Reviews

The Moment Before: A Novel by Jason Makansi

happiestwhenreading's review

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3.0

Thank you to @tlcbooktours for me free copy to review. All opinions are my own.

This book packs quite the punch! There are so many different storylines - sometimes it feels like too much - but for the most part, it seems to work. The author certainly could have bypassed some of them, but it did help make the characters interesting; however, the characters did ultimately come off a little flat and underdeveloped.

I loved how Makansi took political events (past and present) and gave them life. I really enjoyed his writing, but at times, the metaphors felt a little forced and too perfect. (To be fair, this is Makansi’s debut novel, so I honk some of these complaints are common.)

One thing that drove me absolutely nuts is the crazy amount of editing errors throughout the book. It’s no fault of Makansi’s; the blame definitely falls on the editor/publisher, but it was so distracting to me. A good editor could have cut out some of the unnecessary side stories as well.

Overall, I was interested in the story and invested in the characters. I was curious how it would wrap up. At times, it felt overwritten and under-edited, but if you can see past those issues, it’s an enjoyable book with an intriguing story.
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