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A review by cowdisease125
Penny for Your Soul by K.A. Ashcomb
5.0
There's a line, towards the end of this book, about the word 'genuinely' and how it's only rarely used, well, genuinely. This is one of those times. I genuinely couldn't wait to review this book.
I think you can tell that the author is a fan of Terry Pratchett. That is not to say that they have copied his style, oh no, they've merely sampled it an injected their own style in with it. It's dark and witty and full of one-liners that had me doing that exhale-laugh-through-my-nose thing that people do when they want to laugh out loud but can't because they're reading it secretly at work.
I particularly liked the footnotes where the author seemed to talk to the reader. It takes, I believe, a certain kind of writer to manage fourth-wall breaks in books without them being cringe-worthy. I also liked the world building. With some books and some authors, they take up great lengths of time and the story to build a world that they already want you to believe in and, let's face it, that can be tedious. With Penny for Your Soul, however, it doesn't do that. The world is already there and doesn't need chapter and verse setting it up because the story and the characters do that for you. What's that writing rule? Show don't tell? Yeah. That.
I really loved this book and it has some fabulous quotes, but I'll just leave you with my favourite because DAMN if it ain't me...
"It is better if I stand in awe of the finished project, preferably from away rather than try to take part in the artistic flow. But I and books are great friends..."
Lovely.
I think you can tell that the author is a fan of Terry Pratchett. That is not to say that they have copied his style, oh no, they've merely sampled it an injected their own style in with it. It's dark and witty and full of one-liners that had me doing that exhale-laugh-through-my-nose thing that people do when they want to laugh out loud but can't because they're reading it secretly at work.
I particularly liked the footnotes where the author seemed to talk to the reader. It takes, I believe, a certain kind of writer to manage fourth-wall breaks in books without them being cringe-worthy. I also liked the world building. With some books and some authors, they take up great lengths of time and the story to build a world that they already want you to believe in and, let's face it, that can be tedious. With Penny for Your Soul, however, it doesn't do that. The world is already there and doesn't need chapter and verse setting it up because the story and the characters do that for you. What's that writing rule? Show don't tell? Yeah. That.
I really loved this book and it has some fabulous quotes, but I'll just leave you with my favourite because DAMN if it ain't me...
"It is better if I stand in awe of the finished project, preferably from away rather than try to take part in the artistic flow. But I and books are great friends..."
Lovely.