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A review by bookishlucy
The List by JL Bowman
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Won this book in a giveaway.
I think this book needs to see another round of edits. There were many mistakes with grammar, there would be past and present tense used in the same sentence, punctuation marks were missing.
I still don't know if Greg's cat is a he or a she because both pronouns would be used in the same sentence while referring to the cat. (Genderfluid kitty? 🤔)
When in Xavier's perspective the 'I' pronouns suddenly switched to 'he' while we weren't in a 3rd person pov at any point in the book.
Some sentences had weird repetitions which made dialog feel unnatural.
At multiple points in the book did I question whether this really was the first book in a series because new characters were introduced like we were already supposed to know who they were.
The main characters backstories were introduced to us in the first chapter almost entirely. I would've preferred to slowly learn about it, this way felt a little overwhelming and it happened at a point where we don't know the characters well yet so we have no emotional attachment to them.
Small mistakes are often missed by even the best authors/editors but if there's a mistake on nearly every page you read it gets annoying and distracting. I found myself often sighing at the book when another mistake would confuse me and I'd have to decipher what the author meant.
Ultimately, I do think the story underneath it all could be a real gem but it just needs some more polish to get it there. I did enjoy following along with Xavier and Ever.
I think this book needs to see another round of edits. There were many mistakes with grammar, there would be past and present tense used in the same sentence, punctuation marks were missing.
I still don't know if Greg's cat is a he or a she because both pronouns would be used in the same sentence while referring to the cat. (Genderfluid kitty? 🤔)
When in Xavier's perspective the 'I' pronouns suddenly switched to 'he' while we weren't in a 3rd person pov at any point in the book.
Some sentences had weird repetitions which made dialog feel unnatural.
At multiple points in the book did I question whether this really was the first book in a series because new characters were introduced like we were already supposed to know who they were.
The main characters backstories were introduced to us in the first chapter almost entirely. I would've preferred to slowly learn about it, this way felt a little overwhelming and it happened at a point where we don't know the characters well yet so we have no emotional attachment to them.
Small mistakes are often missed by even the best authors/editors but if there's a mistake on nearly every page you read it gets annoying and distracting. I found myself often sighing at the book when another mistake would confuse me and I'd have to decipher what the author meant.
Ultimately, I do think the story underneath it all could be a real gem but it just needs some more polish to get it there. I did enjoy following along with Xavier and Ever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse