Sunday, December 27, 2015

all lead-up

Eleanor by Jason Gurley
Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)
Genre: Fantasy
Review:  I don't know how to rate or review this book.  I feel like I started at least three separate books between the same covers.  One book was a fairly normal story of a family broken by tragedy.  Another took place somewhere outside of reality.  And the third took place in a very contained world populated by a single person.  Although all of these stories came together well, I couldn't decide whether I was supposed to be reading "normal" fiction with a touch of fantasy, or the other way around.

The writing itself is lovely, at least in 2/3 of the stories I was reading.  Gurley's descriptions are vivid, and the pace of the novel is very well done.  I think my ultimate problem with this book was that I didn't get the story I wanted.  The bulk of the book is taken up with the idea that Eleanor's ultimate mission is to unravel the tragedy that happened to her family, which she ultimately does.  But I found myself not overwhelmingly compelled by the lead-up to the reversal (i.e. the entire book), because I wanted to know what happened next.  Maybe Gurley will write that story, along with 2 or 3 others, in his next book.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

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