Official Review: Guardian of Paradise by W.E. Lawrence

[Heather]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Guardian of Paradise" by W.E. Lawrence.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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Guardian of Paradise, by W.E. Lawrence, is a fictional story about a woman, Kira, who has lived on a remote island since her missionary parents brought her there at the age of twelve. Her parents died while she was still young, but she stayed on the island, cared for by the local tribe of people. As she grew she relied on the training her parents had given her and gained knowledge by the books they left behind and by what the locals had to teach her. As a woman she felt she was one of the locals, but being the only one with any real knowledge of the outside world, she felt it was her duty, her calling even, to protect the island and the people on it. This task became more difficult when a merchant ship arrived, with a captain who claimed goodwill and asked to be allowed to harvest some of the amazing crops that the island produced. Kira suspects his intentions are less than honorable, but has trouble convincing the tribal chief to be wary. As she tries to figure out how to protect the people and island she loves, her once simple life becomes even more complicated by the handsome doctor, who works for the captain. He stirs up feelings Kira has never experienced before, and she is unsure how to handle them.

I had high hopes for this story that were unfortunately unmet. Described as a romance, yet filled with adventure, taking place in 1888, with an island location, I thought it would be just the kind of story I would enjoy. As I read the beginning, my hopes were still high. The writing seemed decent, even if there was some slang I was unused to, and the potential for a great book was there. However, as I kept reading things started to go downhill. First I found some parts hard to follow and found myself going back to parts I had previously read trying to understand what was going on, or how characters would be able to react in the ways they did. It seemed as though they had information that didn’t seem likely for them to know, based on things they said. Sometimes this was cleared up later, and sometimes it was not, but it really took me out of the story trying to figure it out. And then there were they typos and grammatical errors. This book would have benefitted from a good proofread.

As far as the characters are concerned, I didn’t really like any of them. Kira was ridiculously naïve, yet arrogant in thinking the people on the island couldn’t survive without her. Although, maybe they couldn’t, considering their actions and behaviors. And there was absolutely no appeal in the doctor either. I just couldn’t connect with anyone in this story, making it very hard to care about what happened.

The plot itself had potential and could have made a good story, but the writing I found decent at the beginning became filled with unlikely scenarios and conversations, and at times seemed just plain cheesy. I felt no suspense, even in the suspenseful situations. Then there was the fact that it did not feel like a historical story. In fact, I had to go back and double check to see if I was remembering the time period from the description wrong. But, no, it was meant to take place in the 1800’s. I’ve read a lot of books from that time period, and this one did not read like one. Words were said by the characters that would not have been said during that time period. For example, dynamite was described as a bomb thingy. It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that the word bomb was used for an explosive device. It all just felt too modern.

However, my biggest problem with this book was the graphic, explicit, and cheesy way sex scenes were written. There was way too much detail and the words used to describe things were ridiculous. I don’t mind sex scenes in a book but these were beyond anything I have the desire to read. Ever. Also, the way the story was written, I couldn’t really feel the romance it claims to have. I do not want to read cheesy descriptions of body parts and exactly what is being done with them every second of the way. Romance is more about the feelings, which I found to be severely lacking or overshadowed by the sex.

Overall, I give this book 1 out of 4 stars. I would have been able to give it a slightly higher rating if it wasn’t for the graphic sex. There may be those out there who enjoy reading that kind of thing, and if so might enjoy this story, but I did not.

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Guardian of Paradise
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[literarycat]

Thanks for the review, very detailed and informative.

[bookowlie]

Nice review. It's disappointing when a book goes downhill after a good start.