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Member Since: Jan. 02, 2010

malay

Smashwords book reviews by malay

The Roman and the Runaway on July 31, 2010

Spoiler Alert! This book is a poorly crafted waste of time. It appears to be geared for a high school audience, but the writing is very simple for that age group, and I got the distinct impression that the author wasn't quite sure who her intended audience was. The majority of the events in this story are unbelievable, most of the characters are flat, and the parents are blithering idiots. If you had run away from home and were hiding, would you allow yourself to be seen and carry on a conversation with a group of boys from a school near your hideout? If you were a mother and a counselor and it was obvious your daughter had major issues with your significant other, would it take her running away and police and social workers questioning you before you suspected anything? If you were already pregnant before you met your future husband, just how long do you think it would take for him to figure out that the baby born shortly after the wedding wasn’t his? Suppose you had just had a near-death experience and discovered you might need a liver transplant. Your mom comes in and very bluntly says, "Your dad is not your dad," then goes on to explain that your actual dad is your next-door neighbor who also happens to be the headmaster of your school. I think your response would be a little more powerful than a simple, "Okay." Something I found quite strange is the title of this book on my Kindle. The first line of the book is, “And what the bloody hell d’you call this?” On my Kindle, the title and author show up as “And what the bloody hell d’you call this Amanda Hill. (Punctuated as I have shown, but with more space between the end of the title and the name Amanda.) I suppose A. J. Braithwaite and Amanda Hill are one and the same, but it is odd to have the two different names show up in different places as authors of this book. If you have time to kill and absolutely nothing else to do, you can waste a few hours on this book, but I really don’t recommend it.