podanotherjessi's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This was certainly an exciting story. I had a lot of fun just reading and getting caught up in all of the action. It was fast-paced with rarely a dull moment. I also thought the characters were surprisingly fleshed-out. Genesis had a complicated history that was fun to explore and see her grow from. All of the side characters lacked this depth, but we still got glimpses into who they were that could be explored more deeply in later books in the series. This is what I think ultimately the biggest strength of Genesis Awakens turns out to be; I am very intrigued by where this story will go.
Unfortunately, an exciting story isn't always enough to make a good book. It makes something fun, but there isn't really any depth beyond that. I felt that the preachy-ness of the whole thing really got in the way of just having a fun time. Additionally, this book was riddled with editing errors that at time made the book hard to read. I stumbled over sentences with words missing or repeated, which slowed down the pace of the narrative.
In the end, I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. It's fun, but it isn't much more. I see potential for a full series, but I also don't know if I can tolerate the preaching enough to continue on in the series.
At the end of the day, what makes this book so hard to recommend is that I'm confused as to who the audience is. Someone with little to no experience with Christianity is likely to not understand the references. Haugom and Adekoya go deeper than what the western cultural understanding is, so I don't think someone not well-versed in the religion would fully appreciate what was happening. On the other hand, I'm not sure that a devout Christian would be happy at the irreverence sometimes shown to elements of the religion. On the other hand, someone between those two - such as someone raised with religion but since having left it - would likely be annoyed by the preaching, like I was. Ultimately, I'm just not sure who this is for, but if the right audience finds it, they would likely really love it.
Unfortunately, an exciting story isn't always enough to make a good book. It makes something fun, but there isn't really any depth beyond that. I felt that the preachy-ness of the whole thing really got in the way of just having a fun time. Additionally, this book was riddled with editing errors that at time made the book hard to read. I stumbled over sentences with words missing or repeated, which slowed down the pace of the narrative.
In the end, I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. It's fun, but it isn't much more. I see potential for a full series, but I also don't know if I can tolerate the preaching enough to continue on in the series.
At the end of the day, what makes this book so hard to recommend is that I'm confused as to who the audience is. Someone with little to no experience with Christianity is likely to not understand the references. Haugom and Adekoya go deeper than what the western cultural understanding is, so I don't think someone not well-versed in the religion would fully appreciate what was happening. On the other hand, I'm not sure that a devout Christian would be happy at the irreverence sometimes shown to elements of the religion. On the other hand, someone between those two - such as someone raised with religion but since having left it - would likely be annoyed by the preaching, like I was. Ultimately, I'm just not sure who this is for, but if the right audience finds it, they would likely really love it.
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