Review of The Twinkle in Pa's Eye

Sonia_Gonzalez · Post by **Sonia_Gonzalez** » 22 May 2023, 14:59

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Twinkle in Pa's Eye" by Lizzie Collins.]

4 out of 5 stars

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After a mysterious woman that seems to know her criticizes her art, Christie's life becomes complicated and strange and even takes her on dangerous paths. Christie's life has been a lie for the past eighteen years, or at least that is what she feels when she discovers a shocking secret, her parents have kept. What impact will it have on her life? Why were they keeping that secret? Who else was lying to her? And what does that mysterious symbol she keeps seeing in her friends mean? The Twinkle in Pa's Eye by Lizzie Collins is the second book from The Ultimate Link Trilogy. The novel follows Anna Christina Heywood (Christie) from when she was thirteen years old into adulthood, as she embarks on a journey of growth and self-discovery.

The novel begins with a short chapter titled "The Story So Far" that perfectly summarizes the events from the first book (Ultimate Link). This chapter reminded me of the "previously on" we often see in TV shows; I hope we get to see this often in books. I was not expecting this, but it was a delightful surprise, as it provided an insightful backstory to the characters in this book and allowed me to understand the events that happened in the previous book. I believe this makes The Twinkle in Pa's Eye an exceptional standalone while also avoiding that those who read the first book do not feel bored with repetitiveness.

I love the mystery this novel unravels. I was captivated since I first read the synopsis, and as I flipped the digital pages of this book, I was more and more interested. I could not put the book down. I could not connect with the characters because I felt we had nothing in common, yet the plot was interesting enough that I was not discouraged by that. The book has more characters than I expected, but I could tell who was narrating and talking all the time; they had different personalities, feelings, and descriptions. However, I was disappointed that some characters were only mentioned a couple of times, and then they seemed to disappear, becoming irrelevant. It made me wonder how important and necessary some of the characters are. Maybe they will have a more significant impact on the next book. The book also had some twists I was not expecting, which is always lovely. This is also a book that can be read in just a couple of days as it is over 200 pages long.

The book has been edited, but it still has some mistakes. I found punctuation and grammar mistakes, including using an incorrectly written Spanish word. This upset me because it wasn't even relevant to the story, and the author did not check the spelling of something that could have been omitted. It made the author look careless, but I will not deduct a star because not every reader speaks Spanish, nor will they notice the error; this is something I, being bilingual, hate finding in books. Overall, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. It has an exciting plot and characters that seem real and have different personalities, but it still needs some editing. I am unsure if the book left enough material for the next book, but if I get my hands on it, I will give it an opportunity.

I recommend this book to young adult readers close to Christie's age (18 and above) that like music, as it takes a big part of the story, enjoy solving mysteries, or just like nicely written fiction novels.

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The Twinkle in Pa's Eye
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