Review by GingerJSM -- Guardian of Deceit

This forum is for volunteer reviews by members of our review team. These reviews are done voluntarily by the reviewers and are published in this forum, separate from the official professional reviews. These reviews are kept separate primarily because the same book may be reviewed by many different reviewers.
Forum rules
Authors and publishers are not able to post replies in the review topics.
Post Reply
GingerJSM
Posts: 12
Joined: 15 Jan 2018, 13:50
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 6
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-gingerjsm.html
Latest Review: Becoming the Dragon by Alex Sapegin

Review by GingerJSM -- Guardian of Deceit

Post by GingerJSM »

[Following is a volunteer review of "Guardian of Deceit" by William H. Coles.]
Book Cover
1 out of 4 stars
Share This Review


This book is a prime example of what could have been. I was hopeful after reading the blurb but was let down only one hundred ages in.

Guardian Of Deceit is about a teenage Darwin Hastings, orphaned at a young age and later forced to move in with his infamous cousin; a rich football player that has a taste for the wilder side of life. At least it starts out that way. The beginning of this story focuses on Darwin's desire to become a doctor, and the maltreatment he receives from his cousin who misuses his inheritance and denies him even the basics in order to toughen him up. He is exposed to drugs, sex, and lies as his cousin tries to make him into a protege of sorts. The book continues in a coming of age style story, following Darwin through his attempts to navigate college and adulthood.

I truly enjoyed the beginning of this book. I felt bad for the protagonist's plight and wanted his situation to get better. I especially enjoyed the first few pages where the author gave the reader a first glimpse at Darwin's personality and how he related to strangers he'd just met.

Unfortunately my hopes for the story were crushed after the first fifty pages or so. The book seemed to go down several rabbit holes including a murder mystery that involves three chapters of interrogative dialogue. I struggled through these chapters of mindless question and answer sessions. A few sexual encounters made it clear that this was not the teenage gender swapped Cinderella story it started out to be. The author skipped over key events only to leave the reader finding out key facts about the story through dialogue or a passing sentences. It is never made clear how or when Darwin might have received his inheritance. It is only mentioned through dialogue that Darwin was 18 at a random chapter. Given the beginning of the story, one would think that his coming into adulthood would be a big event, but no, merely mentioned as a passing comment in a conversation. Another chapter dealt with a very common and relatable topic but made it very difficult to understand the situation because it dealt with characters whom had never been mentioned before and most of which were never mentioned again after those three pages. The author seemed to attempt to put too many stories into one book and refused to let them go.

As far as grammar is concerned there were several passages that didn't flow well due to short sentences or simply strange sentence structure. For example, the first line of the book reads: 'Darwin Hastings shouldered his backpack to be doing something and checked to see his ticket was still in his jacket side pocket.' While this sentence is not technically grammatically incorrect it still reads strangely enough that it made me wary right off the bat.

I feel it is important to mention that I love reading as much as I love breathing. The fact that I had to force myself to finish reading this book just to have a clear picture of why I disliked it so much speaks volumes. The story skips and the constantly changing content matter made this an almost impossible read. For this reason I am giving it a 1 out of 4 stars.

******
Guardian of Deceit
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords

Like GingerJSM's review? Post a comment saying so!
kdstrack
Previous Member of the Month
Posts: 6473
Joined: 10 May 2017, 19:49
Currently Reading: The Savior
Bookshelf Size: 530
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-kdstrack.html
Latest Review: How To Be Successful by M. Curtis McCoy

Post by kdstrack »

Your comment about the author trying to put too many stories into one book was very interesting. I liked your reasons you gave to support your rating. Nice job.
User avatar
Astrocelot
Posts: 43
Joined: 23 Jan 2018, 13:26
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 8
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-astrocelot.html
Latest Review: Book Blueprint by Jacqui Pretty

Post by Astrocelot »

I'm currently reading Guardian of Deceit for a review, and looking through posts like yours to see if I'm just crazy or if this book is genuinely as bad as I think it is. Everything you described - especially the fact that you had to force yourself to finish the book just to understand why you disliked it - absolutely hits the nail on the head. With the way that the narrative skips around, randomly introduces characters, and has so many out-of-place scenes, it feels as though it's written more in the style of a screenplay. The saddest thing is that the content of the story had so much potential in its raw form. Because of how it was executed, though, it's impossible for me to enjoy. In the words of Ms. Pearlstein:
It's in him finding what he wants to say and being smart enough to have something significant for the serious reader. Then being kind and generous enough as a person to learn the skills that will engage readers so they will enjoy it.
User avatar
Samy Lax
Posts: 1101
Joined: 30 Jan 2018, 01:40
Currently Reading: 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself
Bookshelf Size: 156
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-samy-lax.html
Latest Review: Chats with God in Underwear by Eduardo Chapunoff

Post by Samy Lax »

It's a pity about the story skips and the changing content matter. Thank you for this wonderful review!
“...in principle and reality, libraries are life-enhancing palaces of wonder.”
― Gail Honeyman, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
GingerJSM
Posts: 12
Joined: 15 Jan 2018, 13:50
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 6
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-gingerjsm.html
Latest Review: Becoming the Dragon by Alex Sapegin

Post by GingerJSM »

Thank you for your comments! This was my first attempt at reviewing a book and I worried about being too scathing. To be honest I now think I would rather be too scathing than too nice. My second review of a children's book could have been much more critical. I'm still learning but I hope to get better in the future!
User avatar
[Valerie Allen]
Posts: 698
Joined: 17 Mar 2018, 23:24
Currently Reading:
Bookshelf Size: 772
Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-valerie-allen.html
Latest Review: Utopia Project by Billy Dering

Post by [Valerie Allen] »

I enjoyed the later points of the review. But the start gave away a bit of the story.
And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. (Revelation 20:12 (NKJV) :reading-7:
Post Reply

Return to “Volunteer Reviews”