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nollreads 's review for:
14 Days to Die
by A.B. Whelan
I very rarely give a book one star. I did consider giving this one two stars, because I thought maybe I was being too harsh. Then I thought how offensive it would be to some of the two star books I've read, to be lumped in with this.
Where to begin? Plot, characters, writing.
1. Plot: It was thin. To say the least. Most of the story was repetitive ranting by a main character so clearly unhinged that her ranting is completely unrelateable. One minute she's plotting to kill, the next she's wondering how she, a quiet housewife, has been reduced to this. Then she's doing nasty things to her husband, then she's wonder how she, a quiet housewife - you get the idea. That's not even why she's unhinged - unhinged is the rapidity with which she buys the authenticity of the phone call telling her she has 14 days to die. On that note - it's 14 days to LIVE. She has 14 days to LIVE, UNTIL she dies. Saying she has 14 days to die means she has to die within 14 days, or she won't. The ending is ridiculous. It's overkill. Absolute overkill. Even that synopsis is ridiculous - 'To avoid any kind of confrontation at home she doesn’t read her husband’s emails or spy on him like most jealous wives do.' Ummm. Women who do that are nuts ans shouldn't be in their relationships, so don't even 'doesn't even' with that. And secondly, you're implying she's not doing that, in order to keep the peace, even BEFORE she gets the phone call about the affair?! What?!
2. Characters: Well, the unhinged ranty housewife describes one husband while entirely another presents himself in actions and words, and that discrepancy is never really explained. I'm assuming it's because she's unhinged. This random lover comes out of nowhere and the 'only friend' Unhinged McRanty has is someone she hasn't spoken to in twelve years. Can we say 'paper thin'? The hitman and the other lover (yes there are multiple lovers) are also utterly undeveloped, and the hitman slightly moronic.
3. The writing. Oh. My. God. 'My lips latched onto his with the coldness and precision of a spaceship latching onto a space station', or some such. And once the repetition died down, suddenly everyone was 'whom'ing all over the shop. Whom this and whom that - way to make every character indistinct. There were tons of examples of poor writing - I should have made a note of more, but trust me, it's just bad. So bad.
This book has no redeeming qualities. Avoid.
Where to begin? Plot, characters, writing.
1. Plot: It was thin. To say the least. Most of the story was repetitive ranting by a main character so clearly unhinged that her ranting is completely unrelateable. One minute she's plotting to kill, the next she's wondering how she, a quiet housewife, has been reduced to this. Then she's doing nasty things to her husband, then she's wonder how she, a quiet housewife - you get the idea. That's not even why she's unhinged - unhinged is the rapidity with which she buys the authenticity of the phone call telling her she has 14 days to die. On that note - it's 14 days to LIVE. She has 14 days to LIVE, UNTIL she dies. Saying she has 14 days to die means she has to die within 14 days, or she won't. The ending is ridiculous. It's overkill. Absolute overkill. Even that synopsis is ridiculous - 'To avoid any kind of confrontation at home she doesn’t read her husband’s emails or spy on him like most jealous wives do.' Ummm. Women who do that are nuts ans shouldn't be in their relationships, so don't even 'doesn't even' with that. And secondly, you're implying she's not doing that, in order to keep the peace, even BEFORE she gets the phone call about the affair?! What?!
2. Characters: Well, the unhinged ranty housewife describes one husband while entirely another presents himself in actions and words, and that discrepancy is never really explained. I'm assuming it's because she's unhinged. This random lover comes out of nowhere and the 'only friend' Unhinged McRanty has is someone she hasn't spoken to in twelve years. Can we say 'paper thin'? The hitman and the other lover (yes there are multiple lovers) are also utterly undeveloped, and the hitman slightly moronic.
3. The writing. Oh. My. God. 'My lips latched onto his with the coldness and precision of a spaceship latching onto a space station', or some such. And once the repetition died down, suddenly everyone was 'whom'ing all over the shop. Whom this and whom that - way to make every character indistinct. There were tons of examples of poor writing - I should have made a note of more, but trust me, it's just bad. So bad.
This book has no redeeming qualities. Avoid.