I wanted this story to be good. I wanted it to. But…
This is historical novel that claims to follow a young girl
from the seedy and corrupt life of Five Points, New York, as she journeys west
on the Orphan Train in the late 1800s.
And instead I found Anne of Green
Gables meets Fifty Shades of Grey.
In the beginning of the novel, I immediately had to choose
whether I was reading this book for its function as a story or for the quality
of writing. It clearly did not have
both. Ms. Dewey has a feel for story and its grand scope, and even its
romanticism, but the writing lacked consistency, flow, and an appropriate
voice. So I chose to read for story –
but even there I felt betrayed by the author.
Full to the brim with historical trivia (that needed a heavy dose of
fact-checking), I did not get to know “Tabitha” well-enough before I had to “forget”
her. I was swallowed up by all the telling,
not showing, and dismayed with the graphic and disturbing sexuality. This could have been a pretty good story – a nice
and well-spent tale – without the sudden and jarring turn into the
ultra-sleazy. There is a way to cover
the dark-side of life without giving every single twisted detail.
This book needs more proofreading, content and copyediting,
and polishing. And it needs to be
decided whether this is an expository or a narrative piece. While the narrators’ voices are easy enough
for a young reader to follow, this book was definitely too adult – too poorly edited
– for me.
I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review to Amazon and Goodreads. Please look for my review there as well.
Photo credit: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519NGMvCMlL._SX311_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
Adrienne,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry you didn't like my book, Forgetting Tabitha. It is an adult historical fiction and has never been marketed towards younger readers. I disagree with you regarding the editing, my editor is top notch, the process is long and arduous, and I feel my team has done an excellent job. With regard to the story, if you don't like it that is not offensive or problematic for me as an author because not everyone person likes every book. However, the content is intentionally raw where necessary and to sugar coat or leave those parts out would do a disservice to the era. Additionally, I spent a year researching the topic of this book. My facts are not always pleasant, but I can assure you they are correct. My best to you. Julie Dewey
Thanks for stopping by, Julie, and leaving your comments! I appreciate your response!
DeleteThanks!