Amazon and GoodReads, I was reading for an exceptional read. Maybe I set my expectations too high. A lot of others seemed to love it, it just wasn't for me.
Not My Kinda Book
AUTHOR INFORMATION:
When Scott was eleven, he was so upset by the ending of the
classic story Robin Hood that he wrote his own and stuck it into the
book. When he was fourteen he finished his first novel. By the time he was
nineteen, he’d written four–the latest, JIMWAMBA, was published by an independent
press in the United Kingdom. Dissatisfied with the experience, he took to
stealing paper from his University and selling staple-bound copies of his
manuscript at local festivals and gatherings, earning him a cult following that
only grew as his eBook FRIGHTENED BOY reached its thirty-thousandth reader. He
is a presence in the burgeoning social writing scene as a contest judge for the
website BookRix, winner of WeBook’s “Page to Fame” contest, and
chart-topper/featured author on the website WattPad. Over fifty-thousand people
have read one of Scott’s novels online.
Scott’s constant need to improve his writing took him through a
college education in Literature. He became determined to bring what he loved
about classic literature to the modern reader, in a manner they’d appreciate as
something new, but with its dues paid.
Scott Kelly is the ‘fresh new voice.’ He writes daring literature
that asks difficult questions about the nature of humanity, but layers it in so
many delicious coatings of action, thrills, and intrigue that readers often
forget they are reading novels that address delicate questions about identity,
perception and death. He delights in taking complex philosophical and
metaphysical themes, but breaking them down using entertaining, familiar story
setups – that he then mangles in attractive ways.
Now twenty-eight, he performs intellectual property duty for a lab
where experimental drugs and chemicals are concocted. But while the chemists
are busy filling beakers, Scott is trying to save compelling, thought-provoking
literature for a new wave of readers.
LINKS:
Website: www.ScottKellyWritesBooks.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ScottKellyWrites
Thank you for hosting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review - I took a lot of risks with style and composition when I wrote this, so I understand that it is a hit-or-miss book for a lot of people. I appreciate the time you took to read it.
ReplyDeleteThe review was not great, but i think this story sounds reallyinteresting. Maybe just not for everyone.
ReplyDeleteScott's writing was exceptional in my opinion. I found that the time transitions were smooth. Each chapter started with the present (therapist and Jacob interviews), then Jacob went on with his flashbacks because they were logically required. Thanks for sharing your honest opinion.
ReplyDeletechrysrawr@yahoo.com
I appriciate the honest review, perhaps you have to be in the right mood for this novel. I think its uniqueness is an asset though
ReplyDeletefencingromein at hotmail dot com
Thanks for the honest review...I'd be willing to try something that aims high and potentially misses, since books seem so cut-and-dried on the whole lately!
ReplyDeletevitajex(at)aol(dot)com
I always appreciate an honest review. I'm interested to see the style of writing too now.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletekybunnies -at- gmail -dot- com