Official Review: The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster

[LivreAmour217]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster" by Scott Wilbanks.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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I chose to review this book for one reason: I'm a sucker for neologisms. The word lemoncholy cried out to me, promising a unique and enjoyable read, and I was irresistibly drawn to it. A once-over of the plot description sealed the deal, and I was ready to embark on my newest literary journey.

Annie Aster is an eccentric twenty-something from San Francisco. With a pronounced dislike for convention and a laid-back disposition, Annie is completely unruffled when her backyard garden is inexplicably replaced by a Kansas wheat field. In the middle of that wheat field is a small cabin with a rusty mailbox, which Annie uses to begin correspondence with her newest neighbor, a retired schoolmarm from the year 1895! As the two women exchange letters, they discover that they share a bond that reaches across a century and ties them both to a murder that has yet to take place.

Part murder mystery and part science fiction, with a cast of quirky and utterly lovable characters, The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster is a delightful read with broad appeal. I enjoyed this book immensely and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a "different" kind of story that doesn't fit neatly into a specific genre.

Overall, the story was very well-written. The text was virtually free of grammatical and typographical errors (in fact, I only spotted one), and the plot moved at a consistent pace with no lulls. My only criticism of the writing is that there were sentences here and there that either lacked adequate description or were worded in a way that I found confusing. Whenever I encountered one of these, I usually had to reread the sentence a few times to get the gist of it, and while I eventually figured out the meaning each time, having to do this did detract a bit from my enjoyment. However, I do want to make clear that this did not happen frequently throughout the book, and the majority of the time I had no problems understanding the events that transpired.

The book's strongest aspect is the characters themselves. I was struck with how lifelike and relatable Annie and her friends were, and with how many emotions each character stirred within me. My favorite character was the protagonist herself: loyal, accepting, and unapologetically authentic, Annie is someone that I would love to have as a friend.

My sole complaint about this book is that it ended too abruptly. I finished the novel with a feeling that something was missing. There was a hint at another possible time-travel adventure, which makes me think that there may be a sequel in the works, but I didn't get that feeling of certainty that I usually pick up on when reading serial novels.

But on the whole, this is a highly entertaining book that I would recommend to all lovers of fiction. I give The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster 3 out of 4 stars for its original plot and cast of wonderful characters.

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The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster
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Like LivreAmour217's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Rachaelamb1]

The title is attention grabbing and the storyline sounds charming. This is one I'll add to my to-read list. Thanks for the great review!

[Levi]

@LivreAmour217 well I like freakin' funny sounding word play words too, but what's that got ta do with neolo--whatever you said?! Ha ha jk I bow to your vocabulary, my friend. Absolutely amazing review. In fact, I kinda want to read it now. That's the mark of a great review!

[Tanaya]

The title is brilliant. I had to Google the definition of "neologism." Now I know. I'm a sucker for well-written and developed characters. I also like the fact that the book can't be easily categorized. Sounds like a good book.

[LivreAmour217]

@Rachelamb1, you are welcome, and thanks so much for the feedback! I hope you enjoy the book!!!

@Escapeartist and Tanaya, thank you also for the kind words! I have to confess that I had to re-acquaint myself with the word neologism when I picked up this book. I saw "lemoncholy" and my first thought was, "What a cool word! Its neo...neo...something! What is that word again??? Dang it, time for a Google search!"

[Levi]

@LivreAmour217 Ha ha that's okay, you still knew it, and it made the review interesting in the beginning. I had to stop and look it up.

[bookowlie]

Great review as always. I particularly enjoyed reading it since I almost chose this review book recently. Your review made me want to read it even more!

[zeldas_lullaby]

Great review! Lemoncholy. I love it.

[PashaRu]

Love the review! This sounds like a quirky, funny book. Your review makes me want to read it. I've put it on my TBR list. Thanks!

[chytach18-]

Wonderful review. I`m going to add "lemoncholy" to my vocabulary.

[gali]

A nice review! The book sounds intriguing and I added it to my list.

[LivreAmour217]

@Bookowlie, PashaRu, and Gali: Thank you very much! I hope you guys enjoy the book!

@Zelda and Chytach18: Thanks also! Lemoncholy is a wonderful word, is it not?

[Ursula_Minor]

This sounds like a really interesting read! Can you speak a bit more to the writing? I'm on the fence about putting it on my "leisure" reading list: my me-time books need to be books with excellent, or at least not bad-to-the-point-of-distracting writing.
Great review, also!

[Amheiser]

I like the concept for this story and I like mysteries so this book sounds like one that I would enjoy reading. I have read books with awkward and confusing sentence structure. It does get distracting having to read sentences over a few times to figure out what they really mean, but I like the idea of this story so much that I think I would take a chance on reading it. Thanks for the great review.

[LivreAmour217]

This sounds like a really interesting read! Can you speak a bit more to the writing? I'm on the fence about putting it on my "leisure" reading list: my me-time books need to be books with excellent, or at least not bad-to-the-point-of-distracting writing.
Great review, also!

Hi, Ursula! Overall, the writing in this book is good. Like I said, there are some awkward sentences, but they aren't too frequent. I totally understand your concern, as I also would not want to spend my leisure time on a book that is riddled with grammatical errors, but this book is not one of those! If you decide to put this one on your list, I hope you enjoy it! Thanks also for the feedback on my review!

-- 17 Sep 2015, 11:51 --

I like the concept for this story and I like mysteries so this book sounds like one that I would enjoy reading. I have read books with awkward and confusing sentence structure. It does get distracting having to read sentences over a few times to figure out what they really mean, but I like the idea of this story so much that I think I would take a chance on reading it. Thanks for the great review.

Thanks, Amheiser! Fortunately, the awkward sentences aren't too frequent! Happy reading!