OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Reflection of Innocence" by John Tolliver.]

The Reflection of Innocence by John Tolliver was about John Calabrace, a man with a gift to see other people’s memories.

Told in the first person perspective, the story started with young John, who was confused and scared of the ‘pictures’ he saw in his head every time someone touched him. As he grew older, his episodes started to overwhelm him that he resorted to alcohol. His discovery about his great uncle inspired him to enlist for the navy. However, the presence of an old nemesis made John decide to join the submariners. Just when he was genuinely enjoying the life under the sea, he was pulled out for reasons ambiguous to him. It was then that he started a new life using his gift in the service of his country.

Basically, the story has a very interesting premise. While it focused mainly on John’s gift, it also highlighted historical figures and events. The part I like most was John’s time in the submarine. The author wrote about it with enthusiasm that he made the submariner’s life sound very interesting and exciting. The descriptions of the submarine were vivid that the reader could imagine himself actually there. In addition, the author adeptly inserted real historical events expertly detailing the pain and suffering of the prisoners of war.

Moreover, the author successfully created memorable characters. With his gift pushing him to the brink of sanity, John for me, was relatable. Though it was morally wrong to resort to alcohol, it was, I believe, understandable under the given circumstances. With his head bursting with other people’s memories: happy, sad, horrific and painful, etc. the need to drown them out with intoxicating beverage was an immediate relief. Lt. CJ Kopchik was a lovable character. He was protective of John. He was loyal and reliable, always giving John the space he needed and the assurance he longed for. He was a really good friend.

However, I found the pace too slow making the story seem too long. There were numerous repetitions particularly about John’s revert to alcohol after each mission and each personal tragedy that it eventually became tiring. The writing was verbose especially in the early chapters, where the descriptions of the scenes were far too elaborate. I also noticed several redundancies throughout the story (shallow shoal, critically important, vitally relevant) and other errors including missing and excess words. Furthermore, the absence of back stories particularly on Great Uncle John made the book, somehow, incomplete.

Despite the flaws, however, the story was interesting and enjoyable with an exciting climax. In view of that, I give this book the rate of 3 out of 4 stars and I recommend it to readers who enjoy historical fiction with a touch of paranormal.

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The Reflection of Innocence
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Like kimmyschemy06's review? Post a comment saying so!

Thank you for the honest review. I thought your review was thorough and insightful to learn coming from my perspective as a first time author. I felt kind of the same way about some of the earlier chapters (bit too tedious and repetitive), but did feel it picked up steam once the character started his college years going forward.
It pleased me very much that you enjoyed the submarine and military chapters as I had a challenging time writing those. I could write them from strictly a technical point of view, but instead tried to immerse ANY reader into what the character experienced, and appreciate your kind words that I was able to accomplish that.
Been pretty pleased that have been getting some positive feedback nationally(as well as internationally) that men and women both walked away with a better understanding of not only the Navy & submarine life, but also learning about the real life historical events that I tried to immerse the character into

johhnnyt wrote:Thank you for the honest review. I thought your review was thorough and insightful to learn coming from my perspective as a first time author. I felt kind of the same way about some of the earlier chapters (bit too tedious and repetitive), but did feel it picked up steam once the character started his college years going forward.
It pleased me very much that you enjoyed the submarine and military chapters as I had a challenging time writing those. I could write them from strictly a technical point of view, but instead tried to immerse ANY reader into what the character experienced, and appreciate your kind words that I was able to accomplish that.
Been pretty pleased that have been getting some positive feedback nationally(as well as internationally) that men and women both walked away with a better understanding of not only the Navy & submarine life, but also learning about the real life historical events that I tried to immerse the character into

You're welcome. I enjoyed your book a lot and I love your characters. Your narratives and descriptions were very well written. I got so absorbed that I even googled images of a submarine as well as the historical figures you included in the story. Looking forward to your future books.

This is a very nice informative review. At first, when it seemed like the book dragged a little I wasn't sure if I would like to read it, but you made it seem like there were interesting characters and a good pace to the story towards the end so I think it is a book I would like to read.

Seeing other people's memories seems like an interesting idea for a story. Congratulations to the author for writing such an interesting story with lots of information about life on a submarine and historical events.

Nice review indeed. Congratulations to the author for the positive review.

Amheiser wrote:This is a very nice informative review. At first, when it seemed like the book dragged a little I wasn't sure if I would like to read it, but you made it seem like there were interesting characters and a good pace to the story towards the end so I think it is a book I would like to read.

Seeing other people's memories seems like an interesting idea for a story. Congratulations to the author for writing such an interesting story with lots of information about life on a submarine and historical events.

Thank you very much. It is a very interesting and enjoyable book.

-- 07 Mar 2016, 00:14 --

gali wrote:Nice review indeed. Congratulations to the author for the positive review.

Thank you.

Thanks again for the kind support regarding the book, it gives a first time author a big smile. To me, the concept of having a main character that could not only see other peoples memories and their associated emotions was fascinating. Even from the simple perspective of being able to see into a brilliant persons mind, you see what was important and emotional in his/her life. Then again flip the coin, and you see people on the opposite end of the spectrum (and everyone in between). Seeing the memories/past emotions of everyone around you without a filter wouldn't be pleasant.
Because of my own experience on submarines, I thought it to be a great additional viewpoint for the character to experience . I loved the metaphor of the character being somewhat protected and isolated from most of the world in a steel tube several hundred feet below the ocean, and then plucking him from that safety zone back into the world that he had run away from.
My favorite part though had to be the climax, the character made me a proud Papa

Is the book more thriller than historical novel? I like the mix. Very honest, detailed review. I like that the author is willing to take your advice on board. Well done, John! Well done, kimmyschemy!

chytach18- wrote:Is the book more thriller than historical novel? I like the mix. Very honest, detailed review. I like that the author is willing to take your advice on board. Well done, John! Well done, kimmyschemy!

Thank you. The historical events were just the backdrop which went very well with the thriller part making it one enjoyable read.

Great review, kimmyschemy06! And congratulations on the author for a great review!

Thanks again for the encouragement and support. It is a fascinating process writing a book. Fitting the pieces together in a somewhat cohesive way. So many of the characters were based on fragments of people I know/knew so they were easy. It was nice to read in the review that the CJ Kopchik was liked as much as I liked writing about him. He was truly a created character, and I think the main characters moral conscience/safety net through much of the book.
Since the book grew so quickly (I think even after editing it was 600+ pages in the 6x9 format), I ended up leaving so much of CJ's back story on the cutting room floor. I did find it absolutely necessary to create his entire life in my head to fully understand and write about how he would react in certain scenario's
(removed by mod) thanks again for welcoming me with such open arms

hsimone wrote:Great review, kimmyschemy06! And congratulations on the author for a great review!

Thank you very much.

I loved your review. I really like the way you balanced both the good and the improvable aspects of the book in such a complete manner. The book does sound interesting!

AnushkaL wrote:I loved your review. I really like the way you balanced both the good and the improvable aspects of the book in such a complete manner. The book does sound interesting!

Thank you very much. It is a very interesting book, indeed.

Nice, well detailed and balanced review! Congratulations to the author on a positive review!