Official Review: 10 Conversations (Book 1): A Tragic Roma...

DarkestbeforeDawn · Post by **DarkestbeforeDawn** » 16 Jan 2016, 14:21

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "10 Conversations (Book 1): A Tragic Romance Novel" by Kevin D. Rolle.]

1 out of 4 stars

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At first glance, developing a romance purely through dialogue is an interesting and unique way to approach the young adult romance genre. To execute it is fairly simple, to execute it well would be difficult, but not entirely impossible. The efforts of the author, Kevin D. Rolle would undoubtedly pave the way for new developments and techniques to cultivate this new method of storytelling. However, the novel failed to deliver any notable achievements or improvements from the genre.

The two characters, Brad and Trisha, are cookie-cutter, stock characters from the same fabric of many musings of a seventh grader. They are the standard archetype of the arrogant jock who tries to seduce (as the novel states) the conservative, bookworm girl. The book starts off rather abruptly, with the two characters thrust into interacting with each other without a lead-in, explanation, or background established. Therefore, the hastily and forced dialogue between the characters declare it in a manner that is completely foreign to natural conversation. This is a trend in the book, one of necessity. Because there are very sparse descriptions to illustrate the situation the characters go through, the reader only catches glimpses of it when the Brad brings it up in the conversation, as though Trisha suffered from short term memory loss and must be constantly reminded in order for the story to progress. The book is very stiff and inorganic due to this. It makes it actually painful to read.

Dialogue is the only element this book capitalizes on, and therefore, the character development must occur only through recounting and recalling memories as well as burgeoning conversation. However, this novel suffers from "talking heads" where the characters only spout words at each other. Because of this, Trisha and Brad are very uninteresting profiles and there is very little invested in them. As a romance novel, the readers expect the two characters to end up together, therefore, there is little to no surprise when they do. Therefore, there should be well developed drama and/or suspense to initiate the reader's interests. 10 Conversation (Book 1): A Tragic Romance Novel fails to achieve any of these elements. It doesn't even attempt it. What the novel is left with is a completely worn-out, trite, and amateur teen romance told via chess-piece storytelling, where characters merely go through the motion, lacking any emotion, development, and humanity. Rolle attempted some sort of character development with Trisha and her conservative views, but that doesn't amount to anything and translates to uneasy and awkward reading. Even though her story arc and development are little to none, it still tops Brad in his area of personal development. He does not change, evolve, or learn anything new in the ten conversations he has with Trisha. His character is a complete flatline. Therefore, Trisha must carry the entire book and phenomenally fails to do so.

The "romance" between these characters are also very unbelievable. They are supposed to be college freshmen but talk in this strange and immature manner to each other. Here and then, Trisha will call Brad "Mr. Williams", which I suppose is a nod to her conservative personality, and I can't imagine that 18/19 year old teenagers would do. The progression and pace of their relationship is sporadic and largely- offscreen. The moments are recounted during their conversations so the story suffers because Rolle merely tells of the romance rather than showing it. Their words, topics, and mannerisms of speech could be a unique way to give insight to the characters' personalities which would then develop into chemistry. However, this is not the case. Each romantic moment in this book is forcibly recounted and not at all believable. The lack of personalities and no chemistry between the characters make it very difficult to accept 10 Conversation (Book 1): A Tragic Romance Novel as a romance at all.

In conclusion, I would give 10 Conversation (Book 1): A Tragic Romance Novel 1 out of 4 stars. Not only has this been a painfully, boring read, it failed to even make an impression on me. I have taken away nothing from this book, which is the largest failure a book could do. Looking at the title, I feel lied to. 10 Conversation (Book 1): A Tragic Romance Novel implies that there is a romance, and it is of the tragic nature. The romance is devoid of anything, including romance. The tragedy is completely absent beside the fact that this book is written so poorly that it is indeed tragic. This novel feels like intensive pandering to the 6-8th grade female demographic with little to no effort put into at all, however, the content is inappropriate for the audience who could accept this absurdity as reality. Therefore, there is no audience for this novel at all. This book is part of a series, and I am shocked. 10 Conversation (Book 1): A Tragic Romance Novel fails to stand on its own as a decent book and I shudder at the thought that there will be several more clones of this.
1 out of 4

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10 Conversations (Book 1): A Tragic Romance Novel
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freeandtrue · Post by **freeandtrue** » 17 Jan 2016, 19:13

Wow, what a scathing review. There is a lot of passion involved, clearly, and judging from your comments, it looks like it was warranted.

funandfree89 · Post by **funandfree89** » 19 Jan 2016, 22:02

It sounds like you are certainly a thorough critic, and although this seems kind of harsh. I can see that your arguments are valid and the points that you bring up about the unbelievabilty and the cliche of the book are not uncommon for this genre. I hope you can find a book that you will give a positive review because i would love to see your reasons!

foxrunsforever · Post by **foxrunsforever** » 19 Jan 2016, 22:57

i will be sure to avoid this book. thanks for youre review!

PeterTRoth · Post by **PeterTRoth** » 19 Jan 2016, 23:04

it sounds like my daughter would like this. although i don't necessarily like it, wishfulfillment isnt the worst thing that can happen. as long as the morals are okay and they arent proposing any illegal acts, i think its okay for kids

Nostalgiadreams · Post by **Nostalgiadreams** » 19 Jan 2016, 23:23

A very detailed and indepth review. I'll be sure to pass this book up.

enemyoftheday · Post by **enemyoftheday** » 19 Jan 2016, 23:51

awww, too bad, the title sounds so promising. but if the title doesn't match the content, i can't trust it at all

-- 19 Jan 2016, 23:52 --

funandfree89 wrote:It sounds like you are certainly a thorough critic, and although this seems kind of harsh. I can see that your arguments are valid and the points that you bring up about the unbelievabilty and the cliche of the book are not uncommon for this genre. I hope you can find a book that you will give a positive review because i would love to see your reasons!

I always feel sad when romance books are just cheap, quick cutouts

glenradcliffe · Post by **glenradcliffe** » 19 Jan 2016, 23:57

I don't like historical romance, and nowadays, I don't really like modern romance. I guess I'll have to settle for the classic romances.

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 21 Jan 2016, 06:16

That was a very honest review. Seems like the book needs not just editing but revision.

nostalgiavirtue · Post by **nostalgiavirtue** » 07 Feb 2016, 03:57

Wow, this book has some inherent problems it seems.

runawaytrain · Post by **runawaytrain** » 14 Feb 2016, 01:08

A book composed of pure dialoge does sound really interesting, but I guess it could be pulled off.

literarychemist · Post by **literarychemist** » 14 Feb 2016, 01:14

i always disliked it when little teenybopper romances were over dramatized

savagelion · Post by **savagelion** » 15 Feb 2016, 01:10

what a trite sounding romance.

Delilah13 · Post by **Delilah13** » 06 Mar 2016, 18:22

I have always noticed this trend in e-books, romance genres especially. I wish that there was a better standard for romance novels rather than mere wish fulfillment