This Gorgeous Game by Donna Freitas Review

Book: This Gorgeous Game

Author: Donna Freitas

Age: Young Adult (YA)

Release date: May 25th, 2010

Pages: 224

Source: Publisher in exchange for review

Summary: 

Olivia Peters is over the moon when her literary idol, the celebrated novelist and muchadored local priest Mark D. Brendan, offers to become her personal writing mentor. But when Father Mark’s enthusiasm for Olivia’s prose develops into something more, Olivia’s emotions quickly shift from wonder to confusion to despair. Exactly what game is Father Mark playing, and how on earth can she get out of it?

Review: This Gorgeous Game is simple, and slightly haunting. 

When Olivia wins a writing competition, she's honored and excited to be taken under the wing of Father Mark Brendan. The talented writer helps hone her writing skills, and she begins to feel like she's the luckiest person in the world until Father Mark's attentions turn into obsession. He calls too much, writes too much, sends too many packages. Yet the one he wants her to read most of all, a story he's written, Olivia can't bear to read the words because she fears what they will say...

Olivia seemed a bit bland at first, but then I grew to enjoy her narrative more. Father Mark's was especially intriguing, and the pacing with his character and the creepiness was perfect. I really couldn't help but to sympathize with Olivia, considering that she's grown up trusting these priests, letting them act as her own "father" figures, and so it did take her some time before she realized Father Mark's ulterior motive. 

With a slight eerie feel, This Gorgeous Game sends a shiver down your spine as the pages turn.

Highlights: The pacing was quick, and the creepy feel of the story grows gradually.  I think the author got the eerie feel just right. Olivia's actions at the end were slow coming, but I was pleased with the result. 

Lowlights: The plot could have been developed more, and some of the characters seemed underdeveloped as well. A few characters seemed entirely unbelievable. I also really disliked the complete and utter clueless attitudes that all the characters had, and I'm still shocked that no one could have realized this earlier on. 

Rating:    

  

In My Mailbox 27

IMM is hosted by The Story Siren

For Review:

The Espressologist by Kristina Springer (not pictured, as a part of Other Shelf Tours)

This is Me from Now On by Barbara Dee (Thank you Barbara!)

Deception by Lee Nichols (Thank you Kate!)

Bought:

Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead (Ahhh! It's awesome so far!!)

Received From Tera (thanks!):

Splash Team kit (bookmarks, button, and tattoos) for Tera Lynn Childs upcoming Forgive My Fins novel




And that's it! Hope everyone has been having a wonderful weekend! :)


Lea

The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott

Book: The Unwritten Rule

Author: Elizabeth Scott

Age: Young Adult (YA)

Release date: March 16th, 2010

Pages: 244

Source: Borrowed

Summary: 

Everyone knows the unwritten rule: You don't like your best friend's boyfriend.

Sarah has had a crush on Ryan for years. He's easy to talk to, supersmart, and totally gets her. Lately it even seems like he's paying extra attention to her. Everything would be perfect except for two things: Ryan is Brianna's boyfriend, and Bianna is Sarah's best friend.

Sarah forces herself to avoid Ryan and tries to convince herself not to like him. She feels so guilty for wanting him, and the last thing she wants is to hurt her best friend. But when she's thrown together with Ryan one night, something happens. It's wonderful...and awful.

Sarah is torn apart by guilt, but what she feels is nothing short of addiction, and she can't stop herself from wanting more...

Review: This book was my first attempt at reading an Elizabeth Scott novel, and it was almost my last.

The characters in this story are kind of blah, boring. The writing is great, it's easy to see that her writing is wonderful and engaging, but I couldn't connect with or even like the characters. Ryan? I didn't like the guy. I thought he was too weak to do the right thing, and a complete moron to top it off. Sarah is quiet, loyal and soft spoken...which is why I'm surprised I was having a hard time connecting with her. Briana is a lot like a girl I knew in high school, so I cannot deny that she was definitely a realistic character. It seemed like Scott attempted to make us sympathize with her by giving us reasons for why she is the way she is, but I could hardly care less. 

The story, however, was slow. Sarah spends the whole novel going "Oh, I feel so bad" or "I really like Ryan" or "I wonder when Ryan is going to tell Brianna that they're over and he likes me instead" (I'm paraphrasing, since I'm too lazy to double check). It took too long. The only thing that kept me reading was the insistance that Scott was a fabulous writer, but the plot/characters dragged the story down.

Highlights: While I wasn't fond of the characters, some of them are realistic. I could easily go to any place in my city and find a Brianna. Plus, Scott's writing is wonderful. Even when I didn't want to continue, I couldn't stop. Her writing is just my style, and it's weird that I even liked it when I disliked the novel. 

Lowlights: Plot. Slowness. Annoying characters who can't seem to be honest or discuss anything. Boring. In the end, I felt like I wasted my time with reading The Unwritten Rule. My biggest complaint is just that the idea wasn't strong enough to carry the entire story, and the characters were completely frustrating. 

Rating:   

Lea