Hey you all! I have a new review for you guys and girls today that’s a part of a blogtour for the Dutch publisher DVP. No worries, the book I will be reviewing is originally an English one, so, English readers will be able to pick this one up too (if you still want to after this review). The book I will be talking about today is De geest in de rivier (After obsession in English) by Carrie Jones and Steven E. Wedel. Let me first give you the description before I share my reading experiences and thoughts with you all 😉
ALAN
There she is. The dream rushes back to me. We were falling, clutching at each other, with twisting darkness all around us… The girl looks up at me and I realize I’ve stopped walking and am staring at her. I see something in her eyes, something like recognition.
AIMEE
And in that second I know, absolutely know, that something in my life has changed irrevocably. This is the guy from my dreams. Right here. And we are going to have to do something, save something, together. I just don’t know what.
TOGETHER
Alan and Aimee have just met, but already they are bound to each other by something they can’t quite name. Something that rattles the windows, haunts the waters… and threatens to tear them apart before they get a chance to find out what their connection means.
Let’s begin with the positive things in this book. I liked the fact that this book was about native american folklore and religion and that one of the main characters was native american. The whole ghost story and the parts where Alan is trying to find out more about his own background and culture to help his niece are really intriguing and left me wanting to know more.
Another thing I really liked was the suspense in this story. The tension builds slowly and really simmers. I was very curious to find out more about the spirit and what was happening to the town and Alan’s niece Courtney and how everything was going to play out in the end.
Sadly, that was about all I liked about this book. Let me try to explain why this story fell flat for me. The first thing that really annoyed me was the characterization of the main characters. They are so one-dimensional that I’m not able to tell you anything about them except that Aimee has red hair and green eyes, likes to paint, eats a lot of gum, is always nice and her mother commited suicide, and that Alan has long, dark hair and dark eyes, loves Rugby, is tall and muscled and has an unknown native american father. It’s like the authors thought: we have to give them a hair and eye color, one or two hobbies and an absentee mom or dad (preferably both) and then we’re all set. The fact that both main characters were extremely nice and good irritated me also. Come on man, everybody has some bad traits! Do you know that movie ‘The Stepford wives’ (or something like that) these characters would have fitted there perfectly.
The second thing that was poorly written, were the conversations. It was like reading a script where two or more people were spouting out lines instead of reading a realistic dialogue. It was so incredibly stilted and awkward. On top of that some conversations didn’t even make any sense. If you don’t like spoilers don’t read the next part of this paragraph! For example Aimee has a boyfriend: Blake. She’s in the car with him and they get in an argument and she decides to end the relationship. Her reason? He calls Alan an indian, she gets mad and calls Blake a racist, he asks: ‘why are you mad?’, she calls him a racist again and says: ‘we are finished’. It’s literally two sentences and then the relationship is over. Hell, I get that she doesn’t want to date a racist and that she calls him out on it (hooray for her) but the conversation is so abrupt and unnatural (not to mention melodramatic) that you wonder: what the fuck just happened. Especially since the two were supposedly together for many years, so, how is it that she finds out only now that he is a douche? But hang on, he’s not a douche because he never acted this way before and this is not like him … Are you confused yet? I was.
The third thing that had me gnashing my teeth in frustration was the romance. Can you say insta-love?! Alan and Aimee see each other in a dream for the first time and when they meet in real life it’s like a firework of sparks. They are instantly drawn to one another and they are just meant to be … Of course Aimee’s long-term relationship is quickly ended and the two fated lovers are free to find each other. I can’t for the life of me figure out why the writers chose to put Aimee in a relationship if they wanted to end it that quickly and pair her with Alan. It makes no freaking sense! What is the added value of her relationship with Blake for the rest of the story? None that I could find …
The last thing that was poorly executed was the ending. During the whole story the tension is well-maintained. The reader wants to know what is happening. The reader wants to know what the spirit wants and who he is. And then the climax comes along and … the whole story caves like a bad chocolate soufflé. The suspense is killed in one fell swoop. The reader doesn’t really find out who the spirit is and the way in which it is dealt with is so … I don’t even know how to describe it. It was just utter disappointment.
I don’t really know who to recommend this book to. If you don’t mind insta-love and like stories with a bit of suspense and that are sweet and not to complicated you might like this one. Otherwise I would not recommend it.
If you want to know what others thought about this book you can check out these (Dutch) blogs:
Happy reading you all!
Confessions of a Serial Reader 