Reviews of Bone Dressing

I really enjoyed reading this book. It had all the things I love in a book except maybe a decisive happy ending but that’s not really giving anything away so don’t get mad! It has romance, a completely hot guy that’s technically available, spooks, romance, cliff hangers, really bad guys, romance, and lots of mysterious goings on. I liked reading it from beginning to end.

For me, I’d have left the relationship stuff out. I get why it was necessary but I really wanted to just read the great story without having to think about what was like back when I was a teen going through that crap.

A definite read list book. A lot of fun and a couple of really cool twists kept me on my toes and interested through the whole thing. Can’t wait to read more.

Syd has a lot of inner-conflict to defeat before she can take on the villain after her, and Michelle Brooks has it down in its very best poetic take.

This is a darker take on YA that you may find to be a welcome change from the norm. If you are or have ever been a teen who didn't have it easy, this is the perfect book for you. If you're still hugging all your stuffed animals however, you might find Syd's character a bit more tricky to connect with.

Fate is going to help Syd out, only it won't be in a way she wants. It will be in a much more challenging way--by throwing her into her past life, so she might have a better chance at getting her present-one figured out.

Finding love will help set her on the right path, and the discovery of her secret talent. But that won't shift her perspective to include any pink bunny rabbits.

Up against the villain in here, that will prove to be a good thing.

There’s a lot of good things here, great characters, imagination and a different story, but it’s way overwritten and the story gets confused amongst all the words. ‘Less is more’ is a phrase coined for a good reason. We don’t need the same thing said in several different ways.

The wonderful snarky sarcasm of the main character gets tiring and there is too much internal dialogue. We have pages of description for how gorgeous the love interest is, how much they love each other and how terrible she feels when the nasty thing happens when a couple of paragraphs would do. Such writing becomes melodramatic, and can make the reader loose connection with the character. I began to skim large sections but I still wanted to read to the end which shows what a good story it is.

Many people have written great reviews of this book and it has a lot to recommend it for die hard romance readers who like a lot of angst & descriptions of how sexy someone is. I would read more of this author if I can be assured that her next book won’t have the same faults. She just needs to tighten up the writing. If excessive words don’t bother you, then for the price give it a go.

First I want to thank the author for a free copy of this in exchange for an honest review. I really tried to like this story because it was so original like nothing else I had ever read but I had a hard time finishing it. It was ridiculously long in some places and most of the book was choppy and I was confused about what was going on.

The plot was original and interesting. This book is about a girl named Sydney who is angry at the world. One night while walking in a cemetery she runs into Beau, Sarah, and T.J. their pet panther. Then everything for her changes as she goes on a journey to find the essence of her very soul through walking in the shoes of her past lives. I did love the concept and idea of this story. It just wasn't executed very well. It has potential and I think with a lot of editing it could do well but it was just so choppy that I couldn't get lost in the story. Not only that but there were some pretty big inconsistencies that I just could not let go which also made it hard to get into the plot. I did love the part of this book where she travels in her past life but that was about the only part I liked.

The main character had so many parts where she had long drawn out monologues about the same damn thing over and over again I just got so beyond annoyed I would have to put the book down because her whining got to me. She also was just plain rude to everyone. She interrupted everyone, never let them say anything. She was confrontational about everything. She was bad mannered and bad tempered and just all around very unlovable character. I couldn't stand her. Beau's character was nice and charming but he jumped from hot to cold so quickly for seemingly no reason that his character completely confused me.

Also the villain in this was forgettable. I completely forgot about Sydney and him battling it out when he wasn't actually on the page. His motives for being evil were not revealed even a tiny bit and so he just seemed to like to cause harm because he could and was shallow and unimportant.

Overall this book is a good idea but it needs major editing and fixing.

