Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Mini Reviews: The Calling + Crossroads

THE CALLING
Ashley Lynn Willis
Adult Paranormal Romance (sort of)
360 pages
Self-published
Available Now
Received from author for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Mandy Hardy lost more than a breast to cancer; she lost her fiancé when he dumped her a week before her mastectomy. Her ego bruised and her self-esteem battered, Mandy’s sure she’ll never fall in love again.

Justin Seward is a headstrong Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer with a heart of gold and the supernatural ability to command the seas. He had to hide his feelings while Mandy was engaged to his best friend. Now that she’s free, he’s vowed to make her his.

Together, they may hold the key to each other’s salvation. But when Justin’s past catches up with him, and Mandy’s ex-fiancé wants vengeance, they realize they might not live long enough for happily ever after.

MY THOUGHTS
The Calling is a story difficult to adequately categorize, strong romantic elements accompanied by an interesting paranormal twist to give us something that should feel like a paranormal romance, yet something about that definition doesn’t quite seem to fit either, and we are left a bit adrift as we try to determine our overall reaction to this tale. Part of the issue lies with the world building, mainly the fact that there’s very little at all to help support and foster believability in the supernatural element. The world of The Calling is identical to our own in every conceivable way save the addition of Justin’s ability to manipulate and control water (a result of his being a descendant of Triton), and so his relationship to the sea feels a bit random in an otherwise contemporary and realistic world. If descendents of Triton exist, shouldn’t there be descendents of other gods as well? Where are all the other people who also have to heed the Calling? What are their lives like? We never learn much of the history surrounding this paranormal ability, and meet no other characters other than Justin’s father who share his gifts or similar ones, so we’re left with quite a few questions that if answered would have added a richness and tangibility to the reading experience.

Ms. Willis is a talented storyteller however, and her characters have little trouble carving out places for themselves in our hearts as we tangle ourselves in their lives and their trials. The relationship between Justin and Mandy feels genuine and is one we can easily root for knowing everything they’ve gone through on their journey to the warmth of one another's embrace, and we can’t help but have the almost irresistible urge to flip to the end just to ensure they find the happiness they both so clearly deserve. With the exception of one fairly large overreaction on Mandy’s part, both she and Justin are thoroughly enjoyable protagonists, and Ms. Willis is an author I will look forward to reading more of as her career progresses.

Rating 3.5/5


CROSSROADS (Crossroads Academy #1)
J.J. Bonds
Paranormal Young Adult
310 pages
Self-published
Available Now
Received from author for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
When Katia enrolled at Crossroads Academy she knew things weren’t exactly going to be easy. The sole heir to the worlds’ most powerful vampire, her presence was bound to cause a stir. But nothing could have prepared her for this. Whispers follow everywhere she goes. So does trouble.

But Katia will do her time at Crossroads. After all, she’s only enrolled at the prestigious school for pure blood vampires to fulfill a promise to her Great Uncle Aldo. Tucked away in the Green Mountains of Vermont, Katia hopes to shed the demons of her past and focus on her education. Raised blissfully unaware of the entire vamp world, she’s got a lot of catching up to do.

As Katia learns more about this dark society and her own legacy, protecting her past becomes increasingly difficult. Bodies start turning up in nearby Rutland and Katia is sucked into a twisted web of danger and deceit. Haunted by nightmares she can’t explain and a thirst for blood that is never sated, Katia will do whatever it takes to keep her past buried. What choice does she have? Exposure will shake the Elder’s Council to its core and likely result in a death sentence at the hands of the Linkuri.

Nothing at Crossroads is what it seems and Katia’s secrets may be the darkest of them all.

MY THOUGHTS
Nicely paced and entertaining, Crossroads yanks us into the halls of its title’s academy and thrusts us quickly forward through Katia’s tale, not necessarily blowing us away with the uniqueness of the vampire lore or the complexity of the characters themselves, but keeping us interested the entire way through nonetheless. More strongly plot-driven than character-driven, Ms. Bonds builds an interesting mystery as we go, flashes from Katia’s violent past causing our eyebrows to raise in question as to their relevance to her present, and though those eyebrows stay raised for quite some time, all the seemingly disparate elements are beautifully strung together to create a powerful and action-packed conclusion.

