Cogito_ergo_sum's Reviews > Starshine

DNF

I gave up after 30 pages.

So it turns out that this is my second time around attempting to read this book, which--when considering that I actually really felt like reading a sci-fi novel and it wasn't going for me--is a really bad sign.

I'm so frustrated with this book that I won't give it a full review. Here are my thoughts, in order:

The prologue had this immature feel that you'd expect from cartoonish horror flicks, the ones where you'd hear this evil laughter in the background: Muahahahahaha.

Yeah... the author started to lose me right there.

And then we've got chapter one. The book should have been really strong right here.

Now, this is THE place to establish a strong character, get the reader hooked on an interesting lead so that we'd care about the plot.
Unfortunately, instead the author went in really strong with techno babble and gadgets.
It screamed: "Look at me, I'm a Sci-Fi novel!"

This... No. Just no.

As for the aforementioned lead herself, she was a flat character, with the maturity of a budding teen. I had to sit through her passive aggressive comments to her mother and disrespectful behaviour.

Chapter 2 had me wanting to bash my head in with the constant switching back and forth from present to past.

Maybe the plot is really epic; I wouldn't know. I just don't have enough patience to sit through a clumsy narrative to find out. This book needs a good editor to sort through what is actually important.
Here's my clue to the author:

Scale of importance:
character>>plot>>your story's technology/gimmicks/magic spells.

This author seems to have that backwards.

I don't care what genre your story is. The scale of importance will always hold true. That is what builds a strong story. The story's gimmicks and whatnot come way after, not before. J.K. Rowling showed us all those spells after we fell in love with the wizard trio and a strong premise, not before--that's why readers care enough to memorize fictional wand spells.