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A review by junotranscends
Henry Franks by Peter Adam Salomon
4.0
I'm going to try very hard to make this review spoiler-free!
Cover: 5/5 The title of the book doesn't at all catch my interest, but the cover did. It's grungy and kind of creepy, and made me stop long enough to look at the synopsis. I particularly like the stitching across the middle.
Characters: 4/5 I adored Henry. Justine was a sweetheart. Henry's dad was great. I enjoyed all the characters...I just wish we'd gotten a little more feel for them. I know Henry doesn't remember anything from before the accident, but he doesn't...have too much of a personality. We don't know what he likes, what he enjoys. I DID love seeing him open up and have a sense of humor with Justine as the book progressed.
Plot: 5/5 Wow. I picked this up because it looked dark and creepy, and I was not disappointed. I can't even get into it because it might spoil the book, but let's just say--I'm excellent at figuring books out, even twist endings. I had half of this one figured about 50% through the book, but the other half took me by surprise. I love it when that happens. I love when an author distracts you with all these big things going on, that the tiniest detail will go unnoticed until the end and you remember, "Oh, I hadn't thought of that." Kudos! And, the ending broke my heart.
Writing: 4.5/5 The third-person POV was kind of distant in places and took me some getting used to. BUT, I think that was because I'm so used to reading first person POV in YA novels these days. Once I got used to it, it was fine. I don't give the writing a full 5 stars simply because some things were way overused. I get that Henry focuses on his scars a lot, but I don't think we need detail on it every single time. Mainly, my issues were editing issues--things that should've been caught and might very will still be caught since this is an ARC.
Overall: 4.5/5 Great book. The blurb really doesn't do it justice and should really, really be rewritten. This will be an ARC I purchase when it's available!
Cover: 5/5 The title of the book doesn't at all catch my interest, but the cover did. It's grungy and kind of creepy, and made me stop long enough to look at the synopsis. I particularly like the stitching across the middle.
Characters: 4/5 I adored Henry. Justine was a sweetheart. Henry's dad was great. I enjoyed all the characters...I just wish we'd gotten a little more feel for them. I know Henry doesn't remember anything from before the accident, but he doesn't...have too much of a personality. We don't know what he likes, what he enjoys. I DID love seeing him open up and have a sense of humor with Justine as the book progressed.
Plot: 5/5 Wow. I picked this up because it looked dark and creepy, and I was not disappointed. I can't even get into it because it might spoil the book, but let's just say--I'm excellent at figuring books out, even twist endings. I had half of this one figured about 50% through the book, but the other half took me by surprise. I love it when that happens. I love when an author distracts you with all these big things going on, that the tiniest detail will go unnoticed until the end and you remember, "Oh, I hadn't thought of that." Kudos! And, the ending broke my heart.
Writing: 4.5/5 The third-person POV was kind of distant in places and took me some getting used to. BUT, I think that was because I'm so used to reading first person POV in YA novels these days. Once I got used to it, it was fine. I don't give the writing a full 5 stars simply because some things were way overused. I get that Henry focuses on his scars a lot, but I don't think we need detail on it every single time. Mainly, my issues were editing issues--things that should've been caught and might very will still be caught since this is an ARC.
Overall: 4.5/5 Great book. The blurb really doesn't do it justice and should really, really be rewritten. This will be an ARC I purchase when it's available!