While the story is well executed and has us closing the back cover thoroughly satisfied with the way the all the individual pieces were crafted, the characterization leaves us longing for the same depth and care as is dedicated to the detailing of specific events. Katia is a bit sour and generally moody for majority of the book, and though she often recognizes her own negativity, she does little to improve her attitude and therefore repeatedly thwarts our attempts to reach out and connect with her. We know little of the reasons behind her despondency other than she simply doesn’t want to be at Crossroads, and that reason alone is not strong enough to have us fighting to claw our way through her melancholy to uncover the woman beneath.

Rating: 3.5/5

23 comments:

  1. A couple of interesting reads. The first book has a gorgeous cover and I like the idea of manipulating the waves. Both books sound like good solid reads with a few minor flaws. Thanke for the great mini reviews Jenny!

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  2. Good for you for taking on these self-published books! Too bad that there seemed to be a lot left unresolved and unexplored in The Calling. I tend to prefer either full blown paranormals or contemporaries - not just sort of PNR in a contemporary. As for Crossroads, sometimes I'm okay with stories that are more plot than character-driven so that might not bother me too much. Though it's too bad Katia wasn't a bit less moody.

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  3. Awww, her fiance dumped her a week before her mastectomy? That's so awful! I would've been devastated if I were her, so I'm glad that Mandy was strong in The Calling and that her relationship with Justin felt genuine -- she deserves it! :)

    And the premise of Crossroads sounds really interesting, even though Katia wasn't your favourite narrator! :) I don't think I'll ever get sick of vampires and action LOL so I'll definitely be picking Crossroads up sometime!

    Awesome mini-reviews, Jenny!! <3 I looooooove reading mini-ones because they're always short & sweet & to the point, so I think that these are perfect! :)

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  4. Wow, both of these books sound really interesting despite the minor issues you had with them. I do especially like the sound of Crossroads. The description is amazing and your review has convinced me it's worth the time, even if the characterisation isn't quite perfect. :)

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  5. Crossroads almost sounds like it might appeal to readers of mysteries (where a plot-driven story is usually more important than the characters, at least in the first book of a series).

    Great mini reviews! :)

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  6. Heidi - It definitely was a solid read. I loved that it was mostly a contemporary romance and I really enjoyed the paranormal element, I'm just not sure I loved them in the same book.

    Aylee - Exactly. I either wanted to stick with the recovering-from-cancer love story, or explore the descendent-of-triton story instead of both. Overall it was a good read, I just preferred the first half where the paranormal element wasn't as big of an issue.

    Mimi - YES! He was a complete a-hole! Loved how she handled him though:) I enjoyed the story in Crossroads and how she tied all the pieces together, I couldn't turn the last few pages fast enough. I just wanted Katia to be a little more engaging.

    Sam - They were interesting, I had fun reading both:) I had a few small issues, but both authors told great stories and they were well-written.

    Amanda - It definitely will appeal to mystery fans who don't worry about the characters quite as much. I'm sure Katia will grow and mature as the series goes on though, so I'll be keeping an eye out for book 2.

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  7. I'm wondering if "The Calling" would have been stronger without the paranormal element in there. It just seems to appear abruptly and kinda thrown in there. The book, however, does sound sweet and intense nonetheless. Glad you enjoyed it.

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  8. I don't know what it is about PNR that makes me want that hint of believability. I mean, I know since it's fantasy, its not, but I need it to seem like it could be real. So, I'd probably find myself very frustrated with The Calling. I'd crave more to know more about the history and the missing descendants. I would make sense for other descendants to exist as well.

    P.S. I love the word thwart! People don't use it enough, so thank you for using it.

