A review by withherheadinabook
Supervision by Alison Stine
1.0
Originally posted on my blog, With Her Head in a Book.
Thank you Netgalley for this e-ARC copy of Supervision.
Supervision is a paranormal mystery through and through. Ghosts galore. Spooky happenings. A murder mystery (or ten). What more could you ask for? Well, there’s also some romance just in case and a few history lessons (though they’re not totally accurate).
Esmé has had a rough childhood and has been sent to live with her estranged grandmother. Turns out her house is just as weird as she is and maybe Esmé is, too, when she starts to see ghosts. Lots of ghosts. She sets out to figure out her own mystery as she tries to uncover why they died and what do they want.
Generally, the characters have little consistency in their personality or actions. I would blame that on their ghosty existences, but even the living face the same issues. On the plus side, each character has a few certain distinct traits that have carried over into the afterlife, setting them apart from one another. Esmé and her family are also Chinese descendants. Unfortunately, her ethnicity is more of a plot device than anything else.
Supervision isn’t necessarily a bad book, it’s just no where near good or even worth reading. The book is loosely held together by weak story building with plenty of plot holes. Dialogue is the main tactic used to spur on the storyline, lacking variety and balance in writing style and story elements. To be honest, it reads very much something a new writer would post on a writing site (much like fanfictions that have every character you ever liked bend to your every whim).
I didn’t violently dislike the novel, so I feel a bit weird giving it a one star, but it doesn’t deserve anything higher. If I hadn’t received a copy of the novel through Netgalley, I would have stopped reading very early on. I would not recommend this book for anyone.
Plot: 1/5
Characters: 2/5
Writing Style: 1/5
All Around Idea: 2/5
Total: 1/5
Thank you Netgalley for this e-ARC copy of Supervision.
Supervision is a paranormal mystery through and through. Ghosts galore. Spooky happenings. A murder mystery (or ten). What more could you ask for? Well, there’s also some romance just in case and a few history lessons (though they’re not totally accurate).
Esmé has had a rough childhood and has been sent to live with her estranged grandmother. Turns out her house is just as weird as she is and maybe Esmé is, too, when she starts to see ghosts. Lots of ghosts. She sets out to figure out her own mystery as she tries to uncover why they died and what do they want.
Generally, the characters have little consistency in their personality or actions. I would blame that on their ghosty existences, but even the living face the same issues. On the plus side, each character has a few certain distinct traits that have carried over into the afterlife, setting them apart from one another. Esmé and her family are also Chinese descendants. Unfortunately, her ethnicity is more of a plot device than anything else.
Supervision isn’t necessarily a bad book, it’s just no where near good or even worth reading. The book is loosely held together by weak story building with plenty of plot holes. Dialogue is the main tactic used to spur on the storyline, lacking variety and balance in writing style and story elements. To be honest, it reads very much something a new writer would post on a writing site (much like fanfictions that have every character you ever liked bend to your every whim).
I didn’t violently dislike the novel, so I feel a bit weird giving it a one star, but it doesn’t deserve anything higher. If I hadn’t received a copy of the novel through Netgalley, I would have stopped reading very early on. I would not recommend this book for anyone.
Plot: 1/5
Characters: 2/5
Writing Style: 1/5
All Around Idea: 2/5
Total: 1/5