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A review by lifeinthebooklane
Mystic Bonds by C.C. Solomon
2.0
I'm a little on the fence with this one, there were parts I loved and other aspects that didn't work for me. Times when I couldn't put it down and others where I had to re-read a paragraph to make sense of it. The ending was quite a shocker and definitely has you intrigued as to what will happen next.
I liked Mina, she really didn't have her s##t together but for me this actually made her much more realistic and eminently more likeable. I would have liked a little more depth from some of the supporting characters, particularly Erik, Charles and Phillip, at times I felt I learnt more via what others TOLD me, rather than through what I experienced. However there was enough development for me to enjoy the book.
I know this is both (a) fiction and (b) PNR/alternate reality, therefore "made up", but some elements of the plot just stretched the imagination. Looking at blurbs for future books I'm presuming the bad guy in this (who wasn't paranormal) was perhaps being helped by other "beings", however in this book there was no real recognition or acknowledgement of his actions being impossible. The characters also felt more Young Adult than the late 20's early 30's they were meant to be. In fact had the very brief, single sex scene been removed this could easily have been a YA book.
At times I was totally absorbed by the story, particularly during scenes of action and scenes heavy with dialogue. Sadly there were passages where the heroine actually narrated the story to the reader, rather than allowing them to experience it for themselves. It was almost as though someone was recounting an event or memory, resulting in the story losing it's flow and pace and disconnecting me from the book. This very tell not show experience extended into the somewhat limited emotional aspects of the book. The very brief mention of how Mina felt, and that information was sometimes very contradictory, conveyed no essence of fear, anger, anxiety or passion. The lack of any detailed descriptions of feelings was a significant negative for me.
On balance there were more positives than negatives for me and at some point I hope to continue with Mina's story.
I liked Mina, she really didn't have her s##t together but for me this actually made her much more realistic and eminently more likeable. I would have liked a little more depth from some of the supporting characters, particularly Erik, Charles and Phillip, at times I felt I learnt more via what others TOLD me, rather than through what I experienced. However there was enough development for me to enjoy the book.
I know this is both (a) fiction and (b) PNR/alternate reality, therefore "made up", but some elements of the plot just stretched the imagination. Looking at blurbs for future books I'm presuming the bad guy in this (who wasn't paranormal) was perhaps being helped by other "beings", however in this book there was no real recognition or acknowledgement of his actions being impossible. The characters also felt more Young Adult than the late 20's early 30's they were meant to be. In fact had the very brief, single sex scene been removed this could easily have been a YA book.
At times I was totally absorbed by the story, particularly during scenes of action and scenes heavy with dialogue. Sadly there were passages where the heroine actually narrated the story to the reader, rather than allowing them to experience it for themselves. It was almost as though someone was recounting an event or memory, resulting in the story losing it's flow and pace and disconnecting me from the book. This very tell not show experience extended into the somewhat limited emotional aspects of the book. The very brief mention of how Mina felt, and that information was sometimes very contradictory, conveyed no essence of fear, anger, anxiety or passion. The lack of any detailed descriptions of feelings was a significant negative for me.
On balance there were more positives than negatives for me and at some point I hope to continue with Mina's story.