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  9. I hadn't heard of either of these! I guess Crossroads sounds a little bit more up my alley, since it's YA; I love boarding school books! Thanks for the reviews, Jenny! :)

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  10. Rummanah - I personally think it would have. I loved the build up of their relationship in the first half of the book and Mandy's insecurities with her body as a result of the mastectomy - I thought it was really well done. I liked the paranormal element as well, I just wish we had gotten a separate story that dealt with it:)

    Missie - Me too. Logically I know vamps and weres and things don't exist, but I like it when the world is explained well enough that I can believe in it. I think she has a cool concept with The Calling and the Triton aspect, I just wanted to know more about it.

    Lauren - I love boarding school books too! Can't get enough of them:)

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  11. I know that people love them and i used to, but these days, well there are too many private school books around

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  12. I've added these two to my wishlist !! Thanks for the fabulous reviews Jenny :) !!

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  13. I agree with Missie...paranormal elements need to seem real, that is what a good storyteller can do and there are tons of examples. I think The Calling had a good plot line to begin with, a breast cancer survivor finding love again. I guess I would have to read it to see how the PN element works. Crossroads sounds good too, but I think I would be frustrated with her character as well.

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  14. Great mini reviews! I thought the first one sounded promising though I didn't understand why the ex would want vengeance. For what? Leaving her? Sounds like it should be the other way around. Guess I'll need to read it.

    I'm really over vampires and boarding schools right now. Good for you for making it through it!

    Heather

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  15. I love mini-reviews...:) The second one Crossroads sounds actually pretty good. Im always up for a little mystery of self discovery...:D

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  16. The fiance in The Calling sounds like an ass leaving her just before the surgery. I'm wondering if he might have some supernatural powers of his own since he comes back for vengeance.

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  17. Linda - There are definitely a lot of them, but for some reason they don't get old for me if there's a good story in there or good characters:)

    Elodie - Oh good! Glad you enjoyed the reviews:)

    Pam - I agree, I loved the first half which focused pretty much solely on their relationship and her feelings toward her body post-surgery. I would have gladly read another 150 pages just like it.

    Heather - The ex is quite possibly the sorriest excuse for a human being ever. He has a reason for his vengeance, but it just makes him more of an a-hole.

    Tina - Me too, they're kind of fun:) They've become a necessity for me since I've been receiving more books for review. I need them in order to keep up!

    Jeny - He is an ass. A huge one. I wanted to punch him in the face:):) I love to hate characters though, so it was an enjoyable read for me!

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  18. Oh I think the Calling would be more for me. Water. Makes sense... it can be very sensual. I would also be one who would want more background. Sometimes it really makes the story. Looks like she has a great start at a career!

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  19. Ooh, two reviews in one! The Calling's premise is intriguing but it sounds like the worldbuilding really disappoints. I have a hard time when I'm left with too many questions (I don't expect everything to be answered but a logical explanation really helps.).

    Sadly, I think I'm pretty much vamped out so Crossroads didn't catch my interest. There are a still couple of series I read but very few new vamp-y books have that spark, especially if the MC's a negative Nelly, who's unwilling to change that attitude. Ah, well.

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  20. I think the fact that there's not more world building on the supernatural aspect of the first book would bother me just a bit as well. I suppose it could be overlooked if it's a series and we get more in future books though. It does sound like an interesting read and someday I may be up to giving it a try.
    The second book sounds good and I'm glad you mostly enjoyed it. I think maybe Katia would get to me a bit, I have a hard time with characters like that. Sometimes it works with the story though.

    Thanks for the awesome reviews of these books. It's hard because there are so many self published books out there but how do we know which ones are the good ones? We all want to try to read some but it gets overwhelming and hard to pick when so many are offered up. So kudos to you for giving these two a try!

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  21. I love the cover of the book The Calling! I never heard of it. I should be reading Crossroads soon! Thanks for these reviews. I can always count on your opinions :)

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  22. Crossroads sounds like a fun book. I always prefer a book that is more character based or equally plot/character, but a good plot book is fun for a quick ride.

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  23. Looks like two quite decent reads! While I haven't heard of the first one before, I've been really curious about Crossroads and am glad you enjoyed it. I'm still not sure if I'll be picking it up myself (I'm not a fan of all too moody or negative characters ;o), but who knows! Maybe I'll come across them sometime in the future. Great reviews!

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