Review by Falling4Ever -- B-Side by Janis Jones

[Falling4Ever]

[Following is a volunteer review of "B-Side" by Janis Jones.]

---

4 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

After her partner’s near-death experience, Mara is determined to find who did it and put them in a cell where they belong. This is how B-Side, by Janis Jones, starts. Along the way, she stumbles into many roadblocks, at work, and at home. At work, she has to push to get on the case of Casey, her partner, and once she gets the case, she must pretend she doesn’t know who Casey is, because if the rest of the police unit knew, they would think of her as a biased individual, which would deem her unable to take the case.

At home, she must deal with a jealous girlfriend, because due to her working the case, she must collaborate with her ex-boyfriend. Mara has settled things with Derek, her ex, but he seems not to have gotten the message and is all for getting back together with Mara. Little does she know, he will go far beyond the limits to get back with her.

I loved the way this book was narrated. It seemed to be omniscient, but you soon figure out that there are many things that the narrator does not know. Although it may be in 3rd person, the narrator is still limited. My favorite aspect of the book was the build-up and suspense throughout the entire book. There are so many plot twists and odd details, the reader has no idea who the real villain is until the end of the book. The character development was also fantastic, and nothing was glorified or sugar-coated. The people in relationships got into fights, and the police didn’t always win. It made the book a lot more realistic and kept it from feeling cliché.

However, my least favorite aspect of the book was the quick narrative changes. As I stated before, the narration was mostly third-person limited, but sometimes, the narration would change to a character’s perspective. Although there were signs of change a few times, such as the text being italicized, most of the changes were sudden and with no warning. This caught me off guard, and I had to reread some parts because of how the perspective affected the plot.

I would still give this book a 4 out of 4 because even though it could be confusing, these sections were limited and it was easy enough to spot the change once you knew they were a possibility. The plot and build-up were still amazing and mostly unaffected by this aspect. In the end, I would recommend this book to anyone over the age of 14, because there is a bit of cussing throughout.

******
B-Side
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Kelyn]

I think this one sounds a bit too much like a "soap-opera" for me to enjoy fully. The sudden changes in narration style would probably be a hang-up for me as well. I think I'll give this one a pass for now. Thanks for the review!