Book Reviews | CLOSED

Never Let Me Go

Never Let Me Go By: AryaDowney007
Description: The story mainly revolves around three people- Benedict, Sia and Fravashi. It's a tale of how their live get intertwined unexpectedly and what follows is their tale of self-actualization, forgiveness and happiness.
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As I read the first chapter, I was pleased with the third perspective the story was written in. It's very common for a story to be written in first person, and I love reading a story written by an author that can rock the third person. The descriptions and imagery throughout the story creates perfect settings and images in my head as I read. I love Benedict's character development and his longing for Sia, even the first time he meets her. The description of the door at the end of the chapter really hit me, and it stayed with me for the rest of the book. When Simon Cooper is introduced I love the way the author makes you feel the "father-son" relationship Simon and Benedict have, and develops Simon so well in the process, creating a past that connects to the present. The author also manages to tug at your heartstrings when she brings in the mother and her past.

Now, as I read through the story, there were a few things that kept nagging me. The main thing being consistency. I noticed that in the first chapter, the text is center aligned, but the rest of the story is left aligned. Now, if the first chapter was meant to be almost a prologue, it works, especially how it's written, however I would suggest writing "Prologue" somewhere in there, and if it's not, then I suggest going in and making it left aligned because you want to be consistent with your writing. This leads into the next thing, point of view. I loved reading the third person, I felt the author did an amazing job with it. So, when I was suddenly reading "Sia's POV" I was thrown off guard, because that's not what was consistent with the story. When you create a story you make a choice, what point of view will you write in? Now, I do believe that if you went in and added some first person chapters in the beginning, it won't be so abrupt when you switch over. Also, I just wanted to note, it wasn't necessary for the sixth chapter to be written in first person, there are still many other ways of conveying the idea in third person (e.x. Reliving the past in third person, and relating it to the present). Moving on to the next thing, character consistency. When we were first introduced to Fravashi, I was heavily under the impression she was a kindly older lady that was a mother figure (not elderly but old) who practically raised Benedict. Then, I was suddenly under the impression that Fravashi liked Benedict, and maybe was jealous, and she was the same age as him. Now this threw me way off guard, and I couldn't grasp this fact even as I read the seventh chapter. I honestly couldn't tell you Fravashi's age if you asked me. What I suggest doing to avoid this is specifically point out an age (other characteristics as well) in your story, and you can even write it down somewhere. This way, you can't go off character, and it forces you to have character consistency. Another thing has to do with separating paragraphs. Now, I do realize the author pressed return once for when a new person talks, but it still ends up looking like one big paragraph, which can sometimes mess with the format. I was a tad confused when I was reading one of the characters dialogues, and the dialogue switched, but I was still reading as if the first character was speaking. Just adding another space really makes a huge difference. Now I also know that the author did this in the seventh chapter, however it was not done in the previous chapters, again messing with the consistency of the setup. Finally, another thing I just wanted to note, is big words. I'm not embarrassed to say I had to look up two words to see what they meant. Now, I understand if the book is supposed to be set in a different era and you're using those terms (e.x. Lager) or it's supposed to be professional, however I shouldn't be so clueless I have to look the words up, and this isn't a huge problem, again I only looked up 2 words, it's just something that can distract a reader from the story. Overall, these critiques are more specific to writing style and setup, and I was specifically looking for these things as I read through, but I do hope the author takes note of these things, because it will make the book impeccable. I just have to say, if you take anything from this, be consistent!

As I continued reading I love the spirit that Mrs. Gordon's character held herself in, despite her burdens, and how she creates a friendship with Benedict, revealing more about Sia's mysterious past, as well as some of her own. We also learn more about Benedict's character, shedding some light on his differences with his father, of course learning more about the company in great detail. I enjoyed reading about the minor characters, especially Glenn. The author manages to create their own personalities and stories despite the fact we may never read about them again for the rest of the story. It was also a treat to see the side of Benedict some authors don't even touch: the drunk side. Though sometimes this can be ugly, drunk Benedict was enjoyable and funny. In the seventh chapter, I absolutely adored the description of the house, feeling as though I was actually there with Fravashi. Also during this chapter I liked the insight into more of Benedict's past, from a different perspective this time. I'd also like to note the pictures at the beginning of every chapter were greatly appreciated, because it helped imagining the scenes easier and how the author meant them to be imagined. Overall I enjoyed reading Never Let Me Go, taking in all of the descriptions, imagery, and character development. The question of Sia's past and the mysterious door keep you wondering, and kept me reading. I love the characters relationships in this story, and I hope you will too. I suggest checking out AryaDowney007 's Never Let Me Go, and I wish her good luck with #Wattys2016!