1 out of 4 stars
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It is the Apocalypse era. Nature has decimated the human population from 25 billion to 25 thousand scattered across the globe. After 250 years of rebuilding the world together, differences in ideology have humans living across five great nations. Advanced technology created to cure diseases and prolong life has resulted in mutated human genes as a side effect. Generations of mutations have led to Abnormals. They are a minority that experiences harsh discrimination for their unique abilities.
Mike L. Junior created a cruel world filled with deceit and pain. It is survival of the fittest. In the book WatchDogs: Abnormal Beginnings Book 1, we join Cole, Kaarina, and Lamont, abnormals, who band together to journey to Xenora for a fresh start leaving behind their harrowing tragic pasts. Along the way, they meet fellow rejects and fight for their lives as enemies, old and new, hunt them.
The heart of the plot focuses on the characters forming a pseudo-family and viewing themselves as guardians over the marginalized hence the title WatchDogs. Along their journey, they learn how to trust, begrudgingly, if I may add, to survive. Scene setting details and extensive character dialogue filled the book to the brim. This aspect is a double-edged sword regarding story quality. It can help a reader imagine an author's imaginary world or drag the story to boredom.
Unfortunately, I could not picture Mike's imaginary world because I could not make sense of the writing style. There is potential for a great story. Sadly, as I read, I used the character names as guide points to help me keep track because the story dragged. Young adults, like Lamont, had weird speech patterns. I understand their traumatic childhood experiences, but their speech did not match their age. It was especially odd when long conversations took place during fight scenes. In addition, all 20 chapters end with “xyz”. I assume they are chapter end-marks utilized during writing.
The writing style and tone were unpleasant. It is crucial to note the difference between written English and spoken English. The novel was written in spoken English which was odd and off the pace. I was also confused by the use of the term racist in certain instances to describe someone’s hateful speech or actions toward Abnormals. The characters are diverse. A suitable term would have been bigotry or prejudice to fit with the scenes. Another reason contributing to the rating is the cursing at God. It was unexpected. I was caught off guard. It did not fit the scenes as well. I understand that we have different perspectives on many religions. I believe that there should be a base level of respect. Therefore, I rate WatchDogs: Abnormal Beginnings Book 1 1 out of 4 stars.
I would not recommend this novel as it needs to be professionally edited and polished. There are punctuation, spelling, grammatical errors, and character mix-ups. The book seems to be a draft.
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WatchDogs Abnormal Beginnings
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