Review by mwsimmons -- Yesterday by Samyann
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mwsimmons
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- Latest Review: "Yesterday" by Samyann
Review by mwsimmons -- Yesterday by Samyann
[Following is a volunteer review of "Yesterday" by Samyann.]
1 out of 4 stars
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Yesterday is a romantic novel centered around Amanda Parker, a tragedy-prone antiques appraiser, and Mark Callahan, a member of the mounted division of the Chicago Police Department. The story begins with Amanda recovering from the loss of her fiancé in a plane crash. She and Mark are literally thrown together when she pulls him out of the way of falling debris from a train wreck. The two are instantly drawn to one another, both with the unshakable feeling that they’ve met before. After eliminating all possibility that they know each other from this current time, they open themselves to the option that their connection goes back to another life. Thus begins the spiritual and mental investigation of their immediate attraction and love for one another.
What I appreciated about this book is the author’s attempt to combine different time periods, and past and present lives into the character development. I was left with no doubt that Amanda had been through deep tragedy which affected her ability to trust her new love interest, Mark. There are glimpses of decent writing within this book that show the author’s potential in certain descriptive paragraphs. For example, in chapter 4 when Mark and Amanda go on a date to a nice restaurant, I got a clear picture of the venue. However, the author’s writing style, in general, leaves much to be desired.
While I applaud the author for what could be an interesting concept, the story of two people falling in love through time is not a new one. I was hoping to read a fresh take on this idea, or at least be connected to the characters in a way that makes me care. Neither of these things happened. Although the main goal of the couple was to find the reason they both felt they already knew each other, much of the book was spent on them having sex, Mark calling Amanda pet names, and not being able to get past Amanda’s emotional pain long enough to move the story forward in a productive way.
As far as the characters themselves, Amanda was relatable in her pain and struggle to be open to new relationships, but as much as I wanted to really care about her, I just couldn’t. Her only defining characteristics were her struggle with the misery in her life caused by the deaths of everyone important to her, her love for Mark against her will or logic, and her love of antiques. I needed something further to really feel connected to her. Mark, for me, had no redeeming qualities. He seemed aggressive in his actions and responses toward Amanda, in the name of love. The author’s attempt at making him seem intense come across as somewhat creepy, and I often wondered if Mark was an alcoholic. Their relationship was one of dependency which also seemed counter-productive to the progression of the overall story. I felt that the foundation of the story was not sound, and so the details were often disjointed, vague, or seemingly random.
The final nails in the coffin were the number of typos in this book, and the corny and sometimes culturally-offensive dialogue, like in the case of the antique-shop owner, Ed Morgen, and the black characters in the book. The author attempted to write southern, broken English for two of the characters, but I found it ineffective and possibly ill-researched. The book does not appear to have been professionally edited. Multiple times, right in the middle of a word or sentence would be random symbols (such as =”-) or letters (such as “ae tof her nd”) that made this book a choppy read. It could be that the formatting for the eBook caused issues, but there are so many instances that it seems neglectful.
Overall, I give this book 1 out of 4 stars. I would maybe give it 1.5 if I could score half-points, just because I do see some decent writing occasionally throughout the book. However, based on the loose plot, lack of depth to the characters, excessive typos, lack of originality in storytelling, and sub-par dialogue, I do not recommend this book as a good read.
******
Yesterday
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1 out of 4 stars
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Yesterday is a romantic novel centered around Amanda Parker, a tragedy-prone antiques appraiser, and Mark Callahan, a member of the mounted division of the Chicago Police Department. The story begins with Amanda recovering from the loss of her fiancé in a plane crash. She and Mark are literally thrown together when she pulls him out of the way of falling debris from a train wreck. The two are instantly drawn to one another, both with the unshakable feeling that they’ve met before. After eliminating all possibility that they know each other from this current time, they open themselves to the option that their connection goes back to another life. Thus begins the spiritual and mental investigation of their immediate attraction and love for one another.
What I appreciated about this book is the author’s attempt to combine different time periods, and past and present lives into the character development. I was left with no doubt that Amanda had been through deep tragedy which affected her ability to trust her new love interest, Mark. There are glimpses of decent writing within this book that show the author’s potential in certain descriptive paragraphs. For example, in chapter 4 when Mark and Amanda go on a date to a nice restaurant, I got a clear picture of the venue. However, the author’s writing style, in general, leaves much to be desired.
While I applaud the author for what could be an interesting concept, the story of two people falling in love through time is not a new one. I was hoping to read a fresh take on this idea, or at least be connected to the characters in a way that makes me care. Neither of these things happened. Although the main goal of the couple was to find the reason they both felt they already knew each other, much of the book was spent on them having sex, Mark calling Amanda pet names, and not being able to get past Amanda’s emotional pain long enough to move the story forward in a productive way.
As far as the characters themselves, Amanda was relatable in her pain and struggle to be open to new relationships, but as much as I wanted to really care about her, I just couldn’t. Her only defining characteristics were her struggle with the misery in her life caused by the deaths of everyone important to her, her love for Mark against her will or logic, and her love of antiques. I needed something further to really feel connected to her. Mark, for me, had no redeeming qualities. He seemed aggressive in his actions and responses toward Amanda, in the name of love. The author’s attempt at making him seem intense come across as somewhat creepy, and I often wondered if Mark was an alcoholic. Their relationship was one of dependency which also seemed counter-productive to the progression of the overall story. I felt that the foundation of the story was not sound, and so the details were often disjointed, vague, or seemingly random.
The final nails in the coffin were the number of typos in this book, and the corny and sometimes culturally-offensive dialogue, like in the case of the antique-shop owner, Ed Morgen, and the black characters in the book. The author attempted to write southern, broken English for two of the characters, but I found it ineffective and possibly ill-researched. The book does not appear to have been professionally edited. Multiple times, right in the middle of a word or sentence would be random symbols (such as =”-) or letters (such as “ae tof her nd”) that made this book a choppy read. It could be that the formatting for the eBook caused issues, but there are so many instances that it seems neglectful.
Overall, I give this book 1 out of 4 stars. I would maybe give it 1.5 if I could score half-points, just because I do see some decent writing occasionally throughout the book. However, based on the loose plot, lack of depth to the characters, excessive typos, lack of originality in storytelling, and sub-par dialogue, I do not recommend this book as a good read.
******
Yesterday
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like mwsimmons's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "Yesterday" by Samyann
