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Once Upon A Time: A sampler of the Diaries of the Cwn Annwn by Jo Pilsworth
Welcome to the worlds of the Negrescu Cŵn Annwn and the Anghelescu Hellhounds. Do you enjoy legends? Do you enjoy love stories? Do you enjoy heroes and heroines who know how to love, but will kick ass if they have to protect what is important?Then, walk in our world, and enjoy our storiesThe Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn is a series based on the Welsh legends of the Cŵn Annwn and the Ddraig Goch, blended with current affairs and a bit of history thrown in for good measure. Written by a group of friends around the world, we hope you will enjoy this introductory volume as our gift to you.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 9, 2017
Unfortunately, I had a really hard time reading this book. Let me start by saying that the plot is fantastic! I love the idea of the mates being a balance of light and dark. I love that they harvest souls. I even really enjoyed the characters, especially Owain and Gavril. And that's probably why I really struggled to finish reading this book.
The book is set up in alternating first-person pov's. I can't even really say that they are alternating because there were many times when there was a new section created, but the same character from the previous section was still telling his/her story. I have read many books that have alternating pov's and have really enjoyed them, but this book lacks flow. There was way too much repetition. If character A explained a scene from his/her pov, then character B picked up on that same scene to tell it from his/her pov. It was very frustrating at times. The author would start a conversation with one character, cut the scene, and switch to the other character so that he/she could respond and share his/her thoughts. I honestly believe that the whole book would have flowed more smoothly had the book been written in third-person omniscient pov. This would have allowed the reader to know what each character was thinking/feeling while still allowing the story to progress smoothly.
Another issue that I had was that there seemed to be major gaps in the story. I understand that this was just a tease into a series, but there was no separation of the different sections (at least, I couldn't figure them out). There was some time jumps that left me going back and rereading to try to figure out if I missed something.
I also didn't find Merida's reaction to her fate believable. There is a lack of information provided both to the characters and the reader. She should have been more distraught, and she wasn't. It completely fell flat. There was so much more that could have been done with her transition, but it felt as if it was written in a hurry. There were parts in the book that were very descriptive and allowed the reader to completely immerse into the scene, and then there were other parts that skimmed over the scene, leaving me confused and disappointed.
There are also many grammatical errors. There is punctuation missing in many parts as well. It needs a thorough editing. Maybe it's already been done, and I just happen to get an early copy of it. I don't know.
So, the story line has SO much potential, but there were just too many issues that prevented me from really enjoying it. :-/
The book is set up in alternating first-person pov's. I can't even really say that they are alternating because there were many times when there was a new section created, but the same character from the previous section was still telling his/her story. I have read many books that have alternating pov's and have really enjoyed them, but this book lacks flow. There was way too much repetition. If character A explained a scene from his/her pov, then character B picked up on that same scene to tell it from his/her pov. It was very frustrating at times. The author would start a conversation with one character, cut the scene, and switch to the other character so that he/she could respond and share his/her thoughts. I honestly believe that the whole book would have flowed more smoothly had the book been written in third-person omniscient pov. This would have allowed the reader to know what each character was thinking/feeling while still allowing the story to progress smoothly.
Another issue that I had was that there seemed to be major gaps in the story. I understand that this was just a tease into a series, but there was no separation of the different sections (at least, I couldn't figure them out). There was some time jumps that left me going back and rereading to try to figure out if I missed something.
I also didn't find Merida's reaction to her fate believable. There is a lack of information provided both to the characters and the reader. She should have been more distraught, and she wasn't. It completely fell flat. There was so much more that could have been done with her transition, but it felt as if it was written in a hurry. There were parts in the book that were very descriptive and allowed the reader to completely immerse into the scene, and then there were other parts that skimmed over the scene, leaving me confused and disappointed.
There are also many grammatical errors. There is punctuation missing in many parts as well. It needs a thorough editing. Maybe it's already been done, and I just happen to get an early copy of it. I don't know.
So, the story line has SO much potential, but there were just too many issues that prevented me from really enjoying it. :-/
Displaying 1 of 1 review