Wasted Potential
This was the first time I’ve read anything by this author. I became interested by the blurb’s description of Seth Narjo. I honestly didn’t even read the entire description or else I may not have read the novel. My issues were the plot, continuity, research & grammar, as well as editing.
*SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT*
I don’t know if it is common for this author to randomly throw in a plot “twist”, and if it is, it certainly didn’t work this time. Out of the blue, some strange text messages are delivered to Jasmine’s cell phone. She is a professional athlete, (like her four brothers and the Hero, but somehow, their teammates don’t recognize her and one tries to assault her in front of the team, the news of which doesn’t reach the top brass of the team), but she doesn’t tell anyone about the threats. There needed to be just a bit of a backstory about the people threatening her so that it would make sense instead of being so random. It would have been more intriguing if the twist had been introduced in the blurb.
Continuity is a big deal to me. Even including flashbacks. It’s impossible to determine how much time has passed at some points in the story. The length of time that Seth & Jasmine are together the first time doesn’t seem to jive with everything around them. The football offseason, her recovery as well as her tennis schedule, and the basketball season seem to run into one another. I realized a few chapters in that the author must not speak American English. Call me a stickler for detail, but I expect an author to do basic research when writing about a topic or place that isn’t native to their birthplace. That goes for grammar and wording as well. Using sorted to describe a person is not something someone who speaks American English would do. There were several instances of that type of mistake. Yes, it’s minor, but repeated instances is not good editing. There were missing words in a few sentences and missing punctuation.
I gave this book three stars because it had a lot of potential. The plot, BOTH OF THEM, were pretty unique. I may read something else by Ms. Mortimer. I hope I’m not left wanting.