Sunday, December 29, 2013

Laney by Joann I. Martin Sowles Review

I won a copy from Goodreads First Reads.




"In a small college town in Northern California, Laney Alexander leads a regular, uneventful life-that is, until the charming and alluring Oliver Knight enters her world. Who is this gorgeous and mysterious stranger? Or, rather, what is he? As Laney's sophomore year of college begins, so does an unbelievable adventure-including a love she didn't know she longed for. She soon learns that Oliver is not ordinary, nor is the rest of his family, including a sister who openly hates her and a brother who will stop at nothing for revenge. As she fights for her life, and Oliver's love, Laney discovers that the fictional world of vampires isn't so fictional after all. Nobody is safe, especially Laney, Oliver's most important priority, and he will stop at nothing to protect her. With her mortality at risk, and a commitment revealed that she, without a doubt, knows she wants, Laney's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn..."

I wonder if this was intended to be a Twilight parody. There's a lot of similar characters (without the third side in the triangle) and parallel events (without James and his coven), but was it a Twilight parody? It still involves vampires, werewolves, and the entire rogue vampire plot. 

I say Laney has more meat in the book. There are better characters (remember Twilight? Only Jacob had the best character); there is a better plot (please, at least the plot doesn't start when 'James' come into the story); and there's better writing (I wouldn't call Meyer's writing writing). I know this book deserves a better rating than what I gave to Twilight. Problem is that I don't remember what rating I gave for Twilight (that's what Goodreads is good for). Oh, I see it's a one out of five. 

Let's say that Laney isn't as creepy as Twilight. At least Olivier Knight isn't a stalker who sneaks into teenager's bedrooms and watch them sleep (cause that is just disgusting; may I throw up now?). Without the creepiness (well, most of it), Laney should be ogled by people instead of Twilight. Thank goodness, Twilight died down (sort of) after Hunger Games came out. 

Laney, the character, isn't a damsel in distress. She has friends. Heck, Bella doesn't even have anyone, other than that sparkly vampire. Laney has some characteristics and some habits, like eating a lot of sugar (seriously, does this girl has diabetes yet?) Honestly, I can't think of a talent Laney has. (Author definitely has to work on that part to prevent Twilight syndrome). Anyway, Laney has some expressions, unlike the infamous sulky Miss. Swan. She's no robot, neither an old jealous hag. She's neither creepy, or boring.

The writing of Sowles (sorry, if I got the title or name wrong. I'm sleepy right now) is much better than Meyer. Laney's writing shows that two sentences can be together. It might not teach the future generation anything, but thankfully it's better. I know I will be reading this rather than that other sparkly vampire book, with mismatched (and/or misplaced) covers. (Seriously, a ribbon? Where is a ribbon mentioned in that book? Or the White King? May be symbolic, but doesn't make sense to me).

Last of all, Laney is not a "me, me, me" book. It doesn't focus entirely on Laney and Oliver, but I wish it would pay a tiny bit more attention to Laney's good friends. One more thing: Nice build up on character background, but not enough to make a strong conclusion (for me talk about and praise/criticized). 

Rating: Three out of Five

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