January 29, 2013

On My Shelf: “Forever…” By Jude Devaurux




I really loved reading the book “Forever…” by Jude Devaurux. The two main characters are great together, I enjoyed the light romance, and the bonus was the humor that was nearly on every page. This book was so good that I read it in just two days. The only downside was the ending.
TIP: The end of a book is as crucial as the beginning of a book. You use a hook to capture the reader’s attention and to keep them reading. For the end of a book, you want to do the same thing. You never want the story to fall flat, because it will leave a very bad impression on the reader. A disappointing ending may cause them not to pick up the next book, or not to pick up another book by you ever again.
When I got to the end of this book I was, in a word, angry. During the entire book, the story was leading up to a climax that promised to be exciting, but when that time came the readers were left out of the main event. In one moment, we are in the thick of suspense and in the next moment, we are kicked out of it into another room where the characters, who were not a part of the climax either, are trapped. Literally. Then when one escapes we think we will finally get to read the ending we’ve been expecting.

No such luck! The chapter ends right when we think the good stuff is going to start and all of a sudden it is a year later. So not only are we robbed of the climax, we are given a secondhand (and not even thorough) retelling of what happened.
TIP: When you’re writing a book, never skip the climax. If you build up to it, don’t just take the easy road by giving a secondhand telling of what happened. Go there! Bring the reader there! Write it all out from beginning to end.
For the second book in the trilogy, I was thrown off when one of the crucial characters was gone (with the snap of a finger). Plus, the tone changed from third person to first person. However, I loved the story! It was exciting, funny, and cute. Ultimately, it had a great ending.
TIP: If you’re writing a series, it’s supposed to flow to appear as though the story is continuing. Changing the point of view may throw the reader off. Also, don’t begin a book in the middle of a story. If something happened before the beginning of your story that readers should know about, write it! Don’t drop it on them like: “Oh, by the way…”
As for the third book in the trilogy, I loved it too. I loved it up until the ending. Once again I felt jipped. I was left with the impression that the book (and the trilogy for that matter) hadn’t been thought out completely and that the ending was pulled out of thin air. I expected a different ending because the whole book, as well as the book before it, hinted at what would need to happen for the trilogy to an end. But it seemed as though the author backed out of it at the last minute, or just forgot.

Don’t get me wrong... it’s good to trick your readers every now and then, especially with the climax, but not so much that they are bummed.
TIP: Read and reread what you have written to make sure that you didn’t forget anything you might have told your readers. Forgetting something you mentioned in your book is normal, and it does happen during the course of writing a novel.
In Conclusion: If you tell your readers one thing, you shouldn’t do something else. When this happens to me I feel as though the writer had lied. It’s important for the sake of your work, and for your relationship with your readers, to end your story how you hinted you would. Doing anything else will cause disappointment, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t provide a few twists or shock them with the identity of the killer.

With that said I still greatly enjoyed reading the trilogy and may even read them again. If you like light romance with heavy humor and psychics then give this trilogy a look!




No comments: