Review by Booky_BettyC -- The Ferryman by Amy Neftzger

[Booky_BettyC]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Ferryman" by Amy Neftzger.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Ferryman by Amy Neftzger gets a rating of 3 out of 4 stars from me. This book kept my curiosity at its peak and my attention at its highest throughout. It had very simple vocabulary and the overall flow of the story was very good. Although I was a bit dissatisfied with the sudden ending, I would recommend this easy read to a young adult audience that enjoy reading supernatural fiction.

The main character, Karen Irving, is a single mother that does whatever she can to pay the bills and put food on the table. In a time of desperation, a run into Fate binds her into a contract to help ghosts pass over into the afterlife. She is now the Ferryman until Fate says otherwise. As if being a poor single mother isn't hard enough. She now has to figure out how to help the ghosts pass over without any help, find a way out of this binding contract, and get her romantic emotions in check when Fortune also appears with a hypnotizing demeanor and looks to kill for.

I found the concept very refreshing and different from other books. Turning an unseen power that inevitably has a course for the future into a character kept me interested throughout the whole book. I really loved the bossy, egotistical attitude of Fate as well. Both Karen and Fates' attitude clash and become subtly humorous almost everytime they are together. They are almost like long lost siblings that bicker all the time. Also, the added twist of Fortune appearing sends Karens' emotions into a love spiral. Just enough was written about their connection that I almost wanted them to get together. On the other hand, I also wanted to tell her to run. It would just be one more problem that she doesn't need in her already complicated life. The author did a very good job of connecting the reader to the main character. I actually ended up feeling sorry for Karen at times.

The only thing I didn't like about the book was the ending. It was sudden and based on a simple decision of one character in the book. It left me feeling disappointed and quite unsatisfied. I personally did not really understand the reason why it ended the way it did. Possibly for a life lesson about your own decisions and the consequences of them. If so, the whole story was not needed for the simplicity of that point and was not exactly conveyed throughout it.

All in all, this easy read was intriguing with a very well written concept of Fate and Fortune. A little bit of work on the ending would have made it a very cute and complete book. I will be checking out other books from this author. Hopefully i will find the creativity of the author in some very good endings. The potential is endless!

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The Ferryman
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[JayC]

This sounds interesting, does this author have similar reads more adult geared or should I start with this book

[Booky_BettyC]

This sounds interesting, does this author have similar reads more adult geared or should I start with this book

I would start with this one for sure. She has a few adult books more along the lines of short stories when I looked her up.