Location: United States
Member Since: Oct. 07, 2010

Crystal Chefec

Smashwords book reviews by Crystal Chefec

  • January Moon on Oct. 12, 2010

    I love this author’s style! Her writing is quick, quirky, witty, dramatic, totally irreverent (and bitingly sarcastic) and also full of compassion and understanding. The plot is intricate, fascinating, and sophisticated and very cutting edge. It's richly detailed and layered with tough social issues but never heavy handed or pedantic. Gill hammers your senses with a deft hand in a velvet glove. There are some scenes in this book that are totally amazing: the scene with Ambassador Oboti holding his daughter in the hospital in Berne and the other one with Eliot telling Wiley the truth about her dead parents might be the two most powerful scenes I've ever read in any modern work of fiction and at such times Gill’s prose soars to astonishing heights the equal of any great work of literary fiction. The author also has a great talent for character development. Every character, no matter what his or her role, has a reason for being and helps advance the story. And her take into the mind of madness is also riveting and I liked how she gave Rae and Jim Harte a history that made their madness more understandable. Also, she has a perfect ear for dialogue and a talent for both dramatic and comedic timing. Gill delivers the sights, sounds, and eccentricities of Chicago brilliantly and her grasp of the wider cultural currents throughout the country are equally brilliant. This is a tremendous achievement for a first novel and if this author writes several more books half as good as January Moon she’s going to become one of the country’s most famous and respected contemporary authors. I belong to a book club and recommended this book to my group and we’re going to make January Moon the first ebook we’ve ever chosen (I hope I can get it in print too).