Official Review: Genna's Fight by Sheldon D. Newton

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 10 Aug 2016, 01:49

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Genna's Fight" by Sheldon D. Newton.]

3 out of 4 stars

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Written by Sheldon D. Newton, Genna’s Fight is a touching and memorable story of a battered woman.

The story is told in the third person perspective and begins on the night Genna is literally kicked out of the house by her husband Tom, after several years of physical, emotional and psychological abuse. Under a pouring rain and with only $20 in her pocket, Genna is picked up a truck driver named Reggie and is taken to the hospital. With no other option, Genna offers Reggie all the money she has if he would drop her off to California. Though he respectfully refuses to take her money, he agrees to take her with him.

While on their way, Reggie finds himself confiding his life story to Genna who patiently and attentively listens. However, she expresses no intention of sharing her own story. After a few days on the road, they finally arrive in California and Genna asks to be taken to the shelter for battered women. Though she is initially sent away by the manager, Genna is kindly called back by the owner. There in the shelter, Genna finds another world completely different from the one she knew. While her former life is made up of bumps, bruises and broken bones, her life in the shelter is a series of activities which include workshop, Bible reading, self-defense classes and going to church every Sunday. Despite her relatively peaceful existence in the shelter, however, Genna longs for her son whom she left behind and though she is told again and again that she is safe, Genna stays aloof and reserved. It seems that there is something else, something worse than her being just a battered wife.

This is a story of a woman who suffered the worst things that could possibly happen to a human being, things that could drive anyone to the verge of sanity. It describes how physical abuse can break a person’s resolve but emotional and psychological abuse can break a person’s spirit so badly, that death would appear to be even a better option. However, with faith in God, a few good friends and acts of kindness and compassion, the person can get up from where she has fallen and become a new person. It shows how accepting Jesus as her savior and giving Him total control of her life, a person can overcome everything that comes her way and even learn to forgive anyone who caused her so much pain and suffering.

Needless to say this is one beautiful story. However, there are so many errors within the entire book which include misspelled words, missing words, incorrect use of words (brought instead of bought) and absence of quotation marks in parts where they are needed. Moreover, there are cases when names are changed or probably mistaken for something else like Mr. Downs to Mr. Downing and Jacob to Gordon.

I, therefore, give this book 3 out of 4 stars and recommend it to readers who enjoy rags to riches type of story. Though I would have liked to give it a perfect score, the errors just are too many and too noticeable to ignore. Ultimately, this is a great book that needs thorough editing.

******
Genna's Fight
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Heidi M Simone · Post by **Heidi M Simone** » 15 Aug 2016, 05:23

Wonderful review, kimmyschemy06! This sounds like a book that I would enjoy! Too bad about the editing. A mistake or two isn't bad, but when there's enough to make you notice, then it disrupts the flow of the story. Otherwise, it seems like a great read!

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 15 Aug 2016, 06:19

hsimone wrote:Wonderful review, kimmyschemy06! This sounds like a book that I would enjoy! Too bad about the editing. A mistake or two isn't bad, but when there's enough to make you notice, then it disrupts the flow of the story. Otherwise, it seems like a great read!

It is a great read. I can't remember how many times I cried the whole time I was reading it

Heidi M Simone · Post by **Heidi M Simone** » 15 Aug 2016, 06:21

kimmyschemy06 wrote:
hsimone wrote:Wonderful review, kimmyschemy06! This sounds like a book that I would enjoy! Too bad about the editing. A mistake or two isn't bad, but when there's enough to make you notice, then it disrupts the flow of the story. Otherwise, it seems like a great read!
It is a great read. I can't remember how many times I cried the whole time I was reading it

Wow! That says a lot about the author's writing abilities! I might have to add this one to my list!

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 15 Aug 2016, 06:56

hsimone wrote:
kimmyschemy06 wrote:
hsimone wrote:Wonderful review, kimmyschemy06! This sounds like a book that I would enjoy! Too bad about the editing. A mistake or two isn't bad, but when there's enough to make you notice, then it disrupts the flow of the story. Otherwise, it seems like a great read!
It is a great read. I can't remember how many times I cried the whole time I was reading it
Wow! That says a lot about the author's writing abilities! I might have to add this one to my list!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did

Post by **Kourtney Bradley** » 15 Aug 2016, 07:07

Very well written review! Thank you for sharing!

Post by **bookowlie** » 15 Aug 2016, 08:30

Great review! The book sounds like a powerful page turner. Hopefully, the author will use your constructive criticism and hire an editor in the future.

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 15 Aug 2016, 10:37

klbradley wrote:Very well written review! Thank you for sharing!

Thank you very much!

-- 15 Aug 2016, 10:39 --

bookowlie wrote:Great review! The book sounds like a powerful page turner. Hopefully, the author will use your constructive criticism and hire an editor in the future.

Thank you very much. I hope he does. It is such a great book

CrescentMoon · Post by **CrescentMoon** » 15 Aug 2016, 13:52

Wow this sounds like a very emotional story. I usually don't read books like this but this seems to be a really good read. It's interesting to see how people grow and change and move on from horrible situations. Great review!

Pinkrose353 · Post by **Pinkrose353** » 15 Aug 2016, 20:29

Thank you for the great review! I always enjoy reading life-transforming stories. One of the negative effects of today's self-publishing features is that sometimes good editorial work is missing. I hope the author takes your critique to heart and polishes the errors.

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 15 Aug 2016, 21:03

CrescentMoon wrote:Wow this sounds like a very emotional story. I usually don't read books like this but this seems to be a really good read. It's interesting to see how people grow and change and move on from horrible situations. Great review!

