Review by BookSeed -- The Bonding by Imogen Keeper
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Review by BookSeed -- The Bonding by Imogen Keeper
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Bonding" by Imogen Keeper.]
2 out of 4 stars
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This is a review of a science fiction romance book called The Bonding by Imogen Keeper. There is no publication information I could find in the book.The story is about Nissa,a young girl who has her whole world literally turned upside down by an invading alien species that threatens the very existence of her people. The girl is sent into space in a pod with the hope she will be rescued and in turn save her race. She is fatefully found by a warrior from another world, Tam. Nissa and Tam must overcome a lot of challenges and learn sacrifice and unconditional love in their attempt to save her people and what is left of her planet. The two fall into a connection that neither can walk away from even when it necessary to do so, a bond so deep and strong that they can barely withstand a few hours of being apart, its either them or a whole existence. The book is set in the future, at a time when there are multiple “human” races co-existing in the same galaxy and seeking to survive and protect themselves from each other. Technology at this time will be of a high degree, with easy transportation between the planets and the worlds themselves are far much more advanced in infrastructure and agriculture and just existence in general.
I am rating this book a 2 out of 4 stars. I like that it definitely gives the impression of being professionally edited as it has very few typing errors and grammatical errors are hard to come by (see page 56, paragraph 3 and page 170 line 15). The author has good use of both short and complex sentences and adding dialogue in a manner which breaks monotony. I did find it an interesting read as I was curious to discover if the author would have any new unexplored ideas of what extra terrestrial life and species might be like. It felt familiar though, which indicates perhaps she didn't introduce anything new.
The author describes the book as a “romance” however I feel it would be fitting to describe it as an erotica. Romance implies genuine deep feelings born from intimacy of a soulful kind. The merging of minds and spirits who recognise each other without need for a word or a touch. In this story the main characters were strangers who had sex and developed a strong physical bond, not necessarily an emotional one. The sex scenes are exactly that...they do not give the impression of “love” making. The use of expletives such as “f**k” , “pussy”, “cock”, repetitively create a hardness and roughness to the character’s interaction whereas I was expecting a softness and gentleness which is usually found in “love-making”. The phrase “addiction-satisfying sex” testifies to my opinion that the connection is really more of a sexual nature than an emotional one. Also through out the book the story the word used to describe their relationship is “mate”, which draws ideas of a primitiveness we commonly associate with wild life type of mating, as opposed to a human relationship with fondness such as the words “wife” or “lover” incite. Personally this element about the story is what takes a lot away from it having a stronger rating. Correctly allocating a book to a genre is important as even before you start reading it there is a certain expectation which when not met is sorely disappointing.
The story is quite straight forward, as most erotica is, it lacks an intricacy necessary for creating a deep desire to actually immerse oneself in the book. It lacks any adventure or mystery and there is no real climax or enough twists that keep the reader on their toes. There is plenty of sex scenes which the writer devotes quite a lot of time to and draws very vivid pictures but I feel she was rushing through all the other scenes, especially towards the end of the story, which might have contributed to there being no allowance for complexities. The story felt rushed and shallow with the themes (such arranged marriage, sex, obligation to duty, gender based violence, survival of a human and a human race, soul ties and manipulation by mass media.) left unexplored.
I was not impressed by the author's use of “eeffoc” to mean “coffee” as it comes across as lack of effort to be creative. She otherwise created other words well and gave a clear description of their meaning.
I think this book would be appealing to a younger crowd, early teens to early twenties. The author uses quite colloquial language that is easy to understand and most new age youth would be comfortable with. Also the lack of intricacies and depth allows for even younger readers to be able to follow and grasp the story line. I will not particularly remember this story by its own merit, only because it is the first book I have ever reviewed. Nonetheless it is still a good book which could use with a bit more substance and emotion and less coarse language and imagery to create the warmth and softness most romantics crave for in a romance story.
******
The Bonding
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2 out of 4 stars
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This is a review of a science fiction romance book called The Bonding by Imogen Keeper. There is no publication information I could find in the book.The story is about Nissa,a young girl who has her whole world literally turned upside down by an invading alien species that threatens the very existence of her people. The girl is sent into space in a pod with the hope she will be rescued and in turn save her race. She is fatefully found by a warrior from another world, Tam. Nissa and Tam must overcome a lot of challenges and learn sacrifice and unconditional love in their attempt to save her people and what is left of her planet. The two fall into a connection that neither can walk away from even when it necessary to do so, a bond so deep and strong that they can barely withstand a few hours of being apart, its either them or a whole existence. The book is set in the future, at a time when there are multiple “human” races co-existing in the same galaxy and seeking to survive and protect themselves from each other. Technology at this time will be of a high degree, with easy transportation between the planets and the worlds themselves are far much more advanced in infrastructure and agriculture and just existence in general.
I am rating this book a 2 out of 4 stars. I like that it definitely gives the impression of being professionally edited as it has very few typing errors and grammatical errors are hard to come by (see page 56, paragraph 3 and page 170 line 15). The author has good use of both short and complex sentences and adding dialogue in a manner which breaks monotony. I did find it an interesting read as I was curious to discover if the author would have any new unexplored ideas of what extra terrestrial life and species might be like. It felt familiar though, which indicates perhaps she didn't introduce anything new.
The author describes the book as a “romance” however I feel it would be fitting to describe it as an erotica. Romance implies genuine deep feelings born from intimacy of a soulful kind. The merging of minds and spirits who recognise each other without need for a word or a touch. In this story the main characters were strangers who had sex and developed a strong physical bond, not necessarily an emotional one. The sex scenes are exactly that...they do not give the impression of “love” making. The use of expletives such as “f**k” , “pussy”, “cock”, repetitively create a hardness and roughness to the character’s interaction whereas I was expecting a softness and gentleness which is usually found in “love-making”. The phrase “addiction-satisfying sex” testifies to my opinion that the connection is really more of a sexual nature than an emotional one. Also through out the book the story the word used to describe their relationship is “mate”, which draws ideas of a primitiveness we commonly associate with wild life type of mating, as opposed to a human relationship with fondness such as the words “wife” or “lover” incite. Personally this element about the story is what takes a lot away from it having a stronger rating. Correctly allocating a book to a genre is important as even before you start reading it there is a certain expectation which when not met is sorely disappointing.
The story is quite straight forward, as most erotica is, it lacks an intricacy necessary for creating a deep desire to actually immerse oneself in the book. It lacks any adventure or mystery and there is no real climax or enough twists that keep the reader on their toes. There is plenty of sex scenes which the writer devotes quite a lot of time to and draws very vivid pictures but I feel she was rushing through all the other scenes, especially towards the end of the story, which might have contributed to there being no allowance for complexities. The story felt rushed and shallow with the themes (such arranged marriage, sex, obligation to duty, gender based violence, survival of a human and a human race, soul ties and manipulation by mass media.) left unexplored.
I was not impressed by the author's use of “eeffoc” to mean “coffee” as it comes across as lack of effort to be creative. She otherwise created other words well and gave a clear description of their meaning.
I think this book would be appealing to a younger crowd, early teens to early twenties. The author uses quite colloquial language that is easy to understand and most new age youth would be comfortable with. Also the lack of intricacies and depth allows for even younger readers to be able to follow and grasp the story line. I will not particularly remember this story by its own merit, only because it is the first book I have ever reviewed. Nonetheless it is still a good book which could use with a bit more substance and emotion and less coarse language and imagery to create the warmth and softness most romantics crave for in a romance story.
******
The Bonding
View: on Bookshelves
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