OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Melanie's Evanescent Journey" by B Truly.]

B. Truly’s novel, Melanie’s Evanescent Journey, is a paranormal romance that serves as a companion story to the Sonar series and ties in to both the first and second book. However, this story stands well on its own merit and may be enjoyed without the benefit of first reading other books from the series.

Melanie is a 17 year old from Australia who moves to Denver, Colorado when her parents take a new job. Over the summer she quickly becomes close friends with her next door neighbor, Ebony. Once school begins Melanie is immediately and inexorably drawn to Jason, a mysterious boy in her class. As she is drawn into an intense whirlwind romance, Melanie slowly realizes that Jason has been hiding secrets; secrets with far reaching consequences. She must also feel her way through family dynamics with Jason’s younger sister and brother as well as other undercurrents. As forces push them farther apart, Jason’s secrets bring dangers and revelations that she never could have imagined.

The style of writing and storyline read like a young adult novel with a straight forward narration. However, I would not recommend it for young readers since a sexual relationship does develop quickly for this underage couple. It is difficult to believe that neither Melanie nor Jason ever considered taking any precautions for safe sex or any possible consequences to their physical relationship. The characters also engage in underage drinking at a party. These occurrences are only found in the first part of the book, which is broken into two parts.

The author is successful at keeping the attention of the reader by regular plot developments that keeps you guessing at what will happen next. Enjoyably, this book does not end like a typical romance novel and has some unexpected twists. It is heartening to see Melanie mature through the book into a level headed, but guarded, young woman, even though her character starts out a fairly stereotypical teen.

A couple of issues with this novel are: conversations between characters in this book often feel flat; and, although Melanie is introduced as Australian, no Australian colloquialisms or phrasing are used anywhere. She is also unusually familiar with American pop culture.

I give this book 3 out of 4 stars. I would recommend this book for readers who enjoy an easy read in the young adult and paranormal romance genres and are over the age of 17.

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Melanie's Evanescent Journey
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Great review with solid critiques. It is refreshing to see that she at least develops into a more mature person, despite her stereotypical beginnings. That sounds like some interesting character development.

Thank you, Tanaya! I will admit that I am not big on romance books so I was happy that the plot did not end up getting too hung up on that and gave her character space to develop.

Excellent review! The story sounds like it has many intriguing elements.

Thank you, Kappy!

Great review. I am not a big romance fan, but I will sometimes read books in this genre - in fact, I am reading one now that is a romance/mystery. I liked your points about the sexual relationship in the story. Well done!

Wonderful review! I'm not much for this genre, but the author sounds like a very talented writer and the plot does seem intriguing. Strong character development of a teen is also a big bonus.

Thank you, bookowlie! There is a lot more to this book than romance. I would personally prefer that at a minimum some practical considerations be taken in books that may be read by teens. Outside of that, the story is enjoyable and with more of a sci fi bent than fantasy for paranormal romance.

-- 14 Oct 2015, 10:47 --

Thank you, LivreAmour!

Tanaya wrote:Great review with solid critiques. It is refreshing to see that she at least develops into a more mature person, despite her stereotypical beginnings. That sounds like some interesting character development.

I agree with Tanaya this is a great review with concise critiques. It sounds like an interesting book to read. I look forward to adding it to my shelf.

Thank you, literary cat

Quite a concise and insightful review! Seems like an engaging story.

Thank you, ananya92!

Great review! This sounds like a very interesting book.

Thank you, crossroad! This book is an interesting read and not too complex.

Hello, Anonanemone,

This is B Truly, the author of Melanie Evanescent Journey. I hope all is well. I just wanted to take the time to say thank you for reading my Companion novel for The Sonar Serious. This was a complex story and hard to balance. But I had fun writing this story in contrast with books #1 and 2. I'm glad you understood the concept that I was trying to get across. And for your honest review. That helps me learn as an author. Thanks again.