Thank you very much. Yes, it is a very emotional story, quite a tearjerker in fact

-- 15 Aug 2016, 21:04 --

Pinkrose353 wrote:Thank you for the great review! I always enjoy reading life-transforming stories. One of the negative effects of today's self-publishing features is that sometimes good editorial work is missing. I hope the author takes your critique to heart and polishes the errors.

Thank you very much. So true about self publishing.

Pinkrose353 · Post by **Pinkrose353** » 16 Aug 2016, 17:27

I finished reading the book today and must say I didn't really enjoy it. I went on the author's Amazon page and saw that this seems to be his first fiction book. The reason I didn't like the book is not because of the story plot, but because of the writing style and the formatting.

A good novelist gives good descriptions of the places where the events take place, describes what the characters look like, gives each person certain personality quirks, and finds creative ways to avoid the "he said...she replied" in dialogues.

Good novelists know that every time a new person speaks you start a new line or paragraph and put the speech in quotation marks. This is an e-book, so new paragraphs don't consume more paper, so why not be generous with the spacing

Spellchecker is not enough to check for spelling errors. In this book almost every time when it should say "bought" it says "brought".
Also, in English one nods the head to agree, whereas this writer says "shakes the head".

This book needs a good editor, who is used to editing novels, NOT non-fiction books.

Since this author is a pastor, I would have liked to see a more realistic story, not a rags-to-riches fantasy, unless he promotes a health-and-wealth gospel, which usually just leaves the pastors rich.

It took me almost halfway through the book to be able to overlook the writing style and get into the story.

I liked that the women in the shelter were taught self-defense techniques along with the Bible teaching. It was heartwarming to see the compassion of the administrators of the shelter and the helpfulness of Reggie, the truck driver.

If I enjoy a book I usually read it twice, this is not one of them.

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 17 Aug 2016, 00:03

Pinkrose353 wrote:I finished reading the book today and must say I didn't really enjoy it. I went on the author's Amazon page and saw that this seems to be his first fiction book. The reason I didn't like the book is not because of the story plot, but because of the writing style and the formatting.

A good novelist gives good descriptions of the places where the events take place, describes what the characters look like, gives each person certain personality quirks, and finds creative ways to avoid the "he said...she replied" in dialogues.

Good novelists know that every time a new person speaks you start a new line or paragraph and put the speech in quotation marks. This is an e-book, so new paragraphs don't consume more paper, so why not be generous with the spacing

Spellchecker is not enough to check for spelling errors. In this book almost every time when it should say "bought" it says "brought".
Also, in English one nods the head to agree, whereas this writer says "shakes the head".

This book needs a good editor, who is used to editing novels, NOT non-fiction books.

Since this author is a pastor, I would have liked to see a more realistic story, not a rags-to-riches fantasy, unless he promotes a health-and-wealth gospel, which usually just leaves the pastors rich.

It took me almost halfway through the book to be able to overlook the writing style and get into the story.

I liked that the women in the shelter were taught self-defense techniques along with the Bible teaching. It was heartwarming to see the compassion of the administrators of the shelter and the helpfulness of Reggie, the truck driver.

If I enjoy a book I usually read it twice, this is not one of them.

Honestly, I didn't know that the author is a pastor when I read it

I was halfway through the book when I realized that it is actually a Christian book, and that's probably the reason for the 'rags-to-riches' angle. It is probably his way of showing nothing is impossible with God, and that no matter how difficult the present situation is, it will get better if you give it to the Lord.

It is not the fist book that I have read with no elaborate description of the settings nor those of the characters, and though I prefer those with vivid descriptions, the absence of those descriptions doesn't make me enjoy it less. As a mother, I find this book very touching it made me cry several times, and for me, a book that touches the heart is indeed a good book. Too bad it didn't appeal to you the way it did to me, and I respect that. Thank you for taking the time to write such a thoughtful comment. I believe the author will appreciate it too.

Pinkrose353 · Post by **Pinkrose353** » 17 Aug 2016, 13:30

Thank you for your comments kimmyschemy06. I kind of felt bad after writing my review wondering if I was too critical. But then, the purpose of reviewing books is to give authors pointers of how to improve their writing.

I DID like the plot and storyline, it is a good story! It's just the way it was written didn't get to my heart. In fact, I started to read the book a second time, but stumbled over so many typos even on the first pages, that I gave up after a few pages.

I also noticed that two of the three editors mentioned in the beginning of the book have the same last name as the author. I think as a relative it's hard to be critical enough without hurting a loved ones feelings. Plus, they might have read the developing story parts so often, that they couldn't step back and review it objectively.

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 17 Aug 2016, 23:07

Pinkrose353 wrote:Thank you for your comments kimmyschemy06. I kind of felt bad after writing my review wondering if I was too critical. But then, the purpose of reviewing books is to give authors pointers of how to improve their writing.

I DID like the plot and storyline, it is a good story! It's just the way it was written didn't get to my heart. In fact, I started to read the book a second time, but stumbled over so many typos even on the first pages, that I gave up after a few pages.

I also noticed that two of the three editors mentioned in the beginning of the book have the same last name as the author. I think as a relative it's hard to be critical enough without hurting a loved ones feelings. Plus, they might have read the developing story parts so often, that they couldn't step back and review it objectively.

I think the author will take your comment as constructive criticism. He sent me a tweet saying he is now having the book professionally edited and the revised version will be out next week

And yes, one purpose of having their books reviewed is for an outsider's feed back so they could improve their writing, so they should be open for criticisms