Official Review: Emma Beware by Michelle A. Iden

[Kelebogile Mbangi]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Emma Beware" by Michelle A. Iden.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Emma Davenport is a 14-year-old with a zest for life. She is a track sprinter, a math athlete, and is loved by all who meet her. She never imagined that she would find herself in the position she is currently in. Her body is limp and refuses to respond. She cannot recall anything from a few hours prior to this moment. She finds relief in realizing that she is in her own room, but wait - this isn't her room! A few things are amiss. The fanlight and window are different than those in her room. Everything else is similar, from the pink and gray bed covers to the luxurious rug on the floor. It dawns on her that she has been abducted and is being held prisoner in this room which is a creepy replica of her own room. Who could possibly want to abduct her? Panic strikes her, will she ever see her family again? Her friends soon discover that she is missing, and they team up to piece the clues about her disappearance. However, time is running out.

Emma Beware is a book by Michelle A. Iden. It falls under the crime fiction genre, and it is a relatively light read when compared to other books in this genre.

Often, what hooks readers while reading a crime fiction novel is the occurrence of a seemingly unsolvable crime. Unfortunately, events in Emma Beware are predictable. A contributing factor to this predictability is how simple and uncomplicated the characters are. They are portrayed as either good or bad, nothing in between. Thus, I could tell who would do what. This killed the element of mystery and the crime did not seem "unsolvable".

I enjoyed the ingenuity displayed by Emma and her friends. Emma uses her maths skills to stay alive as long as possible. The plans she thinks up made me wish I had paid more attention in math class. Her friends use their strengths and cyber skills in their mission to find Emma. The author goes into detail when explaining how "The Warriors for Emma", as her friends call themselves, use technology to find and piece the clues together. Although, the technology used was nothing advanced or impressive.

The only issue I had with the author's writing style is that at times it sounded like she was reporting events. I felt like I was reading a newspaper report, and this put a damper on the action scenes. At other times her narrative voice was very maternal and warm, which was endearing for me.

I rate Emma Beware 2 out of 4 stars. Although it was not thrilling, it was a light read with a nice pace. Its plot, although predictable, was able to keep me interested enough to finish the book. However, it will not satisfy hardcore crime fiction fans.

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Emma Beware
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Like Kelebogile Mbangi's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Gunnar Ohberg]

Unfortunate that such an interesting premise was not executed well. Sounds like this was a valiant attempt that simply failed to hit its mark. Thank you for your honest and informative review.

[kandscreeley]

It sounds like an interesting premise. It's too bad it's more of a reporting of events style. That makes it hard to really get involved. Thanks for the review, though.

[KlareAllison]

Predictable events in a narrative often waters down the plot. From the review, the storyline of Michelle A. Iden's Emma Beware seems to fall into this category. Candid review, I'd say!

[Mercelle]

When I can predict what is going to happen next in a book, I'm impressed with myself. When I'm unable to, I'm impressed with the author. In this case, looks like the author won't be getting a round of applause.

[MsTri]

Wow, what a downer... Briefly playing devil's advocate, perhaps the author was trying to keep it simple enough for the younger crowd. But even in that case, it would have been a miss, as by the time I was into YA novels - when I was actually a tween, around 12, if not younger - I'd already seen enough movies and tv shows to where my taste was for the more hardcore stuff and with today's generation being what it is, I don't imagine that today's YA crowd is any different. Still, I'm glad it held you enough for you to finish and give it 2 stars when it very well could have been only 1 star.

[Nyambura Githui]

Great review

[jhollan2]

Sounds like it could be a good read, if a bit predictable. Was this the author's first novel? If it is, I am usually able to overlook such things as it is amazing to see the progress of an author in their following books.

[Eileen R]

When reading crime books I prefer a plot that keeps me guessing. It seems the Author missed the mark on this one.Great Review!

[Mtsweni Nelsy]

Sorry you didn't find the book thrilling enough... A predictable plot in the book is one other ingredient to dis-interesting the reader. Thanks for the review.