I received an unedited advance review copy of this book from the author, in return for an honest review.
Kelley Harvey is a new author to me, but she was recommended by another member of my online book group. I like discovering new authors to follow and don’t mind doing reviews, so when an ARC was offered, I accepted.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with the ARC being an unedited version. I do some proofreading for indie authors on occasion and have seen some pretty rough drafts, but I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of “finish” on So. Bad. As it stands, unedited, it is better-written than many books I’ve read that were put out by brick-and-mortar publishing houses, after supposedly being proofread and edited by professionals. I’m not saying the copy of So. Bad. I read doesn’t need a touch of polishing, but it was well-done enough that it didn’t ruffle my “Grammar Nazi” feathers, lol. I have every confidence Ms. Harvey will fine-tune her work before it hits the virtual shelves.
This story is about a young adult girl, Mo, whose father abandoned her as a toddler and whose mother passed away, leaving her a homeless orphan. Mo is made the ward of the parents of her best friends, twins Rachel and Danny. Their father is a big-time televangelist while their mother spends her days in and out of rehab clinics. Mo goes to school, studies, and volunteers at a women’s shelter. Rachel gets sent off on missions to make her preacher dad look good, and Danny does his best to make Daddy look bad. Life is not as perfect as the righteous would have his followers believe, and it doesn’t take long before Mo is caught up in the web of sin.
It took me a chapter or two to get into the book, but I do tend to have that problem when reading present-tense stories for some reason. That’s on me, not the author. Once I got used to the present-tense, I honestly read through to the end. I like the way the author handled situations that are, unfortunately, more common than we’d all like to admit, and I felt issues were dealt with in a fairly realistic manner.
Will I recommend this book to fellow readers? Yes.
Will I read other books by this author? Again, yes.