This is closer to the length of a novella or a short story than a book, it took me about ninety minutes to read the entire thing, hence posting this review for Short Story Saturday. Much like the review from last Saturday, I also found this Voracious download to be a disappointment. You can find the author on Amazon if you are interested, and you can get his stories on Kindle. I, however, would not be tempted to make the purchase of any of his stories after having read this one.
After I finished this story and started doing my research for the blog, I found out that this novella is book three in a four part collection. I do not believe any of the stories have anything to do with each other, so you can start with any one and go from there if you so choose. Moving away from that, my first problem with this novella was that the story was kind of spoiled in the first few pages. It started off with the female and male characters reminiscing on where they were before they met each other, and then went to the present in which they state what happened after they began their affair. So the introduction skips over the entire bulk of the plot in which they meet each other, seduce and get seduced, and pursue a casual but intense relationship, while shoving the end of the tale right into your face. It’s like, what is the point of even reading the story if the author is giving you the end at the very beginning.
Secondly, I had a real problem with the tense in this story, it was kind of all over the place. Some parts were written in present tense, some in past tense, and it didn’t flow well. I think I am remembering this correctly from way back in my elementary and middle school days, but when you are writing a story it is very important to keep everything in the correct tense. Others may not notice it, but I absolutely did. I am not sure if this is because I read a lot or because I am just a stickler for the rules or writing, but it was glaringly obvious to me that the tenses were not what they should be. I am not saying that my writing is perfect, although I do try to keep everything I compose in the correct tense and have a nice flow, but I am saying that I expect more from a professional writer regardless of whether or not they have professional editors assisting them. There are plenty of programs out there that can help a writer with these sorts of things and they should be implemented.
So those two things really bothered me. It took away from my ability to try and enjoy the story. It was ok as far as spice goes, there were some decent scenes. I wouldn’t read it again, but I can see it as something moms with exhausting children and a disappointing husband mighty enjoy. That is probably one of the most brutal things I have ever written here but I am not going to feel sorry about it. I am actually holding back my laughter as I write this. It feels good to be a little evil sometimes.
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Nonfiction and Nonsense 