Children

by Dally Johanis

It’s a beautiful morning in Arizona, a long ways away from the family back in New York and what they used to do. Riding along Highway 40 in the middle of the desert in the Tri-State area and its slow moving blue river glistening off a young boy’s eyes, Christian Cosentino and his mob living father take a ride off a trail and discover something they’ve never seen, a young and innocent girl that’s been tied up and beaten. When they try to take her in with his fathers past, the two are harassed, and the girl is released back to her broken and unrelenting parents. As Christian discovers she lives on the other side of the river, the bridge isn’t the only thing that connects their two families together. He may be in love, but she may have some secrets to tell.

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 9, 2015

Reviews

[serenity · Rating 2 out of 5]

The original synopsis I read for this book instantly caught my attention. Children is about the aftermath of a mob boss and his son randomly finding a poor little girl tied up and beaten.
It had so much potential, but it fell short for me. The book itself needed some editing for grammar, punctuation, etc. Besides the grammatical aspects I felt that in some (a lot) places the book was jumbled. There was SO much going on with all the characters and their lives (child abuses in multiple forms, mob life, rape, murder, etc) which isn’t a bad thing it just needed to be executed better. The transitions from one scene to the next weren’t always the smoothest and sometimes confusing. The book also seemed to drag on and on. I feel like the author wanted to write a deep, powerful novel— in the end it seemed so superficial. I liked the concept and I think I get what the author was going for. It just needs some serious editing to make it work better as a whole.

Also, the scene in the hotel. WHY?

*Won through Goodreads*

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this had a the potential to be a much better book with a little editing. There were many evenings where I just wanted to give up and move on but I really like to finish every book I start so I trudged on. There were many errors which i just hate. Not only misspelled but the wrong word in many occasions. I also found myself re-reading pages as I was having a hard time following along and understanding what was happening. I Read the last couple pages 3 times and I'm still not sure I understand who's who, who came from who, who's having who??

[Gwen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children was a bit scattered. The story started out good, but faltered the further I read. The ending was separated from the rest of the book by several years and not well explained, leaving the reader to surmise what had happened. It was an ok read, but I would have preferred a more flowing story.

I received this book free from Goodreads First Reads.

[Elaine Plourde · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author did an amazing job with this book.The way he put the reader right into the minds of these three kids intrigued me. Once I got started it was hard to put the book down. I've already recommended it to at least eight people. These kids really tore your heart out even as young adults.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the story intriguing but all of the errors throughout the book were frustrating!

[Susan Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of a boy and girl and their two fathers. I found it a slow read.