Review by mpetrini -- Diamond and Pearls by Julien Ayotte
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mpetrini
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- Latest Review: Diamond and Pearls by Julien Ayotte
Review by mpetrini -- Diamond and Pearls by Julien Ayotte
[Following is a volunteer review of "Diamond and Pearls" by Julien Ayotte.]
Diamond and Pearls by Julien Ayotte is not your average thief's story. Sydney Malone is a real estate agent trying to maintain her lavish lifestyle with her new "side job". Drew Diamond is the insurance agent trying to find a set of $100,000 pearls. Garrett is a jewelry store owner with a questionable business that is monitored by the local mafia family. Richie is a runner for the local mafia family but wants to turn his life around for his mother. All of these characters are players in the game for the $100,000 pearl necklace and become intertwined in each others lives for better or worse.
I was continually drawn into the story that Ayotte wrote because of the multiple storylines that he intersected perfectly. All of the character points of view were connected in way that he kept revealing at every twist and turn of the story. I was repeatedly being surprised by all of the connections that Ayotte created and revealed which kept me glued to the story until the end. Character relations came out of no where and left me saying "aha" every time one was revealed. The incorporation of side characters as connections was used seamlessly throughout the book and made all of the storylines very streamlined. Ayotte also wrote engaging character arcs for characters like Sydney and Richie who wanted to turn their lives around and become the best versions of themselves. The arcs were realistic and easy for a reader to relate to.
While Ayotte's writing is overall very engaging, it can often be done in short, choppy sentences. I found the book slightly hard to read at some points because the writing was very dull. The short sentences displayed a lack of literary superiority that a storyline of this complexity requires, and therefore often took away from the story itself. Much of the writing outside of the dialogue seemed very informal in its style which made the book seem a bit unprofessional at times. The somewhat dull writing style often overshadowed the cleverness of the story itself. Though the story does pick up once more of the characters are introduced, the beginning of the book is very slow and can be hard to get into. I found that the writing and the characters did not yet engage me at the start of the book, and I might have put it down were it not for the review that I had to write. I am, however, very glad that I did not put it down because the rest of the book was extremely enjoyable, but I found the beginning to be lacking.
I would rate this book overall 4 out of 4 stars. While the book had a slow start, the rest of the story completely made up for it. The unexpected connections between the characters and the constant chase to find he pearls kept me very much engaged as Ayotte unveiled more and more of the story. The book was exceptionally well edited and the story itself kept surprising me until the very last page.
I would recommend this book to readers that like intersecting storylines. This book has plenty of them and Ayotte does a wonderful job of revealing the connections at just the right time to build the story further. I would also recommend Diamond and Pearls to readers that enjoy the chase of a criminal and morally grey characters that have a character arc to better themselves for a significant other.
******
Diamond and Pearls
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
Diamond and Pearls by Julien Ayotte is not your average thief's story. Sydney Malone is a real estate agent trying to maintain her lavish lifestyle with her new "side job". Drew Diamond is the insurance agent trying to find a set of $100,000 pearls. Garrett is a jewelry store owner with a questionable business that is monitored by the local mafia family. Richie is a runner for the local mafia family but wants to turn his life around for his mother. All of these characters are players in the game for the $100,000 pearl necklace and become intertwined in each others lives for better or worse.
I was continually drawn into the story that Ayotte wrote because of the multiple storylines that he intersected perfectly. All of the character points of view were connected in way that he kept revealing at every twist and turn of the story. I was repeatedly being surprised by all of the connections that Ayotte created and revealed which kept me glued to the story until the end. Character relations came out of no where and left me saying "aha" every time one was revealed. The incorporation of side characters as connections was used seamlessly throughout the book and made all of the storylines very streamlined. Ayotte also wrote engaging character arcs for characters like Sydney and Richie who wanted to turn their lives around and become the best versions of themselves. The arcs were realistic and easy for a reader to relate to.
While Ayotte's writing is overall very engaging, it can often be done in short, choppy sentences. I found the book slightly hard to read at some points because the writing was very dull. The short sentences displayed a lack of literary superiority that a storyline of this complexity requires, and therefore often took away from the story itself. Much of the writing outside of the dialogue seemed very informal in its style which made the book seem a bit unprofessional at times. The somewhat dull writing style often overshadowed the cleverness of the story itself. Though the story does pick up once more of the characters are introduced, the beginning of the book is very slow and can be hard to get into. I found that the writing and the characters did not yet engage me at the start of the book, and I might have put it down were it not for the review that I had to write. I am, however, very glad that I did not put it down because the rest of the book was extremely enjoyable, but I found the beginning to be lacking.
I would rate this book overall 4 out of 4 stars. While the book had a slow start, the rest of the story completely made up for it. The unexpected connections between the characters and the constant chase to find he pearls kept me very much engaged as Ayotte unveiled more and more of the story. The book was exceptionally well edited and the story itself kept surprising me until the very last page.
I would recommend this book to readers that like intersecting storylines. This book has plenty of them and Ayotte does a wonderful job of revealing the connections at just the right time to build the story further. I would also recommend Diamond and Pearls to readers that enjoy the chase of a criminal and morally grey characters that have a character arc to better themselves for a significant other.
******
Diamond and Pearls
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
Latest Review: Diamond and Pearls by Julien Ayotte
