Review: Uncertainty (Gravity #2) by Abigail Boyd

I was very luck to win a copy from LibraryThing

Genre

YA Paranormal/Fantasy

Publication Date

March 22nd, 2012

Publisher

Self-Published

Available At

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

Format

Ebook

Last year, Ariel's life was ripped apart. She's finally started to put the pieces together again, and is looking forward to summer break. That's when a dream brings her back to the mysterious Dexter Orphanage. 


With the return of an unlikely person in her life, Ariel begins to find out answers to the secrets that plagued her -- what was wrong with her grandmother? Why did Henry suddenly start dating the popular snobby girl whom he seemed to previously hate? And what really happened to Jenna?


As the threads are unraveled, Ariel realizes that she's peering into a world that no one else can see. 




Review
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 


There's no way to go, but up. And that is what Abigail Boyd has done. There were still some issues, such as grammatical errors and also some things that were mentioned twice, one example, someone jumped off a stage and a few sentences later jumped off the stage again. These are errors that are hard to ignore and something that isn't expected from a published work. There is no doubt that Abigail Boyd has a talent in weaving tales, but the story still came off as slightly unfinished.

One thing that stands out without any blatant flaws is the characters, they are all well-developed with Ariel pulling forward as a strong female protagonist. Abigail Boyd is definitely strong when it comes to characterizations, there is never a moment where the characters or dialogue seem forced or unnatural. 

The plot still feels a little drawn out, there are things that are obvious, but the characters are oblivious to. Maybe that is the authors intentions, it's hard to tell. I can say that even though I know where the series is going, I have no idea how I will be taken there, and that's somewhat of a good thing. It lengthens the mystery yet at the same time frustrates me because it's a constant one step forward, two steps back plot. I want more information then what I'm fed, but I can admit that I'm fully reeled in.

My emotions were tugged at more than Gravity, most likely due to the fact that there were less errors,  allowing me to concentrate on the story rather the wording. Also, there was more descriptive prose rather than bare sentences, which was a HUGE plus. I'm looking forward to the next installment, and if this is any indication, the writing will only keep getting better.

Review: Gravity (Gravity #1) by Abigail Boyd

Genre
YA Paranormal/Fantasy


Publication Date

May 13th, 2011

Publisher

Self-Published

Available At

Amazon

Format

Ebook

One summer night in the town of Hell, Ariel Donovan's best friend goes missing. Everyone else believes Jenna ran away, but Ariel thinks something more sinister may have happened. She dreams of Jenna running to the abandoned orphanage in town, and then the building catching on fire. What does the orphanage have to do with Jenna's disappearance?

To complicate matters, a handsome new boy named Henry Rhodes has arrived in town, plaguing her with unwarranted attention. Even though she tries to stay away, she's drawn to him despite her best efforts, and can't help giving in to her attraction to him. Though he doesn't believe in the supernatural events that Ariel begins to witness, she enlists his help to figure out what is going on.
But when she discovers the truth, it's much worse than she ever feared.


Review
Rating: 3 stars out of 5


I was really intrigued not only by the cover(both of them), but by the blurb. I mean, a town called Hell? Yes, please! Possible ghosts? Pretty please!


I do like both covers, but I think I prefer the first one. I'm curious to know why the author changed it. 


In a book where I should have been scared of the shadows the night casts, I wasn't. I was left feeling like an editor or beta reader. I liked the characters, I liked the direction the story takes you, but it just was not polished enough for me.


So here goes a nit picky review. . .


There were grammatical errors left and right. Simple things that happen to everyone as they type, but they should have been found and fixed. For example: she instead of the; ot instead of to; the instead of they or them; things like that. Things that usually don't bother me, bothered me. And I think it's because the sentences seemed to leave me wanting. They didn't have any emotion behind them, they weren't choppy, but close to it. They were bare. And, there was an actual sentence in the book that was an outline/placeholder, "She dreams she's in a white hallway with doors lining either side". How do I know it was an outline sentence/placeholder? Because it came after the paragraph explaining the doors and it's in third-person when Gravity is written in the first-person.


Like I said above, I did like the characters and the plot, for the most part. I kind of felt that the book was at a stand still, not really moving forward, just adding to the infuriating mystery of this town called Hell. I say infuriating because by the end of the book, I wasn't left with any spectacular, all-revealing information or the reasoning behind what was happening to Ariel. One thing did catch me by surprise, but that was eclipsed by ever present mystery that was never adequately solved. 


Potential. That's the key word for Gravity. There is so much potential! The author, Abigail Boyd, successfully reeled me in, I just wish that the editing errors weren't present and there was more of an adventure to unravel the mystery. I was originally going to give Gravity two stars, but the author does have a creative mind that introduces a unique world and like I said, I was reeled in despite my aggravation of the many errors.


And, just so you know, I will be reading the next book, Uncertainty, because I simply need to know what the hell is going on in Hell. And because I do like the characters. Ariel has an endearing mix of toughness and shyness.