Review of The Struggle for Justice and Truth
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alexandriabelle
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- Latest Review: The Struggle for Justice and Truth by Tomas Cudzis
Review of The Struggle for Justice and Truth
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Struggle for Justice and Truth" by Tomas Cudzis.]
In the dystopian series The Struggle for Truth and Justice, author Tomas Cudzis seeks to create a basic atmosphere in order to enhance the listening experience of Linkin Park's discography and expand on its universe. Pointing to certain songs to read at particular points in the story brings quite the unique experience both to book lovers and fans of Linkin Park, allowing for a new meaning to the song lyrics while also adding an extra dimension to reading. This particular version is a compilation of the full series, which is composed of four parts.
What I like the most about this book is the character development. The main character, who is a fictional version of the author himself, is full of an admirable level of unwavering motivation. I enjoyed how the dedication of Tomas to overcoming childhood bullying became so strong that it became a flaw and led him on an exciting, yet violence filled adventure. He also meets a lot of interesting people along the way, some of which help shape his way of viewing the world. I like the way Tomas thinks in a very calculated way before any action he takes.
There are some downsides as well. The list of songs included in the table of contents is a bit different than I expected, and you'll see what I mean when you read it for yourself, but I don't at all think that element takes away from what the author is trying to achieve here. However, what I did find off-putting is that the author wants readers to look up the specific versions of the songs he used when writing on YouTube without any further explanation of how to find them or even a hint, such as who posted it. All you get is how long the video is, which isn't that helpful when there are hundreds or thousands of search results depending on which song you're looking for, and you're supposed to forgo listening if you can't find that version because the author thinks it would ruin the experience. I felt like I was spending more time searching for the videos than reading the stories attached to them. To me, that was more experience-ruining than listening to the wrong version, which I'm still not entirely clear if I did or not. I think it could've been helpful if Cudzis had included some additional information, or maybe even links to the songs. However, for casual readers that aren't fans of Linkin Park, I don't think going without the music will affect their experience, despite how the author intended the books to be read. I'll give grace to Cudzis for being an amateur author who only wants to write this one work, but I feel as though I should still mention there are quite a few grammatical errors, likely due to a lack of editing by another party. Exclamation marks and parenthesis are overused all throughout the story, which even for style was a bit overwhelming and excessive, and there's much more telling than showing. If you can get around that, the plot is quite enjoyable.
There's not a whole lot of sexual content, just references to sex, but I think it's important to note the language used in the context of a young adult learning about the world with no guidance, since it may offend some.
After thoroughly reading and gathering my thoughts, I've chosen to rate this series 3 out of 4. If you’re someone who enjoys action packed thrillers, I think you’ll enjoy this, music or no music. The plot and characters on their own stand out enough to keep you captivated throughout the whole series. I recommend this to anyone who likes the trope where childhood trauma majorly shapes a character’s personality. I didn’t know two forms of media could come together in such a cool way, but I hope this sets that trend and I will get to read more in the future.
******
The Struggle for Justice and Truth
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
In the dystopian series The Struggle for Truth and Justice, author Tomas Cudzis seeks to create a basic atmosphere in order to enhance the listening experience of Linkin Park's discography and expand on its universe. Pointing to certain songs to read at particular points in the story brings quite the unique experience both to book lovers and fans of Linkin Park, allowing for a new meaning to the song lyrics while also adding an extra dimension to reading. This particular version is a compilation of the full series, which is composed of four parts.
What I like the most about this book is the character development. The main character, who is a fictional version of the author himself, is full of an admirable level of unwavering motivation. I enjoyed how the dedication of Tomas to overcoming childhood bullying became so strong that it became a flaw and led him on an exciting, yet violence filled adventure. He also meets a lot of interesting people along the way, some of which help shape his way of viewing the world. I like the way Tomas thinks in a very calculated way before any action he takes.
There are some downsides as well. The list of songs included in the table of contents is a bit different than I expected, and you'll see what I mean when you read it for yourself, but I don't at all think that element takes away from what the author is trying to achieve here. However, what I did find off-putting is that the author wants readers to look up the specific versions of the songs he used when writing on YouTube without any further explanation of how to find them or even a hint, such as who posted it. All you get is how long the video is, which isn't that helpful when there are hundreds or thousands of search results depending on which song you're looking for, and you're supposed to forgo listening if you can't find that version because the author thinks it would ruin the experience. I felt like I was spending more time searching for the videos than reading the stories attached to them. To me, that was more experience-ruining than listening to the wrong version, which I'm still not entirely clear if I did or not. I think it could've been helpful if Cudzis had included some additional information, or maybe even links to the songs. However, for casual readers that aren't fans of Linkin Park, I don't think going without the music will affect their experience, despite how the author intended the books to be read. I'll give grace to Cudzis for being an amateur author who only wants to write this one work, but I feel as though I should still mention there are quite a few grammatical errors, likely due to a lack of editing by another party. Exclamation marks and parenthesis are overused all throughout the story, which even for style was a bit overwhelming and excessive, and there's much more telling than showing. If you can get around that, the plot is quite enjoyable.
There's not a whole lot of sexual content, just references to sex, but I think it's important to note the language used in the context of a young adult learning about the world with no guidance, since it may offend some.
After thoroughly reading and gathering my thoughts, I've chosen to rate this series 3 out of 4. If you’re someone who enjoys action packed thrillers, I think you’ll enjoy this, music or no music. The plot and characters on their own stand out enough to keep you captivated throughout the whole series. I recommend this to anyone who likes the trope where childhood trauma majorly shapes a character’s personality. I didn’t know two forms of media could come together in such a cool way, but I hope this sets that trend and I will get to read more in the future.
******
The Struggle for Justice and Truth
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Struggle for Justice and Truth by Tomas Cudzis
