Casting Dreams by J.L. Weil
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
I received this ARC from Red Coat Publishing and the author in exchange for an honest review.
What did I do on the weekend? Why, thanks for asking. I read a novella about a young woman, who is a tough cookie, a special snowflake, “a rare diamond” (her words, not mine). I’m apologizing in advance for any sarcasm that seeps through in this review. It may also contain elements of ranting and venting as I try to make sense of the purpose of this relatively short story.
The characters had one task and one task only: repetition. The main character kept repeating her thoughts throughout the entire narration; hammering into the reader’s mind the perceived turmoil of her existence. She was conceded, selfish, and self-centred with a splash of narcissism. Her main squeeze was pretty much just a typical male character, someone the main character needed to drool and lust over. His personality was far from consistent, although one could argue that was part of the plot. Personally, I didn’t agree with his treatment of women.
The plot was thin at best. A few scenes of smooching and canoodling is flanked by many words that do not say much to enrich the story.
The writing was tiresome. I found spelling mistakes throughout the entire novella. Commonly used phrases seemed to have been purposely changed to appear clever and creative, only to come across as awkward. The constant repetition of the main character’s inner feelings conveyed through the first-person narration done by her made it feel like the story “progressed” at snail speed. Another thing that had me not rolling my eyes in this case, but flinging my head back in sheer frustration, was her constant self-aggrandizing.
Overall, I was greatly disappointed by this novella. The preview promised a story of folklore, gypsies and magic. All I got out of it were a few lukewarm passion scenes and illusions of depth. I would not recommend it.
