Today’s review comes from book review team member Suraya, find her at http://www.thestorymint.com
Suraya chose to read and review Music of Souls by JJ Kendrick.
Here is her review.
MUSIC OF SOULS
By JJ Kendrick Three stars
The opening paragraph was descriptive and I was immediately in New England. Very nicely done.
I am not a Vampire genre fan so was looking for strong characterisation and storytelling. As I went through the novel I found myself thinking I was looking through the window of a student flat where meals were discussed and general love affairs were the preoccupation.
Jackson hated himself for what he did to Sarah (5) yet we never see that inner conflict expressed in his actions or emotions. They have fresh clothes yet drink blood which I would have thought was a messy business so why bother with fresh clothes.
The switch back in time is clearly marked and there was some change in tone and voice. I thought there could have been more of a sense of being in another century. More description of costumes and dialect.
I liked the fact that the author described smells and thought we could have had more of that type of description.
The idea that having sex with humans was like having sex with butterflies piqued my curiosity. I would have liked to see how that played out….not erotically but as an example of how the relationships between humans and vampires were handled.
This story had great possibilities that were largely unrealised such as the encounter in the bar with Elisabeth. This could have become a real game of wits. Instead she slips away and becomes the ‘first woman to ever deny’ Jackson. Jackson’s reaction is to become violent. Again we could have seen his turmoil and why rejection led to a wild frenzied attack on a red head who collapses because he has taken too much blood. There is a panicked frenzy to ‘transfuse’ her, then Sarah and Jackson make her forget how she came to be passed out on the couch and gave her a story about being in the casino. The device of giving characters the ability to wipe people’s memories is like using dreams to explain complicated storylines which are difficult to resolve. It was a shame because this one event could have opened up a story line that became more complex with rising tension that made the reader turn the pages.
This encounter appears to have no impact on Jackson apart from making him ‘curse himself’. So we get no sense of inner regret or torment that he almost killed someone and what the consequences of that might have been.
Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Rosie Amber 