Echo's Chance

by M.A. Drake

133 pages

First published November 28, 2011

About the author

Our goal is to bring hope, joy and laughter to children fighting cancer and other terminal illnesses. We write picture books for children and their siblings depicting them as the heroes and heroines they really are. Whether they are braving the pouring rain, or being part of a heroic Search and Rescue team, or learning sign language to befriend a lonely girl, our stories carry messages of strength, love, compassion and courage. To personalize the messages, the main characters’ names are those of the children who are living with and fighting their diseases. Included in the short stories are these brave youngsters’ favorite foods, their dreams and their aspirations. We want to give the children an opportunity to live through the stories we create for them.

Hope is precious. Let’s share it.

Reviews

[Zach Fortier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must admit that the YA genre is not my thing. However I elected to take a look at Echos chance and I am glad I did!. If your sick of the same old Vampire, Zombie, glittery warmed over attempts to try to capitalize on the latest fad in writing and want to read an ORIGINAL idea...Echos chance is for you. The ideas are fresh, the writing is unique. I especially liked the character development. Without giving too much away Echo is an abused young woman who behaves like an abused you woman would. She is conflicted, a bit damaged and makes some decisions you can see will be a disaster! Her guardian is conflicted as well.... no spoilers here but you will love the characters, and the way the author allows them to develop. This series will be a pleasure to read as it develops. I highly recommend it!

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sometimes I wish Goodreads would allow for half stars. This book is more of a 2.5 rating. While there some very good things going for this book, there were some issues I had that prevented me from really enjoying the story.
First off, the story was a little confusing and jumped around a lot. This book covers a span of many years, which are noted at the beginning of each new year, and it's a bit of a confusing timeline. Some things seem to happen really quickly and other parts seem to take forever. For example, the part where the "bad guy" comes in and is then defeated seems to happen in the blink of an eye while everything before took years and years. I wish there had been more explanation of, well of many things frankly. I wanted to learn about how and why people became angels - what the history is behind the phenomenon. I wanted to learn more about this mysterious organization and leadership of the angels and the government agency. Also, why did the Rogue go rogue? I was also frustrated with Echo and Leo. I understand how she might be a bit confused and unsure of her feelings for Leo since he saved her life and her feelings could be a result of that, but then she decides at one point that she really does love Leo and even when he breaks up with Kate, she still stays in a relationship with Derrick even though she realizes that she's not happy! It doesn't make sense! I guess my main complaint is that a lot of parts just don't make sense. The characters' actions and behavior, the plot jumps, and the lack explanations confuse me.
On a positive note, there were things that I liked about this book. I thought that this take on angels was very interesting. I liked how the main characters didn't just fall in love straight away and that they had some problems to work out in their relationship (which is much more realistic than falling head over heels in love in two days like characters in many other books do). There were times when I wanted to slap Echo, but other times I admired her ability to be strong, but also to know when she needed help. Unfortunately, this strength wasn't consistent throughout the book.
Overall, this book has a ton of promise, but it seems more like a rough copy than a final version to me.

[Shannon Gambino · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Echo's Chance' is a diamond in the rough. Up and coming Indie author, M.A. Drake, has created and developed incredible characters in the first novella of his series, The Skylar Chronicles. The writing may be a bit rough around the edges, but the story unfolds beautifully like the Irish countryside where it's based. Mr. Drake takes the reader on the roller coaster ride of young adult emotions: sexual tension, hurt, frustration, devotion, and love. 'Echo's Chance' deserves a chance even though it needs some editing. It even made me wish I had my own Leo.

[Ronit · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an odd book, unique concept, interesting characters but there were a few things that bothered me about the characters and dialogue. Main male character was waaayyyy to volatile. Second love interest a bad boy who although reformed somehow didnt ring true... and there were some off color jokes I thought in bad taste dealing with rape, abuse and death...maybe i am over sensitive but didnt seem appropriate somehow.

[Margit]

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