So I really wanted to like this book and the end was just enough of a redemption for me to be able to give it 2 stars instead of one. Let me start off with what I didn't like. Sydney, I just really didn't like Sydney for most of the book. I didn't feel a connection with her at all, I thought she was a spoiled selfish brat with anger management issues. I understand that Syd has had a hard life but her behavior was so over the top I didn't identify with her at all. Also, I can tell the author worked really hard to be descriptive and for the most part that was fine. It got to a point though that there was too much description and internal processing and not enough of what was going on around her. It really confused me because one moment she's in one place thinking and moaning and griping about everything and then the next she's somewhere differently. I didn't feel like I was journeying with Syd. Also, everything happened too fast. She meets Beau and 5 seconds later is professing her undying love. I don't mind the instant connection but I do mind the pouring out of heart and soul 2 seconds after meeting someone. For a character who was apparently all about self-preservation she did a really bad job of it. Plus, I HATE INTERRUPTERS and Syd is one big long interruption. She interrupts everyone, I wanted to smack her like 12 times and be like could you let other people talk please? I'm in your head, I get what you're thinking let the other person just talk! Plus the whole Rachel and Jesse, Jesse is dead, but then not dead. I was literally so confused. The end is what redeemed this book for me though. The end cleared up, I don't know if something started to click but the end started to suck me in. Sydney got nicer, and more protective and wasn't constantly yelling at people. She did take care of Henry and that was really nice because I spent the first part of the book wondering why I should like this girl. I don't know that I'd recommend this book but I would be willing to read the second to see if the improvements at the end continue on. I really wanted to like this book and so I'm sad I didn't enjoy it more

A very descriptive writing that I’m not really fond of. Dialogues however were a delight to read once I got to them. Our protagonist is a very sassy and strong headed teenager with a lot of issues and a load of sarcasm. As much as I loved her sarcasm I really didn’t care about what she was saying. I mean who the hell professes her love and attraction to a complete stranger in a graveyard when she’s about to be attacked by a panther? You just took out all the romantic suspense and everything Syd does or says from now on that is in contrary to that we and the other characters know she’s just putting on an act. Frankly I was ready to quit reading this book at that moment but I had to write a review so I forced myself to continue. I must say the idea for this book is good it’s just the writing that doesn’t do it for me. We’re not getting far with information. It’s lost there in the sea of sarcasm and repetitive dialogue. What I mean with repetitive dialogue is not that the words are repeated but the whole idea of holding a conversation. Everything that is said, Syd makes sarcastic remarks that lead nowhere in particular. It makes for a fun read when in moderation but this was a little too much for me. If all the unnecessary words were left out, we would be left with a third of the novel.

I can say that I only got through about half of this book and had to stop. I couldn't get into the story and I think it was because of the attitude of Syd and the sexual predator type of teacher in the story. There are very few books that I will not finish even if I'm not interested but I just couldn't force myself to continue.

All I'm going to say is that you don't have to go by my review as this may be your type of story. If you read it and you think definitely I would love to hear your thoughts.

This book was really hard for me to get through. It was so over filled with all of these odd and random details that were just too much about everything. I kept waiting for Syd, the main character to get arrested by the book police and have to recall all of these unnecessary details. Seriously, I didn't even have a clue about who the main character was at all until I got to page 6 where I kind of glimpse the fact that the character is a girl and then you never can be sure these days. The entire first chapter was basically Syd sitting on a roof watching a fire at the school. WAY too slow and too much that was not needed. Sydney is mean and hateful all of the time and especially to her foster parents who have taken her in and allowed her to live with them for 7 years. She seriously does not have a reason to be this angry anymore. Grief usually subsides a little and you do come to respect those around you that love you. Also, she falls in love with these boys all weird like. Who risks their life to tell someone they love them while a huge cat is after them? Yeah, right. I just think all of Syd's thought processes are too screwed up and too off the wall to make this book into something that I would want to even look at the rest of the 6 other books. Not for me. I think the writer could have been good, really good, but too focused on each and every tidbit of detail and giving the main character a horrible attitude and awkward love life, not to mention the whole other life she had before this one and all of her odd magical capabilities. I will not be looking for the future books in this series.

I'd like to thank the author for a free copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review. I don’t think I can explain my feelings about this book without letting spoilers slip, so please beware!

