Worn Out Pages: April 2014

The Letter - by Bo Burnham

6:58 PM

Book Review: Destruction (Book One of The December People Series) - by Sharon Bayliss

8:05 PM

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

David Vandergraff tries to be a good husband and father. He has a loving wife and three children, two boys and one girl. But that isn't his only family. David's second family went missing eleven years ago and has been trying to find them ever since. For eleven years, he waits for just one phone call to tell him his missing kids are fine. And he it finally gets the call. Wanting things to be the way they should, David is prepared to bring his kids home, even though his wife has no clue they even exist. Traumatized to learn that his new found kids had been suffering years of mental and physical abuse, and even witnessed their mother die at the hands of their stepfather, David is ready to give the kids their space and give them the care they deserve, even if that means he has to play along with their dark wizard fantasy. It is just a means of coping after all, isn't it. Dark wizards are obviously not real. Or are they?

Destruction written by Sharon Bayliss is the first book in her series The December People. It also happens to be a very distinctive spin off on dark wizards and is written in third person point of view. The characters are being followed are David, an extremely confused father, and Patrick, the confused father's second eldest son. Considering the fact that it was a spin off on dark wizards, the way the plot was played out was kind of realistic. They had a mostly normal family that did mostly normal things in a hopefully completely normal Texas.

Before beginning, I would like to clarify that there are no spells, owls, house elves, wands, Hogwarts, or Neville Longbottom.

What really draws a reader into Destruction is its very different take on wizards in general. I don't want to give too much away, but I'll just say that the dark wizards are not said to be dark wizards because they're evil. They are said to be 'evil' because of the limits put on them due to them being dark wizards. Also, a person cannot choose to be what kind of wizard they are. That's all I'm saying, but you can read the book if you want to find out more.

Very early on in the book, every character seemed to have very well defined personalities. It was handed to the reader on a silver platter in detail. And what was told to the reader about the characters proved to be true by their actions later on in the stories, sometimes to extreme levels. There was the perfect amount of mix between the flat and round characters. I really liked how I expected certain characters to act a certain way and was surprised when they didn't. It felt like I had known the characters for a good few years and that I'd been a quiet observer of this very family. I just knew what Amanda, the mother, would do when she wakes up or when Jude, the eldest brother, was upset. The author did a really great job with the characterizations of each and every single one of the characters.

Destruction also has realistic characters. As I was reading, I remember thinking how much I disliked Amanda. Not because of her actions, but because of her reasoning behind her actions. But when I kept reading, I couldn't help but realize how real she is. She acts the way a wife and mother would really act. The amount of tolerance she had for what was going on was admirable, but she also had limits as to what she would and wouldn't allow in the house. She was not ready to be the type of woman to be stepped on. Everything about her was very mother-like. Her patience was present, but limited. She had her good days, and she had her stressed out low-on-caffeine bad days.

To me, Destruction was an introductory book to the series. When I say this, I mean the entire book served as an introduction to The December People. The reason I say this is because I did not really recognize a determined or defined goal for the book. There was the plot, but I did not see what it was aiming for. It was a bit messy and there were plot holes which I hope are acknowledged in the rest of the series because I fully intend on reading it. Something else I noticed as I was reading was that there were scenes that did not do much for the plot and could have easily been replaced with more meaningful scenes that could have given the plot more definition. But again, this is the first book and I have high hopes for the success of the rest of the series.

Destruction is a great book that has a somewhat realistic take on the wizarding world. If your'e expecting an action filled book with spells being shouted left and right, however, this book may not be for you. I do suggest you read the book, and if it does not sound like your cup of tea, you should give it a try because you never know what you might like when it comes to books.

Disclaimer: May contain profane language and/or ideas.

anonymous

Book Review: Anonymous - by Christine Benedict

9:14 PM

Rating: 4/5 stars

Anonymous, written by Christine Benedict in third person point of view, is a mystery thriller about a young woman named Debra who faces the fear of inheriting schizophrenia, a mental illness, from her mother after moving into a presumably haunted hundred year old house. At the same time, Debra's new neighbor, Julie, has been receiving letters from an anonymous stalker which causes problems for her small family. Along with their friendship, both their troubles grow and intertwine causing them to fear for their lives.

Anonymous was one of the few books I read for hours without realizing just how much time had passed by. I would literally just sit down and read page after page until I just have to stop, take a deep breath, and carry on. Even if there wasn't a lot of action going on, just reading the characters' thoughts and reactions was very amusing to me.

Nonetheless, the book has quite a unique and well thought out plot. The main character, Debra, was at risk of inheriting a mental illness which makes the reader question whether the character was reliable or not. It kept the reader thinking and made them develop theories as they read. Were there actually unexplainable squeaks and footsteps at the most unlikely hours, or was she just imagining them? You'll have to read it to find out.

Moving on to the characters. The two main characters in Anonymous, Debra and Julie, had their own personalities and quirks that set them apart from each other and really accented their friendship. In certain situations the characters are put in, the reader just knows which character would punch her way through or threaten her way through. That being said, I do wish that the other characters had a little more dimension characteristics that made them different or at least made me have some sort of emotion towards them.

Also, considering the amount of trouble the characters had to deal with, they just did not develop as much as I thought they would have. I expected them to grow and learn new things and find new reasons to live. But they did not. There was the occasional burst of new found determination, but that usually faded away.They got over their problems with the characteristics they already possessed for most of their lives; and depending on how you look at it, that may even be a good thing.

One of the things that brought me closer to Debra and Julie, however, was that they both had tragic backstories that made their characters a bit more round than the others. Every once in a while, there would be flashbacks explaining the characters actions which really comforted me as a reader. These flashbacks played big roles in the story, it wasn't just something of the past for the characters. It really gave me a perspective as to why they thought certain things or acted certain ways. It also made me understand and comprehend Debra's potential insanity.

As I mentioned previously, this book is written in third person point of view. What I didn't say was: who's story is it following? Debra's or Julie's? The answer is both. It was really interesting to me because these two characters interacted a lot, so not only would the reader get insight on what the character in question thought of herself, but also what others would think about her. I would always found myself a little surprised at how a Debra thought of Julie or vice versa because I was already used to thinking of them the way they thought of themselves. I just thought of the the characteristics the the character limits themselves to as their only characteristics. That is up till the point where the other ones come along. If I were to read it again, I feel like I would still be surprised because it was written in a way that was so convincing, as if you were the character herself.

One of Anonymous's strong points was the amount of imagery it had. Imagery is a really important factor, especially since this is a mystery thriller. As I was reading, I was imaging the scenery with so much detail, it was as if it was right in front of me.

Another major pro to Anonymous, in my opinion, that really made look forward to what would happen next: the main characters were women who took care of themselves and each other most of the time. They did not wait for their husbands to solve their problems that required physical work, they did it themselves. I truly think the author deserves an applaud for that, the imagery, the main characters' detailed and convincing personality, and the wonderful plot.

Anonymous had a closed ending. But it wasn't closed so tight that there wasn't any room for continuation, which I personally think is really great. I could imagine a second book explaining what had happened in the end and going more into the story of Ed (no spoilers, read the book).

Anonymous written by Christine Benedict succeeded in spooking and amusing me at just the right times. I love the simplicity in which the book was written and I love how the words were not over exaggerated or under exaggerated; there was just the right words at the right times. I could definitely imagine this story as a movie. In fact, I am all for it.

I recommend this book if you like unique mystery plots with the perfect amounts of humor,tension, light heartedness, suspension, and imagery that makes you feel like your living the story. I really look forward to reading Christine Benedict's short stories.