Oh my god, this book. I normally mean that in a good way. This time ... not so much.
Here's the thing: I am going to self-publish my novel and thereby enter the ranks of Indie authors (assuming I ever actually finish said novel but that's another matter entirely). With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to start stalking I mean following Indie authors online. So I downloaded a self-published book that one of my stalkees recommended.
Let me start with what I liked. The story was awesome! It was described as a YA sci-fi thriller, similar to "Ender's Game" but with a romantic element. That's pretty accurate so, in that sense, I was very happy to get exactly what I thought I was going to get. The characters were interesting and the relationships between them well-developed. There were a lot of action scenes and those were really intense and well-written. I loved those scenes! There were also moments that were genuinely heart-wrenching and for that, I applaud the author.
The problem with the book is the problem that so many people have complained of self-published books in general: they are not professional. First of all, the formatting was terrible. I read this on my kindle (which I love, btw) and the indentations at the beginning of paragraphs were sporadic at best and there were sections (most of the book, actually) in which the type was a faded gray rather than black. Other sections had black type. Note to self: do not use Smashwords!
Second of all, I doubt this book even had beta-readers look over it before it was published, much less a professional editor. The book was full of typos. I do mean full. The writing style was extremely amateurish. I felt like I was reading something written by a high-schoole (who knows? maybe I was). She seemed to deliberately avoid using "he said/she said" dialogue tags. I don't think she used it once. She always insisted on using the dreaded adverbs (argued back, asked, commanded, etc.) If she was deliberately avoiding the "he said/she said" dogma just for the sake of being rebellious, I can actually get behind that. I fought it myself for a long time, but I have slowly been coming over to the dark side recently. I think it's actually a testament to how good the author's dialogue is that I really wanted her to use "he said/she said". Every time she explained it to me I was all, "I know. It's obvious. Can we move on already?" Her dialogue spoke for itself (no pun intended) which is not always as easy as it looks.
And then there was the crying. Oh, good Lord, the crying! The main character is a seventeen-year-old boy and I am somehow supposed to believe that he is openly crying in front of his friends and brothers and not getting made fun of? Nope. Sorry. I do not believe that. Not for one second. A few tears when you think your brother is dead/dying is one thing. But sobbing (she used that word) in front of your friends just because you didn't get your way is another matter entirely. Even the girl cries too much. Overall, there was just way too much crying in this book. I know they're teenagers with raging hormones but seriously, get ahold of yourself.
Despite the above-mentioned drawbacks, I finished reading the book. Granted, it only took me three days but still, that's three days I could have spent reading a professionally edited book. It shows just how much I liked the story that I was willing to put up with all the bad writing to see how it ended. And yes, I was satisfied with the ending and, ultimately, glad that I read the book. If the author could just clean up her writing, I think she could produce some really stellar work. Best-seller quality. No joke.
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