Unfortunately, unlike the first book I received to review, I really didn’t like this story, and I won’t be reading the next books in the series. Part of the premise wasn’t bad – a 17-year-old girl, Syd, goes back to a previous life and discovers she has an ability to shapeshift into 5 different animals – but there are many flaws that made it a challenge to read.

To start with, the premise I mentioned above was bogged down with so many other storylines trying to demand attention. There’s a sexually harassing, paedophile teacher; issues with her dead parents (which never actually goes anywhere); boy issues (which I’ll discuss later); and probably several other things I genuinely don’t care about.

Then, there’s Sydney. I don’t think I’ve ever finished a book with a main character as unlikeable as her. Now, I understand she misses her parents (who died 7 years previously), but from what the story says, she has been with her foster parents ever since, and they treat her as good parents should, so I don’t understand the amount of anger that spews from her for about 80% of the time she’s appearing as Syd (as opposed to Rachel).

If you’ve read my reviews before, you may have realised that I hate books that completely devolve from reality, especially when it comes to love. Syd mentions at the beginning of the book that she’s had dates with ‘hot’ guys, but that she’s put off as soon as they open their mouths. Then, one day, she’s met by Beau (at the friggin’ cemetery, by her parents’ graves), and despite his stalkerish (and is it just me to think vampiric? It’s never revealed what he is) tendencies, she falls head over heels in love with him. Well, duh. She then has her life threatened by a panther, and decides to take that moment to declare how she feels. I’m not sure about anyone else, but that’s not what I’d do.

When Syd goes back to her previous life, as Rachel, she again is madly in love, this time with a man named Jesse. This section of the book is slightly better written in that Rachel has more vulnerability than Syd, and the events are more exciting and less jumbled. I was intrigued as to how Syd could help Rachel change the events (which was hinted at by Beau), and can’t help feeling that if there had been more of this and a LOT less lead-up, I would have enjoyed the book more. I didn’t like that the end of the book finished on a cliffhanger, with nothing of importance having been ‘tied up’, with only an expectation that the reader would buy the next book in order to carry on.

Then there’s Mr Askew. I won’t waste my breath on this: he is a paedophile that sexually harasses Syd in front of the whole class at one point. Worst student in the world or not, Sydney could get him done – no bargaining. Plus, why have her burning down the school at the start of the book, only to not refer back to what was already mentioned when it happens at the end?!

In general, an annoyance throughout the book was the amount of metaphors and adjectives used for everything. If there’s one word used to describe something, there can be three, appears to be this book’s motto! Metaphors can be amazing, but they were taken too far here. (This blogger here agrees!) Picture this type of language every other page or so:

“I could feel the waves of an overwhelming heartbreak ravaging my body, taking hold as if preparing to replace every part of me with an ache that could never be soothed. Somewhere in the distance I heard agonizing sobbing, sobbing too painful for a mere girl to endure.”

Yeah. So, it’s safe to say I won’t be recommending this one.

(no rating)
Well ok here I go with my last summer review; I found yet again another fabulous author on twitter, Michelle Brooks, and her book Bone Dressing. WOW! yes, Bone Dressing with a name like that what can you expect?

Certainly a modern thriller.

Bone Dressing is indeed dark in nature, sarcastic in essence and intriguing in spirit. It contains the main elements of a YA plot, the troubled girl, the dashing hot (and perhaps supernatural) guy and a few mysteries down the way.

Its dialogues are incredibly well written which makes you get “inside” the story, but not necessarily understand its characters; you get to savour the main character’s inner anger, yet I don’t quite get why Syd, the not-so-common-damsel-in-distress, is so angry! She definitely has issues and she is not scared of showing them; Syd has some genuinely masculine traits in her and some rather doubtful inclinations at times.

The plot is filled with interesting twists that keep you on your toes, and althought its bitter sweet it leaves you with a rather nice aftertaste.

This book, not for the faint hearted. I recommend Bone Dressing for those seeking their inner darker side, those who believe in past lives and of course for those who like YA reading. (its not a genre reserved for young adults, you know)

Anyway grab a book and get reading!!

Lets “Fall into Autumn” and get some books aligned for the new season.


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