Review: The Waiting Tree

Author: Lindsay Moynihan

Pages: 224

Publisher: Amazon Children's Publishing

Source: Review copy- thank you

Synopsis: Eighteen-year-old Simon Peters wants to stand up for the truth about who he is. His love for Stephen is unwavering, but does he have the courage to defend it when his entire church community, including his eldest brother has ostracized him? Trapped in a cashier's job he hates, struggling to maintain peace with his brothers after their parents have died, and determined to look after his mute brother, Simon puts everyone else's needs before his own. It takes a courageous act of self-sacrifice on Jude's part to change both of their lives forever. Jude, who knew that when the fig tree in their yard began to bloom, it was his time to finally be heard and to set Simon free.

Simon is gay in a small town where being different is enough to have you shunned from society. When he's caught with Stephen by Stephen's dad, Simon's life changes in the worst way. Even his brother Paul has a hard time accepting him.

Let's be real: Simon's life sucks. It actually depressed me a little because I couldn't see very much of a bright side to the story. Simon has an awful job, didn't finish high school, his parents are dead, his brother is an idiot, his twin brother needs extra help and attention that Simon's unable to completely provide and his best friend has been sent away. The whole situation was uninspiring because it just seems to get worse every day.

I couldn't connect with Simon because our lives are so different. So much of the racist and homophobic crap he has to deal with doesn't exist where I live, at least so blatantly. I have no doubt that there are garbage people who say garbage things but living in possibly one of the most multicultural communities in the world where there are so many religions, ethnicities, and cultures, I couldn't believe the way they treated Simon. If anyone has to experience that I feel for them but there's a better world out there; they just need to find it.

Simon himself was meant to be someone I sympathized and I did, but I didn't connect with him. I have never experienced the influence of a church or felt ostracized for any reason. I also couldn't get a grip on Simon's character. The one trait that defined him was that he cared more about others than himself and that trait was a little bit forcefully fed to the reader as the supporting characters kept saying it. I didn't feel like Simon had much of a personality. Those little details that make people real— maybe they listen to a certain type of music, watch TV or have an online life— just weren't there.

That's something I wondered a lot when reading The Waiting Tree. Where was the technology? This book was written with the intention of being gritty and realistic so does it take place a while ago? The reason I ask is that technology is integrated to the life of every teen. Even if you can't afford internet there is WiFi. Libraries offer free internet access and through the internet there are communities and resources that could have been beneficial to Simon. If there isn't a group you feel you relate with in reality, you can hang out with one online. So that bugged me just because I wanted this story to be realistic not just in the bad ways but the good ways too and I don't feel like that happened.

The other thing to consider is this is not my usual type of book so I wasn't very into it. It never drew me in and that's because I don't usually read these types of books for a reason. I rarely read contemporary that isn't intensely tragic; life lessons aren't my thing. Life in jeopardy is. That's just the type of reader I am. I didn't enjoy reading The Waiting Tree and I felt like the ending was abrupt and not as enlightening as it was meant to be.

So, this book gets 1 star. It just wasn't my type of read because I couldn't relate to it. I wouldn't discourage anyone from trying The Waiting Tree if it seems like the type of book you'd enjoy.

1 star,

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Review: Awakening

Author: Karice Bolton
Pages: 320
Publisher: Purely Persistent
Source: Review copy- thank you!
Challenge: Ultimate Reviewer's Challenge

Synopsis: Alone in snowy, remote Whistler village, Ana tries to build a new life since losing her parents. With a cozy condo, a sweet-faced bulldog and an evening job to leave the days free for the slopes, life slips into a great routine. If only she could shake the guilt for not remembering anything about her parents and banish the night terrors that haunt her every dream.

On a whim, Ana goes out with Athen, a guy she's just met in the Grizzly Pub... The only problem is that she feels like she already knows him. 

Within 48 hours of meeting Athen and his family, Ana's world implodes. She falls for Athen quickly and before she knows it, a past life begins to resurface. As thrilling as the revelations appear at first, she fights against the chilling information that Athen is from the underworld. Soon she begins to struggle as her own supernatural gifts are slowly unveiled, and she realizes that the nightmares she's been having might be premonitions and not dreams at all.

It is up to Ana to decipher between fact and fiction before it is too late, and her new love, Athen, follows in her same fate - one that is lost between two worlds.

Buy the Book (Amazon/ The Book Depository)

Awakening by Karice Bolton was a book I had many issues with. The book doesn't really feel ready and I had a lot of difficulty reading it.

It took me a really long time to finish Awakening. I honestly couldn't get into it. Some of my issues result from my personal preferences, but others are problems the book had itself.

The first would be the writing. In no way do I claim to be some writing expert, but the writing in this book distracted me from the scene and wasn't fun to read. Although there was nice diction, the dialogue sounded stilted and unnatural with the lack of contractions. There were way too many unnecessary details about random objects in a scene that really bogged down the story, and overall the style of writing wasn't easy to read. A lot of this could be resolved by a few more in depth edits. That's what I noticed and the writing really bothered me at the beginning while near the end I was more relaxed.

Another issue I had was absolutely no connection to any of the characters. None. They felt really one dimensional to me. Some of them were way too perfect with no real visible flaws or insecurities. The main character, Ana, didn't do much for me either. I kinda felt she was robotic and I don't really know much about her character beyond what's said about her.

The plot didn't improve the story. It was much too slow for my tastes. A lot of the story is Ana professing how much she loves Athen and her family while they go on parties and trips and stuff. It's not until the end that you realize there's more to it than that, but by that time I found it too little too late. The biggest issues were believability issues. There were many scenes and events that I couldn't relate with or that I found clichéd. The scene when Ana first sees Athen, Arie, and Cyril first comes to mind. Too much description was put there and I didn't feel any of the apparent emotions Ana was facing.

Overall, I hate to write a review like this, but I had a lot of trouble reading Awakening and I probably would have written it off as a DNF had I not agreed to review it. The book has potential and an interesting mythology, it just needs a lot of work before Awakening will shine. 1 star,

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