Official Review: Crystal Rose by T.S. Roberts

[erasmus]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Crystal Rose" by T.S. Roberts.]

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In this novella, four friends and partners - Crystal Rose, the psychic; Julie, the financer ; Leah, who deals with clients and manages their marketing and logistics; and Owen, who is their religious backing - run Crystal Rose and Associates, a professional agency which takes on any psychic or paranormal cases. They also help the police department when they're out of their depth. Their small family is working out perfectly, with one problem: Crystal's name isn't Crystal at all.

Before she met her friends, Crystal woke up in a hospital with no idea as to what happened to land her in the hospital, and how she got there. Worse still, she was left with no memories of who she was. Julie, who volunteered at the homeless shelter at that time, decided to take her in and gave her the name 'Crystal Rose'.

Fast forward six years later, and Crystal Rose and Associates deals with a seemingly normal, if nasty, haunting, until it reveals links to Crystal's past, and why nobody ever looked for her despite her amnesia. Crystal chases after the clues doggedly and manages to uncover pieces of her memories that she never could before. However, together with the remnants of her past, Crystal also unknowingly unearths something inhuman, violent, and dangerous....

The secrets to Crystal's past might just be the death of them all.

At the beginning, the plot of Crystal Rose is predictable. The idea, however, is interesting enough to keep me reading. It's made even more so in the later part of the novella when a plot twist takes me completely by surprise (that's the thrill, right there). The predictability of events in the earlier part of Crystal Rose made me let my guard down, and I was stunned speechless - quite pleasantly - for a moment by the twist.

However, the plot once again levels after that, and I'm predicting the events again. Also, while I like the other characters - Julie, Leah, and Owen - well enough, there is little to no backstory for them. So much backstory is dedicated to Crystal that even her friends - who are very close to her and are a big part of the story - get completely overshadowed. They aren't sufficiently fleshed out or developed, and I feel that they are just props - standing in the background without getting noticed, they're just to enhance they main lead and nothing more. As a result, it is very difficult to connect with the characters. I feel like I don't know them, and they are not engaging at all. Therefore, I'm rating Crystal Rose 3 out of 4 stars. Nevertheless, I do recommend this novella to those who like to read paranormal mysteries at night. It's especially good on a rainy one.

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[Skillian]

Interesting. While for the most part it just sounds like some easy reading.... it seems intriguing enough to give a try. Thanks for the review! I'm probably gonna check it out. *adds to reading list* I'm really just a sucker for all things paranormal. haha.

[erasmus]

I hope you enjoy it!