Official Review: Advance by K A Duggsy

[writer_in_red]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Advance" by K A Duggsy.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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The fiction novel Advance by K A Duggsy began with the female lead, Faith, going to an important news conference and learning about a shocking new technology, called Advance. This technology would eventually allow humans to teleport. On the same day, she met an ex-scientist who revealed to her the disturbing truth of the laboratories where Advance was developed. There, many human lives were belittled and sacrificed in the name of science. The two came up with a plan to stop Advance. Faith’s life became even more confusing (and exciting) when she met a handsome young stranger who seemed to already know her, and she realized that she may not be in possession of all her memories. Advance involved many compelling themes, such as human experimentation, the gap between the rich and poor, violence, and sexuality.

The story was told in the present tense, and switched between the three main character’s points of view. This was done in a way that made it easy to understand who was narrating, but this, along with the tense of the book, was distracting at times. In addition, towards the end of the book, where there was a lot of fast action, the three perspectives made it difficult to visualize what is going on, and in what time frame.

I noticed many grammar issues and badly worded sentences in the novel, as well as inconsistencies and plot holes. In addition, the writing was often telling instead of showing what was going on, which weakened the story.

At the beginning, the story was intriguing. I thought the premise for the book was excellent and the themes and characters had promise. But as the book went on and I noticed more and more instances of poor writing, I began to despise the characters, and this made me forget why I liked the idea behind the book.

The characters were not extremely well written. The female lead was only strong when it was convenient for the plot. In fact, I noticed changes in all three characters, when convenient for the plot. None of the leads were relatable or likable to me. The result is that I have no emotional connection to the story, and have no desire to read any additional books in this series.

The love story was the most cringe-worthy part of this novel. There was very little love actually involved, and I could not tell whether or not this was intentional. Either way, it was frustrating for me to see both characters chained to a relationship that did not show promise of ever progressing from more than an obsessive, irrational need for the other, mostly based on the physical. In addition, too much time was spent on the relationship, especially in instances where there were more pressing matters going on.

The plot did not build up to one distinct climax. Rather, it seemed to meander around the big issues. This made it difficult to see where the story was headed. I did not know it would end until all of the sudden, it was over. Obviously the author was setting up the story for a sequel, but Advance needed more closure.

Although this book was hard to get through in many instances, I am rating it 2 out of 4 stars, because of the captivating idea behind the book, the plot twists, and a few instances of truly good writing. However, I would not regard this book as a finished product, rather as a draft in need of many repairs, mostly focused on the second half of the book.

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Advance
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[kimmyschemy06]

That was a very honest review. The premise sounds very promising. Too bad, though, about the flaws. Good job on the review.